Vegan Winter Vegetable Soup
This hearty, vegan winter vegetable soup is loaded with root vegetables. The golden, turmeric broth turns this soup the color of sunshine. Perfect for when you’re under the weather.
A handful of root vegetables, which are in season during the winter months, combined with a bright yellow-hued broth make this earthy soup a perfect weeknight dinner.
This recipe is a big batch soup, it makes enough to feed 8 people, but you can easily halve it.
Vegan winter vegetable soup
We call this “sunshine soup” in our house because that’s what I originally named it. The first time I made it, it just looked like a big bowl of sunshine to me.
This vegan root vegetable soup is hearty and warming, exactly the kind of thing you want in front of you on a cold day.
The soup gets its sunny yellow color from turmeric, which we all know has some health benefits, especially when paired with black pepper, which is also in this vegan winter vegetable soup.
It gets an earthiness from the broth and all of the root vegetables, like rutabaga. The rutabagas have a hefty dose of your vitamin C, which can be helpful if you’re fighting a cold.
Looking for more easy soup recipes for dinner?
How to make vegan vegetable soup
The first step in making this soup is to “sweat” the onions. What does this term “sweating the onions” mean and how do we do it?
Sweating onions is the process of cooking them over high enough heat to get them cooking, but without allowing them to brown. The addition of salt while they are cooking pulls the moisture out, thus making them “sweat”.
Then, the root vegetables can be added to the soup. Most of the rutabaga sold in grocery stores are covered in a thin wax coating, so you absolutely have to peel them before adding to the soup.
Let the carrots, sweet potatoes and rutabaga cook for a few minutes to begin softening before adding stock.
Bring the soup to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are soft. Then add chickpeas and Israeli couscous. Couscous takes about 6 minutes to cook. Then sprinkle a bit of basil or thyme on top and it’s done!
How to chiffonade basil
The term “chiffonade” simply refers to thinly slicing leafy greens or herbs like basil into long, thin ribbons.
To chiffonade the basil, stack the leaves on top of each other, then roll into a tight bundle. With a very sharp knife, slice thinly and sprinkle on top of soup.
This soup also works really well with thyme, if you prefer it over basil. Strip the leaves from the stem and sprinkle on top of soup.
What can I serve with vegan winter vegetable soup?
• Superfood salad with sweet potatoes, pomegranate and pistachios
• Potato Dill Biscuits are flavorful and easy
• Buttermilk biscuits are never a bad choice!
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Ingredients and tools used to make vegan vegetable soup
Vegan Winter Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lg sweet onion diced
- 2 - 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 lg sweet potato peeled & diced
- 4 medium carrots peeled & thinly sliced
- 1 rutabaga peeled & diced
- 8 cups vegetable stock
- 1 1/2 - 2 tsp turmeric
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup Israeli couscous
- 1 can chickpeas drained & rinsed
- fresh basil or thyme for garnish
- 1 tbsp. kosher salt
- 2 tsp. ground black pepper
Instructions
- Add olive oil to a large pot, over medium low heat. Add diced onion and a teaspoon of salt. Stir and let it cook out slowly for about 10 – 12 minutes until it soft and translucent.
- Add garlic and cook an additional 2 - 3 minutes, until soft and fragrant.
- Add remaining salt and pepper, stir to combine.
- Add carrot and sweet potato, cook for a few minutes then add rutabaga.
- When vegetables have started to soften slightly, add stock, bay leaves and turmeric. Simmer for approximately 20 minutes, until vegetables are soft, then add chickpeas and couscous.
- Cook for an additional 6 – 8 minutes or until couscous is soft and chewy. Sprinkle with fresh herbs for garnish and serve.
Nutrition
