Enjoy this bone-warming, hearty, and filling quinoa vegetable soup that is perfect for a cold winter’s day. It’s made with vegetarian ingredients and is loaded with nutrients to nourish your body and warm your soul. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosures.
If you want a vegetarian soup that’s packed with nutrients and protein, I’ve got you covered with this delicious and hearty quinoa vegetable soup made with fresh vegetables, cannellini beans, and quinoa.
Plus, if you’re following a gluten-free diet due to celiac disease, gluten intolerance, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, or wheat allergy, you’ll love knowing this soup is made without gluten ingredients. This means there’s no wheat, barley, or rye in sight!
The soup will tantalize your tastebuds with a rich tomato broth filled with soft quinoa, hearty cannellini beans, chunks of carrots and zucchini, and chopped bits of fresh kale.
There is so much to love about this hearty quinoa vegetable soup; you’ll have to try it yourself to understand.
Ingredients
Gather the following ingredients to quickly make a delicious, hearty, delightful quinoa vegetable soup. Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:
Vegetables: You’ll need an onion, carrots, celery, zucchini, and kale for this recipe, which you can easily find at the grocery store. Each vegetable adds wonderful texture, nutrients, and color to this hearty soup.
Seasonings: This soup is seasoned with fresh garlic, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Simple, right?
Canned Diced Tomatoes: A 14.5-oz can of diced tomatoes adds depth and flavor to the broth.
Cannellini Beans: Creamy cannellini beans will add protein and richness to this delicious and hearty soup.
Quinoa: Quinoa is a complete protein, ensuring this soup gives you plenty of energy to fuel your day. Don’t worry; quinoa is naturally gluten-free.
Vegetable Broth: Find a hearty vegetable broth you like to give the soup the richness you desire. Trader Joe’s offers a wonderful vegetable broth, although the one I used for this recipe is from Culinary Treasures, which I found at Costco. Be sure to check for the gluten-free label.
Lemon: Adding lemon will cut the acidity and is recommended for finishing the soup.
How to Make Quinoa Vegetable Soup
You can make this perfect weeknight meal in about 30 minutes and in four simple steps:
(1) Heat two tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add diced onions, carrots, celery, a generous pinch of salt, and a few cracks of fresh ground pepper. Cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring often until the vegetables soften.
(2) Next, add some minced garlic, cumin, and red pepper flakes and cook for another minute until the garlic is aromatic.
(3) Add the diced tomatoes, zucchini, quinoa, beans, and vegetable broth. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer the soup for 12-13 minutes or until the quinoa is tender and soft.
(4) Finally, stir in kale leaves, lemon juice, and additional salt and pepper (as desired). The kale leaves will wilt in the hot soup within 30 seconds. Serve immediately.
Why I Love This Soup
I love everything about this soup. It’s loaded with delicious vegetables, it contains plenty of plant-based proteins (quinoa and beans) to keep you full and satiated, and the broth is savory and warm and even a little spicy thanks to the red pepper flakes.
Store leftover soup in sealed containers in your fridge. I portion out leftover soup in 2-3 containers to quickly reheat the soup inside the storage container. It’s why I exclusively use glass storage containers.
This wonderful soup recipe pairs well with pizza night. I often pull a gluten-free Freschetta pizza from the freezer to enjoy with this soup, and my kids go crazy when I do. Freschetta initially sponsored this post, but I recently updated it. I still wanted to mention Freschetta because I still enjoy this meal time and time again.
You could also enjoy this soup with gluten-free crackers, gluten-free naan bread, or lightly toasted gluten-free bread for dipping.
Tips
Broth: You can use any vegetable, chicken, or homemade bone broth for added richness. Make sure whatever broth you use is labeled gluten-free since store-bought broth is often a source of hidden gluten.
Vegetables: Feel free to add more vegetables or swap out any vegetable for another vegetable you like better or need to use up before it spoils. This soup is a great way to use up vegetables you already have on hand. Think broccoli, cauliflower, corn, spinach, yellow squash, etc.
Meal Prepping: This soup works as a make-ahead or meal-prepping meal. I portion the soup into individual airtight glass containers and store it in the fridge. I then reheat it when I’m ready for lunch.
For my best meal planning tips, read 15 Essential Gluten-Free Meal Planning Strategies for People with Celiac Disease and Gluten Intolerance.
You might also like these delicious soup recipes:
- Homemade Gluten-Free Tomato Soup with “Grilled Cheese” Crackers
- Easy Slow Cooker Gluten-Free Chicken Pot Pie Soup
- Hearty Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup
Quinoa Vegetable Soup
Equipment
- 1 large stockpot
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil I used avocado oil
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 2 carrots peeled and diced
- 2 celery stalks diced
- Kosher salt to taste (a generous pinch)
- Fresh ground pepper to taste (about 3-4 grinds)
- 4 garlic cloves finely chopped or minced
- 1 medium zucchini cut into 1/2″ pieces
- 1 14.5-oz can of diced tomatoes
- 1 15.5 can of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup quinoa rinsed (uncooked)
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 8 cups vegetable broth look for the gluten-free label
- 2 large kale leaves ribs removed and leaves sliced into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 lemon
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, a generous pinch of salt, and a few cracks of ground pepper. Cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring often until the vegetables soften.
- Add the garlic, cumin, and red pepper flakes, and cook for another minute until the garlic is aromatic.
- Add the diced tomatoes, zucchini, quinoa, beans, and vegetable broth. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer the soup for 12-13 minutes or until the quinoa is tender and soft.
- Stir in kale leaves, lemon juice, and additional salt and pepper (as desired). The kale leaves will wilt in the hot soup within 30 seconds. Serve immediately.
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