Chunky Vegetable Soup

This healthy Chunky Vegetable Soup recipe is hearty and vegetarian. It's made with potatoes, carrots, and cooked in a savory Italian broth.

You can never have too many soup recipes on hand during the cold fall and winter months. This Hearty Vegetable Soup is easy to make and sure to warm you up.

This soup is full of hearty vegetables like potatoes, carrots, and green beans that are simmered in a tomato-based broth infused with Italian flavors. It's definitely all-weather comfort food.

I love to prepare a big pot of vegetable soup at the beginning of the week and enjoy it throughout the next few days for lunch or dinner. It's perfect served alongside some warm, crusty bread for dipping.

This soup is full of whole ingredients and simple flavors. It's a no fuss, no frills recipe that celebrates the vegetables used to make it.

Feel free to top it with some shaved Parmesan or Asiago cheese and garnish with some fresh basil leaves for freshness.

Jump to:

• Is Vegetable Soup Healthy?
• Ingredients For Chunky Vegetable Soup
• How To Make Vegetable Soup From Scratch
• Do I Need To Peel The Vegetables First?
• What Vegetables Are Best In Soup?
• How To Add Flavor To Vegetable Soup
• Can I Sub Any Of These Ingredients?
• How Long Does Soup Take To Cook?
• What To Serve With Italian Vegetable Soup
• How Long Will Veggie Soup Last In The Fridge?
• Can I Freeze This Soup?
• Chunky Vegetable Soup

Is Vegetable Soup Healthy?

Making soup from scratch is one of the easiest ways to eat your vegetables. Soup is healthy, versatile, and you can take it in so many different directions.

Sometimes I prefer a pureed soup like ginger carrot soup or butternut squash soup and other times I opt for a chunkier variety like this cannellini bean kale soup or lentil sausage kale soup.

On chilly fall or winter nights it's hard to beat a chunky vegetable soup like this one. It's made with ingredients you've likely got on hand.

Soup is the perfect way to eat healthy while getting that 'comfort food factor' that we all crave this time of year.

Sometimes it's preferable to indulge in comfort foods like red wine pot roast or hearty beef stew and others it's nice to keep it vegetarian.

Ingredients For Chunky Vegetable Soup

Here's what you'll need to make it.

• 6 cloves Garlic
• 1 Onion (any color)
• 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• 4-5 Carrots (yields 3 heaping cups)
• 4-5 Red Potatoes (or Yukon Gold potatoes)
• 1 lb. Fresh Green Beans (yields 3-4 cups chopped)
• 5 cups Vegetable Broth
• 2 cups Crushed Tomatoes
• 1 15.5 oz. Cannellini Beans (drained and rinsed) (or beans of choice)
• 2 packed cups chopped Kale (or greens of choice)
• 1 ½ tsp. Italian Seasoning
• ¾ tsp. Kosher Salt (split)
• ½ tsp. Pepper
• ½ cup shredded Parmesan or Asiago Cheese
• ¼ cup chopped Fresh Basil (for garnish)

How To Make Vegetable Soup From Scratch

The first step in making this soup is to wash and then mince or chop the vegetables. The vegetables are then sautéed in olive oil, topped with vegetable broth, and simmered in a soup pot until tender.

I recommend using a cast iron Dutch oven or any variety of heavy bottomed pot when making soup on the stove top.

A heavy duty pot such as these distributes heat evenly and can fit a lot of contents inside of it, ensuring that the soup won't boil over as it cooks.

Do I Need To Peel The Vegetables First?

This soup calls for carrots and potatoes. I highly recommend washing and scrubbing any vegetables before cooking, but whether to peel them or not is up to you.

I like to peel carrots before chopping, but generally do not peel potatoes before dicing them. I enjoy the texture that potato skins provide, but you can definitely peel them if you prefer.

1. To make the soup, mince 6 cloves of garlic and 1 onion (any color).
2. Wash and scrub (and peel if you like) 4-5 carrots and 4-5 red potatoes (or Yukon Gold potatoes). Slice the carrots and cube the potatoes.
3. Wash and trim l lb. of fresh green beans (yields 3-4 heaping cups chopped). Cut the green beans into halves or thirds.
4. Roughly chop 2 packed cups of kale (or greens of choice).
5. Heat a cast iron Dutch oven or large heavy-bottomed soup pot to medium high on the stove top. Once heated, add 2 Tbsp. olive oil.
6. Add the minced garlic and onions. Sauté for 3-4 minutes, stirring often.
7. Add the sliced carrots and green beans, along with ½ tsp. each of kosher salt and pepper. Sauté for 7-8 minutes, stirring often.
8. Add 5 cups vegetable broth, 2 cups crushed tomatoes, 1 ½ tsp. Italian seasoning, and another ¼ tsp. of kosher salt. Stir until combined.
9. Bring to a boil, reduce to a low boil, cover, and cook for 20 minutes.
10. Drain 1 15 oz. can of cannellini beans (or canned beans of choice).

