Roasted Vegetable Soup

This Roasted Vegetable Soup recipe is packed with fresh roasted seasonal vegetables! It’s a creamy vegetable soup that’s as delicious as it is filling, it’s healthy, family-friendly, and can be made from scratch in about one hour!

 

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Farmers Markets are where it’s at, especially during the late summer and fall. Here at The Busy Baker we love a good trip to the market to pick up all the fresh in-season fruits and veggies – they truly do make the BEST ingredients for homemade meals, and soups like this Easy Healthy Roasted Vegetable Soup which feature a plethora of fresh produce are an absolute staple in The Busy Baker kitchen!

Aside from the fact that homemade soup is oh so comforting and tasty, it can be an incredibly nutritious choice for a healthy lifestyle. We love incorporating homemade soup into our weekly meal plans for so many reasons:

1. Low in Calories & High in Nutrients: Homemade vegetable soup is a nutrient-dense choice that won’t weigh you down with excessive calories. By using roasted vegetables as the foundation, you’re getting a wide array of nutrients without the added fat or calories found in some other comfort foods.

2. Abundance of Vitamins and Minerals: Roasted vegetables like tomatoes, carrots, and cauliflower, are rich sources of essential vitamins.

3. Fibre-Rich and Filling: Vegetables like zucchini and eggplant are high in fibre, which, aside from so many health benefits, keeps you feeling full longer.

4. Versatile: Vegetable soup can be adapted to your family’s tastes, dietary preferences, or even to whatever veggies you have on hand. You’re able to add or omit ingredients easily, making this soup perfect for a busy lifestyle.

5. Easy to Make Ahead: There’s nothing like the feeling of having a healthy meal all ready for you to enjoy when you walk through the door. Adding a batch of roasted vegetable soup to your freezer in portioned containers means you always have a nutritious meal just waiting to be heated and served – no need for take-out!

This Roasted Vegetable Soup recipe could not be easier to make – simply roast the vegetables on two sheet pans with a touch of olive oil, salt and pepper, until they’re nice and caramelized (this is where that delicious roasted flavour comes in!!). Add them to a pot with your favourite vegetable or chicken stock to simmer and you’re basically done! It’s SO easy!

If you’re tempted to cut corners and skip roasting the vegetables, don’t! When it comes to a flavourful vegetable soup, roasting the vegetables is the BEST way to create flavour and the ideal creamy texture!

Roasting exposes the vegetables to intense, dry heat in the oven which causes the the natural sugars within the vegetables to caramelize. This caramelization is the key to adding rich, complex flavours to your soup that simply sautéing or boiling your vegetables won’t create.

Roasting brings out sweet, smoky, earthy and nutty flavours in vegetables like tomatoes, cauliflower, peppers, and eggplant. That sweetness, smokiness, earthiness and nuttiness makes for a flavour-packed soup!

Roasting vegetables isn’t just about flavour – roasting also makes vegetables very easy to blend. The interior of the veggies soften beautifully and they develop a slightly crispy exterior that’s easy to puree when added to stock.

After the vegetables are roasted to perfection, pour them into your soup pot, along with all their delicious juices. Simmer them in the stock to make the skins even softer and easier to puree.

Each different vegetable requires slightly different preparation when it comes to roasting – softer veggies like tomatoes and zucchini roast much more quickly than harder ones like carrots. Here’s how we recommend preparing vegetables for roasting in preparation for making a creamy vegetable soup:

Eggplant: Halve the eggplants and if they’re very large, cut them into quarters.

Zucchini, Tomatoes, Cauliflower, and Onions: halve or cut these veggies into very large chunks.

Carrots: Peel and cut carrots into smaller pieces than the other veggies. Carrots are a hardy vegetable that soften much more slowly than veggies like zucchini, tomatoes and eggplant.

Garlic: Roast whole garlic cloves, and be sure to peel them first. Feel free to add more garlic than the recipe calls for – roasted garlic adds a mellow, nutty flavour to your soup.

• Monitor Closely: Keep a close eye on your vegetables as they roast, as cooking times can vary based on factors like size and oven temperature.
• Test for Doneness: Pierce the vegetables with a fork or knife to check for tenderness. They should be fork-tender but not mushy.

