Old-fashioned Golden Vegetable Soup is ideal for deliciously easy, quick, homely, and budget-friendly vegetable packed family meals. Fill up your food flask with this warming soup for tasty wholesome lunches on-the-go, especially good and nourishing throughout the chilly months.
This sunny soup is ideal for warming you up during those chilly and windy autumn and winter days. Although it's just as tasty during the spring and summer months as any seasonal vegetables can be added to suit your taste and budget.
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🥕 Why You'll Love This Old-Fashioned Vegetable Soup
- 🍲 This cosy classic is packed with everyday veg, warming spices, and perfect for chilly days or anytime you need a hug in soup form.
- 💷 Uses affordable ingredients you likely already have in your kitchen, making it ideal for family meals on a budget.
- 🧺 Makes a brilliant flask lunch for work, school, or an afternoon at the allotment.
- 🌿 100% plant-based and easily made gluten-free plus you can mix and match veg depending on what you have to hand.
- 🕰️ A homey British classic that many of us grew up with. It's like the golden vegetable Cup-a-Soup but with more love.
What is golden vegetable soup? Click the toggle '🍲'to find out more
🍲 What is golden vegetable soup?
Golden vegetable soup is a classic British soup that is simply prepared with any vegetables available but commonly swede or turnip, carrots, leeks, onions, and peas are included.
The vegetables are cooked in vegetable stock or broth, and are flavoured with a little turmeric powder. The result is a lovely golden, sunny, wholesome soup that can be enjoyed chunky or blended smooth. With the addition of a swirl of cream it transforms the golden vegetable soup into a Cream Of Golden Vegetable Soup.
⭐ Golden vegetable cup-a-soup
A cup-a-soup is a powdered dried soup that is usually sold in individual packets and is rehydrated with boiling water to make a quick instant soup.
Golden vegetable is a popular British cup-a-soup flavour. The main British brand that produces golden vegetable cup-a-soup is Batchelors, although many supermarket own brands also offer the same flavour.
However, as packaged cup-a-soups may not be suitable for a vegan or gluten-free diets, and many may contain undesirable additives and flavour enhancers, the next best thing is a simple home-made golden vegetable soup that can be easily adapted as suitable for everyone.
🔪 How to prepare
Golden vegetable soup has long been a British favourite as it's so easy, makes good use of every-day vegetables, and is budget-friendly yet tastes humbly delicious. Root vegetables are especially delicious in a golden vegetable soup.
***As we are a plant-based family recipe blog all our ingredient suggestions are for vegan-friendly ones, but if you have different dietary requirements then feel free to use your usual ingredients.***
Step 1: First, melt the margarine or heat the oil - we used vegan butter. Alternatively, heat half a cup of vegetable stock for an oil-free veggie soup).
Step 2: Sauté the diced carrots, leeks, potatoes, swede, onions and fine chopped garlic for 15 minutes. Stir frequently.
Step 3: Stir through the ground turmeric and pour in the hot vegetable stock.
Step 4: Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
Step 5: Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
Step 6: Add more salt and pepper if necessary. The soup can either be blended smooth or left chunky. Blending the soup does result in a more vibrant coloured golden soup and a velvety smooth texture.
Also, for any family members who are reluctant to eat vegetables, blending the soup is a good hack to encourage them to eat a good amount of vegetables. When younger our kids did enjoy vegetables but at times, due to food texture sensitivities some food was an issue so blending was a huge help.
Optional serving suggestion: Serve garnished with chopped fresh parsley, thin sliced spring onions (green onions) and a drizzle of cream - we used Alpro single soya cream.
🌞 Another recipe that uses warming turmeric
For another delicious easy recipe that uses turmeric do have a look at our Winter Vegetable Pottage which is a centuries old historical recipe that is perfect for today's kitchens and uses breadcrumbs mixed with turmeric to thicken the stew. It adds a surprisingly tasty warmth that runs throughout the pottage.
If you like our golden vegetable soup you will likely love this easy pottage or thick traditional British stew. Don't let the word winter put you off as the pottage is packed with budget-friendly vegetables that are available year-round and is also perfect for those chillier summer days. 🌞
✨ Love traditional recipes with a cosy, vintage feel?
