Let’s start this vegetable soup recipe trio with one of my favourites – Zucchini Soup. Okay, if I’m honest, these three soups are all my favourite but I’m going to call zucchini soup my favourite today. It’s certainly the easiest.
During my recent two month stay in Germany, my Mother and I received a lot of fresh vegetables from a neighbour, and old family friend, who spent as much time as her schedule would allow in her Nutzgarten (“need garden” or kitchen garden). She would often drop by with baskets of zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes and various other garden delights. Pretty soon we had more than we could eat before things started going bad.
And what is every German’s quick and easy answer to extra vegetables?
You make soup.
As my Mother tells it, you can make soup out of almost any vegetable. The basic recipe is just to cook down the cut up vegetables in a pot, cover with water, add bouillon and then simmer for 20 – 30 minutes. Puree, add some cream and finishing spices and you’re done!
Yes, it’s that simple. It works with just one type of vegetable or a whole bunch of different kinds together. What can be great about this kind of soup is that you don’t have to deal with mushy, overcooked vegetables bits if you’re not a fan of that. That’s actually both of us in my household.
If you need a little extra protein, add some cut up sausages (wieners or kielbasa work great) or flake in some cooked chicken at the end.
Simple Zucchini Soup
(Zucchinisuppe)
While you can use any amount of zucchini you want for this soup, I use 3, usually weighing in around 1.5 lbs, when I’m making it for just us. The corresponding water amount is 3 cups. The ratio seems to work out to be about 1 cup of water per 8 ounces of zucchini. This ends up making about 3 servings of soup for. For this amount, I use about 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground nutmeg and 1 ounce of cream cheese.
Ingredients:
- Zucchinis (on the large side)
- 1 Onion
- 2 Spring Onions
- Water
- Chicken or Vegetable Bouillon
- Salt & Pepper
- Ground Nutmeg
- Cream Cheese (optional)
Preparation:
- Thinly slice zucchini with mandoline or the slicer side of your box grater.
- Dice the onion.
- Slice up the spring onions.
- Put all vegetables in large pot and cook on medium until translucent, stirring often.
- Cover with water, measuring out in 2 cup increments.
- Add bouillon to corresponding water amount.
- Cook on medium low for 20 – 25 minutes.
- Puree with immersion blender.
- Add the cream cheese and puree some more.
- Salt, pepper and ground nutmeg to taste.
- Heat through, give it a few good stirs and call it zucchini soup!
Notes:
Soups like this make for great leftovers. Not only do the flavours meld nicely overnight, but it also freezes really well.
Germans would typically use cream instead of cream cheese (Frischkäse) for this kind of recipe. However, I’ve learned along the way that cream cheese is perfect for making a creamy vegetable soup. It also has the added bonus of not making my husband’s lactose intolerance act up quite as much. Hrm, don’t tell him I mentioned that last part!
While either chicken or vegetable broth is appropriate here, we usually use chicken broth. We’ve tried both and unanimously agree that chicken broth makes for a better flavour.
Use freshly grated nutmeg for the best taste, if you can. You can usually find whole nutmeg seeds in the spice aisle of any grocery store. The bonus is that the seeds last indefinitely. Check out The Kitchn’s article on Whole Nutmeg vs. Ground Nutmeg if you want to read more!
Lastly, just in case someone has questions about what the slicer side is of a box grater (hey, I write this with folks in mind that might not know. I don’t want to assume!), here’s a quick video that explains the different sides of the grater. I’ve cued it up for you already. Oh, and no, I don’t use this grater myself, nor am I getting anything for showing a video about it. Does seem like a nice one, though, right?
And there we go. That’s my simple zucchini soup recipe that works for just about any vegetable but is especially tasty with zucchini.
Drop me a note in the comments below and tell me about your favourite vegetable soup!
As always,
und Alles Liebe,
Diony
Simple Zucchini Soup
Ingredients
- Zucchinis on the large side
- 1 Onion
- 2 Spring Onions
- Water
- Chicken or Vegetable Bouillon
- Salt & Pepper
- Ground Nutmeg fresh works best
- Cream Cheese optional
Instructions
-
Thinly slice zucchini with mandoline or the slicer side of your box grater. Dice the onion.
-
Slice up the spring onions. Put all vegetables in large pot and cook on medium heat until translucent, stirring often. Cover with water, measuring out in 2 cup increments. Add bouillon to corresponding water amount. Cook on medium low for 20 – 25 minutes.
-
Puree with immersion blender. Add the cream cheese and puree some more. Salt, pepper and ground nutmeg to taste. Heat through, give it a few good stirs and call it soup!
Recipe Notes
Soups like this make for great leftovers. Not only do the flavours meld nicely overnight, but it also freezes really well.
While you can use any amount of zucchini you want for this soup, I use 3, usually weighing in around 1.5 lbs, when I’m making it for the two of us. The corresponding water amount is 3 cups. The ratio seems to work out to be about 1 cup of water per 8 ounces of zucchini. This ends up making about 3 servings of soup for us. For that amount of soup, I use about 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground nutmeg and 1 ounce of cream cheese.
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