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Home » Vegan Soup Recipes » Hearty Root Vegetable Soup

Hearty Root Vegetable Soup

March 15, 2022 By Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan Leave a Comment

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Turnips have always been one of my favorite vegetables, but sometimes I’m stumped on how to pair them with other ingredients. This root vegetable soup was a game changer. It’s thick and hearty, with a chowder like texture, all thanks to the silky smooth amazingness of vegetables.

Root vegetable soup in a ceramic bowl

I love a good roasted root vegetable, but this soup is even simpler than that. Just sweat some onions and garlic in olive oil, add a few spices, and then simmer it with root vegetables and broth. In this case, the veggies I recommend are parsnip, turnip, and carrot – in about equal quantities. You can mix and match other vegetables too – I’ve swapped in celeriac before, for example – but be sure to use at least one sweeter veggie like carrot or sweet potato to keep the flavors balanced.

Collage showing steps for root vegetable soup: adding minced garlic to sweated onions; blooming spices; stirring in the chopped root vegetables; bringing to a boil with vegetable broth.

Turnips and cauliflower are both cruciferous vegetables, which means that (1) they’re super nutritious but also (2) they have sharp, peppery and slightly sulfuric notes. The complement those flavors and create a well-rounded soup, I add mustard and a little bit of horseradish. They give this dish a unique and satisfying taste.

The thick and creamy texture that you see in the photos comes completely from the vegetables themselves, especially the cauliflower. Transferring about half of the soup to a blender and returning it to the pot results in a perfect little bowl of chowder. (I don’t recommend an immersion blender for this soup, because you’ll end up in a no man’s land between chunky and creamy).

Steps to complete root vegetable soup: simmer until tender; puree half of the soup in a blender; add the pureed soup back to the bot and stir to combine.

We almost always bake up a loaf of garlic bread to pair with this root vegetable soup, but if you’re looking for other ways to turn it into a light meal, try adding (after blending) some cooked barley or rice.

A spoonful being scooped out of a bowl of root vegetable soup, showing that the texture is thick and creamy with a golden yellow color.

The wait is over for a way to use up those extra turnips sitting in your fridge! (Does anyone else have those?) Try this root vegetable chowder, and let me know in the comments what you thought of it!

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Root Vegetable Soup

This chunky root vegetable soup is seasoned with mustard and herbs, then partially blended to give it a hearty and chowder-like texture. I would like to inform you that this soup is FABULOUS with garlic bread.
Course Soup
Cuisine American
Keyword root vegetable soup
Prep Time 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes minutes
Total Time 45 minutes minutes
Servings 4 servings
Calories 169kcal
Author Yup, it's Vegan

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large yellow or white onion diced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 head cauliflower cut into small florets (12 oz of florets)
  • 2 carrots peeled and cubed (6oz / about 1 1/2 cups)
  • 1 large turnip (6oz / about 1 1/2 cups)
  • 1 large parsnip peeled and cubed (4oz / about 1 cup)
  • 1 tbsp prepared horseradish

For the spice blend (see notes):

  • 1 1/2 tsp mustard powder
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp fennel seed crushed or roughly chopped
  • 1/8 tsp celery seed

Instructions

  • Prep the vegetables and mix all of the spices together in a small bowl. This will ensure that they're ready when you need them, because that part of the recipe moves quickly.
  • Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook until softened, stirring frequently, 4-6 minutes.
  • Add the minced garlic, stir, and cook for 60 seconds. Add all of the spices and cook for 30-60 seconds more, until fragrant.
  • Add the vegetable broth and all of the vegetables to the pot, and stir well. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pot, and simmer for about 15-17 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Remove from the heat and stir in the horseradish.
  • Scoop about half of the soup into a blender, and blend until smooth (be careful - it will be hot! Give it a minute to let it cool if needed.) Return the blended soup to the pot and stir to combine. At this point, if desired you can either thin the soup out with more water, or thicken the soup by simmering it on low heat with no lid, stirring frequently.
  • Serve hot, with croutons, garlic bread, or something else crunchy. Leftovers keep for up to a week in the fridge. This root vegetable soup freezes well for a few weeks too, if needed.

Notes

STORE-BOUGHT SPICE BLEND NOTES: The mustard herb seasoning from Spice Jungle is to die for and it's what I use in this recipe - 4 teaspoons total. I reverse engineered the spice blend and tested out my formula to make sure I recreated something just as good. But, if you shop at Spice Jungle I highly recommend buying their spice blend.
Another option that I tested out and that you can use is to simply use a 50-50 mix of mustard powder and Italian seasoning, if this would be more suitable for you to buy fewer different spices for your cabinet. Again, the recipe needs about 4 teaspoons total, or 2 teaspoons of each.
This is weird, but hear me out - the recipe is also great with a blend of mustard powder and Old Bay seasoning. Feel free to play around with the seasoning, but I definitely recommend the mustard powder because it is essential for highlighting the cruciferous vegetables in this soup.

Nutrition

Calories: 169kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 235mg | Potassium: 747mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 4800IU | Vitamin C: 68mg | Calcium: 490mg | Iron: 1mg

Adapted from Purple Carrot.

Other hearty soups from the site!

Curried Cauliflower Chowder

Old Bay Clamless Vegan Chowder

Ultimate Hearty Vegetable Stew

Filed Under: Soup Tagged With: gluten-free, grain-free, high-vegetable, nut-free, paleo, refined sugar-free, soy-free, sweetener-free

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I'm Shannon, founder of Yup, it's Vegan! I'm a morning person based in Baltimore, USA. I create healthy plant-based recipes that everyone will love, using seasonal produce and global inspiration.
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