I hate using the term “diet”, so let’s just say that ever since I got back from vacation I’ve been focusing on healthy lifestyle choices. I’m trying to focus (again) on increasing my vegetable intake and reducing my dependency on simple carbs. Judging by my Pinterest feed, it’s suddenly time for all-things-fall, so I thought a nice basic vegetable soup was in order. I wanted something classic and simple, like the kind you get out of a can, but homemade. Since I’ve also been hitting it hard at the gym lately, I knew I was going to need a little extra protein in the soup, and that’s how this became a Garden Vegetable Quinoa Soup.
What is Quinoa?
Quinoa is technically a seed, but it cooks up a lot like a grain, which makes it very versatile. It’s higher in fiber and protein than rice, which makes it a great alternative if you’re trying to swap out those simple carbs. Quinoa can be pricey, so I like to use it in recipes like this soup where it’s balanced with lesser expensive ingredients, like the carrots, celery, spinach, and tomatoes in this soup.
Substitutions for Quinoa
If you’re not into quinoa, you can try another grain like pearled barley, or even pasta (orzo or couscous), or rice. Just be aware that the cooking time for other grains, pasta, and rice will not be the same as the quinoa.
How to Store Your Garden Vegetable Quinoa Soup
This Garden Vegetable Quinoa Soup will freeze great, so don’t be frightened by the 10 cup yield! That just makes it great for your weekly meal prep. Make a huge batch, stash 4-5 portions in the fridge for the week ahead and then freeze the remaining portions for the future when you’re running low on funds or time to cook.
P.S. Serve this soup with a couple slices of garlic bread, which you can also keep in the freezer, and you’ll be in fall soup heaven!
Garden Vegetable Quinoa Soup
Servings 8 (1.25 cup each)Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.11)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.25)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 3 carrots ($0.32)
- 3 ribs celery ($0.44)
- 1 15oz. can kidney beans ($0.69)
- 1 15oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes ($1.35)
- 1/2 tsp dried basil ($0.05)
- 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika ($0.05)
- Freshly cracked black pepper ($0.05)
- 1 cup quinoa, uncooked ($1.97)
- 4 cups vegetable broth* ($0.54)
- 2 cups water ($0.00)
- 1/4 lb. frozen spinach ($0.40)
Instructions
- Mince the garlic and dice the onion. Add the olive oil, garlic, and onion to a large pot and sauté over medium-low heat until the onions are soft and transparent.
- While the garlic and onion are cooking, wash and peel the carrots, then slice into 1/4-inch thick rounds. Wash the celery and slice into 1/4-inch pieces. Add the carrots and celery to the pot and continue to sauté until they just begin to soften (about 5 minutes).
- While the carrots and celery are cooking, rinse the quinoa well with cool running water in a wire mesh sieve. Drain and rinse the kidney beans. Add the quinoa, kidney beans, diced tomatoes (with juices), basil, oregano, smoked paprika, and some freshly cracked pepper (about 20 cranks of a pepper mill) to the pot.
- Add the vegetable broth and water to the pot, place a lid on top, and turn the heat up to medium-high. Allow the pot to come to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and let simmer for 25 minutes (make sure it’s simmering the entire time, turning the heat up just slightly if it stops).
- After simmering for 25 minutes the quinoa should be slightly translucent and tender. If not, let simmer a few minutes longer. Stir in 1/4 lb. of frozen spinach until heated through. Taste the soup and add salt or adjust the seasonings if necessary. Serve hot.
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Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down to see the step by step photos!
How to Make Garden Vegetable Quinoa Soup – Step by Step Photos
Begin by mincing four cloves of garlic and dicing one yellow onion. Add both to a large pot along with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Sauté the onion and garlic over medium-low heat until the onions are transparent.
While the onion and garlic are cooking, wash and peel three carrots. Slice the carrots into 1/4-inch rounds. Wash three ribs of celery and slice into 1/4-inch pieces. Add the carrot and celery to the pot and continue to sauté until just slightly tender (about 5 minutes).
While the carrots and celery are cooking, rinse 1 cup quinoa really well with cool water. This step is very important because quinoa has a natural substance on the surface that tastes kind of bitter. Since the quinoa are very small, you’ll want to do this in a fine wire mesh sieve.
Add the rinsed quinoa, a 15oz. can of kidney beans (drained and rinsed as well), 15oz. can of fire roasted diced tomatoes (WITH juices), 1 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, and some freshly cracked pepper (maybe 20 cranks of a pepper mill).
Finally, add four cups of vegetable broth and 2 cups of water. Stir to combine. I use Better Than Bouillon base to make my broth, which usually has enough salt to season my entire soup. If using a low sodium or less flavorful broth, you may want a pinch of salt at the end of the soup. Adding salt at the end of a dish often gives a bigger flavor punch with less salt than salting earlier at the beginning.
