Sometimes I just need to eat my veggies!  There is so much delicious food to eat, but every once in a while, I need to detox.  This Favorite Vegetable Soup has been a go to staple for as long as I can remember.  It seems I am making it every January! (If you know what I mean!). Favorite Vegetable Soup is a great way to get your vegetables in your diet.

I gave this soup a reboot by roasting all the vegetables. Usually I put all the vegetables in the broth and boil them first. But this time, I drizzled everything with olive oil, salt and pepper and let them get a little charred in the oven. You can add any vegetables you like, but my favorites include zucchini, yellow squash, onions, carrots and stewed tomatoes.

How To Make Favorite Vegetable Soup

1.  Chop all of your vegetables.  You have a choice to keep your vegetables chunky like the picture above or you can blend them all up at the end.  I have made this soup both ways, many times, in fact.  To be honest, sometimes I feel like a chunky vegetable soup and other times, I feel like a smooth blended soup.

Other Soups on Dina’s Diner

2.  Slicing the vegetables into bite size pieces is my favorite. Chopping all the vegetables before cooking makes enjoying the dish a dream.  The pieces need to be easy to pick up in a spoon. I am a big fan of these flexible cutting boards. They are easy to pick up and bend so all the vegetables slide onto the baking sheet or your stock pot. Singing the praises of these cutting boards is something that just has to be done. I never knew how easy it is to get chopped anything into a pan. Now I do.

Onion – Cut the top and bottom off the onion.  Place the onion on a flat side and cut the onion in half.  Peel off the outer papers and then place both sides flat side down.  Cut one direction and then turn the cutting board a quarter turn.  Slice the onion the other direction to make small pieces.

Zucchini – Slice into fourths or sixths lengthwise.  Then cut across the short side for 1/4 inch pieces.

Yellow Squash – Slice the squash exactly like the zucchini.

Carrots – Peel and slice thin rounds across the carrot.  If you have a mandolin, this is the perfect time to use it.  I love mine!  I use it all the time when slicing vegetables.

3.  Place all the vegetables on a large baking sheet. Arranging them in colors like the picture above, makes me so happy.  Veggies are a beautiful gift from the earth.  Their vibrant  colors remind me that all is good in the world!  We are so blessed if we have enough food, clean water and a safe place to live.

Favorite Vegetable Soup is so good!

4.  Peel the garlic and cut off the bulb end of the garlic clove.  Use a small grater or the small side of a box grater to grate.  Spread the garlic over the top of all the vegetables.

Getting the skins off a clove of garlic can be a little challenging. I like to lay them flat on the cutting board. Use. the flat side of a large knife and push down on the clove until you hear a crunch. It is the splitting of the outer skin. Use another small knife to get underneath of the skin and pull it off. If you find any dark parts, cut them off and then grate.

5.  Sprinkle the cut vegetables with olive oil and then generously salt and pepper.  Place in the oven and roast for one hour at 375°.  Using a large flat spatula to turn the vegetables every 10-15 minutes or so.  You can put all the vegetables in the chicken stock and boil them, too.  The roasted vegetables add another level of flavor that is hard to get when they are boiled.

Roasted Vegetables make everything taste better.

6.  Place the hot water in a large stock pot.  Add the chicken bouillon.  Knorr granulated chicken bouillon is my favorite.  Another option is a bottle of small bouillon cubes on Amazon.  If you want to purchase chicken stock, you can use that, also.

Many of you already know that I never purchase chicken stock. I feel I am paying for water, and I can get that for free out of my tap. A good chicken bouillon will give you the exact same, or better taste, than packaged chicken stock. Besides, chicken bouillon in a jar takes up a lot less room in my pantry than boxes of chicken stock. If you make my Roasted Chicken you can have the best chicken stock every!

7.  Add the roasted vegetables and the cans of stewed tomatoes to the chicken stock.  Petite diced stewed tomatoes are my favorite.  They are the right size for any meal, but especially for this vegetable soup.

8.  Add the basil, salt and pepper.  You might think, wow, this is a lot of salt, but the vegetables need it.  Taste the soup as you go along and add the salt for your taste.  One of the biggest mistakes home cooks make is not tasting as they go. Often their dishes do not have the flavor they could if they added a little more salt.

Salt this soup more than you think.  The veggies need help!

9.  Bring everything to a boil.  Place the lid on and turn the heat down so there is a low boil or simmer in the pan.   Let the  soup simmer for at least 30 minutes. One hour or more is my favorite. Getting  all the flavors to come together takes time. 

10.  If you like your soup a little bit smoother, you can puree the soup in a blender.   Take out a cup of vegetables and then, in batches, blend the soup.  You can use a blender or an immersion blender. After it is all smooth, add the cup of vegetables back in.  This was the way I made this soup for years.  Just lately have I been leaving the soup chunky and eating it that way.

Here are a few products I like to use when making Favorite Vegetable Soup.

When you purchase items from the Amazon links below, I receive a small commission.

Let me know on Instagram or Facebook if you make this.  Post a picture and tag me @dinasdiner.

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