Vegan vegetable soup recipe that is healthy and hearty loaded with flavor and nutrition. Featuring immunity boosting root vegetables and fragrant herbs, easy to make and good for you bowl of goodness!

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Best Ever Vegetable Soup, No Kidding!

A vegan riff on the classic Romanian Ciorba de Perisoare or otherwise known as sour soup. It’s really not sour until the very end when you add that fresh squeeze of lime that brings out and brightens all the flavors.

The classic recipe has tiny little meatballs made with a mixture of rice and meat called “ Perisoare”. I opted for a healthier mix of earthy farro and rehydrated chopped up meaty soy curls. The end result was everything I remember as a child and better: cruelty-free, plant based, no cholesterol and absolutely bursting with flavor.

Vegetable Soup Ingredients:

Enter LOVAGE – Lovage is an underrated herb in America but prized all throughout Europe since the Roman times specifically for its amazing ability to make any soup and stew taste better. It truly is the magical herb of Europe and can be used in its fresh or dried form. The French call it “false celery” but it has a more intense flavor with notes of anise and lemon. I have only been able to find it in the US dried so now i am growing my own.

Root Vegetables – Carrot + Parsley & Celery Root. The deep flavor and nuttiness from these root veggies take this soup to the next level. Even though i still add celery stalks in here, I would not dream of making this soup without the celery root. I love what parsley root brings to the table here as well but it can be replaced with a parsnip or some finely chopped parsley stems which pack incredible flavor as well. It’s all about cooking everything together for all the different flavors to marry in the most delicious broth. This soup taste best the second and third day and must be served steaming hot with a piece of crusty bread and a drizzle of vegan sour cream.

Farro – The mother of all wheat as I like to call it, It comes as a whole grain and pearled variety. It can be confusing to know what kind you really have in the pantry as it is usually just labeled as “Farro”. I suggest the whole grain which is darker in color and takes about 35 to 45 minutes to cook, the pearled variety only takes about 15. Checking the cooking times on your package could help determine what kind it is. If you prefer you can swap it with whole grain brown rice, wheat berries or nutty barley.

Tomatoes – you’ll want to use diced canned tomatoes here, the San Marzano variety is best but since we want a sour soup in the end you can get away with an acidic variety of tomatoes. I would stay away from the fire roasted ones as I feel those will interfere with the ultimate flavor profile i want from this soup.

Soy Curls – optional but strongly recommended. They take the place of the classic meatballs ” perisoare” here and provide a whole food meaty texture, extra protein and overall heartiness. Buy them here!

Lime – it’s the acidy that brings this soup together in the loveliest way and helps each ingredient stand out on its own. Alternatively “white borscht” is used to give the soup its distinctive sour notes but we have a lime tree of our own now so that’s what we are using.

How to Make Vegan Vegetable Soup:

Start by sautéing a large onion and create a first layer of flavor.
Meanwhile peel and dice your veggies and add them to the pot with the onions.
Add in your herbs, tomatoes and water and bring to a boil.
Stir in the farro (barley, wheat berries or rice) together with the soy curls and bubble away until the grains are cooked through.
Season with freshly squeezed lime juice and sea salt to taste. Enjoy with crusty bread and a dollop of vegan sour cream.

FAQs

How to make vegetable soup more flavorful? My answer is Lovage baby! But of course you can make it without it so long as you don’t skimp on the celery and parsley root to attain that deep veggie aroma that gets better with time. The soup will have a milder flavor without lovage but still incredibly delicious.

Which herbs to use for vegetable soup? If lovage isn’t available just work with what you have. Add a bunch of the fresh celery leaves found on the celery stalks, bump up the bay leaves by one or two, a handful of chopped fresh flat leaf parsley + a dozen sprigs of thyme. Go for some marjoram and tarragon if available, they will all add depth of flavor to your soup.

What other veggies should I add? In my own humble opinion this soup is absolute perfection, however you can still make it your own by adding some of your favorite veggies into the mix. Green beans would work great here, swap the farro for some diced golden potatoes, add some shredded cabbage or even broccoli and cauliflower florets. Personally i don’t like to stray too far from the classic recipe with this one as it is also nostalgic for me to recreate a homemade soup I grew up with. Definitely stay away from corn, beans and pasta. If you fancy a minestrone you’ll love our Italian Minestrone with cannellini beans instead which is technically just an Italian vegetable soup.

Can i make it in she slow cooker ? Yes, throw everything in there but the lime and let it cook all day long.

Can I freeze this veggie soup? Absolutely, soups are some of the best foods to freeze for later. Make sure you allow it to cool off completely before transferring to freezer proof lidded containers or jars. Allow one inch of space at the top and remember to thaw out in the refrigerator before reheating.

Serving Suggestions:

Vegan Sour Cream

5 from 1 vote