Root Vegetable Soup
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:6 to 8 servings
- 6tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1large onion or 2 leeks (white and light green part only), chopped
- 2 to 3celery stalks, diced
- 3garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 3rosemary or thyme branches
- 2bay leaves
- 3½pounds mixed root vegetables (carrot, parsnip, celery root, turnip, rutabaga, sweet or regular potato), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2teaspoons fine sea salt, more as needed
- ½teaspoon black pepper, more as needed
- Juice of ½ lemon, more for serving
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Flaky sea salt
- Crushed Aleppo, Urfa or other chile flakes, optional
- Grated Parmesan or pecorino, optional
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
264 calories; 13 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 30 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 7 grams protein; 585 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
Melt butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Stir in onion and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in garlic, rosemary and bay leaves; cook 1 minute more. Add root vegetables, 8 cups water, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer, covered, until vegetables are tender, 30 to 40 minutes.
- Step 2
Remove and discard rosemary branches and bay leaves. Using an immersion blender, purée soup until smooth. (Alternatively, you can purée the soup in batches in a blender or food processor.) If the soup is too thick, add a little water. Season with lemon juice and more salt to taste.
- Step 3
To serve, ladle soup into bowls and top with a drizzle of olive oil, a few drops of lemon juice, flaky salt and crushed chile or grated cheese, if desired.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
PDX
This is my go-to recipe for winter root vegetables and a great way to use up a CSA box. You can use any that you have. I use chicken broth or veggie bullion cubes instead of plain water. This time I added a can of chickpeas before blending it for protein, which also added a nice creaminess. The lemon is key! Smoked paprika is nice on top if you don't have Aleppo.
Marcio
You can also make chips with the root vegetable peels. 400 degrees in the oven for 8 minutes. I add garam masala, cardamom, salt and pepper. I ate it while cooking the soup, but I suppose if you can resist the temptation, you could also use it as garnish.
Beth
I found this soup very bland even with roasting the vegetables and adding cream after pureeing. It needed a good stock instead of just water.
David
Roasted celery root, carrots, gold potatoes and butternut squash in 425' oven for 40 mins. Used .25 lb. bacon instead of butter. Poured off most of fat and served crumbled on top. Cut water down to 6 cups. Great flavor.
KW
Super tasty, but whoa - way more than 1 hr, more like 3, counting time to peel/chop vegetables before start. It also made about 20 cups, way more than that demure picture. In honesty, my peeled veg were close to 4 pounds, were very fresh and juicy, and I did add a cup of 1/2&1/2 at the end, to mellow the flavor. Used 1 kohlrabi, 4 scarlet turnips, 6 black radishes, 5 red potatoes and maybe 8 carrots. It had a decidedly turnip-py taste, until I added the lemon juice - that was magic!
DNcgo
The soup provides an excellent palette for finishes other than those listed. I experimented with three different ones: crisp crumbled bacon, frizzled leeks and a dusting of nutmeg. Each gives the soup a distinct flavor. Will try cinnamon as well as curried yogurt cheese in the future.
Apd
Easy, quick and delicious! I added a can of white beans before pureeing to give it some heft, and some nutmeg at the end.
Leslie J
Used less butter. Roasted the veggies with thyme, then simmered for 20 min. Added 1/2 t of curry powder to give it a subtle kick. Good stuff!
Illuminated
I recommend seasoning the pre-roasted vegetables: 2 Tb olive oil, and 1/2 ts each of salt, nutmeg, cardamom, caraway, paprika, cumin, & coriander. Toss it all together.
I also like adding a roasted whole head of garlic.Remove the papery outer lawyers.
I use either chicken broth or bean-cooking-broth, instead of water.
I'd add to the veggie list: beets and ginger.
I was not a fan of the lemon juice, but other commenters found it key.
Madeleine
Just made this, and it is beyond delicious. Happened to all ingredients on hand. Made almost no changes, except for using packaged chicken broth instead of water, and adding hot sauce directly to the pot.
Paul
Sounds good. But I bet it'd be even better if you roasted the vegetables first, a la Sheila Lukins' Roasted Carrot Ginger Soup - look it up, it's awesome.
JC
Very delicious!
As I was making it with 2.5lbs of veggies, I cut back the butter to 4tbsps, and the liquid to 6 cups. Still made a Dutch oven of soup! I used a parsnip, 2 heirloom carrots, (they were blood orange in color), celery root, rutabaga, and a sweet potato.
Instead of water, I used 4 cups of Wegmans Thai Culinary Stock, and 2 cups of chicken stock.
