This simple, creamy root vegetable soup uses a mix chosen for how beautifully the flavours blend together – sweet potato, carrots, celeriac, parsnip, potato, garlic and onion. Nourishing, never boring, and flexible too – in case your harvest basket is missing one or two! 😅
Confession: I don’t harvest, and I don’t live in the country
I’m calling this a harvest root vegetable soup so it sounds like I casually threw in whatever we dug up from the garden during our latest harvest. But the truth is, there was no harvesting involved, and I definitely don’t live in the country. I’m smack bang in the middle of Sydney!
I just wanted to give it a cute name – “root vegetable soup” just doesn’t quite have the same ring to it! 😅 So hopefully I got your attention and now I can convince you to try this recipe. Did it work??!
Root vegetables make great soups because each one brings a different flavour into the pot, and the higher starch content means you get a creamy soup texture without using gallons of cream. A generous serving of this one comes in at just 350 calories – win!
It’s simple to make, and versatile too – switch vegetables out of season or pricey for whatever reason.
Rare soup made with water, not stock
I also love that this soup is nourishing but not boring, and made with water rather than stock. Usually, simple soups made without stock can taste flat because it lacks savoury depth or richness to carry the flavours of the other ingredients. But here, we have a secret ingredient that compensates – curry powder!
No, it doesn’t make it taste Indian. It doesn’t even put it into wannabe-curry territory, it just adds warm earthy spice flavour that lifts the flavours so you don’t need to buy or make vegetable stock for this soup to be tasty.
In fact, most people who tried this soup didn’t even pick that there was curry powder in this, but could tell there was “spicing of some kind” (the official feedback!).
What goes in root vegetable soup
Here’s what you need to make this country harvest root vegetable soup. No harvesting required! 🤣
The harvest root vegetables
Root vegetables are vegetables that are grown underground. Here are the ones we use – as mentioned above, this is a specific combination chosen so no single vegetable flavour stands out too much, but instead compliment each other. But, it’s a flexible recipe – see notes below for comment on substituting.
Onion and garlic – essential flavour base!
Carrots – 2 medium ones, or 1 very large one
Potato and sweet potato – These add creaminess and thickness to the soup in a way that other less-starchy root vegetables cannot, while the sweet potato also adds sweetness. Substitute – Feel free to double up on either of these, they are a good substitute for each other.
Celeriac – A knobbly root vegetable with a texture like radish and flavour like celery (hence, the name, I presume!). Substitute – 3 celery sticks, swede, turnip.
Parsnip – Looks like a white carrot, with a sort of nutty, sweet, earthy flavour. It’s unlike any other vegetable actually, I can’t think of something to compare the flavour to! Substitute – swede, turnip.
Changing the root vegetables – Swap and substitute as you like, especially with the listed root vegetables. Just keep in mind that celeriac and parsnip have stronger flavours, so if you use more, the flavour will be more dominant in the soup.
Non root vegetables – It’s ok! You can use non-root vegetables in this too! However, note that using vegetables with higher water content and lower in starch (like zucchini, capsicum/bell peppers) will make the soup less thick and creamy, and the soup colour will be affected if you stray from orangey/beige toned vegetables. I take no responsibility if yours turns out an un-appetising colour!!
Everything else for the soup
And here are the other things you need for this root vegetable soup. No stock – just water! (See above section for comment on this).
Curry powder (mild, not spicy) – As explained above, this is the “secret ingredient” which makes this soup tasty even though we’ve only used water rather than vegetable stock. I just use Clives (or Keens, though I prefer Clives here) – regular grocery shop Western curry powder.
Cream – Just half a cup of cream gives this soup a nice mouthfeel without making it calorie heavy. Substitute with milk and butter – see recipe notes.
Dried thyme – Just a touch of dried herb for flavour. Substitute with fresh thyme, or dried oregano.
Butter and oil (forgot to put in photo!) – The recipe needs 3 tablespoons of fat to effectively sauté the vegetables. Using just butter gets a little too butter-heavy in flavour so this recipe calls for a combination of oil plus butter. But – fine to use all of either! 🙂
How to make Country Harvest Root Vegetable Soup
Sauté (5 minutes) > simmer (15 minutes) > blitz (1 minute) > dinner!
Sauté the onion and garlic for 2 minutes until the onion starts to soften.
Add the root vegetables, thyme and curry. Stir well for a few minutes. We’re not trying to cook the vegetables, just give the surface a gentle toasting which also brings out the flavour of the thyme and curry powder.
