This Loaded Vegan Veggie Soup is the perfect bowl of heartiness for those cold fall and winter days in the season. Filled with an array of vegetables such as onions, garlic, kale, corn, carrots, peas, sweet peppers, and gracefully paired with red kidney beans and navy beans, this soup is quite the healthy meal and surely does warm things up nicely while keeping you full! All vegan ingredients. Slow Cooker option.
I’m such a HUGE fan of soup (or at least I use to eat soup almost daily some years ago), so of course, I am really excited to share this recipe with you all. There's nothing like a hearty veggie soup and this recipe is the epitome of that. If you've been an avid reader of Orchids + Sweet Tea, then you're probably aware of this delicious soup options that are on our site. When it comes to this Loaded Vegan Veggie Soup, I love the fact that it stands by it's name----LOADED!
In this soup recipe, you'll find a ton of flavor and the bite of every veggie will leave you feeling full, nourished, and comforted without the need for meat.
Personally, it's all about using stocks or broths more than just fresh water, which adds a ton of extra flavor. Plus, you can take it a step further and even add in the bone broth. SO good! Lately, I’ve been asked for advice on keeping things interesting, especially when eating a plant-based or vegan diet. While I’m not a total Herbivore, my family and I make a commitment to eating most things that are Vegan. Also, Indulge in the fiery goodness of our Spicy Vegan Chili--A bold and hearty dish that's a flavor explosion in every spoonful.
To start, I’d recommend reading our latest article, How to Best Transition into a Plant-Based or Vegan Diet, which best explains how to keep your focus and continue on with eating healthy.
Secondly, my best advice for anyone is to EXPERIMENT, EXPERIMENT, EXPERIMENT!
The Process in 3 Simple Steps:
Begin by prepping your ingredients first! I find it to be a much easier process when I rinse, dice, and chop all ingredients that are needed. This allows you to be best organized and reduces the mess factor.
Cook all of your veggies in a large dutch pot (it helps to cook your soup best) and in veggie stock. Then you let it simmer on low for a few minutes for the greatest fusion of flavor.
Finally, you stir, season again for taste, and wallah. It’s magic!
How to Make Loaded Vegan Veggie Soup
To make this Loaded Vegan Veggie Soup, you'll start by sautéing the veggies along with the seasonings. Doing so enriches the flavors greatly. Also, this enhances the rich, caramel flavors in the soup.
The key for this recipe is to prep all of the ingredients, put everything together and let it all simmer for a nice slow cook. Stir, season again (if needed), and wallah!
INGREDIENTS
Here's what you need to make this Loaded Vegan Veggie Soup at home:
Onion, bell peppers, and carrot. These vegetables create the delicious, flavorful, aromatic base of the soup.
Fire Roasted Tomatoes. Adds a nice kick of spicy flavor. Can use canned regular tomatoes if you need, diced preferred.
Vegetable stock. Use store-bought low-sodium broth or make your own! For added nutrition, add in half the amount in bone broth (non-vegan option---of course).
Navy beans. I use one can of beans, drained, and rinsed them. You can also use Northern beans or other types of white beans.
Kidney beans – Can help reduce blood sugar levels. You can use dried beans or canned.
Garlic. You'll mince your garlic for a good sauté.
Olive oil. You can also use Grapeseed oil or coconut oil as well.
Herbs + Seasonings. A great addition of flavor. Adds such savoriness from the salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, turmeric, cumin, thyme, basil, and red pepper flakes.
Corn. I use frozen white sweet corn, but you can use 2 ears of organic corn and cut them into 1-inch pieces for an easier bite. Corn is a great source of Vitamin C as well as other Vitamins and minerals.
Fresh Greens. I use kale, but spinach, collard greens, or Bokchoy also works well to add some greens, Vitamins, and color in.
The Best White Beans to Use for this Soup
When it comes to this Loaded Vegan Veggie Soup recipe, I love using white beans like navy beans, however, there are actually 4 types of white beans that can be used:
Cannellini Beans
Great Northern Beans
Cannellini Beans
Baby Lima Beans
Out of all of the beans, Navy (Pea) Beans are perfect for creamier dishes since they mash really well while cooked. While Northern Beans are bit bigger in size than Cannellini Beans, but they are neutral in that they take on any flavor of the dish they're added to.