Explore my new Vintage Recipe Card Series Re-Made Vegan, where I remake vintage & retro British dinners and puddings from 1960s-1990s recipe box set cards into easy, plant-based versions. I include images of the original recipe cards including the original recipe so if your just interested in looking at the recipe cards for fun or research then do pop over and have a look at all the old British recipes.
🍽️ Click here to see week one's recipes →
***please note: for US measurements lick the ' US customary button' within the recipe below, and the measurements will switch to tablespoons, cups, and ounces.***
📖 Recipe
Old-Fashioned Golden Vegetable Soup
Equipment
- Soup pot non-stick
- mixing spoon
- Stick blender optional [only required if soup is to be blended]
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons margarine [or butter, olive oil, rapeseed oil, etc.,or ½ cup vegetable stock]
- 140 grams carrot [1 medium-large, diced]
- 170 grams swede [⅓ medium swede, diced]
- 240 grams potatoes [1 medium-large, diced]
- 75 grams celery [1-2 sticks, diced]
- 150 grams leek [1 medium-large, thin sliced]
- 4 cloves garlic [if small cloves use a few extra]
- 130 grams onion [1 medium-large, diced]
- 1.2 litres vegetable stock [hot]
- ⅛ teaspoon turmeric powder [add extra if liked]
Garnish, optional
- 4 tablespoons parsley [chopped]
- 2 spring onions [green onions/scallions, fine chopped]
Instructions
- Dice the carrots, potatoes, celery, swede, leeks, onions into small pieces. It doesn't have to be perfect dice just rough chopped.Fine chop or mince the garlic.140 grams carrot, 170 grams swede, 240 grams potatoes, 75 grams celery, 150 grams leek, 130 grams onion, 4 cloves garlic
- Melt the margarine or butter, or heat the oil or a half cup of veggie stock in the soup pot.2 tablespoons margarine
- Add the vegetables, potatoes and garlic. Stir well.
- Place the lid askew over the pot, and over a low-medium heat saute the veggies for 15 minutes. Stir a few times during cooking. If the veggies are starting to stick to the pan just add a few tablespoons of water to loosen them up.
- After 15 minutes, stir through the ground turmeric. You can add a few extra pinches of turmeric if liked.⅛ teaspoon turmeric powder
- Pour in the hot vegetable stock and season with salt and black pepper.1.2 litres vegetable stock
- Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the veggies are soft.
- Check the seasoning and add extra salt and black pepper if required.
- If preferred the soup can be blended with an immersion stick blender or food processor.
- Optional: Serve garnished with fine chopped parsley, sliced spring onions and a drizzle of cream [we like Alpro soya single cream or Oatley cream].4 tablespoons parsley, 2 spring onions
Notes
- Nutritional data is provided for guidance only and is not a strict calculation as ingredients vary.
- Leftover soup can be stored for 3 days within a covered container in the refrigerator.
- Or freeze for 3-4 months.
- We are a plant-based family recipe blog so all our ingredient suggestions are for vegan-friendly ones so if you have different dietary requirements then you can use your usual ingredients.
- Add a drizzle of cream before serving for a traditional cream of golden vegetable soup. Or add a scoop of creme fraise, sour cream, or plain yogurt.
- For gluten-free soup choose a gluten-free stock and ensure that the margarine is free from gluten ingredients.
- In Scotland, we tend to call a swede a turnip.
- Can't source swede? Swedes may also be known as rutabaga, Swedish turnip, neeps, yellow turnip, or wax turnip depending on where you live!
- Alternatively replace with turnips which are within the same brassica family as swedes, but turnips are much smaller in size so a few may be required.
- Fun fact: A swede is a cross between a cabbage and a turnip!
Nutrition
📋 FAQ'S
Yes, you can sub any of the vegetables for whatever vegetables you prefer. Just keep to the same weight measurements and dice any substitutions.
