Vegetable Harvest Soup

This vegetable harvest soup is packed full of fresh produce and great flavors. It makes the perfect addition to any fall menu, it’s cozy rustic, and makes a lovely autumn dish.

I don’t know about you but I’m a soup person through and through, I don’t know if this is because I grew up in the Midwest where single-digit highs are considered normal six months out of the year. Or because I grew up poor and soup is always an easy option. Or because I spent so much time reading cookbooks and watching cooking shows, and I was always highly interested in the amazing different kinds of soups, chilis, chowders, stews, and broth people would make.

I’m not sure where my love of soup came from or where it started, but I know that’s strong, an unbreakable bound, soup is comforting, there are a million ways to make it, and honestly, I can’t think of something better than a warm bowl of soup, and some fresh bread topped with lots of butter after a long autumn walk, or after you come in from shoveling snow. Okay, maybe pie and coffee are better, but that’s something for a different time. Today is about soup, and you won’t find me complaining about it.

A Vegetable Harvest soup

This soup truly is a harvest, if you have a garden of your own or spend a Saturday late in August at your local farmers’ market, then I’m sure you know what I mean.

This soup contains just about everything that comes fresh from the garden in the early autumn, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, onions, and more.

It’s a beautiful soup, a soup that carries the warm and bounty of the autumn seasoning, the colors are rich and lovely, and the beauty of the fresh produce is almost enough to distract one from a large amount of chopping that needs to do, or facing the fact that your hand is going to hurt afterward, regardless of how sharp your knife is.

Yet it is a soup that is simple, rustic and makes enough to feed a large group or a couple of people for days. It’s packed full of goodness, vegetables, and just enough flavor to warm the soul.

If you aren’t a soup person may I suggest you give this one a try, most people probably shouldn’t recommend this as a first soup to try, but as people say go big or go home. If you want a soup that is beautiful, lovely, full of everything good, and can waken something within that you can’t name, and never even knew existed, then this my friend is the perfect soup for you!

Vegetable Harvest soup

Ingredients.

olive oil
1 14 oz package kielbasa, sliced
1/2 head red cabbage, thinly sliced
2 white or yellow onions, chopped
4-5 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4-5 parsnips, peeled and sliced
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp basil
5 stalks of celery, sliced
1 tsp. oregano
1 small or 1/2 a large butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and chopped.
6 large potatoes(any kind) washed and chopped. You can also peel if you like, personally, I like the peel left on.
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp sea salt
10 cups chicken broth, homemade or store-bought. More if needed

How to make Harvest Soup

In a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat, drizzle enough olive oil over the bottom of the pan. add the kielbasa and cook until it is nicely browned. Add the onion and garlic and cook until they are soft and translucent.

Add the spices and mix, add the remaining ingredients, and stir until everything has been coated in the spices. Cover and cook until the cabbage has started to wilt, roughly 5-10 min.

Add the chicken, you should have just enough to cover the vegetables, add more if 10 cups aren’t enough. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 1 hour.

Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed, and serve hot with a piece of crusty bread topped with lots of butter.

Notes

You can easily cut this recipe in half to make a smaller pot of soup, this is quite a large batch so I would recommend cutting it down if you aren’t planning to feed 8+ people. Otherwise, you’ll be eating leftovers for days!

This soup will last in the fridge for up to 1-week. And can easily be reheated on the stove.

Below I’ve given a list of substations and additions for this soup.

Substitutions

Kielbasa. You can use smoked sausage, ground sausage or beef, or chicken. Just be sure that the meat is seasoned before you add it to the soup, you want the meat to add some extra flavor to the soup.

Butternut Squash. You can sub any other kind of squash in this soup, acorn or pumpkin would probably work best. You can also use more potatoes or sweet potatoes if you aren’t a big fan of squash.

Parsnips. More carrots can easily be subbed in place of the parsnips if you can’t find any or aren’t a big fan of the flavor. And feel free to add more parsnips in place of the carrots as well if you like.

You can also swap out green cabbage for the red, you can also add things like radishes, kohlrabi, or other hearty winter vegetables. Things like spinach, kale, or even collard greens would make a great addition to this soup.