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vegetables mushrooms and knife on wooden board

Quick One-Pot Vegan Soup: Mushroom, Onion with Soup Mix 

By

On January 16, 2024

In Plant-based-diet

Ever been torn between wanting a quick, tasty meal and not wanting to compromise on health? We’ve all been there!

That’s where I always turn to a cosy bowl of soup.

However, store-bought soups sometimes miss the mark, and spending hours cooking homemade soup isn’t always an option.

So, here’s my quick fix: a go-to vegan soup recipe that combines fresh ingredients with some dry soup mix.

It’s not just quick and varied (as you can use whatever veggies you have); it’s also healthy and hearty, perfect for warming up on a chilly day.

Before we jump into the recipe and spill the beans on its secrets, let’s take a quick look at what dry soup mix is about – if you have never heard of it. 

You’ll also uncover the surprising reasons why store-bought soups may not be as healthy as you thought.

What’s Inside a Dry Soup Mix

Ever spotted those supermarket soup kits promising a quick homemade soup?

They come loaded with pre-chopped veggies like carrots, potatoes, onions, and parsley—just add stock, cook, and blend.

a pre-chopped veggies soup kit
A soup kit

But here’s the catch: those fresh ingredients have an expiration date. That’s where dry soup mixes step in.

With an extended shelf life at room temperature, they’re the superhero your pantry needs.

What’s in a bag of dry soup mix? Think dried pulses and beans—lentils, pearl barley, split peas, etc. 

Packed with proteins and fibres, these mixes form a good base for your soups, enhancing both thickness and nutrition. Toss in veggies, add stock, and you’ve got a hearty, nutritious soup to enjoy.

Here’s more good news: these mixes can work wonders in some stew recipes, too!

Why Homemade Soup is Better For You 

In our fast-paced lives, our meals often take a hit, especially when it comes to nutrition. 

The quick fix? Grabbing a tin of soup, popping it in the microwave, and convincing ourselves that it’s a shortcut to our daily vegetable quota – at least for the day.

However, let’s peel back the lid on store-bought soups:

  • High sodium and sugar: Tin soups, often our go-to in a time crunch, can be surprisingly loaded with sodium and sugar, with a single bowl sometimes exceeding your entire day’s salt intake.
  • Fresh-pot/chilled soups are not so fresh: They may have lower salt levels than their tin counterparts but still pack more sodium than homemade alternatives. Some even sneak in less-than-ideal ingredients like rapeseed oil and preservatives.
  • Questionable ingredients: Many store-bought soups use corn flour to thicken the broth instead of deriving thickness from natural ingredients. Additionally, the processing involved often strips away valuable fibres.
Ingredients for tin vegetable soup

Common tin soup ingredients: Maize Starch, rapeseed oil, flavouring – Not the healthiest choices

So, the verdict is in – homemade soups grant you the power to choose your cooking oils, control the ingredients, and ultimately craft a much healthier option for you and your loved ones.

How to Enhance the Health of Store-Bought Soups

In the hustle and bustle of life, sometimes cooking soup from scratch can seem overwhelming. 

But no worries, there are simple ways to give your store-bought soup a healthy makeover.

  • Load up on veggies: If time is tight, toss in some fresh or frozen veggies for a fibre boost. Cucumbers, spinach, celery, peas, and spring onions are quick additions that don’t require extensive cooking.
  • Spice it up: Elevate both flavour and nutrition by adding cumin powder, turmeric powder, or even curry powder. These not only tantalize your taste buds but also bring in a dose of antioxidants.
  • Hydrate and infuse: Dilute your soup a bit before heating, and then introduce fresh or dried herbs for an extra flavour punch.
  • Mind the butter: Be cautious with butter, especially when pairing soup with bread, especially for those store-bought soups labelled ‘creamy’. They can be calorie-dense, so resist the urge to consume extra fats. 

Follow these simple tips, and transform your soup-and-bread combo into a healthier, flavourful meal.

Do You Need Special Tools to Make Soup

You might stumble upon articles suggesting that crafting the perfect soup requires fancy tools like high-speed blenders or soup makers.

However, in my experience, you only need a sturdy pot and a blender, preferably with a glass jar, to achieve your desired soup texture.

I prioritise the flavour of the soup, and I find that roasting the veggies before blending and adding spices brings that extra kick to the taste.

For those who prefer a soup texture perfectly tailored to their liking, a hand-held blender could be a handy addition to your kitchen tools.

