Freezer-friendly meals! Just hearing those three words makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. This is one of the soup recipes that I made and froze before our baby arrived. I absolutely adore soup this time of the year, even better when it’s already made for me. It’s versatile, soul-soothing, filling, and healthy. Plus, it’s easy to make it into a complete meal without much fuss. I like to serve it with some toast/bread and/or salad for a lightening fast meal. I can’t tell you how comforting it was to have this soup waiting for us when we got home from the hospital.
By the way, thank you all for your tips on freezing meals. I picked up a few good ones (seriously, read the post + comments if you haven’t!), including labeling all the containers. I now add a piece of painter’s tape (because it’s easy to remove) onto each container and I write the name of the meal and the date that I froze it. This way I won’t ever have to wonder what the heck is hiding in the container and when it was made. Why haven’t I done this before?
Before I get to this soup recipe that I’m sharing from The Oh She Glows Cookbook, let me tell you about another revelation I had when I was making all of this soup in bulk several weeks ago. I finally taught myself how to substitute fresh tomatoes for canned diced tomatoes in my soup recipes. I try to avoid buying a lot of canned tomato products since acidic foods often leach chemicals from the lining of cans, so I figured it was time to finally bite the bullet and experiment with making my own using fresh, in-season tomatoes. I’m happy to report that this method worked well as a substitute in two of the soup recipes I tried so far. The only thing I found was that I needed to add more salt to make up for the salt that would’ve been in the canned product. Also, I only recommend using in-season, über tasty tomatoes for best results.
How I substitute fresh tomatoes for canned diced tomatoes:
1. I use about 1.8 pounds of fresh tomatoes to replace one 28-ounce can. Many sources online suggest 2 pounds, so I wouldn’t go much more than that or you are probably adding too many.
2. Using a paring knife, create an “X” slit in the bottom of each tomato. This will make the skin easier to peel off after blanching.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Carefully drop the tomatoes into the boiling water with a ladle. Reduce heat to medium-high and turn the timer on for about 1 minute. When you see the skins start to peel away from the tomato, remove and plunge directly into a bowl of cold ice water.
4. Once cool to touch, remove tomatoes from water and peel off the skin. Core and dice tomatoes. Reserve the juice and be sure to add all the juices into the pot along with the tomatoes (unless of course the recipe calls for drained canned tomatoes).
You now have an easy, fresh substitute for canned diced tomatoes! Yippee.
When I don’t have fresh, in-season tomatoes on hand, my go-to brand for BPA-free canned tomatoes is Ontario Natural Food Co-op – they are organic, sourced from Ontario, and use BPA-free cans. Another alternative is buying them in glass containers.
Now onto this creamy, spicy, vegetable-packed soup!
10-Spice Vegetable Soup
Yield
10-12 cups
Soak time
2-8 hours (for cashews)
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
This is the ultimate bowl of comfort food, made with a decadent creamy broth and loaded with an array of health-boosting spices and vegetables. Be sure to soak the cashews in water the night before (or see my 30 to 60 minute quick-soak method) so they are ready when you plan to make the soup. Recipe is lightly adapted from The Oh She Glows Cookbook (page 237).
Ingredients
For the soup:
- 3/4 cup raw cashews, soaked
- 6 cups (1.5L) vegetable broth, divided
- 1 tablespoon (15 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 large garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups diced sweet onion (about 1 medium)
- 1 heaping cup peeled and chopped carrots (about 3 medium)
- 1 red bell pepper or 1 cup jarred roasted red pepper, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups peeled and chopped sweet potato, regular potato, or butternut squash
- 1 heaping cup chopped celery (about 2 stalks)
- 1 (28-ounce/796 mL) can diced tomatoes, with their juices
- 1 to 2 tablespoons Homemade 10-Spice Mix, to taste
- Fine-grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 to 3 cups baby spinach or destemmed torn kale leaves
- 1 (14-ounce/398 mL) can chickpeas or other beans, drained and rinsed
Homemade 10-Spice Mix (makes 1/2 cup):
- 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
- 1 teaspoon white pepper (optional)
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Directions
- Place cashews in a bowl and add enough water to cover. Soak the cashews overnight, or for 8 hours. For a quick-soak method, soak the cashews in boiled water for 30 to 60 minutes. Drain and rinse the cashews.
- In a blender, combine the soaked and drained cashews with 1 cup of vegetable broth and blend on the highest speed until smooth. Set aside.
- In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the onion is translucent. Season generously with Herbamare or sea salt.
- Add the carrots, bell pepper, potato, celery, and diced tomatoes with their juices, the remaining 5 cups broth, and 1 to 2 tablespoons 10-Spice Mix (to taste). Stir well to combine . Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low. Season with salt and black pepper.
