Recipes You Know By Heart: Hearty Vegetable Soup

Regardless of the temperature outside, I am a year-round vegetable soup eater. Granted, I cater the ingredients of my soup to highlight what’s in season but I always love to have soup on-hand (either in the fridge or frozen into individual servings in the freezer) when I need a fix. That’s why I love this vegetable soup for the first recipe in my series, “Recipes You Know By Heart.”

Because so many of us stress over what to make for dinner only ending up resorting to take-out when we don’t having the exact ingredients to follow a specific recipe, I want to give you the tools you need to learn how to make HOMEMADE recipes using what you have in your kitchen. All it requires is a little memorizing, mastering a few basic techniques, and then getting in your groove to have the confidence to use up what you’ve got. By focusing on the recipes you know by heart, you can eliminate food waste (hello, rotting zucchini in the back of the produce drawer), gain confidence in the kitchen, and nourish your family.

At the bottom of this post, I’m sharing the actual vegetable soup “recipe” for all of my Type A friends that just want a recipe to follow (don’t worry, I’m often one too). For the rest of you, here are some basic instructions for a classic and simple vegetable soup that uses what’s in season and what’s in your fridge, freezer, or pantry.

Commit to Memory:

1. Sweat onions and dried spices (a few sprinkles–just use whatever you have on hand) in oil (enough to coat the bottom when you give it a swirl) in a large stockpot.

2. Saute any other vegetables that may require a little extra time (potatoes, sweet potatoes, fresh green beans, etc.) for a few minutes.

3. Add broth and a can of tomatoes. **General rule of thumb: 1 cup broth for each cup of vegetables you plan to add

4. Bring the broth to a boil, add the remaining vegetables (whatever you have on-hand in the fridge, freezer, or pantry), and let it cook.

And for those that need the recipe..

Do you have a favorite recipe that you make by heart? Share it with me in the comments below! Is there a recipe you want to learn to make without always following a recipes? Let me know and I’ll do what I can to break it out for you.

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Recipes You Know By Heart: Hearty Vegetable Soup

• Author: Holley Grainger
• Yield: 14 cups 1x

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Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 large onion (about 2 cups)
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 cups red potato (diced (about 4 medium))
• 2 cups carrot (peeled and diced (about 4 medium))
• 10 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 can finely diced tomatoes (14.5-oz, undrained)
• 1 cup squash
• 1 cup zucchini
• 1 cup navy beans (rinsed and drained)
• 1 cup corn kernels (rinsed and drained if using canned)
• 1 cup green beans (rinsed and drained if using canned)

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Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add onion and next 3 ingredients and sweat until the onions begin to soften and become translucent (about 5 to 7 minutes). Add potatoes and carrots and cook for 5 more minutes.
2. Add broth and tomatoes, scraping bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen any brown bits. Increase to high heat and bring to a simmer.
3. Once simmering, stir in remaining ingredients. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until vegetables are tender.