Recipe for vegan root vegetable soup {gluten-free}

If you've been hanging around The Perfect Pantry for a while, you've heard me rail against recipes that require you to make twelve other things -- sauces, spice blends, stock -- in order to have the components for one recipe. So it wouldn't be fair to ask you to make an entire beef stew so you'll have leftover already-diced rutabaga, parsnips and carrots that won't quite fit into the stew pot, but which will fit quite nicely into your soup pot. (And it would be especially unfair if you don't eat meat!) This root vegetable soup, vegan and and gluten-free, carries its own sweetness; add some fruit and warm spices like cumin, coriander and garam masala, and whip everything together with your immersion blender. If you love cilantro, garnish individual servings with a few chopped leaves.

Vegan root vegetable soup

From the pantry, you'll need: onion, fresh ginger root, garlic, cumin, coriander, garam masala, curry powder, olive oil.

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients

1 large onion, diced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp chopped ginger
2 parsnips, peeled and diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
4 cups diced rutabaga
4 cups diced butternut squash
1 large red-skinned apple, any variety, chopped (no need to peel)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp curry powder, sweet or hot
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp garam masala
Zest of one orange
Kosher salt and fresh black pepper, to taste

Directions

In a Dutch oven or heavy soup pot, sauté the onion in olive oil over low-medium heat until translucent. Add the garlic and ginger, and stir for 1 minute until the garlic and ginger soften slightly.

Stir in the vegetables and apple, and cook, stirring frequently, for 4-5 minutes. then add the cumin, curry powder, coriander and garam masala, and stir for 2 minutes, to toast the spices.

Pour in 4 cups of water.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Cover the pot, and cook for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft when pierced with a knife.

Remove the pot from heat, and purée the soup with an immersion blender. (Or, let cool slightly, then purée in batches in a blender. Return the soup to the pot.)

Return the pot to the stove top, and stir in the orange zest. Add 1/2 teaspoon each of kosher salt and black pepper. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Serve hot. Or, let cool completely, and refrigerate or freeze.

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Roasted sweet potato and apple soup
Yam, apple and carrot soup with ginger and honey
Squash, sweet potato and carrot soup
Creamy Indian-spiced vegan sweet potato soup
Root-vegetables-with-beef stew

Other recipes that use these pantry ingredients:
Root vegetable curry, from Cook's Hideout
Curried root vegetables, from The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen
Curried root vegetable chowder with dumplings, from Diet, Dessert and Dogs
Red lentil and root veggie dal, from The Taste Space
Curried parsnip soup, from The Tiffin Box

Vegan root vegetable soup

From the pantry, you'll need: onion, fresh ginger root, garlic, cumin, coriander, garam masala, curry powder, olive oil.

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients

1 large onion, diced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp chopped ginger
2 parsnips, peeled and diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
4 cups diced rutabaga
4 cups diced butternut squash
1 large red-skinned apple, any variety, chopped (no need to peel)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp curry powder, sweet or hot
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp garam masala
Zest of one orange
Kosher salt and fresh black pepper, to taste

Directions

In a Dutch oven or heavy soup pot, sauté the onion in olive oil over low-medium heat until translucent. Add the garlic and ginger, and stir for 1 minute until the garlic and ginger soften slightly.

Stir in the vegetables and apple, and cook, stirring frequently, for 4-5 minutes. then add the cumin, curry powder, coriander and garam masala, and stir for 2 minutes, to toast the spices.

Pour in 4 cups of water.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Cover the pot, and cook for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft when pierced with a knife.

Remove the pot from heat, and purée the soup with an immersion blender. (Or, let cool slightly, then purée in batches in a blender. Return the soup to the pot.)

Return the pot to the stove top, and stir in the orange zest. Add 1/2 teaspoon each of kosher salt and black pepper. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Serve hot. Or, let cool completely, and refrigerate or freeze.

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Roasted sweet potato and apple soup
Yam, apple and carrot soup with ginger and honey
Squash, sweet potato and carrot soup
Creamy Indian-spiced vegan sweet potato soup
Root-vegetables-with-beef stew

Other recipes that use these pantry ingredients:
Root vegetable curry, from Cook's Hideout
Curried root vegetables, from The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen
Curried root vegetable chowder with dumplings, from Diet, Dessert and Dogs
Red lentil and root veggie dal, from The Taste Space
Curried parsnip soup, from The Tiffin Box

Comments

The contrast of root vegetables with apples and orange zest is really nice. A welcomed addition in these still cold days of late winter.

Love the idea of these "exotic" spices and the orange with the root veggies. Would you describe this soup as "spicy" at all or just warm and comforting (how I imagine it) - because my mom likes very plain food and I would have to get her to try this (and sneak the spices by her) before I tell her what's in it!

That looks wonderful! Thank you.

TW, I love making soups with the vegetables of the season, and in this season, there isn't much to work with except root vegetables. Fruit is always a nice counterpoint.

Carol, I'd definitely call this soup "warm", especially if you use "sweet" or "mild" curry powder.

Tina, hope you like it.

This is what I would call a comfort soup. With the natural sweetness of the root vegetables and the punch of Indian spices, I wouldn't be able to stop at one bowl.

Looks beautiful and the texture seems just right! Will make this tomorrow for my dinner guests. Thank you.