Simmer – Add the water, salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes until the vegetables are soft (check with a knife).
Cream – Add the cream and simmer for another 1 minute.
Blitz with a stick blender, or in batches in a blender (remove the lid insert and cover the hole with a folded tea towel).
Blitzed and ready to serve!
Proof of thick and creaminess:
Garnishing and serving
I know it’s really un-original but a little drizzle of cream always seems to go a long way when serving soup. I only use 1 teaspoon or so per bowl, but it tastes like I’ve used so much more – great bang for your calorie buck!
Climbing a little higher on the originality scale is the suggestion to add a small pinch of curry powder for subtle boost of curry flavour. Then sliding right back down into un-original territory – finish with a sprinkle of parsley and pepper. 🙂
Ah well. Maybe my garnishing ideas won’t win any innovation awards. But the soup itself will hit the spot, especially if it’s a grey dreary day like it is here in Sydney! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Country harvest root vegetable soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp (15g) unsalted butter
- 1 onion , chopped into large dice
- 3 garlic cloves , chopped
- 1 tbsp curry powder (I like Clive, but any will do, Note 1)
- 1 tsp dried thyme leaves (Note 2)
- 1 1/2 litre (6 cups) water
- 2 tsp cooking salt/kosher salt (halve for table salt)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup thickened cream (heavy cream, or regular), plus extra for garnish (Note 3)
Root vegetables (Note 4):
- 1 large potato (~300g/10oz), peeled, cut into 2.5cm/1" cubes
- 1 medium sweet potato (350g/12oz), peeled, cut into 2.5cm/1″ cubes
- 2 medium carrots , peeled, cut into 1.5cm/0.5″ pieces
- 1 small/medium parsnip (150g/5oz), peeled, cut into 1.5cm/0.5″ pieces
- 1 small celeriac (600g/1.2 lb), peeled, cut into 1.5cm/0.5″ pieces (~2 heaped cups)
Serving/garnish (optional):
- Warm crusty bread
- Parsley , finely chopped
- Pinch extra curry powder
- Pinch black pepper
Instructions
- Sauté – Put the olive oil and butter in a large heavy-based pot over medium-high heat. Once the butter is melted, cook the onion and garlic for 2 minutes until the onion is softened.
- Add root vegetables, thyme and curry powder. Cook for three minutes stirring regularly, until the outside of the vegetables starts to soften.
- Simmer 15 minutes – Turn stove up to high. Add water, salt and pepper. Stir, then once it comes to a simmer, lower heat to medium high and simmer rapidly for 15 minutes (no lid) until all the vegetables are soft (check with knife).
- Stir in cream, simmer for 1 minute.
- Blitz – Remove from heat and use a stick blender to blitz until smooth. (Note 5 for blender) Adjust to taste – water to thin, salt and pepper if needed, extra cream for more indulgent.
- Serve in bowls. Drizzle with cream, pinch of curry powder, parsley and pepper. Serve with warm crusty bread!
Recipe Notes:
- Parsnip and celeriac – if you increase these, they will dominate as they have stronger flavour than the other veg. They can also be exxy – sub with swedes or turnip.
- Potato – Any all purpose or starchy potato is fine here, I used Sebago (the dirt brushed ones in Australia).
- Non-root veg will also work but as they are typically more watery and less starchy, soup will likely be thinner and less creamy.
Nutrition Information:
More simple, nourishing-but-not-boring soups
Healthy doesn’t have to mean bland!
Life of Dozer
Wow. 700 birthday wishes for Dozer and counting in just one weekend – he’s officially more popular than any recipe I’ve ever published!!! He’ll be expecting a parade and public holiday in his honour next year….what are you doing to me? All this attention is going to his head!!!🤣
Everything about “root vegetables” makes me want to run in the other direction 😂 but I went for it anyway … absolutely delicious! So easy to prepare, amazing flavour and texture (especially with a dollop of cream or sour cream). Nagi’s Irish soda bread is super easy too and a great accompaniment. Making again tonight in wet and cold Melbourne!
For someone who never thinks of soup as a proper meal the video made me want to try this and OMG, it was delicious to say the least. I even went to the effort to find Celeriac which seems to be a challenge but got there in the end. So nourishing and makes heaps. Thank you yet again for another amazing meal (and yes I said it- soup is a meal)
This was delicious, hearty and so simple to make! I subbed celeriac for celery (Woolies soup pack) and it turned out super yummy. I couldn’t believe all you need is water (wow) and the curry gave it “something” extra as you mentioned. I’ll definitely be making this again!