These handheld blenders often offer more options for blending speed compared to traditional jar blenders.

​Remember, it’s the quality of ingredients that truly elevates your homemade soup, rather than relying on specialized gadgets.

Right Soup Texture: To Blend or Not to Blend

Achieving the perfect soup texture boils down to whether you prefer more fibre and crunchiness or a smoother blend.

Here are some ideas to help you find your ideal soup consistency:

  • No Blend, more crunch: If you fancy more fibre or love the crunchiness of veggies, skip the blending step. This adds a delightful texture to your soup.
  • Disguise veggies with blending: Wanna sneak in some veggies for the kids? Blend the soup to disguise those nutritious ingredients seamlessly.
  • Blend and combine: For a dynamic texture, try blending half of the soup and reintroducing it to the unblended half. This creates a satisfying combination of smoothness and hearty chunks.

A crucial tip: exercise caution when adding stock during cooking. Resist the temptation to go overboard with stock at once.

It’s easier to adjust for thickness later by adding more, but removing excess liquid can be tricky, leaving your soup thinner than desired. Experiment to find the right balance for your taste!

Now, let’s dive into the heart of our one-pot vegan mushroom onion soup with a dry soup mix. Here are the simple ingredients you’ll need to create this satisfying yet healthy dish:

mushroom, onion, carrot, celebry and dry soup mix
Mushroom, Onion with Soup Mix
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Mushroom, Onion with Soup Mix Recipe

hearty, healthy, quick to make
Course dinner, Lunch, Soup
Keyword mushroom, onion, vegan
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 200kcal
Cost £6

Equipment

  • 1 Pressure cooker (or a slow cooker if you prefer)

Ingredients

  • 100 grams dry soup mix (I'm using Holland & Barrett Quick Soup Mix for this recipe)
  • 80 grams button mushroom (substitute with chestnut mushrooms if you prefer, roughly chopped)
  • 1.5 medium sized onions  (yellow or red onion, finely chopped)
  • 1 stalk celery (diced into small chunks)
  • 1 medium carrot (diced into small chunks)
  • 4 garlic cloves (soak the garlic in cold water for a few minutes, so its skin is easier to be peeled off)
  • 1 thumb of fresh ginger (or substitute with 2 tsp ginger powder if fresh ginger is unavailable)
  • 1 vegetable stock cube (dissolve it in 700 ml hot water)
  • 2-3 tbsp cooking oil
  • 1 tsp mushroom seasoning powder (optional)
  • 1-2 tsp dried sage (optional)

Instructions

  • If using a pressure cooker, you can skip this step. But if you have time, you can still soak your dry soup mix for around 2 hours. For a slow cooker or saucepan, rinse the dry soup mix, cover with cold water, and soak for 8-12 hours or overnight.
  • Or, just check out what your dry soup mix pack says about soaking. They usually have the best tips for making it tasty!
  • Finely chop the onion and grate the garlic and ginger.
  • Roughly chop the mushrooms.
  • Dice the celery and carrots into small chunks.
  • Dissolve the vegetable stock cube in 700 ml of hot water.
  • With all your ingredients ready, ensure to drain the water from the soaked dry soup mix before cooking, especially if you opted to soak it.
  • You might notice the dry soup mix expands during the soaking process.
  • Now, let's kick off the cooking process. Pour cooking oil into the pressure cooker, and once it's heated, toss in the chopped onions. Cook them for 1 – 2 minutes.
  • Add the diced carrots to the pressure cooker and cook for another minute.
  • If the pot seems a bit dry, add a splash of stock to keep things moist.
  • Toss in the diced celery and cook for an additional minute.
  • Add the grated ginger and garlic to the mix in the pressure cooker, letting the flavours mingle for about 30 seconds.
  • Optional: Stir in 1 tsp mushroom seasoning powder for added flavour.
  • Add mushrooms and mix well with other ingredients.
  • Add the drained soup mix and mix it thoroughly with all the ingredients in the pot.
  • Pour in enough stock to cover all the ingredients in the pot.
  • Optional: Add in 1 – 2 tsp dried sage.
  • Season with salt and pepper according to your taste, then give it a good stir.
  • Secure the lid and let the pressure cooker work its magic!
  • After cooking, you can blend the soup to your preference—fully, partially, or not at all. I recommend not blending for a delightful crunchy texture, which is my personal preference
  • Enjoy the soup paired with your favourite bread or side dishes, or savour it on its own. The soup mix provides a satisfying and filling experience, making it a wholesome meal.

