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Easy Vegetable Soup in 15 Minutes

Quick Homemade 15-Minute Vegetable Soup Recipe

We’ve all been there. The refrigerator and cupboards are almost bare. Today’s Easy Vegetable Soup in 15 Minutes can be made with whatever vegetables you have in your pantry. Plus it’s hearty enough to fill you up for dinner.

A great basic vegetable soup recipe is a great thing to have up your sleeve. It’s a quick lunch or dinner. I especially like to make it the day before a big grocery shopping trip. No, it’s even better when the fridge is just about empty and there’s just a few bits and pieces of vegetables ready to be used up.

Here’s A Video Showing How To Make This Quick And Delicious Vegetable Soup:

What Vegetables Go In The Soup?

Whatever vegetables are in the fridge, go into my soup. Carrots, celery, that lonely half of a bell pepper, the leftover steamed green beans. Then I add some frozen vegetables, if I have them. And usually a can of drained beans and a can of diced tomatoes.

That’s pretty basic. But what’s most important to the vegetable soup is the extra flavors that you add. You need to make sure that there are layers of flavor to boost up the veggies and make them shine.

Other Additions To Vegetable Soup

I like to add herbs, either dried herbs at the beginning of the cooking process or fresh at the end. Or both.

I also find that vegetable soup needs a bit of brightness and zing. I therefore always put in a bit of lemon juice just before serving. It makes the biggest difference. Really. Taste the soup before adding lemon juice and then add a bit and taste again. It’s a whole different world.

Same goes with Worcestershire sauce (today’s SouperTip!).  Add a little bit of it just before serving. It has a meaty warm flavor that bulks up the soup. Worcestershire is a great ingredient to add to any soup or sauce when you feel it’s just missing something. Worcestershire sauce fixes it.

Note that Worcestershire sauce is not vegetarian since it contains anchovies. To make this soup vegetarian, you can skip the Worcestershire or try out a vegan brand of the sauce.

More Soup Recipes

I love soup, both making it and eating it. If you love all things soup too, go browse through all of my soup recipes. There are over 70 of them, and I love every single one and know you will too! Here are a few of my favorites:

Podcast Episode About Making Easy Vegetable Soup

Listen to me briefly explain how this vegetable soup is made, with great tips along the way, by clicking the play button below:

Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.

Print

Easy Vegetable Soup in 15 Minutes

  • Author: Christine Pittman
  • Prep Time: 0 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 46 servings 1x
  • Category: Entrée
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: American

DESCRIPTION

A quick and easy vegetable soup! You can use the vegetables listed below or go with whatever bits and pieces of raw or cooked veggies that you have in your fridge. Yield: 7 cups


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 4 cups low or no-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
  • 1 (28 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 cup matchstick carrots
  • 6 oz. pre-trimmed green beans
  • 1 small onion
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. black pepper
  • 1 (15.5 oz.) can reduced-sodium cannellini beans (also known as “white kidney beans”)
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • 1 handful of basil, parsley, or cilantro (for garnish)
  • 1/2 of a lemon
  • 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce*

Instructions

  1. Measure the broth into a large microwave-safe bowl. Add the diced tomatoes. Microwave on high for 6 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, put a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the oil. Roughly chop the carrot matchsticks. Add to the oil. Stir and cover. Chop the green beans into 1 inch pieces and add to the carrots. Stir and cover. Peel and chop the onion. Add it to the pot. Stir and cover. Peel and mince the garlic. Add it to the pot along with the salt and pepper. Drain the beans and add them to the pot. Add the peas and corn to the pot. Cover.
  3. When the microwave finishes, add the hot broth mixture to the pot. Cover pot and increase heat to high. When it boils, reduce heat to a moderate simmer and cook, stirring occasionally until carrots and green beans are tender, 2-3 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, roughly chop the basil, parsley or cilantro. Juice the half of a lemon.
  5. Remove the soup from the heat. Stir in the lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. Ladle into bowls and garnish with chopped herbs.

Notes

*Worcestershire sauce is not vegetarian. To make this soup vegetarian either skip this ingredient or try a vegan version of the sauce, like this one.