These veggie-packed soups will impress everyone at your table. We’ve got great soup recipes for every season to highlight whatever produce is popping at the farmers market. Try the greens-based Rocket Soup in the spring; opt for Indian-spiced Kachumber Gazpacho when it’s too hot to cook. In the fall, nothing beats a velvety bowl of Sweet Potato-Coconut Soup with Thai Curry, and the root vegetable-laden Nordic Winter Vegetable Soup will keep you warm all through the coldest months. From creamy pureed soups to hearty noodle soups, these are our best vegetarian soup recipes.
1.Burmese Samusa Soup
This vegan soup from Desmond Tan’s Burma Superstar in San Francisco features a broth that’s seasoned with black mustard seeds, cumin, and turmeric. Fresh cabbage, herbs, and chiles top each ample bowl, contrasting tender lentils and potatoes with a pleasing crunch. It’s substantial enough to be a meal by itself, but try it topped with wedges of leftover samosas (or samusas, as they’re called in Burma) and falafel, as they do at the restaurant.
2.Vegan Hot and Sour Soup with Tofu
This vegan version of traditional Hot and Sour Soup bursts with flavor and is wildly easy to make.
3.Restorative Ginger and Turmeric Noodle Soup
A trio of coconut — coconut oil, coconut milk, and toasted coconut flakes — makes its way into this fragrant and lovely twist on a classic autumn soup from cookbook author Melissa Clark.
4.Restorative Ginger and Turmeric Noodle Soup
F&W Cooks contributor Hetty McKinnon says this soup is “like a hug” in winter. Garlic oil and ginger-turmeric curry paste add flavor — the paste can keep in the refrigerator for up to seven days and can be frozen, too, so it’s easy to prepare in advance.
5.Mapo Tofu- and “Wok-Style”-Inspired Ramen
Chef Josh Reisner’s mapo tofu ramen is a beautiful marriage of mapo tofu, the spicy tongue-numbing Sichuan dish, and Japanese ramen. It calls for chicken and tofu; use just tofu if you want to create a vegetarian version. Be sure to have chile oil on hand for the finishing touch.
6.Chilled Zucchini Soup with Purslane
Alain Coumont’s cool vegan soup gets its creaminess from pureed zucchini, sautéed onion and garlic. It’s brightened with purslane, a lemony weed that Coumont plucks from his Languedoc country garden; if purslane is not available at your local farmers’ market, substitute baby arugula leaves instead.
7.Spicy Chickpea Soup
Chickpeas are used as the base for this creamy (though cream-free) soup, which is flavored with the Indian spice blend garam masala and prepared by first pureeing it, then simmering it, to save time.
8.Mashhurda (Mung Bean Soup)
League of Kitchens cooking instructor Damira Inatullaeva learned to make this delectable mung bean soup recipe from her Tajik mother-in-law, who makes it without meat and uses dried apricots for a flavorful twist. Don’t let the list of simple ingredients fool you — this is one of the most complex and delicious vegetarian soups we’ve ever tasted. The fresh herbs, pepper, and labneh at the finish take it over the top.
9.Roasted Green Tomato Basil Soup in Sourdough
This beautiful green soup pairs the tartness of green tomatoes with fragrant basil and thyme. Once you’ve finished off the soup, you can eat the sourdough bread bowl.
10.Spicy Grain Soup
Based on a brothy tortilla soup, this fiery, substantial soup is full of nutty-tasting barley, brown rice, and bulgur, creating a dish that’s incredibly hearty.
11.Shiitake and Swiss Chard Soup with Hand-Cut Noodles
Chef David Chang flavors this fabulous broth with dried shiitakes; fresh shiitakes intensify the flavor. The highlight: simple noodles thrown in at the end. “They’re based on the udon I learned to make in Tokyo,” Chang says.
12.Spiced Butternut Squash Soup
Aged goat cheese is a key ingredient in this creamy soup from the Rif Mountains in northern Morocco. Cookbook author Paula Wolfert uses Midnight Moon by Cypress Grove, but goat Gouda also works well. The recipe for the spice blend makes more than you need, but any extra is excellent tossed with roasted vegetables.
13.Nordic Winter Vegetable Soup
Chef and food writer Trina Hahnemann calls the root vegetables in this simple vegetarian soup the “gold of Nordic soil” because they’re high in nutrients and grow well in cold climates.