Contrary to popular belief, creamy soups don’t need to contain high amounts of high-fat ingredients like heavy cream in order for them to achieve the perfect creamy texture. The secret to an ultra creamy soup is the art of pureeing! If you’re after a lusciously smooth and velvety soup without all the added fat, break out your blender! Here’s how we recommend going about making the creamiest blended soup ever!

• Immersion Blender: An immersion blender, also known as a stick blender, is a fantastic tool for pureeing soup directly in the pot. It offers easy control and minimizes cleanup. It doesn’t do quite as good a job of pureeing soup as a high powered countertop blender, but it does the trick!
• Standard Countertop Blender: If using a countertop blender, especially a high-powered one, you’ll get a much creamier result but you’ll create more dishes to wash and the process will take a little longer.

If you’re using an immersion blender, simply place the blender in the pot and puree on high speed, making sure to get all the solid pieces.

If you’re using a standard countertop blender, here’s how we recommend pureeing your soup:

• Allow the soup to cool slightly after simmering. This prevents steam from building up in the blender, which can lead to splattering.
• Puree in batches, a little at a time: Don’t overfill your blender. Instead puree in batches and pour the pureed soup into a new pot one batch at a time.
• Since each batch you puree will contain a slightly different ratio of solids to liquids be sure to stir all the pureed batches together in a new pot before reheating and serving the soup.

One of the most important pieces of kitchen equipment when it comes to making creamy soups is a blender. Not all blenders are created equally – a high-power blender will give your blended soups the creamiest and smoothest result, but they’ve got a high price tag. An immersion blender is a great tool to have on hand for making creamy soups and best of all, it creates fewer dishes than a traditional blender. Here’s a list of our favourite blender options for making homemade blended soups, at different price points (paid links):

• Our favourite KitchenAid hand-held Immersion Blender
• Our trusty KitchenAid Countertop Blender
• Our favourite high-powered Blendtec Blender that we use almost daily
• Our new favourite portable Ninja blender
• We’ve also used this high-powered Vitamix Blender and would recommend it for all kind of pureed recipes like soups and smoothies

Here’s a list of the other items you’ll need to make this delicious vegetable soup recipe (paid links):

• two large baking sheets
• parchment paper for easy clean up
• a large soup pot
• a chopping board
• a chef’s knife
• measuring cups and spoons
• liquid measuring cups
• a soup ladle
• cooking utensils

Here’s a list of the items you’ll need to make this recipe (paid links):

• 1 eggplant
• 1/2 head cauliflower
• 2 onions
• 2 red bell peppers
• 4 cloves garlic
• 3 large tomatoes
• 1 medium zucchini
• 5 large carrots
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 5 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 cup full fat coconut milk (or use half and half cream, if you prefer)

One of the best things about this creamy roasted vegetable soup recipe is its versatility. While the basic recipe is amazing all on its own, there are so many ways to put your own spin on it, depending on your personal taste preferences and dietary needs. Here are some ways to modify the original recipe:

1. Adding Herbs and Spices: Enhance the depth of flavour by incorporating some fresh or dried basil, thyme, or rosemary, or even adding spices like cumin, paprika, or curry powder.

2. Add some Heat: If you’re into spice feel free to introduce some heat with chopped chili peppers or a dash of hot sauce.

3. Add some Beans: Boost the protein content of your soup by adding canned beans like cannellini beans, chickpeas, or black beans before you puree the soup. They not only provide a more dense texture when pureed, they also add protein and flavour.

4. Make it Vegan and Dairy-Free: To make this soup vegan, simply substitute the chicken stock for vegetable stock and add coconut cream in place of half and half.

5. Low-Sodium: For those watching their sodium intake, use low-sodium stock or make your own to control the salt content.

We hope you love this Roasted Vegetable Soup recipe as much as we do! Let us know in the comments below, what’s your favourite way to enjoy fresh Farmer’s Market vegetables? We’d love to know!  

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• Instant Pot Creamy Tomato Soup
• Lasagna Soup
• Pumpkin Soup (Deutsche Kürbiscremesuppe)
• Homemade Mushroom Soup
• Sweet Potato Soup
• Easy Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
• Best Ever Creamy Carrot Ginger Soup
• Easy Pumpkin Cake

Watch the video below to see exactly how I make this recipe. You can find more delicious recipe videos on my YouTube channel