Vegetable soup is one of those recipes that can be customized in so many ways that it almost doubles as a way to clean out your refrigerator. I also love vegetable soup in the colder weather months as I do tend to love salad, but a cold salad just doesn’t sound as good as a warm and filling bowl of soup.

This vegetable soup recipe is a great meal all on its own or you could serve this with toast, crackers, or a grilled cheese sandwich.

Related: Want more vegetable based soup ideas? Next up, try butternut squash soup, pea soup, cauliflower soup or broccoli cheddar soup.

Ingredients

• olive oil
• butter
• Onion
• garlic
• Salt and pepper
• sweet potatoes
• Carrots
• Italian seasoning
• cayenne
• vegetable broth
• bay leaves
• diced tomatoes
• green beans
• Zucchini
• parsley
• Lemon
• parmesan cheese

Directions

Prep the vegetables. Dice the onion. Mince the garlic, Peel and cube the sweet potato. Chop up the carrots (peel first if necessary). Remove the ends of the green beans and chop. Cut up the zucchini. And finely chop the parsley.

In a large pot, melt the olive and butter over medium heat. Cook the onions in the fat, seasoning with a little salt and pepper for a minute or two until softened. Then add the garlic and cook another minute or two. Add the sweet potatoes, carrots, Italian seasoning, cayenne, broth, and bay leaves. Reduce the heat to a strong simmer, cover and cook for 20-25 minutes until the potatoes are soft.

Now add the diced tomatoes, green beans and zucchini. Season with a little more salt and pepper. Cover again and cook another 10-15 minutes until the green beans are bright green and have softened.

Remove the bay leaves. Taste and add any additional salt and pepper. Turn off the heat and stir in the parsley and lemon juice. Sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese when serving.

Tips for Making

• If you’d like to make this vegan-friendly, simply omit the butter (use all oil instead) and either skip the Parmesan cheese or use a vegan alternative.
• While these are the vegetables I tend to use in this vegetable soup recipe, you can certainly change it up! Just keep in mind the amount of time the vegetables you use will need to cook in broth in order to be cooked (soft) enough to enjoy.
• If you want to add more plant-based protein to this soup, throw in a can of drained chickpeas at the same time you add the green beans.
• If you want to add some noodles or rice to this soup, feel free! You can add them uncooked with enough time to cook in the broth or you can add them at the end once they are already cooked.

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