What Are Your Best Vegetable Soup Recipes?

We had a lot of questions about vegetable soup when we announced Soup Week on our Facebook page. Take this one from Melissa, for instance: "I am looking for more vegetable soups using veggie stock. I make my typical same old veggie soup often and want new ideas for this season." So let's throw this discussion wide open: What are your best vegetable soup recipes?

This was a big Soup Week request from readers on our Facebook page, so, more ideas for veggie soup, please? What are your favorite vegetable soup recipes — simple, complex, traditional, newfangled? Tell us, and leave lots of links — we'd love to add some new vegetable soups to our repertoires.

Pictured above, two new vegetable soup recipes from this week:
• Recipe: White Bean and Roasted Squash Soup with Pistou
• Recipe for All: Curried Coconut Carrot Soup

(Images: Dana Velden; Leela Cyd Ross)

Comments (13)

I make a roasted cauliflower and leek soup that's rich and creamy, but there's no dairy in it. I find myself making this one over and over when it's cold outside.

http://mymansbelly.com/2010/01/05/roasted-cauliflower-and-leek-soup/

barefoot contessa butternut squash apple soup - it's sweet, but also has curry, so the end result is DEEEVINE. I serve with a dollop of creme or swizzle of heavy cream too. I swear by it!

I love the Winter Squash Soup in How to Cook Everything. I use butternut squash, and I love that it involves apple. It's heavenly.

I make this awesome hearty soup.... I start with a mushroom or vegetable based broth, add red lentils, barley, sundried tomatoes, quinoa, a little bit of pasta shells, and sauteed onions. It ends up turning more into a stew, which is also fine, but the flavor is amazing and there's so much fiber that one bowl will fill you up!

Minestrone. I used to make it as a way to use up bits & bobs, but now I sometimes intentionally make extra bits & bobs for it because it's so good. The key is to use really good leftover tomato sauce as your base.

Basically, sautee an onion or mirepoix, add plenty of crushed garlic, your favorite seasonings (I like bay and an Italian blend) and then a generous quantity of sauce. When it's bubbling, add a liquid (water is OK) and any of your uncooked vegetables, plus a parm rind if you have it. Simmer until the veg is tender, than add cooked (leftover) vegetables. Return to a simmer and add pastina. When the pastina is cooked, pull out the parmesan rind and serve with a grating of your fave hard cheese.

This one can be anywhere from meat-tacular to completely vegan depending on my mood and the contents of my fridge. Rendering pancetta as a first step adds amazing depth, putting butter in with the sauce is nice, using a meat sauce, etc. Never the same twice, always delicious.

Purple Cauliflower Soup- very easy;use white, purple or yellow cauliflower Yes, the water turns purple from the purple version. The yellow/orange cauliflower is more of a true buttercup color. http://weelicious.com/2009/03/30/purple-cauliflower-soup/

Pesto soup/French Soupe au Pistou/Italian Minestrone Genovese add seasonal veggies or those to your taste http://fxcuisine.com/default.asp?language=2&Display=100&resolution=high

Pretty Pink Lentil Soup Won my husband over to lentils http://www.teaandcookiesblog.com/2009/03/year-of-the-lentil.html

I have a favorite Minestrone as well, but when we're craving something really different and a little spicy, I make Mulligatawny Soup.
It's not "my" recipe, but adapted from Cooks Illustrated. I substitute vegetable stock for the chicken stock and add chick peas for protein. So delicious, especially the next day.

I just made this to hold me over for the weekend and it's perfect - creamy, slightly spicy, and so healthy.

1. saute 1 onion until soft
2. add 1 lb peeled chopped parsnips & 2 peeled chopped apples
3. cover w/ veg. stock and cook until veggies are soft (20-30 mins)
4. puree w/ immersion blender, and add salt, pepper & more stock to taste

Goya 16 Beans Soup-
half the bag of beans
14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 onion, 2 garlic cloves
2 carrots and 3 celery stalks diced
2 cups chicken stock and 2 cups vegetable stock
oregano and 1 bay leaf
soak beans overnight. Rinse. Place everything in crockpot. Cook all day on low. Really good.

Pumpkin Soup:

open pumpkin with cap (like a jack-o-lantern)
scoop out seeds (save for roasting if you will)
insert 1 stick of butter (salted or unsalted)
6 cloves garlic
cumin (seed or powder)
chilli del valle
turmeric
paprika
smidgen of cayenne
nutmeg
(all to your preferences, or change it up!)
put cap back on, put in oven at 350F (either in a glass or metal baking sheet with slightly higher sides ~ 2 inches) and bake till the pumpkin meat is quite tender (it really depends on the pumpkin)

remove from oven & place all contents into a pot. (scrape the meat from the cap - don't eat the stem) use an immersion blender to blend pumpkin and contents while gradually adding either broth, milk, cream or beer (or try a mix - i recently had milk & broth, a slightly lighter but creamier texture) and blend till there are no more large chunks. heat on stove and serve.

great garnishes: avocado creme (greek yogurt, avocado, lemon/lime juice), toasted pumpkin seeds, sauteed mushrooms, fried tomato or jalapeno

enjoy!