Just made this for lunch. I substituted celeriac with celery and had a bit of left over roast pumpkin that I also added. I used a litre of low salt chicken stock and 2 cups of water, and chose the unsalted butter & milk option as I had no cream. This is just a beautiful warming and comfort food soup. The curry powder is there – but not there. It adds just a wee bit of kick but not a curry powder flavour. I give this one 5/5! Thank you Nagi, you’ve done it again!
easy and delicious
I don’t live in the country, but I have been a member of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) here in PA for idk like 30 years. My roots do come fresh from the farm. It doesn’t grow celeriac anymore 🙁 one of my favorites. We just got a lot of rutabaga because it stores a LONG time as part of our spring share even though it was harvested in fall. Just a FYI – celery and celery root/celeriac ARE NOT the same, but come from the Apiaceae family as does parsnip. I LOVE Nagi’s recipes and bought both books even though I have a strict diet because of health issues. Looking forward to making this with rutabaga!
I just made a batch of this and it is absolutely delicious. Very simple to make. I didn’t have cream so subbed with milk and it’s still very creamy. Yum yum. Will be my go to soup for winter.
Easy and very tasty. I added some water it’s pretty thick. Another great recipe Nagi!
Thank you for posting a soup recipe without using stock. I made it as per the recipe and it was amazing 😍
Soup was delicious, although next time I’d use less curry powder. I don’t t usually like vegetable soup but this was a winner. Just a note celeriac is the root of celery
I was today years old when I learnt celeriac is the root of celery!!!!
Amazing soup enjoyed by all the family young and old
Didn’t hold out much hope for this recipe with very few herbs and spices and no stock. How wrong could I be. It is delicious. I couldn’t find celeriac, and wasn’t prepared to pay if I had, but I found a reject bunch of 3 parsnips and 2 fennel bulbs at my local vege shop for …. $1.99!!! Usually $10 kg for fennel. Couldn’t pass it up..Added the fennel to the soup and it wasn’t overpowering, just added another level of flavour. Having it for tea tonight. So looking forward to it.
Love your humour, Nagi. First, Dozer. Second, your humour. Third, your recipes – the most important, of course. 🙂
Made this soup. A hit with my family.
I’d never used celeriac before and it was an agreeable surprise.
I’ve been looking for some soup recipes that don’t use broth so that I can share them with my baby. I made this with no salt and used coconut cream instead of dairy. It turned out amazing and me and my 6 month old really enjoyed it! Thanks Nagi!
We’re going into summer in North America but I’m saving this recipe for fall/winter
Thank you for so many great recipes
North American big fan here bookmarking this to make next fall/winter: yum!! Also wanted to say happy birthday to the wonderful Dozer. What a star. 😍
Hi Nagi,
Love your recipes and look forward to your posts. I made this soup yesterday and love the texture, taste etc. however, I used Keen’s Curry Powder and it overwhelmed the soup, so will halve or quarter the amount next time. Otherwise, a great soup for this weather.
I find it very frustrating trying to find a recipe in your cookbook as no logical index to go by.
Eg mushroom sauce had to go through whole book to find it ,easier to google
🙄
Hi Nagi!
Please add my voice to the celebrations for Dozer’s 13th trip around the sun! My apologies for being delayed in my expressions! I loved the snaps and the evident love shared and shown between both of you! I believe you both were meant to be together.
I wanted to jump in and tell you how much I love this soup recipe. I made it with all of your original vegetable choices and it is delicious!
I used a homemade blend of Jamaican curry powder – not too hot at all, but rather a nice ‘warm’ spicing to it. I think it worked perfectly.
It is +18 C degrees here today, but I was undeterred! The recipe just called to me!
Thank you, Nagi, for your creative mind, along with your team. Sharing your love of cooking and feeding people is a gift to all of us.
I still cannot get over the ordeal that you’ve just been through regarding the protection and integrity of your recipes and content. I’ve struggled with knowing what I could offer in terms of comfort and support to you. I’ve finally settled on something that I hope will uplift you.
It is a song by Amanda Marshall called “I Believe In You”. I hope you will listen to it and know it is what I feel in my heart for you, even if we have never met “in real life”!
“Thank YOU”, Nagi, for being an inspiration to so many. Please be good to yourself.
Sending Hugs and Love to you and Dozer from,
The Canadian Prairies.