What Vegetables Are Best In Soup?

You can use any vegetables you like when making soup, but I find it's easiest to choose vegetables with a similar cooking time for best results.

A chunky vegetable soup like this one is perfect for hearty vegetables like potatoes, carrots, green beans, and root vegetables like rutabaga, turnips, and parsnips.

Other vegetables that taste great when making vegetarian soups include butternut squash, leeks, fennel, mushrooms, cauliflower, cabbage, frozen corn or peas, and broccoli.

There really is no 'wrong' way to make a vegetable soup and each vegetable will add its own unique flavor.

The potatoes and carrots in this soup have different cooking times, so one is added before the other. Carrots and green beans take longer to soften when making soup so they are added first.

1. After the soup has cooked on a low boil for 20 minutes or so, it's time to add the potatoes. Add the diced potatoes to the soup and stir to combine. Bring to a boil once again and reduce to a low boil, cover, and cook for another 15 minutes.
2. After 15 minutes add the chopped kale and rinsed cannellini beans to the soup. Cover and cook for another 5-10 minutes.

How To Add Flavor To Vegetable Soup

This is a soup whose flavor focuses on the vegetables themselves. The vegetables are accented by the addition of Italian seasoning and some Parmesan cheese.

• You can bump up the flavor by adding a few springs of fresh thyme or rosemary in place of the dried herbs.
• Feel free to add a squeeze of lemon juice or a splash of vinegar at the end of the cooking time to brighten up the flavors of the soup.
• Add ¼ tsp. or so of red pepper flakes for a spicy kick if you like!

Can I Sub Any Of These Ingredients?

Yes, you can sub the ingredients in this chunky vegetable soup to suit your tastes.

• Any leafy green may be used in place of kale. Swiss chard, collard greens, arugula, or spinach are great options. Alternately, you can omit the kale altogether if you don't care for greens in your soup.
• Feel free to use any canned beans you like in place of cannellini beans. Kidney beans or garbanzo beans are great options.
• Yukon Gold potatoes may be used in place of red potatoes.
• Chicken broth can be used in place of vegetable broth if you are not vegetarian.
• The carrots may be swapped out for parsnips.

How Long Does Soup Take To Cook?

Altogether, this soup takes about 50 minutes to cook on the stove top. This includes the time it takes to sauté the veggies and for the soup to come together.

The soup is done when the carrots and potatoes are soft, but not mushy. They should be easily pierced with a fork or knife.

If the veggies are still hard at the end of the cooking time, simply place the cover back on the soup pot and continue to cook on a low boil until done.

What To Serve With Italian Vegetable Soup

Once the soup is done it's ready to serve.

• To serve the soup, grate a generous amount of Parmesan, Asiago, or Pecorino Romano cheese over the top.
• You can also use any strong flavored cheese, such as sharp cheddar, Gruyere, or fontina.
• Tear a couple of basil leaves and sprinkle them on the top of the soup. The basil helps to drive home the Italian flavor.

You can also top it with a spoonful of jarred basil pesto. If you're feeling really ambitious you can whip up a batch of fresh pesto or green pasta sauce, but who has that kind of time?

It goes great with some homemade biscuits or savory cheese scones.

I love to eat this soup (and any soup, for that matter) with some crusty bread or a toasted sandwich like this Italian mozzarella grilled cheese, lemon basil BLT, or chipotle chicken panini.

Love Italian flavors? Check out these recipes!

• Roasted Vegetable Pasta Bake
• Mushroom and Arugula Pizza
• Lemon Pea Risotto
• Baked Eggplant Parmesan
• Vegetarian Mediterranean Pasta
• Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

How Long Will Veggie Soup Last In The Fridge?

This vegetable soup will last 3-4 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge.

Allow the soup to cool completely before transferring to an airtight container for storage.

Can I Freeze This Soup?

Absolutely. Vegetable soup makes a great freezer meal!

How To Freeze

1. Prepare the soup according to the instructions, leaving out the Parmesan and fresh basil, and allow to cool completely.
2. Once cooled, place the soup in heavy-duty freezer bags or in airtight containers labeled with the date.
3. Store up to 3 months in the freezer.

How To Thaw

1. Place the containers of frozen soup in the fridge for 24 hours to thaw.
2. Place the soup in a Dutch Oven or soup pan and heat thoroughly on the stove top.
3. Add the Parmesan cheese and fresh basil before serving.

Love healthy soups? Be sure to check out these recipes!

• Tuscan Vegetable Soup
• Winter Root Vegetable Soup
• Hearty Lentil Soup
• Healthy Harvest Vegetable Soup
• Vegetable Orzo Soup
• Dutch Oven Chicken Noodle Soup
• Vegetable Dumpling Stew

Looking For More Vegetarian Soup Recipes? Don't Miss These!

Mexican Veggie Soup

Middle Eastern Lentil Soup

Hearty Vegetable Chowder

Healthy Minestrone Soup