A few suggestions:
* parsnips
* turnip, swede, or rutabaga
* celeriac
* cauliflower
* fennel
* sweet potatoes
* butternut squash
* pumpkin
* cabbage
* kale
* peas fresh or frozen
* asparagus
* sweetcorn, fresh or frozen
* green beans/ field beans/ yard long beans
Each portion of golden vegetable soup is around 118 calories so if you would like to bulk out the soup into a more substantial meal then here are a few ideas:
* add a can of white beans such as butter beans, cannellini, haricot beans, or white kidney beans
* add a handful of orzo or small pasta shapes/broken up thick noodles after the stock is poured in
* add a handful of long grain rice after the stock is poured in (use a quick cook rice unless the rice is partially precooked before adding)
* add home-made or shop-bought vegan dumplings
* add some mashed potato to each bowl before adding the soup
* break up some bread [buttered/unbuttered] and add to each bowl before ladling in the soup [perfect for using up stale bread]
[if adding orzo, pasta, or rice then do add an extra cup or so of veggie stock as the additions will soak up liquid during cooking. Alternatively add already cooked pasta, rice, or orzo to the serving bowls before dishing up the cooked soup. This is an ideal way to use up small amounts of leftover pasta etc]
For a simple lunch no other accompaniments other than perhaps a wedge of crusty bread or a few crackers are needed. Perhaps add sliced cheeses, raw vegetables, pickles, and various spreads and dips along with the bread, crackers, etc]
For a more substantial meal try one of these few ideas as a side dish:
* toasted Irish soda bread [wholemeal no-rise bread] or Australian Damper Bread [similar to a white Irish soda bread] with a scoop of baked beans or Boston baked beans
* buttermilk scones
* Scottish oatcakes
* American biscuits
* cheese scones
* British malt bread
* quick dinner rolls
* slow cooker cornbread or cornbread muffins
* vegan tofu 'egg' mayonnaise sandwich
* coronation chickpea and kidney bean tortilla wrap
* vegan Ploughman's lunch
* vegan cheese toastie [grilled cheese toastie]
* creamy scrambled chickpeas [delicious packed into a wholemeal pitta bread]
* classic chickpea 'tuna' and potato mornay [make this up in individual ramekins for a tasty, filling side-dish]
This warming soup is very versatile so can be adapted for most dietary requirements. For gluten-free diets simply use a gluten-free vegetable stock or broth, or a home-made stock. Also, if using margarine to sauté the veggies, ensure that the ingredients are also safe for gluten-free diets.
⭐ Leftover soup idea - Golden vegetable gravy
Got a small amount of golden vegetable soup leftover? Blend the soup to a creamy, velvety, and smooth puree and use it as a golden vegetable gravy or sauce. If necessary gently boil the soup until it's at the thickness you like.
Pour the thick vegetable gravy over mashed potatoes, rice, baked potatoes, roast vegetables, steamed or boiled vegetables, pies, sausages, noodles, etc. Or add the sauce to home-made lasagnes, stuffed peppers, pie fillings, or stews.
Using leftover pureed soup as a gravy alternative, is an old-fashioned idea that used to be very popular and does help's avoid food waste. Another idea is to add some curry powder and cook this out within the pureed soup for a tasty quick and easy vegetable curry sauce. Very nice poured over chips or fries.
Need a hot meal on-the-go? Heat up this golden vegetable soup and pour it into a thermos flask and enjoy warming nourishing soup at school, college, work, down at the allotment, at the park, on a hike, etc. It's a great way to save the pennies.
🍜 More warming vegetable soup recipes
We love vegetable soups as they really are the best warming, wholesome, and budget-friendly meals. Home-made soups are so versatile as you can easily switch out an ingredient for one you prefer or need using up. Also extra seasonings, herbs and spices can be added so do feel free to tailor any of our soup recipes to your own tastes. A few of our family favourite soups that we make on a regular basis are this Old-Fashioned Scottish Potato Soup, Scottish Lentil Soup, Orcadian Oatmeal Soup, and this Carrot and Cumin Soup.
💬 Comments
Prepared our Old-Fashioned Golden Vegetable Soup? We would love to know how you got on. It would be wonderful if you could drop us a comment below and click the star ratings. Thanks so much, Jacq xxx
Paul says
I found this by chance. I was looking for a tasty, straightforward nutritious soup and this does it for me. Tasted great and now my go to soup.
Jacq says
Hi Paul, thanks for letting me know! I'm very glad you enjoyed the soup. Jacq x