Chunky Root Vegetable Soup with Quinoa & Butter Beans

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Jasmine

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Soup still has a hold over me at the moment, and this could be my favourite one so far… I first made this by accident, to be honest! It was a ‘use everything in my fridge up’ combination of vegetables with some frozen spinach and quinoa and seeds from the cupboard. So, feel free to flex the specifics based on whatever seasonal root veg you have lying around waiting to be eaten! This is hearty, filling and packed with fibre and a decent amount of plant protein so it will keep you full and satisfied for hours…

INGREDIENTS

Vegetables:

Butternut squash (or any other pumpkin or squash)

Parsnip (celeriac would also work)

Carrots

Leek

Spinach

Plant protein:

Butter beans (or any other white bean)

Quinoa (I recommend tricolour for the best texture)

Aromatics and flavourings:

Red onion (1 small or 1/2 a large or medium)

Celery

Garlic

Vegetable stock cube

Oregano

Chilli flakes

Paprika

Topping:

Fresh parsley

Seeds (I used a seed mix with sunflower, pumpkin and sesame)

TIPS & NOTES

This is a simple recipe but there are few techniques that will help you get the most out of it. Firstly, I roast the squash and parsnips before adding them to the pot; of course you could just boil them, but roasting releases so much delicious flavour, so I really recommend it if you have the time. If you choose the boiling method, make sure to dice the vegetables into slightly smaller even chunks and start cooking with the full 750ml of water. You will need to bring to the boil and simmer for a 20 min head start then add the quinoa and rejoin the instructions as below.

My other recommendation is to blend 1/3 of the soup for a thicker, richer texture. If you don’t have a blender then you could simply use a potato masher to get a similar effect, since we’re working with pretty soft vegetables here.

Also, you can absolutely use frozen spinach instead of fresh for this recipe, simply add the spinach as soon as you’ve blended the portion of soup and stirred it back through and simmer until the spinach is defrosted and the soup has come back up to a hot temperature.

Root Vegetable Soup with Quinoa & Butter Beans

  • Servings: 3-4
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

A chunky and filling root vegetable soup

Blender required, no advance prep needed


Ingredients

  • 50g of tricolour quinoa (rinsed)
  • 240g (drained weight) of butter beans (rinsed well)
  • 1 stick of celery (finely diced)
  • 2 carrots (peeled and finely diced)
  • 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped, grated or crushed)
  • 1 small red onion (finely diced)
  • 1 large parsnip (peeled and cut into small chunks)
  • 1/4 of a butternut squash (peeled, deseeded and cut into small chunks)
  • 1 leek (cut lengthways in half and finely sliced)
  • 60g of baby leaf spinach (optional: roughly chop)
  • 1 tsp of paprika
  • 1 tsp of oregano
  • 1 tsp of chilli flakes
  • 1 tbsp of mixed seeds
  • A small handful of parsley (c. 2g) (de-stemmed)
  • 1 vegetable stock cube
  • A drizzle or two of olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste


Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C
  2. Add the parsnip and butternut squash chunks to a roasting tin, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and coat with half of the oregano / chilli / paprika spice mix – roast for 20-25 minutes, tossing partway through
  3. 15 minutes into the cook time, boil the kettle and put a lidded pot over a medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil – add the carrot, celery, leek, red onion and garlic, season to taste and add remaining spice mix
  4. Prepare the vegetable stock, dissolving the cube in 500ml of boiling water
  5. Once the aromatics are fragrant (this should take 2-3 minutes), add the quinoa and toast for 1 minute before adding the vegetable stock – bring to a boil and then cover and simmer for 15 minutes until the quinoa is firm but cooked
  6. Heat a small frying pan over a medium heat and add the mixed seeds – toast without oil until the pick up some colour (this should take around 5 minutes)
  7. Once the parsnip and squash is cooked, add it to the pot along with the butter beans
  8. Either use an immersion blender or remove a portion of the soup to a blender to purée 1/3 of it and add it back into the soup
  9. Adjust with 250ml more of boiling water (if needed) and season to taste
  10. Add the spinach, cover and simmer for a further 3-5 minutes until it wilts
  11. Serve topped with the mixed seeds, parsley and optional olive oil

Let me know if you try my soup recipe with root vegetables, quinoa and butter beans!

Check out the video here:

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