Every fall season I look forward to cozy soups and stews packed full of fall flavors and vegetables. There's just nothing like having a big bowl of warm soup while there's a crisp breeze in the air and the leaves are changing colors all around you. It makes me feel all cozy and warm inside! This Harvest Vegetable Soup is my first soup recipe of the season and it delivers on all the cozy fall feels.
Soups are probably one of my favorite things to make because of how laid-back and forgiving the cooking process is. You can chop the vegetables as you go and there is no need for exact measurements of anything. You can add a little more of this or that and improvise as you create. I almost always find myself adding an ingredient or two that I didn't plan to include when making soups. Soups also make excellent leftovers! Keep reading to learn about my favorite food storage containers for soups like this Harvest Vegetable Soup.
Making Harvest Vegetable Soup
As with any vegetable soup, the most labor-intensive part is chopping all those nutritious veggies. I find vegetable chopping to be a bit therapeutic, but I know that may not be the case for everyone.
First, chop your onion, garlic, sweet potato, squash, and carrot. You just want a rough chop on the onion and a fine mince on the garlic. Peel the sweet potato and butternut squash and chop them into small cubes.
Heat two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil or butter in a heavy bottomed stock pot or dutch oven over medium high heat. Once oil is hot, add the onion, sweet potato and squash to the pot. Cook for 2-3 minutes until onion begins to soften. Add garlic and thyme and cook until garlic is fragrant, about another minute. Add vegetable stock to the pot and stir to break up any bits stuck to the bottom.
Roughly chop your portabellas and add them, along with the diced tomatoes, to the pot and stir to incorporate all ingredients. Season your soup with smoked sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, paprika, dried basil, dried oregano, chipotle pepper and cayenne pepper. Add bay leaves and give the soup a good stir.
Reduce heat to medium and cover the pot. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. While soup is simmering, wash and chop your kale, removing any tough stems.
After 10 minutes, check the tenderness of the sweet potatoes and squash and add more cooking time if needed. Also add salt and pepper to taste at this point along with a couple dashes of hot sauce, like Franks (optional). Once sweet potato and squash are tender, add in the kale and stir to combine. Cook until kale is wilted. If you like your soup to be a little tighter, add in the cornstarch slurry at this time and stir until soup thickens.
Remove bay leaves and serve soup immediately with crusty bread if desired.
Storing Harvest Vegetable Soup
Harvest Vegetable Soup keeps beautifully for up to 5 days when stored in an airtight container such as an NEW! Ello Duraglass™ Food Storage Rounds. I always make pretty big batches of soup on the weekend and store and reheat leftovers for lunch throughout the week.
Ello's 7 cup round container keeps my leftover soup fresh for days with it's leak-proof lid with air tight locking tabs. To pack a ready-to-go lunch for the next day, I fill a 2 or 3 cup Ello round container with soup and simply heat soup in the container when ready to enjoy.
Ello's containers come with a protective silicone sleeve which acts a built in trivet, and there's no need to remove the sleeve when reheating or washing! The crystal clear lids allow you to see exactly what's inside the container without opening it.
Staying on track with my health and nutrition goals throughout the week is very important to me. Thanks to Ello Duraglass™ Food Storage Rounds and hearty, nutritious recipes like this Harvest Vegetable Soup, sticking to my goals just became a lot easier and it can for you too!
You Will Also Love this Vegetarian Southern Collard Greens Recipe!
Harvest Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or butter
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 medium sweet potato peeled and cut into small cubes
- half of a medium butternut squash peeled and cut into small cubes
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves removed from stem
- 1 32 oz carton of vegetable stock
- 3 large portabella mushrooms roughly chopped
- 1 15 oz can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 1-2 tsp of smoked sea salt
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½-1 tsp chipotle pepper
- ½-1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 3 fresh bay leaves
- Hot sauce such as Franks Red Hot
- 1 bunch of kale washed and chopped, tough stems removed
- Cornstarch slurry (optional) 2 tbsp each or cornstarch and water combined into a thin paste
- 1 large carrot sliced into discs
Instructions
- Heat two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil or butter in a heavy bottomed stock pot or dutch oven over medium high heat. Once oil is hot, add the onion, sweet potato, squash and carrot to the pot. Cook for 2-3 minutes until onion begins to soften. Add garlic and thyme and cook until garlic is fragrant, about another minute. Add vegetable stock to the pot and stir to break up any bits stuck to the bottom.
- Add chopped portabellas, along with the diced tomatoes, to the pot and stir to incorporate all ingredients. Season your soup with smoked sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, paprika, dried basil, dried oregano, chipotle pepper and cayenne pepper. Add bay leaves and give the soup a good stir.
- Reduce heat to medium and cover the pot. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. While soup is simmering, wash and chop your kale, removing any tough stems.
- After 10 minutes, check the tenderness of the sweet potatoes and squash and add more cooking time if needed. Also add salt and pepper to taste at this point along with a couple dashes of hot sauce, like Franks (optional). Once sweet potato and squash are tender, add in the kale and stir to combine. Cook until kale is wilted. If you like your soup to be a little tighter, add in the cornstarch slurry at this time and stir until soup thickens.
- Remove bay leaves and serve soup immediately with crusty bread if desired.
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