These healthy soup recipes are made for crisp fall days and busy weeknights. From red lentil soup and creamy vegan broccoli to 1-pot vegetable noodle and slow cooker minestrone, all 15 are hearty, flavor-packed, and easy to make ahead. Grab a big pot, pick a favorite, and keep bowls ready for the week.
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Soup doesn’t just keep us warm. It comforts, fills the house with the best cozy aromas of the season, and makes it easy to eat more vegetables without even trying. Every one of these healthy soup recipes is built on whole-food ingredients like lentils, beans, potatoes, broccoli, and carrots, so the bowls are filling, satisfying, and full of plant-based protein and fiber (the red lentil soup has 21g protein + 25g fiber, and the split pea soup has 14g protein + 16g fiber).
Start the slow cooker minestrone in the morning and dinner is ready by evening, because the longer a soup simmers, the more flavorful it gets. Save your veggie scraps to make my Homemade Vegetable Stock— the flavor is unreal (and it’s free!). As fall settles in, this lineup is perfect for chilly evenings, meal prep Sundays, or anytime you want something hearty and wholesome.
These five are the soups readers come back to again and again. They each bring big, cozy flavor with simple steps, and they’re all great for making ahead. Start here if you’re not sure which pot to fill first, then keep the leftovers for lunches all week.
1
Vegan Tomato Soup
4.64 (670)
The tomato soup of my childhood, all grown up. Zucchini and carrots disappear into a silky, creamy blend (nobody will ever know), and a swirl of cashew cream seals the deal. Stock pot + immersion blender, 50 minutes.
Thick, cozy, and ridiculously easy. Red lentils melt into a spiced, stew-like bowl with fire-roasted tomatoes and a bright squeeze of lemon. No soaking, minimal chopping, 21g protein + 25g fiber. One large pot, 45 minutes.
Creamy, zesty, and just spicy enough, with tofu, mushrooms, and zucchini noodles in a lime-brightened coconut broth. It's a cookbook favorite and a soup on repeat at my house. One saucepan, 45 minutes.
Sweet carrots and zingy ginger get a silky upgrade from blended cashews and coconut milk. It's basically a warm smoothie you can sip right from a jar. Saucepan + immersion blender, 40 minutes.
Taco night in a bowl. Tortilla chips blend right into the smoky broth for a creamy, dairy-free body, and the toppings (avocado, corn, cilantro, extra chips) are the best part. Stock pot + immersion blender, 45 minutes.
Fewer dishes, more flavor. These healthy soups simmer in a single pot, Instant Pot, or slow cooker, so cleanup stays super easy. Choose a 15-minute ramen for a fast weeknight, a set-it-and-forget-it minestrone for a busy day, or a big pot of split pea or black bean soup to stock the fridge for the week.
6
Instant Vegetarian Ramen
4.45 (117)
Restaurant-style ramen without the restaurant price tag. Shiitake mushrooms, bok choy, and crisp veggies float in a savory tamari-sesame broth, with 14g protein per bowl. One pot + one skillet, 15 minutes.
Dump, seal, and walk away. Dried black beans cook from scratch (no soaking!) in smoky cumin, oregano, and salsa, then get a squeeze of lime. 12g protein + 13g fiber. Instant Pot + immersion blender, 1 hour 10 minutes.
My plant-based answer to chicken noodle soup, and yes, it tastes legit. Golden turmeric broth, tender carrots, and fusilli noodles, and it freezes like a dream. One Dutch oven, 40 minutes.
Minestrone literally means “big soup,” and this one delivers. Cannellini beans, butternut squash, and kale simmer in a fragrant tomato broth, with a spoonful of basil pesto on top. Slow cooker, 4 hours 25 minutes.
Old-fashioned, stick-to-your-ribs comfort without the ham bone. Smoked paprika and thyme bring the savory depth, and lemon and mustard stirred in at the end make it sing. 14g protein + 16g fiber. One stock pot, 1 hour 20 minutes.
Silky, velvety, and completely dairy-free. Potatoes, cashews, cauliflower, and coconut milk do the creamy work in these five cozy soups, so you get that rich, silky, spoonable texture with no dairy cream at all. Top with kale croutons, cashew cream, or toasted pepitas, then serve with crusty bread for the coziest bowl of the fall season.
11
Creamy Vegetable Soup
4.70 (182)
My lazy-day soup, made with frozen veggies, cannellini beans, and a rich, dairy-free cashew cream. Savory, filling, and even better the next day. Soup pot + blender, 40 minutes.
