The absolute most delicious and flavorful healthy vegan vegetable soup out there! This vegan soup has a rich tomato broth and hearty rice texture to fill you up. It is oil-free and incredibly healthy and good for you.
Originally posted 1-26-2018. Updated with clearer instructions and content.
HEALTHY VEGETABLE SOUP
Meet my new favorite soup! I’ve made this healthy vegetable soup with rice several times already before posting it and I’m here to tell you, this is the best vegetable soup I’ve had. I have found many vegetable soups to be too watery or have a really bland broth, do you know what I mean? The broth part of a soup tends to be my favorite part because it imparts so much flavor (if done well). I really want to slurp up flavor, not boring bland liquid. Every single bite of this soup is absolutely a party for your taste buds.
So, I didn’t want just plain broth as my soup base. I amped it with serious tomato flavor and another unexpected ingredient in vegetable soup…rice. It makes it more hearty and filling. This soup has the perfect balance of broth and ingredients…not too watery/brothy and not too chunky. Just what you want from a vegetable soup…to be able to enjoy slurping the delicious broth but also getting some yummy veggies in every bite. Seriously, my favorite vegetable soup to date.
INGREDIENTS
For this vegetable soup, you’ll need 8 easy ingredients:
- tomato sauce
- low-sodium vegetable broth
- Italian seasoning: I use my homemade blend.
- chili powder
- mixed veggies (corn, peas, green beans, carrots)
- garlic
- onion
- cooked brown rice
HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY VEGETABLE SOUP
Step 1: Add the onion, garlic and 1/4 cup water and a pinch of salt to a large pot over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes until softened and all the water is gone. Lower the heat to low and stir constantly for a couple of minutes to caramelize the onions a bit.
FULL OF FLAVOR
This Tomato Rice Vegetable Soup is undeniably full of flavor, a warmth that screams comfort and the perfect acidity from the tomato sauce. To make the flavor even richer, I added chili powder, oh my, so warming. I also added just enough cayenne to give it subtle spiciness to make it even more exciting. The perfect amount to feel in your throat, but not so much that you are reaching for water or it is overpowering everything. But since many people don’t like cayenne or may be feeding to kids, I made it an optional ingredient. Although, if it’s just for you, I’d highly suggest adding it because it makes it so delicious!
Seriously, my favorite vegetable soup to date. I hope you all love it as much as we do!
MORE VEGAN SOUP RECIPES TO TRY
- Lazy Day Vegan Tomato Bisque
- Vegan Cauliflower Curry Soup
- Vegan Red Lentil Spinach Soup
- Lazy Red Lentil Curry Soup
- Smoky Sweet Potato Black-eyed Pea Soup
- Low-fat Smoky Broccoli Potato Soup
- Healthy Potato Carrot Tomato Soup
- Easy Vegan Ramen Noodle Soup
- Sweet Potato Broccoli Cheese Soup
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Healthy Vegetable Soup (With Rice)
Ingredients
- 1/2 packed cup (80g) finely diced red onion
- 5 x-large cloves garlic, minced OR 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
- 5 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 3 cups (720g) tomato sauce/puree (this is just pureed tomatoes into liquid)
- 2 tablespoons (6g) Italian seasoning (see NOTES)
- 1 tablespoon (8g) standard American Chili powder
- 5 cups (575g) frozen mixed veggies (I bought bags containing a mix of corn, peas, green beans and carrots)
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional: see Note)
- 1 1/2 cups (240g) cooked brown rice (I buy the frozen rice packets for easy quick rice in 4 minutes)
- I use this scale
NOTE
- For the cayenne pepper, a 1/4 teaspoon gives a subtle but perfectly, delicious kick of heat. It is just enough to really enhance the overall soup and feel it in your throat, without it overpowering the soup. It is optional, so you can leave it out or reduce to 1/8 teaspoon for sensitivity or for kids.
Instructions
- Have all of your ingredients measured and ready to go, as this soup comes together very fast.
- Add the onion, garlic (if using the garlic cloves) and 1/4 cup water and a pinch of salt to a large pot over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes until softened and all the water is gone. Once the water is gone, lower the heat to low and stir constantly for a couple of minutes to caramelize the onions a bit. Be careful not to burn them.