Just know that any of these four types of beans are perfect for soups like this one.
How to Use Dried Beans in Loaded Veggie Soup
I love the convenience of using canned beans, especially during weeknights where time is limited. But if you have more time or would like to use dried beans, no worries!
Simply soak your beans overnight covered in water to help cut down on the cook time. For a quicker soak time, simply add your beans to water in a pot, bring to a boil, remove from heat and cover the pot to let the beans rest in the water for at least 1 hour.
Turmeric is an amazing ingredient to incorporate into your dishes, especially in this soup. The health benefits that derive from this simple ingredient is so awesome. But if you’re wondering, what turmeric is and where you can find it—no worries. Let’s talk!
Turmeric is the spice that gives curry its yellow hue. That’s right—it creates that bright yellow color all on it’s own. The main ingredient in turmeric—curcumin, is where all the incredible benefits lie.
Benefits include -
Improved heart health
Very strong antioxidant
Powerful inflammatory effects
Strong antibacterial effects
Aids digestion
BUT WHY TURMERIC + BLACK PEPPER TOGETHER?
Turmeric is an amazing ingredient to incorporate into your dishes. The health benefits that derive from this simple ingredient is so awesome. But if you’re wondering, what is turmeric and where you can find it—no worries. Let’s talk!
Turmeric is the spice that gives curry it’s yellow hue. That’s right—it creates that bright yellow color all on it’s own. In addition, the main ingredient in turmeric—curcumin is where all the incredible benefits lie. It has powerful inflammatory effects and is a very strong antioxidant.
The only downside is that curcumin is present at a very low rate in turmeric, therefore, the best way to gain the full benefits of this ingredient is to take supplements with high contents of curcumin, specifically. OK, so where does black pepper come in? Whelp, black pepper’s main ingredient–piperine actually helps the body to absorb curcumin (by large increases) which gives us the full effect of health benefits at work.
Piperine on it’s own has it’s own set of benefits which range from nausea relief to headaches to poor digestion.
Therefore, the next time that you chose to add turmeric to your foods/drinks to add a few health benefits, don’t forget to add the black pepper. And don’t worry—it’s not that much that is required either.
SHOP MY FAVORITE TOOLS FOR COOKING, ESPECIALLY FOR THIS SOUP!
Here, I’ve curated a list of cooking + baking essentials that I use to achieve my favorite baked goods or cooked meals, especially with this Loaded Vegan Veggie Soup. Everything from my fave baking sheet, liners, dutch ovens, high-powered blender, mixing bowls, and more. SEE THEM HERE!
WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS LOADED VEGGIE SOUP RECIPE?
It’s super easy to make.
Done in just 30 minutes. Why hello, weeknight meal!
Only requires ONE pot! Has a great Slow Cooker option.
It’s all Vegan + Plant-based.
Compiled from great tasting veggies—like white beans, red kidney beans, corn, peppers, tomatoes, kale, onions, garlic, etc.
Did I mention that it’s just TOO GOOD TO NOT GRAB A BOWL + ENJOY?
Tips for Making Healthy Vegetable Soup
The nice thing about this Loaded Vegan Veggie Soup is that it's very easy to customize depending on what's in your fridge! Here are some easy swaps and additions to make this vegetable soup your own:
Add other veggies like radishes, fresh tomatoes, green beans, turnips, or leeks.
Change up the spices! Add more heat with cayenne, sriracha, or paprika.
Add more herbs, like basil, tarragon, marjoram or mint.
Swap the quinoa for other ingredients like orzo or a small-shaped pasta.
What Are Delicious Foods to Pair This Veggie Soup With?
When it comes to most soup dishes, I often enjoy them with a side of bread of some sort. Most times, I make my own homemade Garlic Bread, however, you can choose to spruce things up with many other options such as:
A delicious Salad
Sautéed Greens
Grilled Veggies
Toasted Bread
Salted or unsalted crackers
Storing Leftover Loaded Vegan Veggie Soup
This Loaded Vegan Veggie Soup recipe is great for meal prep! Pack fully cooled leftover vegetable soup into an airtight container. Store it in the fridge for 2-3 days. Reheat servings on the stove or in the microwave to serve.
