Easy vegetable soup
A big pot of tomato broth crowded with potatoes, green beans, corn and peas, the kind of soup that makes you feel taken care of.
- 55 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 6
- About $2.08 a serving
- 210 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 carrots, diced
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 can diced tomatoes, with the juice
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups frozen green beans
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1½ tsp Italian seasoning
- 2 bay leaves
- 1½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 210 calories, 6 g protein, 37 g carbs and 5 g fat, and costs about $2.08 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No Yukon Gold potatoes? Russet potatoes or red potatoes work.
- No diced tomatoes? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No frozen corn? Canned corn works.
- No frozen peas? Frozen mixed vegetables work.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion, carrots, celery and potatoes, and the garlic.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft, about 8 minutes.
Medium heatTimer: 8 min
Stir in the garlic, Italian seasoning and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Add the tomatoes, broth, potatoes, green beans, bay leaves, salt and pepper and over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Turn the heat to low, set the and for 20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender when poked with a fork.
Lid ajar. Lid ajar means resting the lid on the pot slightly off-center, leaving a small gap. Some steam escapes, so the sauce thickens and doesn’t boil over, while most of the heat stays in.
How you’ll know: A thin wisp of steam drifts out of the gap, and the pot bubbles gently without spilling.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 20 min
Stir in the corn and peas and simmer for 5 more minutes, until they’re hot.
Low heatTimer: 5 min
Pull out the bay leaves, taste and add salt at a time until the broth tastes full, then serve with parsley.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Dolly’s tip: Vegetable soup needs more salt than you’d guess. Keep tasting until the vegetables taste like themselves.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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