- Add all of the remaining ingredients (except the cooked rice), including the garlic powder (if using in place of the garlic cloves) and cayenne (if using) and stir well. Turn the heat to high and bring to a high boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes. The veggies should be perfectly tender, but still have a slight bite to them. Remove from the heat and stir in the cooked rice. My flavor was spot on but if your tomato sauce did not have added salt, you may need another pinch.
- If you want it spicier, add more pepper or cayenne. The 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne was the perfect level of heat for me so it wasn't overpowering. The soup should have a nice amount of broth to it still but will definitely thicken up well as it sits a bit (from the rice) so don't be tempted to add extra veggies. I found it to be the perfect mix of veggies and broth so both could be enjoyed. Not too soupy and not too chunky. Serve with bread.
Notes
Nutrition
Love this soup! Super easy! Only thing I changed was I used cannellini beans instead of rice.
We we loved this soup. So very flavorable!
This will be one of our go toās. We made for family coming for the weekend. My sister is vegan. We made two soups. Both from Pinterest, bread and salad. Everyone Loved it!
We will be making again!
So happy to hear that!!
I was wondering if there is a crockpot version? š
I don’t have one since I don’t own a crockpot!
I made this tonight and it was wonderful! I adore tomato based vegetable soups that use frozen veggies and this one didnāt disappoint. I made it as written except I used kasha instead if rice and included lima beans with the mixed veggies. The spice level was perfect and I canāt wait to make it again!!
So very happy to hear this Mireille, thanks so much!
Delicious, easy and very filling!
Delicious. Easy even for a non-cook like me.
This recipe is amazing!! So easy and it tastes great! I did add too much cayenne pepper for my liking. Is there an easy way to tone it down? I have extras of all the ingredients, so I was going to make a small batch and add it to it, but wondering if there is something easier?
So glad you love it! Yes, I would try adding a bit more water and tomato sauce and a touch of sweetener to see if that helps!
This was amazing! My girls have been complaining about my too often repeats of our current soups so I was looking for something else. I knew I could count on you! I used the instant pot just because I was taking a nap before I head into my graveyard shift and I didn’t have cooked rice so I used uncooked and added a bit more broth, also added some broccoli. The girls immediately said they wanted me to make this again on the ASAP. So much yum!
I have made this soup several times now. This past weekend I made it for my lunches throughout the week, however it was gone by Monday because everyone kept eating it on me! So good š
This is by far my favorites soup….ever. It is so full of flavor. I love that it is so delicious, yet packed with veggies. It was so easy to make.
Aww, that makes me so happy to hear Dora! Thank you for letting me know!
This looks so good! Just what I’ve been craving! I’m not a big fan of frozen veggies, would it work to used chopped fresh veg in this recipe and just cook a little longer? Or would that ruin the texture?
Ok, aside from this being one of my husbands favorite soups that youāve created, BUT I made this for my non-vegan mom and sheās on her SECOND bowl already! She loves it! She asked me if Iād add a rutabaga and a diced zucchini and it turned out AMAZING! I think I will continue to add those two because it turned out great. I sort of steamed the rutabaga with the onion and garlic so it was soft but firm by the time I threw everything else in! Wonderful wonderful wonderful recipe! Iām pretty sure Iāve already commented how much I love this, but thought Iād share about my mom loving it!
Yay, that is excellent news to hear Samantha! SO glad everybody loves this soup, thank you so much for the review!
This soup is amazing! So delicious and easy to make with the frozen veggies. I used lentils instead of rice and added pinto beans. Thank you for the recipe!
P.S. my non-vegan roommates even asked if they could have a bowl after smelling and tasting it š
The first recipe Iāve made from your site, I LOVED it. I opted to add more rice since I donāt prefer really brothy soup. Sooooo good!
Yay! So glad you loved it! It actually gets rather thick as it sits over the next several minutes!
That is wonderful to hear JaNesse! Thank you so much for making it!
One word – PERFECT.
Yay, thank you Patricia, that is the “perfect” feedback, too, haha!
