This delicious and easy vegan vegetable soup recipe can be adapted in countless ways to incorporate whichever fresh vegetables and herbs you have available or prefer. Be sure to add a splash of fresh lime juice just before serving to brighten the flavors!
Vegan Vegetable Soup
Equipment
- Instant Pot®
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 4 large stalks celery, chopped
- 4 large carrots, sliced
- 1 medium red onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder,
- Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
- 6 cups vegetable broth, preferably organic
- 1 lb. red potatoes quartered
- 2 whole bay leaves
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, chopped
- 2 cup baby kale, roughly chopped
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
Instructions
- Add olive oil to the Instant Pot® and select the “Sauté” function. Add garlic, celery, carrots, red onion, and garlic powder. Season with salt and black pepper, to taste. Stir to combine.
- Sauté, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and vegetables start to turn golden brown, approximately 4-5 minutes.
- Add broth and stir to combine, scraping any brown bits off the bottom of the pot in the process. Turn the unit off.
- Add potatoes, bay leaves, and chopped tomatoes to the pot.
- Put the lid on and lock it into place. Switch the vent to “Sealing” and set the “Manual” setting to 3 minutes.
- When the cooking time is complete, allow pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then manually release any remaining pressure.
- Remove the lid and discard the bay leaves.
- Stir in the baby kale and lime juice, and season with additional salt and black pepper, if desired. Stir to combine and serve immediately.
Note: Although this recipe uses an Instant Pot to cut down the cooking time, you can make this recipe the traditional, long-form style using a saute pan for the saute portion of the cooking and a Dutch oven or large pot for the rest of the cooking time.
What is the difference between Vegetable, Vegetarian, and Vegan Soup?
Here’s a simple answer:
- A vegetable soup can use beef, chicken, or a combination of both broths as a base.
- A vegetarian vegetable soup can’t, but it can have egg or dairy products in it.
- A vegan vegetable soup cannot have any animal products in it whatsoever.
How do you make a soup your own? You play with the main ingredients, the flavor ingredients, and the serving style. Here’s what I mean:
Main Ingredients
The main ingredients in this soup are celery, carrots, onion, red potatoes, cherry tomatoes. That is three root vegetables, one starchy root vegetable, and one acidic vegetable. If you want to maintain a similar balance, but give the soup a different twist, you want to keep that same basic formula. Here are sub substitution ideas:
- fennel, parsnips, red onion, purple potatoes, and Roma tomatoes
- shallots, purple carrots, Vidalia onions, yams, and yellow grape tomatoes
- leeks, turnips, white onions, sweet potatoes, and grape tomoatoes
Flavor Ingredients
This recipe is fairly conservative with the flavor ingredients, using only garlic powder, sea salt, black pepper, and bay leaves. So rather than substituting, I recommend adding. What fresh herbs are in season when you make this soup? Maybe you can add some of those in? Some of my favorite soup herbs include:
- Basil
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Sage
Serving Style
A basic serving style is to pour the soup in a bowl and there you go. But you don’t always have to do it that way. There are ways to serve soup that can enhance the flavor, as well. Here are some ideas:
- Serve with crackers. There are vegan crackers available.
- Serve in a bread bowl. Find — or bake your own — vegan round bread loaf, slice off the center, cut out the middle, pour in the soup — delish!
- Serve Spanish style. This is something I learned from my family. It works especially well with chicken soup but can work with other soups, as well. Cut bread (in this case, vegan bread) into cubes. Place the cubes at the bottom of the soup bowl. Sprinkle with dried mint leave (fresh doesn’t work well). Pour the soup over and eat.