14.Mushroom-Chickpea Pozole
“Here I use mushrooms to give us that earthy heartiness that you expect from pozole, no meat needed,” says chef Marcela Valladolid. “Guajillo, ancho, and árbol chiles are soaked and pureed for a perfectly balanced sauce that punches up the savory mushroom broth; the chickpeas are a yummy twist in place of the dried hominy.”
15.Vegetable Soup with Fennel, Herbs, and Parmesan Broth
Cookbook author Viana La Place simmers Parmigiano-Reggiano rinds in the broth to give it a rich, cheesy flavor. It’s another example of the “nothing wasted” approach that Italians take to their cooking: “I also strain the soup and use the broth as a base for other dishes,” La Place says.
16.Egyptian Red Lentil Soup
Known as shorbet ads, this vividly hued lentil soup is very popular in Egypt. Serve it with yogurt, lemon wedges, and warm pita.
17.Kachumber Gazpacho
F&W Cooks contributor Hetal Vasavada channeled her love for kachumber, a fresh, cucumber-based Indian salad, to inspire this exciting riff on the classic chilled summery soup. Warm spices and a hint of chile add flavor and heat without overwhelming the fresh tomatoes; sev, a crispy chickpea noodle snack, adds a pleasant crunch.
19.Caramelized Onion and Bread Soup with Brûléed Blue Cheese
In their book Wine Food, sommelier Dana Frank and recipe developer Andrea Slonecker pair funky, bright wines with flavorful, vegetable-forward dishes. In this vegetarian version of classic French onion soup, blue cheese and oloroso sherry bring new layers of flavor and depth. Notes of toasted nuts and fruit compote in the sherry pair well with caramelized onions, and its briny acidity cuts through the richness of the cheese.
19Oliaigua (Menorcan Vegetable Soup) with Fig Jam–Topped Toast
The name for this simple soup of gently stewed onions, tomatoes, and peppers comes from the Catalan words oli (oil) and aigua (water). The soup can be served warm or chilled, and is customarily eaten with bread, which is topped here with figat (fig jam).
20.Creamy Carrot Soup with Scallions and Poppy Seeds
Longtime F&W test kitchen supervisor Marcia Kiesel’s luxuriously creamy soup is the perfect starter for fall dinners because it can be made in advance, then reheated and garnished just before serving.
21.Miso-Roasted Vegetable Soup
“I wanted the soup to taste deep and rich without using a stock, so I turned to my umami arsenal of flavor boosters: miso, soy sauce, canned tomatoes, and a dash of smoked paprika. How could the soup not be delicious?” writes cookbook author Raquel Pelzel. To make it, she tosses her veggies in a miso-oil paste, roasts them until caramelized, then simmers them with spices and tomatoes to concentrate the flavors.
22.Broccoli and Potato Soup
The bright green broccoli florets floating on top of this hearty soup make it especially eye-catching, but it’s the broccoli stems that do the real work. They’re cooked with the potatoes and then pureed to form a creamy base. A final sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese gives the soup an extra savory touch. Be sure to use vegetable stock instead of chicken broth for a vegetarian soup.
23.Vegetarian 15-Bean Soup
Can’t make up your mind about whether to make bean or lentil soup? Grab a bag of 15-bean soup mix from the dry goods aisle at the market and make this flavorful, hearty soup instead. Bean and lentil soups like this one are often cooked with a ham bone or a smoked ham hock, but there are other ways to add flavor, especially when you want something vegetarian. Here, we add a few Parmesan cheese rinds instead.
24.Shorbat Jarjir (Rocket Soup)
A blend of spinach, cilantro, and arugula anchors this delicate, vegetal soup from Yasmin Khan, author of Zaitoun. Warming spices like nutmeg, allspice, and turmeric amplify the verdant flavors of the greens; a single potato adds light, silky texture; and a drizzle of olive oil and dollop of yogurt enrich the soup without weighing it down.
25.Corn Chowder
A bowl of corn chowder is as satisfying in the height of summer’s fresh corn season as it is in the depths of winter. This quick and easy soup recipe highlights the taste of sweet summer corn, but since the vegetable is available virtually all the time, you can (and should) make this chowder year-round. Opt for veggie stock here to keep it vegetarian.
26.Tomato and Quinoa Soup
Drizzle this soup with olive oil or stir in a tender green, such as arugula or baby spinach. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to serve a bowl alongside a grilled cheese sandwich, either.
27.Cabbage Velouté with Poached Pears and Croutons
Chef Christopher Kostow is a big fan of cabbage; when he makes this soup, he uses cabbage juice to amplify the flavor, but it’s also great made with vegetable stock.