- Simmer the soup uncovered for at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and black pepper. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, stir in the cashew cream, spinach (or kale), and drained beans. Add more 10-Spice Mix, to taste.
- To freeze, ladle the soup into containers (leaving 1 inch for expansion), cool completely, secure lid, and place in the freezer for up to 6 weeks.
Tip:
- If you don’t wish to make the 10-Spice Mix, feel free to use your favorite store-bought Cajun or Creole seasoning mix and add to taste.
- You will have leftover spice blend. Store it in a container and keep it handy anytime you want to spice up a dish! It's great in pasta sauces, soup, as a tofu seasoning, in a stir-fry, and more.
- When thawed, this soup's broth looks a bit grainy, but rest assured when it's heated up again it will return to its former smoothness. Regardless, it'll taste just as good!
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
The Oh She Glows Cookbook now sold in Australia!
I’m thrilled to announce that The Oh She Glows Cookbook is now officially published in Australia by Penguin Books Australia!
You can find the cookbook at the following retailers:
Best soup recipe I have ever made in my life! And honestly, probably one of the best soups I’ve ever eaten in my life, including restaurants!
Forgot to mention, I did leave out the cashews as my bf is allergic to nuts, but was still great!
Wow Sophia, great news!!!! Thank you for the love
I AGREE!! I’m 62, and have been eating homemade soup most Friday nights, my entire life. I was raised vegetarian, but 3 years ago, my husband and I made a lifestyle change to a mostly whole foods/plant based diet. I’ve been cooking/baking some pretty tasty and amazing foods. But, I think this soup tops our favorites! Love love love it!
What can you sub in place of cashews? Hubby is allergic!
Hey Stephanie, You might be able to try soaked raw sunflower seeds instead of raw cashews (maybe 2/3 cup)? The flavours will change a bit though! Let me know if you try anything out.
Hi! I have made this substituting coconut milk in a can (solidified in the refrigerator) and it was delightful :)
Hey Lisa, thanks for sharing your swap! I’m so glad you loved the soup. :)
I am adding directions here for an instantpot. I used dried chickpeas and soaked them 4 hours beforehand. I added 1 extra cup of water to accommodate the dried chickpeas.
Sautee onions and garlic in instant pot until onion is translucent. Add the tomatoes, carrots, bell pepper, spices, celery, and potatoes then stir to combine. Add all remaining ingredients including dried chickpeas to the instantpot. I used kale instead of spinach, as I think it holds up a bit better in the instant pot. Cook for 15 minutes on the Soup setting. If you want your kale to be super soft, you can cook it for 20. I did a quick release, but it actually takes about 3 minutes to depressurize even with the quick release.
Hey Maria, Oh thank you so much for sharing your Instantpot success! I’ve been meaning to pick one up. Sounds awesome!
Hello Angela, let me start by saying how much I love your cookbooks. I recieved 2 for Xmas and I have been using them everyday since. One of the many things I love about your delicious recipes is that someone like me can pull them off, thanks to your hardwork and creativity, they are easy. This morning I was mapping out my week’s meal plan, while I was eating your sunrise scramble, and it got me thinking that how awesome it would be if your next cook book provided a weekly meal plan for me to follow. And then how much better if it were a monthly meal plan, by the season, to ensure an optimal nutritionally balanced system. Of course I am writing to you, asking you to do all the thinking for me, but you seem to be rather good at it, and my late grandfather always said, “if you’re not the expert, hire them” I used to be a marketer for corporations, now I am a career coach at Mohawk College, but I think I will always see potential markets and I see one here for you. Besides from providing people with plant-based yummy recipes, your unique cookbooks make it easy to achieve this lifestyle. Making goals easy is what busy people need and want. Please keep up the great work. Take care, Sally Simpson
Hey Sally, Oh I love this idea and it’s one I’ve considered for sure! Thank you so much for your kind words (and that’s so fun you that you work so close by)!
Wow Wow Wow, best soup ever hands down! I make homemade soups every week and I don’t know why I didn’t try this sooner. Amazing!
Hey Crystal, Whohoo!! So happy you love it so much. Thanks for your review :)
I love this soup! I found this recipe about a year ago and make it about twice a month. It is so versatile. I can make it very spicy for our family or less spicy for those who do not love spicy food. I shared it with some co-workers and they love it too! Thanks so much for the amazing work you put into your site and recipes. We are paying attention and the world is getting healthier one recipe at a time thanks to you Angela! Keep up the great work!
Aww Lyne, I can’t thank you enough for your sweet words. It really means the world to me and makes what I do feel so gratifying! I agree about being able to customize the spice level..I always add a lot more to my own portion because I can’t get enough of the spice mix.
