Vegetarian Vegetable Soup

This crock-pot vegetable soup is soup-er easy to throw together, and easy to modify to your liking. A classic vegetable soup, easy to make – nuthin’ fancy, here. Use whatever frozen mixed vegetables you have on hand. Don’t forget the V-8.

The main recipe comes from my Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker recipe book and it is practically perfect. This makes 3 quarts, but you can easily make 4 quarts with a total of 32 oz V-8, 1 Tbsp garlic, ½ c chopped onion, 2 bags of vegetables, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar and 3 cups of water.

I usually search for mixed vegetables at the back of the freezer, whichever type of mix I have, like soup vegetables or mixed vegetables. The goal is to get a good mix of green beans, peas, carrots, corn and maybe some potatoes and extra onions.

Easy makes it fun – chunk it up with extra fresh veggies, or spice it up as you like.

Try to avoid using a broth with salt or additives, or make your own homemade vegetable base. This already has sodium, so skip the salt wherever you can. You don’t want too much salt or sugar, especially if you’re going to add crackers. And, who doesn’t add crackers?

Ingredients

V-8
tomato paste
chopped garlic
diced onion
bag of mixed vegetables
vegetable broth
Italian seasoning
salt
sugar
water

Typically, I’ll have a bag of mixed vegetables in the freezer with Organic Carrots, Organic Corn, Organic Peas and Organic Green Beans.

Sometimes I like to add fresh potato or celery, but here are some other ideas for veggies to add to your soup:

diced tomatoes
lima beans
zucchini
cabbage
peppers (bell)
cauliflower
kale
leeks

Vegetable Soup Instructions

Combine all ingredients, stir, cover and cook on Low for 6 hours.

Easy, right?!

Make it a hearty meal with some class grilled cheese, or garlic bread on the side. It can be a filling dinner later in the week. This makes plenty for leftovers or ‘seconds’.

Seasoning Ideas

Italian seasoning mixes usually contain things like Marjoram, Rosemary, Basil, Thyme, Savory, Oregano and Sage, but you can make your own flavor profile as you like:

paprika
pepper
parsley
lemon juice

More stir-in ideas

Many of the canned or bagged version of vegetable soups & mixes will contain other fillers. If you use potato in your soup, you should definitely skip these. But, I’ve made it with some alphabet noodles (just like Campbell’s) and that made it fun while keeping the dish light. Just remember you don’t want over-saturated, soggy noodles, so just add them in the last few minutes (they only take about ten minutes to cook).

rice (try brown rice)
barley
noodles (shell noodles, spiral noodles, egg noodles)
lentils

If you like barley, mix it in during the last 30 minutes.

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