Warm-Weather Vegetable Soup (Pot-Au-Feu)
Apr 24, 2019, Updated Feb 23, 2020
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Warm-Weather Vegetable Soup (Pot-Au-Feu) – Brothy soup prepared with onions, garlic, leek, mushrooms, potatoes, and carrots for a robust flavor. Nothing says comfort more than a big bowl of this incredible French soup.
Hearty, savory, delicious Vegetable Soup chock full of nourishing veggies that’s quick to make with very little effort. AND, it is a million times better than what you’ll get in a can!
Pot–au–feu, or pot on the fire, is one of France’s most famous classic dishes. It features different beef cuts and vegetables, simmering in a flavorful broth until tender. It’s what we United Statesian would call, “clean out the fridge soup”. I think!?
Sure, pot-au-feu can be made with other meats like chicken or pork, but there’s no real rule about it, which is why our recipe features vegetables, only. With a bright boiled (or poached) egg on top.
Who needs meat when you can enjoy a huge bowl of this soup packed with all the vegetables sitting inside that veggie tray in the fridge.
VEGETABLE SOUP
This is a healthy Vegetable Soup and it’s versatile to suit your taste. Perfect for those following a low calorie diet, but ideal for everyone that wants a delicious healthy dish for lunch or dinner.
You can serve it as a main for a light meal, or you can serve it alongside your favorite protein, like grilled lemon chicken or baked salmon.
HOW TO MAKE A VEGETABLE SOUP
A simple Veggie Soup is a family favorite, and it is just a whole lot of vegetables – potatoes, spinach, leek, onions, carrots, asparagus, mushrooms – cooked in vegetable broth.
- We first combine potatoes, carrots, onions, and leek, and sauté until tender.
- Add in some garlic, lemon zest, and lemongrass. If you don’t have lemongrass, just use around 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice.
- Pour in the broth; bring to a boil, lower heat and let simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until the veggies are just tender.
- Stir in the asparagus and mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes.
- Mix in the spinach and continue to cook for 1 minute, or until spinach is wilted.
- Taste soup for seasonings and adjust accordingly.
- Serve.
HOW TO STORE VEGGIE SOUPS
Store completely cooled Vegetable Soup in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 4 days.
HOW TO FREEZE VEGGIE SOUPS
Store completely cooled Vegetable Soup in freezer bags or in an airtight container. Freeze for up to 3 months.
MORE SOUP RECIPES
- Easy Soba Noodle Soup
- Instant Pot Chicken Zoodle Soup
- Italian Sausage Soup with Kale and Beans
- Asparagus Soup
ENJOY!
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Warm Weather Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion,, sliced
- 1 leek,, white and light green parts only, quartered lengthwise and rinsed
- 6 small new potatoes,, scrubbed and cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
- 4 carrots,, trimmed, peeled, and cut on the diagonal into 1/2-inch thick slices
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, , minced
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 piece lemongrass,, split lengthwise (2-inch long piece), if you don't have lempongrass, use 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 8 asparagus spears,, trimmed
- 4 large shiitake mushrooms,, stemmed, cleaned, and sliced
- 10 ounces baby spinach
- 4 to 6 eggs,, poached or hard-boiled (optional)
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (parsley, thyme, oregano, rosemary, etc...)
Instructions
- Warm the olive oil over medium-low heat in a dutch oven.
- Add in the onions, leek, potatoes and carrots; season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring gently, for 5 minutes, or until veggies begin to soften a bit.
- Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Mix in the broth.
- Toss in zest and lemongrass.
- Increase heat and bring soup to a boil, then lower heat and simmer gently, uncovered, until the vegetables are just short of tender, about 10 to 12 minutes.
- With the soup at a gentle simmer, drop in the asparagus and mushrooms; cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add spinach over the vegetables and cook another 2 minutes, just until slightly wilted.
- While the vegetables are simmering, slip the eggs into a pot of simmering water and boil to desired doneness.
- Taste finished soup for seasonings and adjust accordingly.
- Ladle the vegetables and broth into shallow soup plates, scatter with chopped fresh herbs, and finish each with a poached or boiled egg on top; serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
Recipe originally published on June 3, 2011. Updated on April 24, 2019.
Yours is a beautiful soup. Wish I had one of those pieces of bread with my soup. I would have definitely used it to soak up the broth!
Yum! This looks delicious! I actually love the idea of a poached egg on top of soup!
I love the egg topping the soup. I think it’s lovely that eggs are topping just about everything these days.
It look wonderful and I love the poached egg idea! Pot au feu means pot on the fire.
Thanks, Evelyne, for the translation!! 🙂
I have to say my family wouldn’t eat it with the egg on top, but I’d love it. It makes such a pretty presentation!
This came out beautifully…one of my favorite soups 🙂
Hope you are having a great weekend!
That looks so fresh & appetizing. That egg looks perfectly cooked and runny, just that way I like it 🙂 And with that chunk of bread – perfect! Love it!
What a wonderful dinner! I think it’s great with the egg on top, and who needs a spoon when you’ve got that nice hunk of bread to sop up the juices! 🙂 By the way, I eat with my fingers all the time. I think it makes food taste better somehow. 🙂
Yes, sometimes, when we have a dish like this, who cares to use the spoons and forks?! Just gobble it up! What a great recipe: the eggs are making me more hungry!
This looks like a very healthy soup…! I love eggs in soups, I’d gobble that egg down completely without hesitation…;)!