Chunky Vegetable and Spinach Soup

Hearty meals, much like this Chunky Vegetable and Spinach Soup, are heart-healthy and filling. It’s a delicious vegetarian soup that once again proves that meat does not need to be present at every meal. On colder nights, serve this soup with buttered crusty bread for even more home-style comfort!

You can call this soup a Root Vegetable Soup if you choose to do so, or you can call it a Vegetable Soup. Whatever you decide, add the word delicious at the beginning, because, Dear Reader, this Chunky Vegetable and Spinach Soup is nothing short of phenomenally fantastic!

We love all kinds of soups.  Well, actually, I love all kinds of soups.  John.e is a vegetarian, so he only loves vegetarian or vegan soups.  And, up until just recently, McKenna was a vegetarian as well, but she has recently integrated meat back into her diet.

So, when it comes to soups and stews, in more cases than not, I make my recipes vegetarian.  I have made soups and stews with meat in them before, and you can find a few of them here at Lord Byron’s Kitchen.  But, to be perfectly honest, I don’t think that a soup needs meat at all to be really, really delicious!

Vegetable soup normally has green peas, corn, green beans, potatoes, onion and celery.  As much as I love those types of soups, (mostly because they remind me of Campbell’s canned Vegetable Soup from my childhood) I feel that a vegetable soup needs to be chunky and hearty.

ROOT VEGETABLES ALWAYS MAKE GREAT SOUP!

I feel that in order to get a chunky and hearty vegetable soup, you need to use root vegetables.  Root vegetables have always been my favourite type of vegetable, and there’s an easy explanation.  Where I grew up, above ground veggies were very rarely grown by local farmers.

I only ever saw green beans in a can, and the same goes for green peas and corn.  This was the norm.  But, in time, we were able to source tomatoes, lettuce, corn, etc., quite easily.  By easily, I mean drive about 90 minutes or so to the closest largest town and shop for groceries there.

Chunky Vegetable and Spinach Soup has all of the root vegetables that I love the most!  Of course you’re going to find potatoes in almost every variety of vegetable soup, but I also added carrots and rutabaga – and if you cannot source rutabaga, you can also use turnip.

Now, I ask you, Dear Reader, what is soup without a solid base start of onions and garlic?  And, if you living in the Thomas-Ewing household, onions and garlic are nothing without the addition of celery in a soup recipe!  It’s like why bother to make soup without celery?  It would be like making soup without bay leaves!

Like all good soups though, you need something green to make it come alive.  I used whole baby spinach leaves in this soup – not only to add colour and flavour, but to also add some solid health benefits, such as protein, calcium, potassium, and iron.

SOUPS DONE! LET’S SERVE IT UP!

When all is said and done – when the vegetables are tender; when the spinach has been wilted; and when the broth is thick and flavourful – you’re left with a Chunky Vegetable and Spinach Soup that’s fit for a King or Queen, but best served in large portions to you and your family!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Olive Oil – You can use vegetable oil, sunflower oil, or avocado oil. Any cooking oil will do here.
• Onion – I use yellow, white, and sweet onions interchangeably.  Either of them will do just fine.
• Garlic – Use fresh garlic whenever possible. Even the pre-minced stuff in the jars is better than garlic powder or granulated garlic in this recipe.
• Seasonings – You will need salt, ground black pepper, dried thyme, and bay leaves.
• Carrots – I’m using small carrots and slicing them into rounds. If you only have larger carrots, you can peel and slice the carrot in half or into quarters lengthwise. Then, slice the carrots into 1/4-inch thick pieces.
• Celery – We love celery in soup!
• Rutabega – You can substitute this with turnip as well.
• Potatoes – You can use white or yellow flesh potatoes.
• Butternut Squash – To save time, you can use prepared frozen squash as well!
• Vegetable Stock – If you are using store-bought, use low sodium. Some of them can be overly salty!
• Water
• Spinach – Use fresh baby spinach if possible. I have on occasion substituted the spinach with chopped frozen kale from my grocer’s freezer section.

HOW TO MAKE CHUNKY VEGETABLE AND SPINACH SOUP

In a very large, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or soup pot, add the onions and olive oil. Saute the onions over medium heat, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for two minutes. Next, add the thyme, salt, ground black pepper, bay leaves, carrots, celery, and rutabaga. Stir well to combine and place a lid on the pot. Allow to cook for 5 minutes. Pour in the vegetable stock and the water. Stir well and place a lid back on the pot. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Next, add the potatoes. Stir into the soup. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Now, add the butternut squash. Stir into the soup. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. (At this point, once everything is stirred together, the vegetables should be just slightly covered with broth. If not, add just enough water to cover the veggies.)

Lastly, add the spinach leaves. Stir into the soup the best you can. Place a lid on the pot and cook for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Check seasoning and serve piping hot with crusty bread or crackers.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

Even though Chunky Vegetable and Spinach Soup is a complete meal all on its own, you might want to consider serving this soup with a few other items. If you have a larger family, you can serve smaller bowls of soup – make it stretch further by serving it with some crusty bread. No matter how thick and hearty the soup is, you cannot go wrong with a slice or two of really good crusty bread. My favourite is just about any bread from Ace Bakery!

Soups are often served with sandwiches and this one is no different. You can serve this soup with a grilled cheese or my personal favourite with almost any soup is a classic ham and cheese on white bread. I know, it’s simple, but simple is sometimes best!

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down to follow me and never miss another recipe!