Potatoes do the creamy heavy lifting while broccoli keeps its bright, tender bites, and nutritional yeast brings a cheesy finish. 14g protein and on the table in 25 minutes. One saucepan + immersion blender.
No dairy, no problem. Golden potatoes and cauliflower blend into something velvety and deeply comforting, topped with crispy kale croutons you'll want to eat by the handful. Dutch oven + blender, 45 minutes.
The sleeper hit of the bunch. It sounds plain, but potatoes and cashews turn celery into a silky, herby, lemony bowl with 11g protein. Large pot + immersion blender, 30 minutes.
This delicious jalapeño vegan corn chowder is hearty and packed with 12 grams protein, providing a creamy texture without any dairy, and a kick of heat to warm you from the inside out.
Sometimes you find a soup recipe in need of a bit of oomph. I get it (I put hot sauce on a lot of dishes).
Fresh herbs: finely minced herbs can add a delightful flavor explosion to any soup. Try minced scallions, basil, tarragon, basil and dill.
Cashew Cream: A good vegan sour cream can provide depth and creaminess to almost any recipe. If you’d add sour cream to a soup, then you can add this!
Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto: There’s just something about pesto that instantly levels up a recipe. I love adding a dollop of vegan pesto to a good vegetable soup. It’s just so good! I’ve got a few different variations you can try, and they all freeze well.
Vegan Parmesan Cheese: Parmesan is a staple in many American households. This vegan cheese sprinkle certainly gives Kraft’s a run for its money, and its made with real ingredients that really do add a cheesy finish to your dish.
I’m the mom who swapped Lucky Charms for green smoothies— and never looked back. Here you’ll find smoothie recipes and plant-based recipes made simple and tasty.
Well I’m have a few favorite soup but as of today it’s A toss up between red lentil curry and carrots ginger. I like them because I was surprised not only in the flavors but in how good and nutrition they are .that my kid ate them and I found I really like them. As positive results my whole family has eating more and wider verity of veggies and my son said he feels better and I can keep doing this. Think green smoothie will be are next try because I can’t do soup in the summer. To hot here for that.
I will have to say my favorite recipe from the challenge is the tomato. It was a simple and classic soup that was well liked in my family. This challenge help me work on my meal prep planning and gave me more than a few new meals to add to my rotation. I definately ate more meatless meals and introduced most of these recipes to my coworkers when I took left overs to work to share. Thank you for setting up this challenge.
These were all awesome soup recipes, but I think my favorite was the Thai Coconut Soup. I really enjoyed the challenge; I’ve got lots of leftovers in the freeze to enjoy throughout the winter. The one thing I learned was to try a variety of different soups rather than sticking with my traditional chicken noodle and chili and to venture outside my comfort zone.
This challenge came as I was recovering from my first fling with heart trouble–AFib. It started days after I was released from being hospitalized. I wanted food I could control, that wouldn’t keep me up until midnight preparing, that wouldn’t be inflammatory, and that I could share, since I didn’t want to do my normal cooking for me and then the rest of my food hounds. Simple Green Angels (that’s how I’m seeing you), you wrote this challenge for me. All these soups turned out to be winners, for keeping on my “regulars” list. I admit that I didn’t keep to the order of the group. I started with the carrot ginger–“creamy”!. Then I went to the detox–it gave me a good bang for minimum pre-chop. The variety in all these soups is one of my favorite things. The good news all around is that this food is helping to keep me in safe ranges for my medical parameters, and we have all been loving it. I added rotisserie chicken and other pre-chopped veg, like butternut squash, liberally when wanted by my other eaters. Mine, I kept as on my printout. Way easy. These aren’t the first of your soups I’ve craved–my first was your broccoli–makes me hungry thinking of it. I know you like to help make us feel healthy. I am more mobile and have lost six pounds–I’m crediting this challenge, because the recipe simplicity has helped leave time for moving my moves (I’m doing aqua PT.) My gratitude is yours: I dedicate my regular heartbeat to you.
