This creamy, delicious vegetable soup from scratch is good any time of year but is particularly beneficial when sickness hits your family. The nutrient-dense base uses homemade chicken bone broth and then you add whatever vegetables you have in your kitchen. Serve it alone or with some crusty bread or a grilled cheese sandwich and it’s a winner the whole family will love!
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Any time sickness hits us on the homestead, I use home remedies like this elderberry syrup and make sure everyone is getting extra rest and water with lemon juice.
I also make sure everyone eats nourishing foods using my homemade chicken bone broth. Soup is a great way to get the extra nutrition our bodies need to fight off illness.
Although this creamy vegetable soup really shines during sick times, it’s also delicious and healthy to serve any time!
It’s also a great way to use up some of the garden vegetables that you might have laying around in abundance. I’m looking at you zucchini, cucumbers, and yellow squash.
The beauty of this recipe is that you can adjust it with whatever vegetables you have on hand. Make it thicker or thinner depending on how much bone broth you add.
Then you can add any side or none at all! We are partial to eating a grilled cheese sandwich with this soup.
Sneaking in Vegetables, Herbs, and Spices
I like to sneak in vegetables and different beneficial herbs and spices that my family doesn’t routinely eat. Soup is a terrific vehicle for doing this! After pureeing this soup, your family won’t know how many different vegetables they’re eating!
Coriander may help lower your blood sugar, fight infections, and promote heart, brain, skin, and digestive health.
Turmeric has many scientifically proven health benefits, such as the potential to improve heart health and prevent against Alzheimer’s and cancer. It’s a potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant and may also help improve symptoms of depression and arthritis.
Nutritional yeast gets its name from the nutrients it contains, including protein and a wide array of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Studies show that it offers several potential health benefits ranging from lower cholesterol to protection from cellular damage that leads to disease.
A Word on Fats and Oils
Use traditional good quality fats like butter (made from milk from grass-fed cows), lard, tallow, olive oil, and coconut oil. Margarine, shortening, and vegetable oil may cost less but they can lead to cancer, heart disease, immune system dysfunction, sterility, and other ailments. Read here for more details.
Good quality fats keep you healthy during times of stress.
If you live in the country, consider keeping a dairy cow so you can make your own grass-fed butter. Likewise, save the fat when you butcher your pigs so you can render your own lard. Ask your butcher to save the fat when butchering cows so you can render your own tallow.
Instructions for Making Creamy Vegetable Soup
First you’ll want to wash any vegetables you’ll be using and get out your dutch oven or another big stainless steel pot.
I like using a dutch oven for soups because it holds the heat and cooks everything quicker but a regular pot will work, too.
If you’re using onions, leeks, or carrots, dice them up and put them in the dutch oven with four tablespoons of butter and cook them over low heat for 30 minutes with the cover on.
The goal is to get them soft but not burn them.
If you’re using potatoes, leave the skins on and dice them up and have them ready, along with all your gelatinous chicken bone broth. My bone broth is thick like jello…see how the spoon rests on top of the broth?
Add the potatoes to the pot after the onions and carrots have cooked for 30 minutes.
Then add all your chicken bone broth and bring to a boil. Skim off any foam that may rise to the top.
After bringing soup to a boil, reduce heat to medium and add several sprigs of fresh thyme tied together with kitchen string, or you can add about 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme.
Also add 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper. Cover and cook until the potatoes are soft, about 15 minutes.
Add zucchini, cucumbers, yellow squash, and any other summer vegetables you have on hand. Cook for about 5-10 minutes until they are soft.
Turn off the heat, remove the thyme sprigs, and puree the soup with an immersion blender.
Be careful to start out slow so your soup doesn’t splash all over you.
If the soup is too thick, you can thin it with some filtered water.
Last, season your soup with salt and pepper and any other seasonings you like.
For this big pot, I added 2 tablespoons of ground coriander, 2 teaspoons of Redmond Real Sea Salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon of nutritional yeast.
I also like to add some raw cream to each bowl of soup to add a silky richness but you can skip that if you want.
Recipe for Creamy Vegetable Soup
Creamy Vegetable Soup
Equipment
- Dutch oven or big pot
- immersion blender
- measuring spoons
- wooden spoon or spatula
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp butter
- 2 onions or leeks, diced
- 4 carrots, diced
- 3 medium potatoes, diced
- 3 quarts chicken bone broth
- several sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
- 3 zucchini or cucumbers
- 3 squash
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp nutritional yeast
- optional: cream
Instructions
- Melt butter in dutch oven and add onions or leeks and carrots. Cover and cook on low heat for 30 minutes until carrots and onions are soft.
- Add potatoes and chicken bone broth. Bring to a boil and skim off any foam, then reduce to medium heat and add thyme sprigs and red pepper. Cover and cook about 15 minutes until potatoes soften.
- Add zucchini and squash and cook another 5-10 minutes until soft.
- Turn off heat, remove thyme sprigs, and puree soup with an immersion blender.
- Add salt, black pepper, coriander, turmeric, and nutritional yeast to taste.
- Ladle into bowls and add fresh cream, if desired.
Variations to Recipe
You can keep it simple and just add potatoes and leeks (or onions) for a nice leek and potato soup.
Add watercress or sorrel before pureeing and eat the soup hot or cold.
You can also substitute butter or sour cream instead of using sweet cream at the end if you plan to serve it hot and garnish with minced herbs.
If you want to get fancy, you can pour soup into individual tureens or soup pots, top with homemade croutons and grated Swiss or Parmesan cheese, and bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 325 degrees. Follow with one or two minutes under the broiler in the oven to give it a golden brown top.
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immersion blender with blade guard (to prevent scratching your pot)
Leave a comment!
What do you feed your family when they are sick? Also, let me know what you think if you give this creamy vegetable soup a try!
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Thanks for your blog, nice to read. Do not stop.
Thanks!