Place a lid on the pot and turn the heat up to medium-high. Let the pot come up to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 25 minutes. Make sure it’s simmering the whole time. After 25 minutes, the quinoa should be tender and slightly translucent.
Now pour in about 1/4 lb. of frozen spinach and stir until the spinach has melted. The residual heat from the soup should be plenty to thaw the spinach. I like to add the spinach at the very end like this so that it doesn’t over cook and the color stays vibrant and green (instead of an icky dark olive color).
And that’s it! Easy vegetable filled goodness right there. As always, you should taste the finished product and adjust the salt or other seasonings to your liking (everyone’s taste buds are different!). As for me, I liked it just the way it was.
It’s just screaming “GARLIC TOAST!” isn’t it? I don’t know how I forgot to pick up a baguette at the store. *sigh*
I still have some queso fresco left over in my fridge so I sprinkled a little of that on top of my Garden Vegetable Quinoa Soup, but honestly it didn’t add much. The soup had enough flavor going on on its own! #win
Hi Beth! My kitchen is near exclusive to your recipes; thanks so much! I’m wondering if you’d have any suggestions for attempting this in a slow cooker?
I’ve never actually cooked quinoa in a slow cooker, so I’m not sure when you’d need to add it… but I suppose for the rest of the soup you could just toss everything in there and turn it on until the vegetables are tender. :P
Just made it – delicious! The quinoa makes it surprisingly filling, too. Now I’ve got lunch for the week.
Made this last night and when I tasted, it seemed a little blah. It sat in the fridge over night and I am now having for lunch. Delicious!!!!! I made it exactly as per the recipe and it is rich and satisfying. I am on my 2nd bowl. Since I am a vegan, I just sprinkled on a bit of nutritional yeast. What a great recipe!
This was delicious!! I made it this afternoon and have already eaten two bowls. My only complaint was that the celery was not cooked down enough and for some reason was a bit crunchy. I think next time I’ll use the inner parts of the celery. Might be more tender? Either way, 5 stars!
Or you can just sauté them a little longer before adding the rest of the ingredients to make sure they get to the texture that you like. :)
I made this with barley and it turned out great! Since it takes less than 25 mins I simmered for a bit and then cooked for the required time with the barley as suggested. The leftovers were good for a week, which is always important.
I LOVE this recipe!!! I added some smoked gouda YUM :) Thank you so much!
Made this last night! Put a bunch in the freezer. It was filling and delicious. I had a lot of farmer’s market veggies to use up, so I threw in green and yellow zucchini, sweet potato, red pepper, one jalepeno, and a little bit of frozen corn. The jalepeno added a tiny bit of heat but barely noticeable in the large soup. I’d actually add another one next time but I love spicy soups.
The quinoa was great and added some substance. I might even add another half cup next time to make it more of a quinoa stew.
Would subbing Rotel for the fire-roasted tomatoes give this a spicy kick?
Yes, it sure would! :) Or you can add a pinch or two of red pepper flakes.
So I made the recipe as written but subbed chili powder for the basil and cumin for the oregano. I added a baby zucchini sliced into little chunks at the end. Delicious. Hearty. Filling. Thanks Beth!
You hit another home run! I think I’m going to be eating this for the rest of the week, happily!
Delicious! I can’t find celery easily where I live so I chopped a small zucchini into small cubes and added it with the tomatoes, it turned out awesome. Served it with garlic butter baguette. Definitely going to make this more often. Thanks for the great recipe!
This is so so SO GOOD with yellow rice
This is an excellent soup! I also used BTB for my broth, and found I needed to adjust the seasonings quite a bit -both the salt and the smoked paprika. Next batch, I’m going to try a salt free seasoning blend in place of the smoked paprika. I think this is a recipe a cook can easily adapt to seasoning preferences! I don’t like celery, so I subbed in a can of chickpeas. Delish! Thanks for a great way to use quinoa – I don’t have much experience with it, and this was so easy. I used white quinoa and it cooked in exactly the amount of time stated in the recipe.
This was great! I made it last night, and it was a big hit with my husband and me.
I made a few small changes:
Added some green beans I had on hand.
Added some frozen corn.
Left out the spinach.
Made the quinoa separately, and put a little in the bottom of the bowl, then spooned soup over it.
Thanks, Beth!
If I were to saute fresh spinach and then add it, how many cups should I use and at what point would you recommend adding it to the soup?
I’d add it at the end and just stir it in until it is wilted. The hot soup will wilt it very quickly. Maybe 3-4 cups? It just depends on how much you want in there. :)