Here’s another of my personal favorite soup recipes – the Vegetable Soup. This is a simple and easy, yet flavorful and nutritious soup made with mixed vegetables and mung bean sprouts. This Mixed Veggie Soup is also light and excellent as a comforting and warming meal for winters as well as monsoons. The recipe is quite handy and can be done whenever you have some vegetables at home and want to make something different than the usual stir fries and curries. This protein rich soup is also vegan-friendly.
About Vegetable Soup
I make this easy Mixed Vegetable Soup just like the way I make the Tibetan Thukpa (without noodles). Obviously, my version is a vegetarian and a plant based one.
At home, you might not have noodles handy at all times, but the craving for a soup can strike any time. There are occasions when I often end making this delish, light, warm and nutritious Vegetable Soup minus the noodles.
However, if you want to add some noodles to this Chinese style soup, you can surely do so. It will make the soup more filling and complete.
With soy sauce, this Vegetable Soup has the exact umami that you are looking for in a soup that is also nutrient-rich. The nutrition bit comes from the array of vegetables and moong bean sprouts used in it.
The fresh veggies that go in my Vegetable Soup are carrots, red cabbage/regular cabbage, button mushrooms, red bell pepper, spring onions, and French beans.
You can include your list of vegetables. I also add some mung sprouts or tofu sometimes, to add in an extra protein punch in the soup.
Apart from turning this Vegetable Soup all the more wholesome, bean sprouts also impart a good taste and texture in the soup. If you don’t have mung sprouts, you can just skip it or can add tofu, if you prefer.
The flavor of this Vegetable Soup will depend on the vegetables you add. This mixed vegetable soup is also a good way to use leftover vegetables from your pantry. Simply add whatever vegetables you have and you get a comforting, hearty bowl of soup.
You can consume this Vegetable Soup as it is or have it with some soup sticks or crusty bread. Best enjoyed during a rainy day or a chilly winter evening or night.
How to make Vegetable Soup
Prep Vegetables
1. First, chop all the vegetables – I added carrots, French beans, red cabbage, button mushrooms and red bell pepper.
You will need about 1.5 to 2 cups of chopped mixed vegetables.
Sauté Onion, Vegetables, Mung Sprouts
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan. Add ¼ cup chopped onions and 1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic.
You can use a neutral flavored oil and even olive oil to make this soup.
3. Sauté until the onions soften and turn translucent.
4. Next, add the chopped mixed vegetables and celery. You will need:
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped celery, can be skipped if you do not have
- 1 cup shredded or chopped cabbage
- ½ cup finely chopped carrots
- ½ cup sliced or chopped button mushrooms
- ½ cup chopped bell pepper – can be red or green or yellow bell pepper
- ¼ cup finely chopped french beans or haricot beans
Note that I have made the soup with the purple colored cabbage, but regular green cabbage also works wonderfully.
5. Mix and stir to combine.
6. Sauté on medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes.
7. Add ⅓ cup moong sprouts and mix well. Sauté for 2 minutes on medium-heat.
Add Liquids & Season
8. Add 3 cups water or Vegetable Stock or broth. If using canned vegetable stock, ensure it labelled low-sodium.
9. Add 2 teaspoon soy sauce. You can add more, if you prefer.
10. Then, add salt according to taste.
11. Add ½ teaspoon black pepper powder or as needed. Stir and mix well.
Make Vegetable Soup
12. Cover the pan with its lid and simmer the soup on medium-low to medium heat for 12 to 14 minutes.
If you want to add tofu cubes, add them when the vegetables and mushrooms are tender and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.
13. Once the veggies are tender, check the seasonings and add more salt or black pepper, if needed.
14. Serve the Vegetable Soup hot or warm. You can garnish with some fresh herbs, if you like.
The soup can be had as it is or with some some boiled noodles or steamed rice added into it for a filling, hearty meal.
Expert Tips
- Vegetables: You can use any vegetables of your choice or use any spare vegetables from your pantry. Some of them are – corn, cabbage, snap peas, broccoli, green peas, bok choy, spinach, mushrooms, cauliflower really taste well in this soup.
