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picture of homemade vegetable soup

How to Make Vegetable Soup (Recipes Kids Should Know Before Leaving Home)

By Jane Maynard

So learning how to make vegetable soup may not sound all that exciting. But trust me, it’s a great meal to know how to make before you leave home and an even better one to eat! Vegetable soup is simple to make and is very flexible – you can include pretty much any vegetables you have on hand. As long as you know the basic recipe, which we will share below, you can have a lot of fun getting creative with your vegetable soup.

Vegetable Soup serving in a bowl

While vegetable soup on its own is mighty delicious, it’s also a great recipe to know so you can use it as a base for other soups. It’s easy to add a bit of chicken if you want something meatier (and/or have leftovers). Or beans for more protein. Noodles would be great, too! Once you get your master vegetable soup recipe, the world is your oyster.

So, are you ready to learn how to make vegetable soup? Here we go!

Top view of a bowl of vegetable soup

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How to Make Vegetable Soup

  • Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

Scale

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped

2 stalks of celery, chopped

2 cloves of fresh garlic, minced or pushed through a garlic press

8 cups vegetable or chicken broth (use vegetable to make this dish vegetarian/vegan)

2 yellow or red potatoes, unpeeled and cut into bite-sized pieces (about 3/4-inch square, doesn’t need to be exact)

1 cup tomatoes, chopped

24 cups of other vegetables of your choice, cut into bite-sized pieces (for example, in the soup you see pictured, I used 1/2 cup green beans, 2 cups broccoli florets, 1/2 cup frozen corn, 1/2 cup frozen peas)

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Juice from 1/2 fresh lemon

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Using a large soup pot, put the pot on the stove over medium heat (which should be halfway on your stove’s knob. If your stove knobs are on a scale of 1 to 10, medium would be 5.).  Add the olive oil. Heat oil for a few minutes, then add the chopped onions. Cook the onions over medium heat for 3-5 minutes.

2. Add the carrots and celery and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

3. Add the garlic, stir, and cook for 1 minute.

4. Add the vegetable or chicken broth. Raise heat to high and bring soup to a boil. Add the potatoes, then reduce heat to about medium, but maintain a simmer. Find the right heat level to make sure the soup keeps bubbling gently.

5. After about 5 minutes after adding the potatoes, add the rest of the vegetables. Simmer the soup for another 5 minutes or so, until all of the vegetables are cooked but not mushy.

6. Add the fresh parsley and the lemon juice. Sprinkle with black pepper, stir, taste and add more pepper and/or salt if needed.

7. Serve and enjoy!

Did you make this recipe?

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More Meals your Kids Should Learn To Cook Before Leaving Home:

1. How to Sautée Chicken Breasts
2. How to Make a Fresh Salad & Homemade Salad Dressing
3. Teach Your Kids How to Roast Yummy Vegetables

 

About the Author

Jane Maynard

Jane Maynard is a mom, wife, graphic designer and blogger living in the San Diego area in sunny Southern California. Jane started her food blog This Week for Dinner 9 years ago and has be...

Jane Maynard is a mom, wife, graphic designer and blogger living in the San Diego area in sunny Southern California. Jane started her food blog This Week for Dinner 9 years ago and has been posting weekly meal plans ever since, in addition to recipes, travel, kitchen tips and more. Jane writes for the food sections of several websites and is always busy cooking up something new! Jane is pretty much obsessed with chocolate chip cookies and does not want to fix that about herself.

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