Video

close up photo of beets

Plant-Based Diet: Beetroot & Apple Soup (Combats Winter Chills)

By

On November 6, 2022

In Plant-based-diet

When people are asked to name their favourite root vegetables, beetroots, aka garden beet, might not be most people’s first choice. However, they are my favourite because they’re jam-packed with nutrients and taste so fresh when prepared right. 

Before I moved to the UK, I never had eaten beetroot. After living in the UK for several years, beets still weren’t on my radar. Only three years ago, I taught myself how to bake. One day, I came across a recipe calling for beetroot. I used the quantity required in that recipe but still had a lot of fresh beets left. So, I steamed them and added them to my salad. Then the rest is history. Beets to me are love at first bite; their taste was like sunshine for the soul — sweet and earthy. 

Since then, I have included beets regularly in my diet. It’s a very versatile ingredient, too. From pickles, dips, pasta, vegan burgers, soups, and cakes to smoothies, you can use beets to make those everyday dishes. Moreover, this root vegetable has a natural red food colouring that gives the dish a nice bright finish.

So, in this post, I want to share my go-to beetroot soup recipe with a mix of apples and carrots. It’s simple, super healthy and filled with comforting flavours — a perfect soup to warm up a cold day!

Beet varieties  

Beetroots are a very hearty and productive crop. They can be divided into two main types based on their roots’ shape. 

  • globe/round beetroots (short-rooted)
  • oval/long beetroots (long-rooted)

Normally, oval/long beets cook quicker than globe/round beets.

They can be divided further into different varieties. The most common variety grown in the UK is ‘boltardy’. This variety produces deep-red flesh and medium round-shaped roots with smooth skin. The table below shows some common beet varieties.

Varietyroot shaperoot sizeflesh colour
actionglobesmalldark red
blankomaglobemediumwhite
boldorglobesmall to
medium		orange or
yellow
boltardyglobemediumdark red
chioggiaglobelargered & white rings
cylindraovalmediumdark red
merlinglobemediumdark red
red aceglobe or
oval		mediumdeep dark red
8 beet varieties – their root shape, size and flesh colour

Beetroot can also be categorised based on its flesh colour. For instance, red, striped, golden and white beets etc. 

Beet greens

Do you always discard beet greens and only eat the root part? Do you know that beetroots were first grown for their leaves, not roots? Beetroots are believed to originate from the Mediterranean Sea area, and they were cultivated for their leaves around 300 BC. However, in 1542, Europeans started consuming the root part of the beet. The type of beetroot also only began to take its modern shape in the 16th century.

person wearing floral gardening glove holding a bunch of beet leaves
Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.co

Beet greens have two parts, namely stems and leaves. They’re both edible. Though certain beet varieties are better for beet greens, such as early wonder tall top and bull’s blood, because they produce sweeter stems and more tender foliage. 

The greens are very easy to cook and taste delicious. Before cooking them, wash them properly because sometimes beet leaves can be sandy. Then remove the leaves from the stems and chop them separately. Add a bit of olive oil and simply sauté them. But make sure you cook stems for 3 to 4 minutes first, then add the leaves later because stems take longer to cook through. You can often cook the leaves the same way you would cook spinach.

If you can never have enough beet greens in your diet or it’s hard to buy beetroots with beet greens still attached, then you can go for swiss chard. Swiss chards are beets’ leafy brothers and share a common ancestor, the sea beet. Moreover, their greens taste similar to each other. However, people don’t usually eat chard roots because they lack the sweetness found in beetroots.

Beetroots’ health benefits 

Beetroots are a nutritional powerhouse. They are a rich source of vitamin C, potassium and magnesium. Their red colour shows that they’re very high in antioxidants, too. They also have a high concentration of folate (vitamin B9) and dietary nitrates. Last but not least, they even have higher iron than spinach. 

assorted vegetables on white surface
Photo by Anna Tukhfatullina Food Photographer/Stylist on Pexels.com

Beets have been used as a medicine in some cultures going back thousands of years. And they continuously give us a lot of health benefits when consumed regularly in our diet. The benefits include: 

  • lower blood pressure
  • reduce inflammation
  • regulate blood sugar
  • support liver health
  • improve gut health
  • enhance physical exercise performance
  • neutralise free radicals and make our skin more glowing

If you’re trying to get fitter, go for beetroots. They are low in calories but are filling because they’re fibre-rich root vegetables. So, they can increase the feeling of fullness even if you just have a small portion of them. Also, beetroot pulp is a good home remedy for an upset stomach. 

