Warm Up With This Roasted Vegetable Soup
Written by Mandy from Simple & Sage
Is there anything better than roasted vegetable soup to warm the soul on a cold day? Don’t let the veggies in your crisper go to waste when you can make a simple, easy & delicious soup using the produce that might be less than perfect.
Who needs a complicated soup recipe when you can make a simple, quick and delicious soup with ingredients you probably have in your fridge right now. Cut down on food waste and make a delicious and nutritious soup that will warm you from the inside out.
Never mind sweater weather, once there is a touch of crisp in the air, it is soup season at our house. And that lasts all winter long. There is nothing better than a warm bowl of soup on a chilly day - even better if you can curl up under a blanket while you enjoy it.
Soup is actually a big part of my love story. When my husband and I were in university, our favourite lunch together was soup and grilled cheese. We got married in October (prime Fall soup season) and we had THE best Corn Chowder as part of our meal - I’m not exaggerating, people still talk about this soup a decade later.
Making a pot of soup is also such a great way to reduce food waste in your home. Each week before our Odd Bunch box arrives on our front porch, I clean out the fridge and brainstorm how I can use the vegetables that didn’t get eaten to make room. Soup is always my go-to way to give last week’s produce a new purpose.
Have you heard of Odd Bunch? It’s a weekly produce box that rescues ‘odd’ produce from local farms and distributors, and delivers them to your front door. By odd I mean fruits and vegetables that are still delicious but would be thrown out because of imperfections or a surplus. Odd Bunch focuses on food sustainability by sourcing produce that would otherwise go to waste. This is not only a great way to save money on purchasing produce but also helps combat food waste. Our family gets the large box each week that is plentiful for four people plus a baby who is exploring solids now.
This Easy Roasted Vegetable Soup is not only quick to make but delicious and easy for you to customize to your tastebuds. You can adjust this easy soup recipe by adding vegetables you like and seasoning with your favourite spices. That is why I love this quick, easy and soup recipe!
For this easy Roasted Vegetable Soup recipe, I used any root vegetables I had on hand that matched in flavour. My husband likes to joke that the ingredients for soup are whatever you have - and well it’s true, this soup recipe allows for exactly that! I used less than 10 ingredients and didn’t need to make a trip to the grocery store and saved some veggies from going to waste.
Garlic and Onion
You’d be hard done by finding a soup recipe that doesn’t include garlic and onion as foundational ingredients. Both are also packed with immune boosting properties that are great for protecting you during cold and flu season. Garlic has antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties. It supports our immune system and can reduce the severity and duration of a cold. Onions contain flavonoids which have anti-inflammatory properties and support immune health.
A Variety of Root Vegetables: Carrots, Parsnips, Turnips and Sweet Potatoes
What I love about this recipe is that you can pick and choose what root vegetables you want to include. I used carrots, parsnips, turnips, and sweet potatoes. Carrots are a staple in my weekly Odd Bunch produce box.
Carrots are super versatile, give a little sweetness to your soup, and give this recipe a beautiful colour plus they pack some great benefits including being one of the best sources of beta-carotene which your body converts to vitamin A and supports your immune function. Perfect for cold and flu season!
Parsnips on their own aren’t my favourite flavour but together with the other ingredients they give this soup some depth. In the fall and winter parsnips are a favourite for creating warm flavoured soups. Parsnips are rich in fibre which supports digestive health, regulates blood sugar and helps you feel full.
Like parsnips, turnips aren’t something I tend to gravitate towards on their own but they are a great ingredient in soup and compliment the other flavours in this recipe. Turnips are high in fibre, pack vitamin c, and are a cruciferous veggie. A little tidbit about cruciferous veggies is that they are super beneficial for balancing hormones by balancing estrogen, promoting liver detoxification, and supports a healthy gut-hormone balance.
Sweet potatoes add a little sweetness to this recipe and compliment the bitterness of other ingredients like parsnip. Like carrots, sweet potatoes are high in beta-carotene - double the dose! They are also a complex carbohydrate which provides steady energy and keeps your blood sugar balanced so you stay full longer and don’t experience an afternoon energy crash.