- Proteins: If you don’t have moong bean sprouts, simply skip adding it. In place of the sprouts, you can also add tofu in this soup.
- Choice of fat: To make this soup, you can use olive oil, sesame oil or any other neutral flavored oil.
- Herbs and seasonings: I have kept the soup simple with just the addition of soy sauce, salt and pepper in it. However, if you wish, you can add any dried or fresh herbs in it. For a spicier Vegetable Soup, you can add some sriracha or a spicy red chili sauce or red chilli paste too. You can also increase or decrease the quantity of soy sauce in the soup.
- Consistency: A good thing about this soup is that the consistency can be changed, as per your preference. To thicken the soup, add a cornstarch slurry (cornflour paste) and stir well. For a thinner soup, add some more water and stir. Adjust the seasonings, accordingly.
- Serving: While serving, you can garnish the soup with some fresh herbs. You can also add some boiled noodles or steamed rice in it, to make a filling and hearty meal.
FAQs
You can easily increase the spice quotient in this mixed veggie soup by increasing the quantity of ground black pepper in it. You can also add some sriracha sauce or red chili sauce to make the soup spicier.
This Vegetable Soup is made of a variety of vegetables like cabbage, French beans, mushrooms, carrot, red bell pepper; onion, garlic, celery and moong sprouts which are cooked in water flavored with soy sauce, salt and pepper.
The main different between this Vegetable Soup and miso soup is that the latter is a traditional Japanese soup and the former can be any Indo-Chinese or Chinese style soup.
Also, a miso soup typically has a dashi stock (a rich stock or broth made with dried fish and dried seaweed) which is flavored with a miso paste and also has tofu and spring onions in it. On the other hand, a vegetable soup may or may not have these and can be fully vegetarian or vegan too.
More Plant Based Soups To Try!
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Soup Recipes
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Vegetable Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil – any neutral oil or toasted sesame oil
- ¼ cup onions – finely chopped, or 1 small onion – spring onions can be swapped with onions
- 1 teaspoon garlic – peeled & finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons celery – finely chopped, optional
- 1 cup cabbage – shredded
- ½ cup carrots – finely chopped
- ½ cup button mushrooms – sliced or chopped
- ½ cup bell pepper – chopped, red or green or yellow
- ¼ cup french beans – finely chopped
- ⅓ cup Mung Bean Sprouts – optional
- 3 cups water or Vegetable Stock
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce or tamari
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper (black pepper powder)
- salt as required
Instructions
Preparation
- Rinse and chop or shred the cabbage. You could also blanch the cabbage prior to chopping it.
- Rinse, wipe and then slice the mushrooms. Chop the bell pepper.
- Rinse and finely chop the french beans. Also finely chop the onions and garlic.
Sautéing
- Heat oil in a pan. Add onions and garlic. Sauté until the onions are softened and become translucent on medium-low to medium heat.
- Next add the chopped mix vegetables and celery. Stir to combine and sauté on a medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add the moong sprouts and mix well. Sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add water or vegetable stock and combine. Then add soy sauce, black pepper and salt. Mix again.
Making vegetable soup
- Cover the pan and simmer the soup for 12 to 14 minutes on a medium-low to medium heat until the vegetables are cooked and tender.
- Once the vegetables are tender, check the seasonings and add more salt or black pepper if needed.
- Serve the nutritious Vegetable Soup as is or accompanied with some boiled noodles or steamed rice. You can garnish with some fresh herbs like cilantro, parsley, or thyme if you prefer.
Notes
- Adding moong sprouts is optional.
- You can add vegetables that you like. Ensure that the vegetables are tender and cooked well.
- You could make the same recipe with different varieties of edible mushrooms.
- To add a boost of some protein, consider adding some tofu cubes.
- Soy sauce can be omitted. For a gluten-free soup, add tamari instead of soy sauce.
- This recipe can be scaled up to make for more servings.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Vegetable Soup Recipe from the archives was first published on Dec 2014. It has been updated and republished on June 2024.