Beetroot soup with bread
Print Pin

Beetroot and apple soup

healthy, smooth and tastes amazing
Course dinner, Lunch
Cuisine Mediterranean
Keyword apple, beetroot, carrot
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings 4 people
Calories 130kcal

Equipment

  • 1 immersion blender  (or food processor)
  • 1 saucepan with a lid

Ingredients

  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 medium-sized beetroots, peeled, sliced & roughly chopped (they make up around 9 cups of beets once peeled) (see *note 1)
  • 1 cooking apple, peeled & roughly chopped (around 1.5 cups)
  • 2 carrots, peeled & roughly chopped (around 1.5 cups)
  • 3 garlic cloves, grated
  • 1½ tsp ginger, grated
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 vegetable stock (dissolve it in 500ml boiling water)
  • some spring onions (optional)

Instructions

  • Remove the beet greens if your beetroots come with them. Save the beet greens for another recipe.
  • Rinse the roots with cold water and wash them thoroughly.
  • Peel the skin. Make sure you wear an apron when doing this because beetroots flesh could stain your clothes easily.
  • Roughly chop the roots once peeled. Then, steam them in a steamer or roast them in an oven if you prefer. You can even steam/roast the beetroot the day before to save you some cooking time the next day.
  • I always use a Tatung ricer cooker to steam my beetroots. It only takes around 20 minutes to get them ready, and the metal pot inside the ricer cooker can catch all the beetroot juice, which I can have later.
  • Roughly chop onion, apple, carrots, and spring onions while steaming/roasting the beetroots.
  • Once the beetroots are cooked, then it's time to make the soup.
  • Heat the oil in the saucepan, add chopped onions, and fry until the onion is soft.
  • Add chopped carrots and fry for a minute or two. Add a splash of vegetable stock if the pan gets too dry.
  • Add grated garlic and ginger, and fry for a minute.
  • Add chopped apples.
  • Add steamed/roasted beetroots, and mix well with other ingredients in the pan.
  • Add vegetable stock. (see *note 2)
  • Add spring onions and mix again. (optional)
  • Add salt, pepper and bay leaves and a bit of more vegetable stock to make sure the liquid is slightly above all the ingredients in the pot.
  • Turn the heat down and put the lid on. Let the soup cook for another 15 – 20 minutes.
  • Turn off the heat and discard the bay leaves. Once the soup cools down a bit, blend it.
  • Taste the soup and add salt and pepper if needed.

Video

Notes

*note 1: In the UK, beetroots are usually available the whole year around. Consuming seasonal vegetables/fruits is vital to reduce our carbon footprint. If beetroots are only available some of the time where you live, you can learn to store them correctly to maximise their shelf life.
*note 2: Don’t pour in all the vegetable stock in one go. Instead, add it until it’s slightly above all the ingredients in the pot. Hold back some liquid and use it to thin the soup if you feel it is too thick after blending. 

close up shot of pea soup

Plant-Based Diet: Vegan Courgette Pea Soup

By

On September 18, 2022

In Plant-based-diet

In North Hampshire, summertime is near the end, and autumn is around the corner. As soon as the weather turns chilly, the food I crave the most is soup. Soup is not only easy to make, especially plant-based soups, but it also is the easiest way to use up what’s left in the fridge. Remember: cutting down food waste reduces our climate impact! 

So, in this post, I want to show you one of my favourite vegan soup recipes. It’s quick, satisfying, and of course, yummy, too! You might ask why vegan soup. Because I firmly believe the fewer animal products we consume, the more positive impacts we’ll have on the environment.

Why soup? 

Soup is primarily liquid food by boiling various ingredients in water or stock. When making it right, it’s comforting, nourishing, and flavourful. Other reasons people might prefer soups over other dishes are: 

  • Soups can be a budget-friendly dish and don’t require much cooking time, especially plant-based soups.
  • It can be made ahead of time and freezes well – suitable for a busy lifestyle. 
  • It makes us full for longer.
  • It provides better dietary quality, such as getting our 5-a-day and other nutrition, minerals and proteins for our body health. 
  • Hot soups can increase our body temperature quickly on cold weather days.
  • The dish is versatile and can be modified to suit everyone’s taste buds. 
  • When people are sick, they want to have soups because they’re soothing and easier for digestion.