You can also freeze leftover soup for up to six months. To defrost, let the soup defrost in the fridge. Then reheat on the stove or in the microwave.
Can I Make This Loaded Veggie Soup in a Slow Cooker?
Absolutely! To make this soup in the slow cooker, simply sauté garlic, onions, and veggies before adding all ingredients into your slow cooker and cooking on the low setting for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally---until all veggies and beans are tender and cooked through.
1carrots, peeled + grated(You can also chop them if preferred)
2cupschopped kale, organic
1cupsweet corn, white or yellow
1-2cupsorganic green peas, fresh or frozen
4-5cupsorganic vegetable stock/broth
1teaspoonsea salt
1teaspoonblack pepper
1teaspoondried thyme
1teaspoonground cumin
1teaspoonsmoked paprika
1teaspoonturmeric powder
1teaspoonred pepper flakes, optional
1teaspoondried basil
1teaspoongarlic powder
Instructions
TO MAKE THE SOUP:
In a medium-sized dutch oven pot over medium high-heat, add the olive oil. Once heated, add the minced garlic and chopped onions, and sauté until translucent + fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add the fire roasted tomatoes, and chopped sweet peppers, red kidney beans, and navy beans, stirring and sautéing for 1-2 minutes. Add in the seasonings: salt, black pepper, thyme, cumin, smoked paprika, turmeric, red pepper flakes, basil, and garlic powder, stirring to combine.
Add in the carrots, green peas, kale, corn, and veggie stock/broth, stirring everything together until combined.
Let everything boil for 1-2 minutes and then reduce heat to low to allow a simmer. Let it continue to simmer for another 20 minutes or so or until veggies have cooked through and are tender. Add additional salt, to taste.
Remove from heat and serve immediately into prepared bowl(s), with a side of bread or crackers, if desired.
Bon Appetit!
Tips & Tricks
STORAGE: Leftovers can be stored in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, for optimal freshness. Can also be frozen for 4-6 months. To defrost, simply place soup in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature before re-heating on the stove top to serve.
GREENS: Instead of kale, you can use broccoli, spinach, collard greens, or bokchoy as substitutes.
TURMERIC: While adding turmeric is optional, it definitely has benefits: powerful medicinal properties, natural anti-inflammatory ingredient, increases antioxidant activity in the body, and more.
SLOW COOKER OPTION: To make this soup in the slow cooker, simply sauté garlic, onions, and veggies before adding all ingredients into your slow cooker and cooking on the low setting for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally---until all veggies and beans are tender and cooked through.
EQUIPMENT: Here, I’ve curated a list of cooking + baking essentials that I use to achieve my favorite baked goods or cooked meals, especially with this Loaded Vegan Veggie Soup. Everything from my fave baking sheet, liners, dutch ovens, high-powered blender, mixing bowls, and more. SEE THEM HERE!
Overall it's a solid recipe, but the directions are a little confusing... It sounds like this was converted from a stovetop recipe and some of the directions don't translate fully. Also, a tablespoon of red pepper flakes is INSANE for this amount of soup, especially vegetable. I cut it in half and it was still unnecessarily spicy (and I love spicy things). Next time I'll probably use 1/2 teaspoon.
Hi Paul! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try! This one is one of my older recipes that I plan on revamping and adjusting to make it better next month! I appreciate all of your feedback! 🙂
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Overall it's a solid recipe, but the directions are a little confusing... It sounds like this was converted from a stovetop recipe and some of the directions don't translate fully. Also, a tablespoon of red pepper flakes is INSANE for this amount of soup, especially vegetable. I cut it in half and it was still unnecessarily spicy (and I love spicy things). Next time I'll probably use 1/2 teaspoon.
Hi Paul! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try! This one is one of my older recipes that I plan on revamping and adjusting to make it better next month! I appreciate all of your feedback! 🙂
Soup and I are basically BFFs all through the fall and winter. I love finding new recipes to try. This looks so hearty and delicious!
Vegan and loaded with veggies... Count me in! This would be perfect for these cold evenings we are having.
I have all the ingredients for this soup! it's perfect for a chilly night like tonight. I'm definitely making it
I love vegetable soup. It's especially perfect for this time of year.