This mixed vegetable soup is about to be your new go-to soup recipe. The vegetables are spiced and roasted for a more intense flavour!
As one of my most loved and most popular recipes, I had to include this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’!
Roasted Vegetable Soup
So, I guess the killer question is ‘why roast the vegetables?’
By roasting the vegetables you gain flavour that boiling just can’t offer. The vegetables caramelize and turn slightly sweet when roasted. You also get gorgeous bits of char which add a nice smoky twang to the soup. The other reason is that it deepens the flavours of the spices too. Lastly, vegetables are packed with a lot of water. By roasting them you squeeze out a lot of moisture and intensify the flavour.
Alright, hopefully I’ve convinced why boiling veggies < roasting veggies when making soup. Let’s talk about the vegetables themselves.
What are the best vegetables to put in soup?
Honestly? In the right context there aren’t many vegetables that aren’t great in soups. But, context is key. As we’re roasting the vegetables, you’re really looking for vegetables that a) benefit from roasting and b) taste great when blended together. With that in mind, here all the usual suspects for me:
- Sweet Potato
- Red Pepper
- Parsnip
- Carrot
- Onion
- Garlic
I’ve made various different mixed vegetable soups and deem this combo to be the best! You can make small subs (butternut squash for sweet potato, different coloured peppers/onions) but anything too far astray will start to alter the flavour considerably.
Vegetable Soup Seasoning
Now, I have made this exact same soup with no spices and it does taste great, but the spices do really take it from a 9 to a 10. I actually steer away from using herbs in this soup – I find them sometimes to be distracting. Here I just use spices to deepen the flavour but allow the flavour of the veggies themselves to shine. Here’s what I use:
- Cumin
- Ground Coriander
- Turmeric
- Salt & Pepper
Cumin, ground coriander and turmeric are all great with roasting root veg, which is what makes up the bulk of this soup.
Roasting Vegetables
Roasting the vegetables is pretty straight forward, you’ll just need the largest sheet pan you’ve got!
For convenience I like to roast all my veg at the same time. You’ll see in the photos below that the root veggies are diced into small chunks. This is to ensure they cook at an even rate similar to the onions and peppers, which are diced much larger.
Making sure the vegetables are 100% cooked through isn’t a priority here, it’s more to get a good caramelization and light char on the veg (for maximum flavour). The veggies will be boiled until completely cooked through after this.
The last thing to mention is that the garlic cloves should be left in their skins. This will protect the garlic from burning and ensure it turns sweet and sticky.
Making Roasted Vegetable Soup
Right, veggies roasted, time for soup. For this soup I use vegetable stock, just to keep in theme. BUT, you can totally use chicken stock too if you wish.
Tip for making Roasted Vegetable Soup
- Pan – My number 1 tip is to splash a little boiling water on the pan you roasted the veggies on and scrape off all that gorgeous flavour to add to the soup!
- Boil – Most of the work is done, but I do recommend boiling the veggies in stock for 10-15mins, just to completely cook them through and marry the flavours together.
- Stock – I recommend only using enough stock to just cover the vegetables in the first instance, then adjust later if you need. Much easier to thin out a soup than it is to thicken.
Thick Creamy Vegetable Soup
From there, just grab a hand blender and blitz it up until the vegetables are completely smooth. This will result in a thick and creamy soup, which ironically contains absolutely zero cream. I promise you won’t need it! Remember to just gradually add in the stock as needed to thin out as you blitz up the the soup.
Can you freeze this soup?
Absolutely! Soups are perfect for making ahead of time, and actually help to develop the flavours in doing so. To freeze, just completely cool then store in airtight containers. To reheat, either thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat on the stove, or you can also reheat in the microwave.
And there we have it! My vegetable soup knowledge has officially leaked 🤣
But for now let’s tuck into the full vegetable soup recipe shall we?!
How to make Roasted Vegetable Soup (Full Recipe & Video)
Roasted Vegetable Soup
Equipment
- 30cm x 45cm (12” x 18”) Baking Tray (preferably dark or turmeric may discolour)
- Plastic Spatula (to scrape off flavour from tray)
- Large Pot with Lid
- Ladle
- Hand Blender
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
Ingredients
Veg
- 6 cups / 1.5litres Vegetable Stock, or as needed
- 1 large Sweet Potato, peeled and diced into small chunks (1 large unpeeled sweet potato is ~1lb/500g)
- 4 small/medium Carrots, diced into small chunks (approx 9oz/250g)
- 2 medium Parsnips, diced into small chunks (approx 5oz/150g)
- 2 medium Red Peppers, cored and diced into large chunks (approx 12oz/350g before cored)
- 2 small/medium White Onions, peeled and quartered (approx 9oz/250g before peeled)
- 4 cloves of Garlic, kept in skins
- 3 tbsp Olive Oil
Seasoning
- 3/4 tsp Salt, plus more to taste
- 3/4 tsp Cumin
- 1/2 tsp Ground Coriander
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper, plus more to taste
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 200C/390F.
- Space out veg on a large baking tray and combine with 3 tbsp olive oil, 3/4 tsp salt and cumin, 1/2 tsp ground coriander and turmeric and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Important that the root veg are diced small so they cook at an even rate to the peppers/onion/garlic.
- Place in the oven for 25-30mins or until lightly charred and fork tender. Take the tray out after 15mins and flip the veg, hiding anything that seems to be charring particularly fast.
- Squeeze garlic out of skins and add everything into a large pot. Add a splash of boiling water to the tray and use a plastic spatula to scrape off the flavour stuck to the tray, then add that in too.
- Add 5cups/1.25litres veg stock and simmer with the lid on for 15mins, just to fully soften the veg and marry the flavours together.
- Use a hand blender to blitz everything, pouring in more stock to thin it out to your desired consistency. Taste test for seasoning and adjust accordingly then serve up and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Your Private Notes:
Nutrition
Looking for more?
You’ll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’
For good use of leftover vegetables check out my Easy Cheesy Vegetable Pasta Bake!
If you’re after more similar recipes check out these beauties:
Hearty Soup Recipes
- Roasted Tomato Soup
- Roasted Carrot Soup
- Spring Onion Soup
- Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
- Tomato Tortellini Soup
If you loved this Vegetable Soup Recipe then be sure to pin it for later! Already made them or got a question? Give me a shout in the comments below and pick up your free ecookbook along the way!
So simple to make and so tasty! Made a few batches and popped them in the freezer. Defrosted perfectly, texture stayed the same. Perfect winter warmer.
So pleased to hear, Siobhan! 🙂 C.
Made this to go with some crusty sourdough and baked Brie. I was looking for a good fall soup without cream or butter to be a nice veggie-filled complement. It’s tasty just as written, and next time I might experiment with a bit more garlic, a dash of apple cider vinegar, some curry powder and/ or smoked paprika to taste. Maybe topped with some croutons? This is definitely going into rotation this fall at our house – thanks!
Thanks so much for the review, Cary!! 🙂 C.