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This Easy Vegetable Soup is a quick, simple pot of cozy made from everyday staples: onion, carrots, celery, potatoes, canned tomatoes and a bag of frozen mixed vegetables. It’s hearty enough for dinner and simple enough for a first-time soup maker.
It’s also one of the least expensive meals you can put on the table. With grocery costs weighing on everyone right now, a meatless soup built from pantry and freezer staples is an easy way to bring the weekly bill down without feeling like you’re missing out.
Frozen vegetables are the shortcut here. They’re already washed and chopped, and they go into the pot straight from the bag.
Make it in a large pot or Dutch oven on Sunday and you’ll have lunches ready for most of the week.
Ingredients and Swaps
- Base vegetables: Onion, carrots and celery. Skip the celery if you don’t have it.
- Potatoes: Any kind, cut small so they cook quickly. They make the soup filling.
- Canned tomatoes: Diced tomatoes with their juices give the broth body.
- Frozen mixed vegetables: An inexpensive shortcut that adds corn, peas and green beans with no chopping.
- Broth: Vegetable broth keeps it meatless. Chicken broth works too.
Tips for a Flavorful Vegetable Soup
- Soften the base first. Five minutes of cooking the onion, carrots and celery in oil builds flavor that boiling alone doesn’t.
- Cut the potatoes small. Half-inch cubes are tender in 15–20 minutes.
- Add frozen vegetables at the end. They only need 5 minutes and stay bright.
- Finish with acid. A tablespoon of lemon juice at the end wakes up the whole pot.
Prices are from Walmart’s and ALDI’s websites for stores in Columbus, Ohio, checked in October 2026. Ohio’s grocery prices are within about 1% of the national average, so you may pay more or less depending on where you live, and prices change often. Here’s how we price our recipes.
Cost: Ingredients – $6.71 from Walmart, $6.81 from ALDI · Per Serving – $1.12 to $1.14
Easy Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook for 5–6 minutes, until the onion is soft.
- Stir in the garlic and Italian seasoning and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the potatoes, diced tomatoes with their juices, broth, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat and simmer, partly covered, for 15–20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
- Stir in the frozen vegetables and simmer for 5 minutes more.
- Remove the bay leaf and stir in the lemon juice. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed, then serve.
Notes
- Use what you have. Zucchini, cabbage, green beans and spinach all work. Add quick-cooking vegetables in the last 5 minutes.
- For a heartier soup, add ½ cup small pasta or rice with the potatoes, plus an extra cup of broth.
- Chicken broth works if you don’t need the soup to be vegetarian.
- A sprinkle of Parmesan on top is a nice finish.
Ways to Make It Heartier
- Add a can of drained white beans or chickpeas for protein.
- Add ½ cup of small pasta or rice with the potatoes, plus an extra cup of broth.
- Stir in leftover shredded chicken or cooked ground beef.
- Serve with crusty bread, grilled cheese or Cornbread.
Use the Vegetables You Have
This is a simple vegetable soup recipe that works with almost anything in your fridge or freezer. The trick is adding each vegetable at the right time.
| Vegetable | When to add it |
|---|---|
| Onion, carrots, celery, leeks | At the start, cooked in oil |
| Potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, fresh green beans | With the broth, for 15 to 20 minutes |
| Zucchini, cabbage, bell peppers | For the last 10 minutes |
| Frozen vegetables, corn, peas | For the last 5 minutes |
| Spinach, kale and other greens | At the very end, until wilted |
Vegetable Soup Variations
- Italian-style: add a can of white beans, a handful of small pasta and a teaspoon of Italian seasoning. Top with Parmesan.
- Cabbage soup: swap the frozen vegetables for 3 cups of chopped cabbage.
- Creamy: blend half the finished soup and stir it back in.
- Spicy: add a pinch of red pepper flakes or a can of diced tomatoes with green chiles.
Storage and Freezing
- Refrigerate for up to 5 days. The flavor gets better by the second day.
- Freeze in individual containers for up to 3 months.
- Thaw overnight in the fridge, or reheat from frozen over low heat.
Vegetable Soup Questions
Can I use all fresh or all frozen vegetables?
Yes. Fresh vegetables that take a while to cook, like green beans, go in with the potatoes. If you’re using all frozen, cut the simmering time to about 10 minutes.
How do I make it thicker?
Mash some of the potatoes against the side of the pot, or blend a cup of the soup and stir it back in.
Can I make it in a slow cooker?
Yes. Add everything except the frozen vegetables and lemon juice and cook on low for 6–8 hours. Stir in the frozen vegetables for the last 30 minutes.
What vegetables go in vegetable soup?
Onion, carrots, celery and potatoes make the base. After that, almost anything works: green beans, corn, peas, zucchini, cabbage or spinach. A bag of frozen mixed vegetables is the easiest shortcut.
How do I make vegetable soup taste better?
Cook the onion, carrots and celery in oil before adding the broth, season with enough salt, and finish with a squeeze of lemon juice. A spoonful of tomato paste or a Parmesan rind in the pot adds depth too.