Kathleen
Good! I roasted the veggies as others suggested, and also added some roasted garlic. I then cooked the veggies in vegetable stock and added cooked white beans at the end. I topped it with a drizzle of lemon olive oil, crushed chile and lemon/chili sea salt. Too fibrous with the immersion blender for me, so used my vitamix.
Mel
Roasting the vegetables first really heightens the flavor.
Kylie
Used turnip, sweet potato, carrot, parsnip, leek, garlic, celery, plus a TON of thyme and chicken stock. Only used about 1 tbsp of butter to cook the leeks in, too.
I loved this, and it's super versatile and I can see myself making this often with whatever root veggies wind up leftover in my fridge.
HD
Pretty good, used 2 parts chicken broth, 1 part water, used the veggies I had on hand: white potatos, sweet potato, carrots, purple cauliflower, little bit of broccoli. Didn't have any celery, so added orange peppers in with the onion. Added some kerrygold cheese on top before serving- yum!
Su
I make a very similar soup for my work lunches most weeks, and I can confirm that it's delicious cold. However, I want more protein and less fat in my lunch, and I don't care for the mouthfeel of butter here. Omitting the butter and stirring in some kefir or yogurt at the puree step does the trick. An excellent starting point for lots of variations.
Claudette
This is DELICIOUS. I followed closely with a few alterations. I used: 6 T butter, a large onion, 3 celery stalks, 4 cloves of garlic 3 branches of rosemary 2 bay leaves 2 parsnips 1 turnip 5 fat sunchokes (jerusalem artichokes) 1 carrot 1 garnet yam salt and pepper After cooking, I used an immersion blender. Then added LIME juice, and instead of drizzling olive oil, I cut AVOCADO slices and floated them on top of the soup in the bowl. WOW. Delightful to look at & a pleasure to consume! YUM!
abbster
This soup was delicious! The paprika and lemon as garnish before serving is key.
Steven
Made this just tonight and it came out quite well. Used celery root, one turnip, two peeled beets, parsnips, carrots and a large Garnet yam. In all, the 3.5 lbs suggested. Simmered with chicken broth. Was generous with the bay leaves and thyme. The soup was a deep red orange and looked great. This one's a keeper, although next time I might try for a spicier flavor by using some peppers and a coriander/cumin/ginger accent in place of the thyme and bay leaves.
Barbara
This so good I’m tempted to eat it cold, straight from the fridge!
FH Cyclist
This was very good. I used vegetable and chicken stock, and, as others suggested, I roasted the vegetables. I didn’t need any additional salt or pepper. I used organic EVOO and Romano cheese and had with French bread. I would have again. I had this after a 12 mile hike and have no idea why I wanted to cook this but I’m glad I did. It was very comforting after a long day.
me
Rather bland. Next time use stock instead of water.
rochelle
Just made this wonderful soup! More Rutabaga than carrots, opted for the Leeks, used Olivio instead of pure butter. Nor did I add the lemon, olive oil, addtl salt or optional elements. Light, nutty, with the aroma of rosemary without the strong flavor. Will make again, adding something glam before plating, like a puree of carrot drizzle.
Kacey
This was so good! I took a page from another commenter and cooked the leeks and celery in bacon fat. I used a sweet potato, regular potato, rutabaga, parsnips, turnips and carrots (and extra garlic). It was quite a medley if I do say so myself. I did have to add quite a bit of salt (and a bit of soy sauce) to make it more flavorful. And like everyone else said in their comments, the lemon squeeze sets it off. Recommend!
Raaya
Wonderful Soup. My combination was carrot, parsnip and rutabaga in about equal measure (tad more carrot). I skipped the lemon because I really loved this combination of flavors (earthy, mildly sweet) and I though the taste was 'bright' enough and I didn't want to risk a 'tangy' back-of-the-tongue flavor. Really good! I made as part of a winter barbecue.
Traci
Add a porcini mushroom bouillon cube from Italy, and this recipe is a winner.
VicRos
I loved this soup. I made it exactly as written, with three sweet potatoes, a huge carrot, one parsnip, and one turnip, and rosemary rather than thyme. The flavors were full and complex, and the soup filling. The lemon squeeze at the end really brought it all together. It was a perfect meal for this rainy December Sunday.
E.V.
Reminds me of the "potage" my French host mom used to make every winter night using different vegetables. I made with sweet potato and turnip, but unfortunately my new bay leaf and fresh rosemary overpowered the flavor of the dish. Would have been great with the older less flavorful herbs, or a smaller portion of the potent stuff. Served with a generous dollop of sour cream. I'll have to try again!
jon
Use chicken stock instead of water
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