This Easy Homemade Vegetable Soup is loaded with vegetables makes a comforting, delicious, healthy and hearty soup recipe!
Homemade Vegetable Soup
This vegetable soup recipe has been one of my family’s favorites for as long as I can remember! Filled with vegetables, it is naturally low in fat and calories making it a hearty, yet healthy soup recipe. I love that you can customize the vegetables to your personal preferences and even make it as a beef vegetable soup if you prefer.
Vegetable soup is so easy to make at home and tastes so much better than a canned soup ever could in my opinion! My Grandmother and Mother both made this soup as I was growing up and it is one that is on regular rotation at my house too. Since it is so versatile, I love to make it as a simple vegetarian version and then at other times I’ll make it with beef or turkey for additional protein.
What Vegetables to Include in Vegetable Soup
For the vegetables, the options are limitless! I generally use many of the same vegetables in this soup that my Grandmother and Mother did, but I also love to just use whatever vegetables I have on hand. My favorite vegetables to include are:
- onion
- corn
- carrots
- celery
- okra
- tomatoes
- green beans
- lima beans
- potatoes
Can You Use Frozen Vegetables in Vegetable Soup?
During the winter, I love to use frozen vegetables that I keep stocked in our freezer such as green beans, corn, okra, or even a bag of mixed vegetables. Throughout the warmer months, I love to use fresh vegetables from our garden or the produce stand. Additional vegetables that are delicious in this vegetable soup are English peas, spinach, kale, mushrooms, or cauliflower.
How to Make Vegetable Soup
For this recipe, I’ve included the slow cooker instructions in the recipe card. However, you can also quickly and easily make this soup recipe on the stovetop. I’ve included those instructions below for you as well.
Stovetop Instructions
You can also easily make this soup on the stovetop and without a slow cooker!
- Brown the beef or turkey (if using) in a dutch oven or heavy bottomed soup pot set over medium heat. Drain away any drippings from the browned beef and discard the drippings.
- Add all of the remaining ingredients for the soup and return the pot to the stovetop.
- Reduce the heat to low heat and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.
- Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed.
How to Make Ahead and Freeze Vegetable Soup
Can You Make this Ahead?
To make this soup ahead, cook the soup as directed and allow the soup to cool completely. Then, place into the refrigerator in an airtight container and store for up to 5 days.
How to Freeze this Soup
Allow the soup to cool. Place into freezer-safe container and store for up to 3 months.
To reheat, allow to thaw in the refrigerator overnight and reheat the soup over medium-low heat on the stovetop until heated throughout, about 15 minutes.
What to Serve with this Soup
While this soup makes a hearty meal on its own, you can also serve with the following
Here’s my Slow Cooker Vegetable Soup recipe. I think you are going to love it!
Slow Cooker Vegetable Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef, optional
- ½ medium onion, diced
- 2 cups fresh or frozen mixed vegetables , or 2 (15-ounce) cans mixed vegetables, drained
- 2 cups fresh or frozen Lima beans, or 1 (15-ounce) can Lima beans, drained
- 2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels, or 1 (15-ounce) can niblet corn, drained
- 2 cups carrots sliced , or 1 (15-ounce) can carrots, drained
- 4 pounds peeled and diced whole tomatoes, or 4 (15-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
- 1 (15-ounce) can tomatoes and okra
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cook ground beef, if using, and onions until browned. Drain away the drippings from the browned beef and discard the drippings. Add the beef and onions to the slow cooker along with all other ingredients.
- Cook in the slow cooker for 4 hours on low.
- Taste and adjust seasonings as needed
Notes
For a vegetarian version of this soup, simply omit the ground beef. Make-Ahead:
Allow vegetable soup to cool. Place into the refrigerator in an airtight container and store for up to 5 days. Freezer Friendly:
Allow vegetable soup to cool. Place into freezer-safe container and store for up to 3 months. To reheat, allow to thaw in the refrigerator overnight and reheat over medium-low heat on the stovetop until heated throughout, about 15 minutes.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
From the Add a Pinch recipe archives. Originally published 2012.
I made this tonight with a little tweaking and it was DELICIOUS!!! I omitted the tomatoes with okra only because I couldn’t find it at Kroger. I added two beef buillon cubes and a tsp of salt. I also used ground turkey instead of beef because my husband is going through a ground turkey phase. So so so good!
I live in Northern Georgia, about 60 miles NE of Atlanta. I can’t seem to find and tomatoes with okra in them! Any idea of where to get them? Thank you!!
If you have a Dollar General in your location, I buy mine there.
What is the serving size?
I added the liquid from the canned vegetables and dropped the 2 cups of water. I felt it added even more flavor. m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m good
I was just thinking the same thing…why get rid of all that wonderful juice and use water? I’ll measure all the juice and then add water for the remaining amount needed…what spices does it need??? Thanks
You can leave out the meat!
Brown onions and celery.
Include parsnips and carrots.
Mixed frozen veggies(corn peas etc…)
Canned tomatoes etc…
Delight your family by adding alphabit noodles!!!
No one is too old for homemade aphabit soup.
I like to use fresh or fozen vegatables. I was wondering what are in the mixed canned vegatables? I couldn’t really tell by looking at the pictures. Thank you.
This looks great. I’m curious. Is there a health reason for draining the vegetables from cans? I can understand draining and rinsing beans, but I wondered if there are preservatives or additives that get rinsed away if draining and substituting the water. Also, would you recommend not adding low sodium beef broth verses water? If so, why? Thanks!
I wanted to make this all veggies, so I skipped the meat. I also substituted the water for chicken broth, and added garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper. It was amazing!
I added a few shakes of pepper flakes for a little zing. After all i am in Texas.
Sounds delicious!
Tried this soup last night, and loved it! So easy and inexpensive, and perfect for the single-digit temperatures we’ve been having here this week! I used all canned vegetables, but rinsed everything except the tomatoes and tomatoes/okra, just to try to cut some of the sodium. I thought it turned out perfectly that way, and my husband liked it too.
I will definitely make this again. I’m also going to post a link on my blog. Thanks for a great recipe!
Sounds AWESOME!!! I could eat soup every day!! Just a dumb question though. Are you using the 2 cans mixed vegetables PLUS the other items listed or in place of them?