Hi Brandi – Getting ready to go to the store for some frozen veggies. Dying to make this soup! Coupla questions – can tomato sauce in a jar be used in this recipe? Is there a particular brand of sauce/puree that you use? I have found that all your other suggestions, like Sari brand for nutritional yest, are really worth while. Thanks, Pat
Yes, in a jar is totally fine! That is what I use. I use either the brand from Sprouts or the one from Heb, here in Texas called “Central Market” š
Thanks to a snow day, today with food prep day. I wanted a new soup recipe and picked this one. I used wild rice instead of brown rice, and my vegetables were broccoli, peas, corn, green beans, spinach and kale. Iām fairly certain I added too many vegetables, but to me thatās never a problem. I used canned whole tomatoes and purĆ©ed them for the tomato purĆ©e. When all was said and done, I thought it tasted too much like Italian seasoning. I mustāve been heavy-handed when I measured that. Since I made the pumpkin chipotle chili earlier today, I had an open can of chipotle peppers on hand. I diced two up and threw them in. After cooking an extra five minutes, the soup was outstanding. My daughter who complained āwhy did you have to make tomato soup, I hate tomato soupā had two bowls. Iām looking forward to having more for lunch tomorrow. My only issue is that somehow all the broth disappeared. I donāt know if the rice soaked it up. Or my daughter just ate it all. If you have any suggestions on what to use for broth, that would be great. If not Iām happy to eat stew the rest of the week.
Hi Karen! So glad it was outstanding! If you tasted the Italian spices too much and you didn’t have much broth, that would be why. You can see in my photos there is plenty of liquid left over and I probably make this weekly and it never has too much of an Italian seasoning, but we always have broth. Since you added a bunch of extra veggies, and changed the rice as well, it sounds like it simply soaked up too much liquid. I would try using less veggies and just simply add more broth at the end if you want it soupier!
Wow! At 200 calories a serving, I might just have 1/2 the pot. This was absolutely delicious! Paired it with a yummy side salad and this was legit!
I do have a off the recipe question:
Are the recipes in the cook book the same as on the site? Just curious. Either way Iām going to buy it!
Yay! So glad you loved it Michael!
No, my Cookbook is all new recipes with the exception of around 10 from my blog, the really popular ones and a few staples. But mainly all brand new! Thank you!
I never love vegetable soup because they always seem bland and too brothy (if that’s a word). I looooved your pumpkin chili so thought I’d give this a try. I used barley instead of brown rice, upped the cayenne pepper and added a little bit of sauce from a can of chipotle peppers in adobo. Sooooo good. My boyfriend had seconds and he is not a vegetable soup fan ether. I am excited for lunches this week with this on the menu!
Since i learned the ingredients for this soup i am making it like craaazy! it’s sooo hearty! I looove it! I make a big batch just for myself and saves me the trouble of cooking dinner when i get home from work. Thank you very much for sharing this! And all your recipes. So challenging to find tasty recipes with no oil and sugar. You have a beautiful purpose on this earth and i am grateful you like what you are doing.
Hi Mona! What a wonderful comment to read this morning! Thank you so much for your kind words, Iām truly touched. So happy you love this soup too!!
Hi Brandi!
I made your soup tonight and it was fantastic!
I made 3 changes: Instant Pot, potatoes instead of rice, decreased broth amount because I was not using rice.
I chose to use the Instant Pot, even though stovetop would have been faster, because I didn’t want to heat up the kitchen and also wanted to be able to walk away and do things while it was pressure cooking.
I made the potatoes first, and added them to the soup after the soup part was finished (pressure cooking times were different so I chose to do it this way).
Thank you for this delicious soup, your recipes never let me down! So simple to throw together, definitely a keeper, going to make this for an upcoming brunch with friends. I know they will love it.
So, as before, another brilliant recipe that is a huge win in my house…THANK YOU š
Stacy
Hi Stacy! Oh wow, so great to hear that!! Definitely sounds delicious with potatoes too and I will have to try that next time. Thank you so much for your wonderful words and kind feedback, so nice to hear!!
This looks yummy and tasty! I added other veggies like peas, mushrooms and red pepper.
I cannot believe how easy this soup is – and it’s delicious. Thanks for a great recipe!
Wonderful Amy, so glad to hear that!
This is my third recipe of yours and it is awesome! I did substitute elbow macaroni for the rice only because I had it on hand and needed to use it up but it still came out the perfect consistency and reheated well with no problems. I am really looking forward to your cookbook!
Oh, my! What a perfect hearty bowl of coziness!! This looks amazing! I love the seasoning combination you have here…Italian seasoning has been my go-to these days (especially for soups), but the addition of chili powder sounds so good. We’ve had a really weird winter – not cold, no snow, and more like spring weather, BUT I’m still making 1-2 pots of soup a week. I think this needs to be added to my rotation! Hope you’re having a great week, my friend!