Thick soup vs thin soup

Some people might refer to the thin soup as ‘broth’, but the former can be further divided into two sub-categories, passed soup and unpassed soup. Thick soup can also be broken down into five sub-groups: cream soup, puree soup, veloute soup, bisque soup and chowder soup.

As a home cook, I don’t care too much which type (or subtype) of soups I’m making as long as it’s tasty and quick to make. Before moving to the UK, I used to have mainly thin soups. Thin soups are prepared without a thickening agent, such as cream or starchy vegetables.

I make thick soups these days more often because they have all the ingredients extracted and are easier to digest. In addition, they’re a perfect pairing when served with a slice of soft white bread.

Homemade soup vs canned soup

Although canned soup is super convenient, I would always go for homemade soup because you just can’t beat the freshness and nourishment from making your own soup. Besides, canned soups are known for adding too much salt – something soup manufacturers do to enhance the soups’ flavour. Others could have too much fat. They taste good, but their excessive salt or fat could cause damage to our health.

If I only have time to prepare canned soup, I would pour the soup into the saucepan, add at least 1/3 cup of water and some veggies that can be quickly cooked, such as spring onion, spinach, lettuce, frozen peas, then heat them all together to make it as a quick meal. That way, the sodium in the canned soup can be diluted, and I also ensure I get my 5-a-day.

Hot vs cold soup 

I don’t do cold soup at all. I always have my soups, either thin or thick, hot because I feel only hot soups can bring me comfort. Cold soups, to me, feel more like unfinished business. However, I know plenty of people enjoy a bowl of cold soup on a hot day. 

When I think of cold soups, I am thinking of those soups commonly served cold, such as gazpacho, beet soup or chilled cucumber soup. But what if one takes out the soup from the fridge and eats it without heating it? Some culinary experts might argue that it shouldn’t be classified as ‘cold’ soup. Instead, they should be called ‘chilled’ soup. But some soups taste better the next day because flavours blend better over a more extended time.

If cold soups are your cup of tea, you can try the recipes here. 

courgettes, celery, peas, onions and spices
sliced courgettes in a single layer in the baking tray
1 immersion blender and vegan soup
vegan soup with white bread
Print Pin

Vegan courgette pea soup

Hearty, tasty and nutritious vegan soup
Course dinner, Lunch
Cuisine American
Keyword light meal, soup, vegan
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Servings 4 people
Calories 240kcal
Cost £4.00 (see *note 1)

Equipment

  • 1 immersion blender (or food processor)
  • 1 saucepan with a lid

Ingredients

  • 1 yellow onion
  • 2 courgettes (1 large and 1 medium size or 3 medium size)
  • 100 grams peas (fresh or frozen)
  • 2 tbsp spring onions
  • 1 celery stick (keep some leaves)
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 3 tsp smoked paprika
  • 3 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 vegetable stock (dissolve it in 500ml boiling water)
  • 2 tsp mint (optional)

Instructions

  • Slice courgettes and place them in a single layer on the baking tray.
  • Spray a bit of cooking oil on the courgettes and rub in smoked paprika and garlic powder.
  • Set the oven to 180C and roast courgettes for 15 – 20 minutes in the oven. (see *note 2)
  • At the same time, finely chopped onions, celery and mint.
  • Heat the oil in the saucepan, add chopped onions, and fry until the onion is soft.
  • Add spring onion. Add a splash of vegetable stock if the pan gets too dry.
  • Add chopped celery, celery leaves and mint and fry for a minute.
  • Add peas.
  • Add roasted courgettes and mix them well with the ingredients in the pan.
  • Add vegetable stock. (see *note 3)
  • Turn the heat down and put the lid on. Let the soup cook for another 10 minutes.
  • Turn off the heat. Once the soup cools down a bit, blend it.
  • Taste the soup and add salt and pepper if needed.

Video

Notes

*note 1: I grow courgettes in my garden. So it’s completely free! If you never grow courgettes, you should try them because they’re so easy to grow and a very productive crop, too!
*note 2: You can skip this step if you don’t want to roast courgettes. Instead, sauté them after you cook the onion (step 5). I like roasting them because they add a nutty flavour to the soup. Also, it saves cooking time on the hob. Of course, you can always roast them ahead of cooking the soup.
*note 3: Don’t pour in all the vegetable stock in one go. Instead, add it until it’s slightly over all the ingredients in the pot. Hold back some liquid and use it to thin the soup if you feel it is too thick after blending. 

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