Hi! I have a question about your fresh tomatoes…can you freeze batches after blanching/seeding/citing? It would make sense to pick fresh tomatoes when they are most luscious (for me in PA, that means August).
Thanks for your creative and healthy blog!
Robin Stokes
Hi Robin, Oh good question! I’m sorry I don’t know…I’ve never tried this. I’m sure that others can chime in though!
This was the best vegetable soup I’ve ever had! The mix of spices was perfect.
Thanks for trying it…so happy it was a hit!
Every recipe of your is FABULOUS! My son was sick and devoured this. It is delicious. Thank you!
Aww thank you so much Heidi! I hope your son feels better soon :)
Has anyone tried this dish in an electric pressure cooker? It sounds great!
Yes! I did so last night. Sauteed the onion and garlic added everything else (cooked, frozen garbanzos) for 15 minutes on soup. Then stir in cashew cream. AMAZING.
I made this in my instant pot last night and my husband and I were actually speechless at how good it was. I have sent the recipe to all my veggie friends and already plan to make it next week. Thank you so much!
Hey Holly, Thank you so much! I love that you made it in the instant pot.
Has anyone tried making this soup with beef or hamburger? I live with a diehard beef eater..ugh!
(the recipe is on page 137) m
Thanks for this outstanding recipe, Angela. The 10 spice mixture is a killer! Marked the soup in my edition of your book. It’s a keeper!
Aww thank you so much Kirsten! :)
I’ve just recently started making my own tomato based from fresh tomatoes too! It’s so much tastier! I can’t wait to try this recipe! Looks amazing ?
Thanks for Sharing
Julie
Hi Angela, Thank you so much for creating this soup recipe. I made it today because I needed to batch cook for workday lunches. The 10-Spice Mix is great! I made it 11-Spice by adding 1 teaspoon ground Turmeric (which benefits from the ground black pepper in the mix). Thanks for this mix. I’m always too cautious about adding spices, and don’t know what’s good with what, so this makes it easy and delicious!
I also keep one- or two-cup packages of Kale (which I’ve cut into ribbons) in my freezer for soups or quinoa salads. So that made it super easy to just dump a package in the hot soup and give it a stir. This is my new favourite (spelling? – I’m Canadian too!) veggie soup recipe! I’m trying to eat a more whole food plant based diet (since December 2017) and this fits the bill. I just had two bowls for dinner! I’m going to freeze it in single serving containers, and I know I will be making it a lot going forward. Love it!
Hey Ruth,
Oh these are my favourite kind of comments…loaded with your own tricks! I love your turmeric addition to the spice mix..I can’t believe I haven’t tried that yet! And that’s also such a great idea about keeping pre-cut greens in the freezer for quick soup/stew/meal add-ins. I often find myself out of fresh greens so I usually throw in some frozen store-bought bagged greens, but they’re never as good as fresh. Good luck with all of your plant-based goals!
Hi! I have made this substituting coconut milk in a can (solidified in the refrigerator) and it was delightful :)
Wow! Wow! Wow! This was amazing. I will be making it on repeat for sure. :)
Whohoo so happy to hear that!
Congratulations on your new baby. Even though mother’s to be freeze food for weeks in advance, in Israel a new mother and even one with several children will find a home cooked meal waiting for them from the neighbors when they come home. It is our biggest good deeds project in our community. Hoping to try your recipe soon.
Aww, I love this. Nothing would be better than coming home to a lovely home cooked meal! I hope you try the soup soon and enjoy it!
Love this soup and the 10 spice mix as well. I made sweet potato wraps/tortillas yesterday with spelt flour and added some of this spice mix in with it and they taste awesome! Love all your recipes.
That sounds soooo perfect ? thanks for your kind words!
This recipe made me love soup again! Hands-down the best vegetable soup I’ve ever had. Thank you for this!
Tonight was my second time making this recipe. The first time I stuck to the recipe. In the end I wasn’t a huge fan of the way the cashew cream looked, even though the soup tasted awesome!
Tonight I tried something a little different to replace the cashew cream. Before adding the kale and black beans, I moved half the soup into a separate bowl and blended it with a hand blender until smooth. Then I added it back to the pot, along with the kale and beans. Total game changer!!
To make it a little more filling, I added some cooked brown rice to my bowl. Another game changer!!
I wish there was a way to share a photo of this. I’m kind of proud of my results =)
I love that swap! Thanks so much for sharing Kevin :)
I loved this soup, I have liked every recipe I’ve made from your website and just bought your cookbook, can’t wait to try more recipes! I get people saying that the food I make from your site is better than bakeries and restaurants….. It’s that good! And they always want the recipe. Thank you for sharing your recipes and posting for everyone to enjoy. :)
The ten spice mixture overwhelms the vegatables. All you taste is the spices. The vegetables should be in the forefront of taste with hint of the spices in the background.
