Homemade Vegetable Soup is incredibly flavorful and brimming with vegetables. Leeks, carrots, celery and garlic are sauteed and then simmered in broth with potatoes, green beans, zucchini, corn and tomatoes.
When there's an abundance of garden vegetables in season, this vegetable soup is just the right recipe to make. I absolutely LOVE vegetables and this soup is chock full of them.
All the vegetables are cooked precisely to the correct texture, so the potatoes and zucchini are tender, the carrots, celery, beans and corn are still crunchy and the broth is light and SO full of the wealth of flavors of nature's best. Tomatoes, lemon juice and fresh herbs bring such a freshness to the soup as well. Savor every bite and feel satisfied that your family is not only being nourished with an abundance of vitamins but will also slurp it down with pleasure.
Soup is the best for leftovers since all you have to do is reheat it. That's why I always make a big batch so we can enjoy it more than once and I can get some time off from cooking. You can definitely make a smaller batch too.
Ingredients:
- oil, for sauteing the vegetables
- leeks (you can use onion instead)
- garlic
- carrots
- celery
- chicken broth or vegetable broth
- potatoes
- green beans (sometimes I use peas instead of green beans)
- zucchini
- corn (this is one of the vegetables that works great fresh, frozen or canned)
- salt, ground black pepper, to taste
- tomatoes (fresh tomatoes are the best but canned tomatoes can also be used)
- lemon juice
- parsley
How To Make Homemade Vegetable Soup
- Prep all the vegetables. Peel and chop/slice them and have them ready to go.
- Saute the aromatic vegetables. Heat the butter or oil in a large pot. Add the leeks and garlic and cook until tender, about 3-5 minutes. Then, add the carrots and celery and cook for another 5-7 minutes. (Season vegetables with salt and pepper with each addition.)
- Pour in the broth and add the potatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for about 10-15 minutes, until the potatoes are almost cooked through.
- Now add the zucchini and tomatoes, cooking them until they are tender.
- Lastly, add the zucchini and corn. They only cook for a few minutes, so we add them in after all the other vegetables are completely cooked through and tender.
- Turn off the heat, squeeze in some fresh lemon juice and garnish with fresh herbs.
Helpful Tips and Frequently Asked Questions
Just like most soups, the recipe is very versatile. You can leave out any of the vegetables and substitute with others depending on what you like and what you have available.
Other vegetable options: green peas (fresh or frozen), spinach, kale, sweet potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, pepper, beans.
Everyone has a different preference with how they like their soup, so feel free to use more or less.
Since there are potatoes in this soup, I don't recommend freezing it. Potatoes in soup usually get get mushy and fall apart in the freezing process. If you don't mind, that, then go ahead and freeze it, the other veggies are fine being frozen.
You can prep almost all the veggies up to a few days in advance, which will make the process so much faster and easier.
Making a big batch of soup is also wonderful for meal prep because all you have to do the next few days is reheat it.
Homemade Garden Vegetable Soup
This Homemade Vegetable Soup is incredibly flavorful and brimming with vegetables. Leeks, carrots, celery and garlic are sauteed and then simmered in broth with potatoes, green beans, zucchini, corn and tomatoes.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 40 min
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 8
Ingredients
1 ½ Tablespoons butter or oil
2-3 leeks, thinly sliced, white part only
4-6 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
2 celery stalks, sliced or chopped
10 cups chicken or vegetable broth
3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups fresh green beans, cut into ¾-inch pieces
1 small-medium zucchini, chopped
2 large fresh tomatoes (about 1 ½ cups seeded and chopped) or 1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 ears of corn, kernels cut off the cob (or use frozen or canned corn)
salt, ground black pepper, to taste
1-2 Tablespoon fresh herbs, parsley (dill, green onions or cilantro are also nice)
½ - 1 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, optional
Instructions
- Prep all the vegetables, peeling and chopping/slicing them.
- Heat the butter and oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the leeks and garlic, season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook on medium low heat until the leeks are tender, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the carrots and celery. Season with salt and pepper and cook for another 5 minutes on medium low heat, covered.
- Pour in the broth and add the potatoes. Bring the broth to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook, covered, until the potatoes are almost cooked through, 10-15 minutes.
- Add the green beans and tomatoes and continue cooking until the green beans are tender, about 5 minutes. (Season with salt and pepper, if needed.)
- Lastly, add the zucchini and corn, making sure all the other vegetables are cooked through at this point. Bring the soup to a boil and cook for just 3 minutes.
- Off the heat, add the lemon juice and fresh herbs.
- Serve the soup warm. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for about 5 days. Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop.
Notes
Since there are potatoes in the soup, I don't recommend freezing this soup. The potatoes will fall apart and get really mushy during the freezing process.
This makes a really large batch of soup. It reheats really well, so that's why I like making a lot so we can enjoy it more than once. However, please feel free to halve the recipe.
thank you for this delicious soup recipe. it's just what i have been craving on this rainy day. i added polish sausage to the soup...yum! my first time eating leeks and it is tasty.
I just made this soup for our family too:). My husband and I love it.
i made this soup today and its really good i just added some chili cuz we like spicy!
That's great, Mila!
Love this soup! Very comforting, with a good homemade broth! I also like to add jalapeños for spice and ready made Italian sausage
This soup looks like the ultimate comfort food! 🙂 I was wondering if I could just use water instead of the chicken/vegetable broth and add some bouillon cubes for flavor.
In this soup, I think it's best to use real broth, since it's such a huge component of the soup. I wouldn't recommend using bouillon cubes unless it's something that won't be tasted as much, for example, for Beef Goulash, where the flavor of the broth is in the background, not front and center, like this soup. It's up to you of course:). Just my opinion.
I really enjoyed this soup! Thanks for the recipe. I will be making it often!
That's awesome, Olga G. This soup is one of my all time favorites:). So glad that you liked it too.