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Vegetable Soup with Cabbage and White Beans

This comforting all-weather soup is great for nursing colds and is light enough for a fresh summer dinner.  Make a lot. This soup is great for lunches and leftovers. It keeps in the refrigerator for up to a week and it just happens to get tastier as it waits for you to enjoy it. So nice. 

  • Author: Julie Smith
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 4-6 1x
  • Category: Soups

Ingredients

Scale
  • 56 cups water
  • 2 tablespoons Better than Bullion No Chicken Soup Base
  • 35 tablespoons olive oil
  • 34 carrots, diced medium
  • 3 medium potatoes, diced large
  • 34 celery stalks, diced medium
  • 1 medium onion, diced medium
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 small cabbage, core removed, sliced into bite size pieces (slice into 1/2 inch strips, then rotate 90 degrees and slice again into squares)
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked salt (optional – the Better than Bullion is pretty salty, so be careful not to over salt)
  • 1/2  – 1 teaspoon fine ground pepper
  • 1 cup vermouth
  • 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • 1 15 oz. can white beans (navy) with liquid (optional – rinse beans if you prefer)
  • 3 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, removed from stems, chopped fine
  • 1 stick earth balance

Instructions

  1. In a medium pan bring 5-6 cups of water to a boil. Stir in soup base and set aside.
  2. Heat olive oil over medium low heat in a large heavy bottom pan.
  3. Add carrots to pan distributing evenly. Chop vegetables in order (potatoes, celery, onions, garlic, cabbage) and add to pan as you go, layering without stirring. Season with smoked salt and pepper.
  4. Once carrots and potatoes have begun to caramelize, about 5 minutes, add vermouth and stir to deglaze the bottom of the pan, mixing all vegetables together. Add nutritional yeast and beans with liquid. Stir to distribute.
  5. Pour in the hot bullion water, making sure to cover all the vegetables by at least ½ – 1 inch. This will cook down a bit, and you want this soup to be brothy. Stir in the fresh thyme. Bring to a low simmer and cook until potatoes and carrots are tender, about 20 minutes.
  6. Test carrots with a fork to make sure they are soft. Taste broth and add more soup base if needed. Reduce heat and stir in earth balance. Serve with crusty bread. 

Notes

The key to this soup is the Better than Bullion No Chicken Soup Base and the fresh thyme. You can use the Better than Bullion Vegetable Soup Base, but it won’t be as good. You can also substitute Italian seasoning if you don’t have fresh thyme. Again, not as good, but you will still be making a fantastic soup.

If you have left over rice, stir it in – rice makes this soup even more delicious and satisfying. Another idea would be to skip the potatoes and use egg-free wide noodles instead. 

Another great substitution (or addition) is green beans for the cabbage. Trim the ends and cut into 1 inch pieces. Add to the pot when there are 10 minutes left on the timer. They will be bright green the first day, and then dull green the second day but still amazingly delicious. 

Keywords: vegan soup, summer soup