I really liked the soup challenge. Although the challenge, for me, was more about getting my comments in. I spent hours and awhile I made every soup, I was only able to comment on a few. I thought I had also posted on all but 3 (Because it kept erroring out), but when i went back to look, I couldnt find my entry. I became more than frustrated. I know that in today’s COVID world, the Internet is stretching its limits with bandwidth but it just seemed to be very difficult. That being said, I am very disheartened that one of my goals was to learn your site Simplegreensmoothies.com, but also to be able to have the chance to win the vitamix. I recently have had some major health issues (Recent = 13 months) and I have really been struggling. I have looked at Plant Based diets for a very long time and your site is really amazing and I really enjoyed it. Not being able to comment on some of the recipes I guess made me ineligible to be in the drawing and that is very disheartening. Personally, I would strongly recommend that rather than rate the recipes or on a blog, just make one central area to comment on each of the daily entries. It would be so much easier for everyone who wants to participate.. My favorite soups were black bean and the corn chowder. They are my favorites anyway, but these were different and quite awesome.
It was nice not to have to think about meal planning during the time I was doing this challenge. Having the shopping list and pre-planned set of soups to work from made it easy. My favorite soup was the Thai coconut soup, which is really surprising since I really do not like coconut! It was just different from most other soups I’ve made and I liked the change.
Well I’m have a few favorite soup but as of today it’s A toss up between red lentil curry and carrots ginger. I like them because I was surprised not only in the flavors but in how good and nutrition they are .that my kid ate them and I found I really like them. As positive results my whole family has eating more and wider verity of veggies and my son said he feels better and I can keep doing this. Think green smoothie will be are next try because I can’t do soup in the summer. To hot here for that.
I will have to say my favorite recipe from the challenge is the tomato. It was a simple and classic soup that was well liked in my family. This challenge help me work on my meal prep planning and gave me more than a few new meals to add to my rotation. I definately ate more meatless meals and introduced most of these recipes to my coworkers when I took left overs to work to share. Thank you for setting up this challenge.
These were all awesome soup recipes, but I think my favorite was the Thai Coconut Soup. I really enjoyed the challenge; I’ve got lots of leftovers in the freeze to enjoy throughout the winter. The one thing I learned was to try a variety of different soups rather than sticking with my traditional chicken noodle and chili and to venture outside my comfort zone.
This challenge came as I was recovering from my first fling with heart trouble–AFib. It started days after I was released from being hospitalized. I wanted food I could control, that wouldn’t keep me up until midnight preparing, that wouldn’t be inflammatory, and that I could share, since I didn’t want to do my normal cooking for me and then the rest of my food hounds. Simple Green Angels (that’s how I’m seeing you), you wrote this challenge for me. All these soups turned out to be winners, for keeping on my “regulars” list. I admit that I didn’t keep to the order of the group. I started with the carrot ginger–“creamy”!. Then I went to the detox–it gave me a good bang for minimum pre-chop. The variety in all these soups is one of my favorite things. The good news all around is that this food is helping to keep me in safe ranges for my medical parameters, and we have all been loving it. I added rotisserie chicken and other pre-chopped veg, like butternut squash, liberally when wanted by my other eaters. Mine, I kept as on my printout. Way easy. These aren’t the first of your soups I’ve craved–my first was your broccoli–makes me hungry thinking of it. I know you like to help make us feel healthy. I am more mobile and have lost six pounds–I’m crediting this challenge, because the recipe simplicity has helped leave time for moving my moves (I’m doing aqua PT.) My gratitude is yours: I dedicate my regular heartbeat to you.
I really liked the soup challenge. Although the challenge, for me, was more about getting my comments in. I spent hours and awhile I made every soup, I was only able to comment on a few. I thought I had also posted on all but 3 (Because it kept erroring out), but when i went back to look, I couldnt find my entry. I became more than frustrated. I know that in today’s COVID world, the Internet is stretching its limits with bandwidth but it just seemed to be very difficult. That being said, I am very disheartened that one of my goals was to learn your site Simplegreensmoothies.com, but also to be able to have the chance to win the vitamix. I recently have had some major health issues (Recent = 13 months) and I have really been struggling. I have looked at Plant Based diets for a very long time and your site is really amazing and I really enjoyed it. Not being able to comment on some of the recipes I guess made me ineligible to be in the drawing and that is very disheartening. Personally, I would strongly recommend that rather than rate the recipes or on a blog, just make one central area to comment on each of the daily entries. It would be so much easier for everyone who wants to participate.. My favorite soups were black bean and the corn chowder. They are my favorites anyway, but these were different and quite awesome.
It was nice not to have to think about meal planning during the time I was doing this challenge. Having the shopping list and pre-planned set of soups to work from made it easy. My favorite soup was the Thai coconut soup, which is really surprising since I really do not like coconut! It was just different from most other soups I’ve made and I liked the change.