Light Summer Garden Vegetable Soup

Summer vegetable soup is an easy, light soup that is a celebration of the great produce available from a spring and summer veggie patch.

Summer Minestrone Soup

My love affair with soup is well documented here on Krumpli and this minestrone-influenced summer vegetable soup is an ode to my garden.

For some strange reason, soups are often associated with winter warmers, and sure they are great at that.

But they can also be the most wonderful light and vibrant yet filling summer meals.

Whether it is this, my Slow Cooker Salmon Chowder, classic French soupe au pistou or even my tomato consomme with tortellini they are all meals inspired by summer.

This particular summer soup contains all that is good in my garden at the moment.

Courgettes, or Zucchini as you Americans know them, tomatoes, new season potatoes, garlic, basil, and oregano.

This recipe is a sister recipe to my winter vegetable soup.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use different vegetables?

Absolutely, this recipe is meant to be fluid and frugal, as a result, the ingredient list is a guide.

Feel free to play around with the ingredients that you can get or those that are in season.

Early in the summer, you could be adding asparagus tips and even radishes.

As the summer progresses, peas and green beans can make an appearance. It is also rather foxy with Jerusalem artichokes as you head towards the end of summer.

Can I make this a vegan soup?

This recipe is vegetarian, you could convert it to a vegan summer vegetable soup by buying vegan pasta.

Then you should replace the parmesan cheese with half of the weight of nutritional yeast, although I would start with a little less and increase it to your tastes.

A note on the stock!

It is important not to skimp on the vegetable stock, this is essentially chunky veggies in a veggie broth, and there is nowhere to hide!

I usually make my own, I store vegetable scraps and freeze them, and periodically I make a homemade veggie stock.

Serving Suggestions

Give me a glass of crisp dry white wine and a sunny day in the garden and I’m prepared to call this meal complete.

It is however very nice with focaccia bread, although other fresh bread works well too.

I have even served pan seared salmon or pan fried cod on top of this and it is stunning!

Equipment Used

I only mention brands of equipment if I think that they make a material difference to a recipe. But if you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.

• Stovetop.
• 20cm or 8″ saucepan.
• Stirring and serving spoons.
• Chopping board.
• Kitchen knife.
• Weighing scales and or measuring jug, cups and spoons. But you can really play fast and loose with the quantities in this recipe.