Sorry.
I can’t hide it any more. I LOVE THIS RECIPE! My boyfriend and I eat this soup 3-5 times a month in every season for the past 2+ years. Thank you so much! It is so versatile and easy. Sometimes we add more spice, sometimes we add a bit of pasta, sometimes more cashew cream and sometimes we just follow the recipe. No matter what we do, the recipe is a 10/10 every time! We also use the Cajun spice mix in so many other dishes. I just had to say thanks and keep up the great work! You rock like the Grand Canyon!
It’s 30 deg celcius out and I’m making my 2 year old his ‘spicy soup’. He loves it so much! If he ever catches me eating it he’ll come over and finish the bowl.
haha that’s cute he loves it so much! :)
We love this soup! I don’t add in the cashew cream though, just personal preference. I would like to try making this in the slow cooker, that should be fine right? I don’t use the slow cooker often, but I assume I add everything in and then cook on low for 6 or so hours?
I have made this recipe from your cookbook several times and I LOVE IT!!! love the spice mixture especially and have also many a variation lentil-potato soup with that spice mixture. sooooo absolutely delicious!! thank you for your delicious recipes!
We love this soup so much, it’s one of our favorites in the fall/winter! Is there any reason this couldn’t be done in a slow cooker? I am trying to find some ways to make dinner prep easier now that my baby is getting to be more active :)
Love the recipe. But really don’t understand why it doesn’t just give accurate amount of spice mix, I don’t want half of the spices to be wasted and just sit in the fridge. It’s so easy to give correct measurements. Lovely dish though.
The spice recipe makes 1/2 cup, which is 8 tablespoons.
Half recipe is 1/4 cup, so 4 tbsp.
You could halve again to make 2 tbsp.
So if you don’t want the full amount of spice mix, you have options. :-)
The spice mix is wonderful in other dishes & so easy to do that when it’s already mixed & waiting.
I’m a big smoothie fan & also make savory “smoothie” drinks. Began that journey with duplicating V8 juice wanting a vegetarian version & less salt. This spice blend is great in that.
FYI—Vendors at local Farmers Market frequently sell damaged or less attractive vegetables 1/2 or more off.
So I buy those for blending a lot.
Hi Angela, I’ve made this soup from your book – AWESOME book and recipe (page 137, not 237)! Here you leave out the 2 bay leaves, am wondering why. I love the extra zing of the bay, myself. Also, just want to throw in that I always use cans of WHOLE plum tomatoes even if a recipe calls for diced, more flavorful than pre-cut. I use the lid to squeeze out the juice into whatever I’m making, then puree right in the can with a stick blender. In soup, the puree enriches the broth. If I want tomato chunks, I’ll additionally chop up fresh plum tomatoes.
Made this many times with some personal modifications. But, for those of you who have a significant other with allergies try to find a way to make a self batch with the cashew cream it makes a 10/10 soup a 12/10
I love this soup and make it every summer with various vegetables from my garden. I freeze it and enjoy it all year.
What’s the calorie and nutritional value?
I absolutely love this soup. I use the butternut squash, canned tomatoes, and the cajun seasoning versus making my own 10 spice. I started adding a couple of tablespoons of The Ginger People minced ginger, and these little star pasta from Target, but I have made the original many times. I have to leave out the spinach because it has started to bother my stomach, but it is amazing every time.
You guys. If you really want to blow your mind, take the leftover soup and make it into an incredible vegan pasta sauce. I tossed a couple scoops into my nutri bullet with a little pasta water, tossed pasta and sauce back into the pan, and it was so so creamy, spicy and delicious.
I made more of the pasta sauce and froze it too. Soup for the week, pasta sauce for the winter. I love this recipe so much.
Such a yummy, filling soup. I’ve had it 3 days in a row for lunch. I think it just keeps getting better each day! I’m afraid that now this soup will be the standard in which I compare every soup I make. It will be made on repeat in my house. I shouldn’t be surprised, almost every recipe I try frim both this site and the cookbooks are winners.
This is an amazing soup. This and the African peanut soup are my all time favorite soups. There is so much flavor. I substitute the cashews for raw sunflower seeds. Everyone has to try this soup!! My husband is requesting I fill the freezer with this recipe.
Just wanted to say that I echo many of the comments here. I’ve made this soup for family and friends for years now and everyone, from meat eaters to vegans, loves it! As an added bonus I make a larger batch of the spice mix and use it all the time. It’s really wonderful on crispy tofu.
Hi Liz,
Wow, thank you so much for this lovely feedback! I’m so happy to know that you and your family have enjoyed it so many times over the years.