Olive Oil
Like garlic, I believe in a healthy pour of olive oil to coat my vegetables before I roast them! Olive oil also boasts heart healthy fats, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory properties.
Salt & Pepper
How can you make anything savoury without a pinch or two of salt and pepper to enhance the flavours of this soup recipe!
Cinnamon
Cinnamon adds a little warmth and sweetness but it also gives such a warm aroma when your soup is warm. Cinnamon packs an incredible amount of health benefits I don’t think are chatted about often enough. It supports blood sugar control, is rich in antioxidants, is anti-inflammatory, and is naturally antibacterial to help fight infection.
Vegetable Broth
You can use homemade or store bought vegetable (or even chicken, if you prefer) broth for this recipe. I save the ends of celery, tops of carrots, and pieces of onion in the freezer and make my own broth but also keep some store bought for when I’m in a pinch. Broth is hydrating and is rich in vitamins and minerals!
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat (I like to use the silicone baking mat because it is more sustainable since it can be washed and used again.)
Next, choose your veggies to include with your staple ingredients, garlic and onion. Trust your tastebuds and remember soup is a great way to avoid food waste. Chop up all of the veggies in quarters. Peel and crush your garlic.
Throw everything into a large mixing bowl, add a healthy pour of olive oil and salt + pepper. Give them a good toss so your veggies are fully coated. Dump your coated veggies onto your lined baking sheet.
Slide your baking sheet into your preheated oven and roast for 40 - 60 minutes. I like my onions and garlic to be well-roasted to enhance the flavours but you don’t want your veggies burnt so keep an eye on your timing after 40 minutes.
Once your veggies are roasted to your liking, let them cool. Add them in batches to a blender or food processor with your vegetable broth and blend until smooth. Repeat as needed to blend and combine everything together. Pour the soup back into a pot and season with salt, pepper, and cinnamon, to your preference.
This soup recipe is meant to be smooth without any whole veggies so if your blender isn’t cutting it, you can use an immersion blender once you’ve returned your soup to the pot.
Lastly, you can serve your soup with a variety of yummy toppings like maple syrup for a sweeter taste, chili oil for a little kick, and croutons for a bit of crunch. Enjoy with a slice of sourdough.
Note: You can freeze this soup in an airtight container and reheat in a pot when you are ready to serve again.
Enjoy!
RECIPE: EASY ROASTED VEGETABLE SOUP
Who needs a complicated soup recipe when you can make a simple, quick and delicious soup with ingredients you probably have in your fridge right now! Cut down on food waste and make a delicious and nutritious soup that will warm you from the inside out!
Ingredients
6-8 root vegetables of your choice, peeled and diced (think 2 carrots, 2 parsnips, 2 turnips, and 2 sweet potatoes)
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and quartered
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed (feel free to add more)
Olive oil (no exact measurements, just enough for your veggies to be well coated)
1-2 tsp of cinnamon (optional)
Salt + Pepper, to taste - season the root vegetables prior to roasting and adjust the seasoning of the soup once blended
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat
Peel and dice your chosen root vegetable. Peel your onion and garlic, quartering the onion and crush the garlic
Place your vegetables in a large bowl and add a healthy pour of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss them so your vegetables are well coated.
Place your vegetables onto your lined baking sheet along with your onion and garlic.
Roast the vegetables for 40 - 60 minutes until the onion is caramelized and the vegetables are roasted. Begin checking on the vegetables at 40 minutes to ensure they don’t burn. Once roasted, let them cool.
Add your roasted vegetables to your blender along with your vegetable broth; blend until smooth. Do this in batches until all of your veggies are blended. If your soup is not smooth enough, use an immersion blender when you return the soup to the pot.
Pour the blended soup back into a pot and season to taste with salt and pepper. For a hint of sweetness and warmth stir in 1-2 teaspoons of cinnamon.
Serve with toppings like maple syrup, chili oil, or a dollop of pesto and a slice of sourdough. Enjoy!