Creamy Vegetable Soup
A homemade vegetable soup recipe with all the flavors of summer.
This vegetable soup recipe has the consistency of a bisque with a fraction of the fat.
This homemade vegetable soup has the texture and flavor of a cream soup, but it's low in fat. That's because this vegetable soup recipe uses pureed peas and broccoli with just a hint of whole milk to give it a creamy texture. The result is all the creaminess you love in a cream of broccoli soup, for example, but just a fraction of the fat.
Although this vegetable soup recipe calls for broccoli, zucchini, carrots, and sweet peas, feel free to use whatever vegetables you have on hand. Cauliflower works well in this soup. So does asparagus.
Serve this creamy vegetable soup with a slice of homemade Italian bread (from your bread machine, of course) and Greek salad.
Creamy Vegetable Soup Recipe
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 Tbsp. unbleached all-purpose flour
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth or chicken broth
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup diced zucchini
- 2 cups chopped broccoli florets
- 1 cup fresh English peas, shelled (or frozen peas)
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 cup low-fat shredded cheddar cheese
- kosher salt and pepper to taste
Heat olive oil and butter in a large heavy saucepan or dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until tender, being careful not to let the garlic burn. Whisk in the flour. Cook 2 minutes. Whisk in the vegetable broth, a little at a time, stirring constantly. Add carrots, celery, zucchini and 1 cup of the chopped broccoli. Turn heat up to high and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to medium low, cover and allow to simmer, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring 3 cups of water to boil in a medium saucepan. Add the remaining cup of broccoli and cook for 2 minutes. Add peas and cook another minute. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. If you have an immersion blender, you can use that to puree the broccoli-pea mixture. If not, transfer the broccoli, peas and reserved cooking water to a blender and puree until smooth. Pour into the vegetable soup.
Stir in the milk and shredded cheddar until cheese melts. Season with kosher salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
Serves 8.
Per serving: 156 calories, 8 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 16 mg cholesterol, 13 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 9 g protein, 76% vitamin A, 40% vitamin C, 10% calcium, 6% iron
For more healthy soup recipes, see also:
- Broccoli Cheese Soup
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Cauliflower Cheese Soup
- Split Pea Soup with Barley
- Tomato Soup with Roasted Red Peppers
