This skinny homemade Vegetable Soup recipe is packed with flavor and a star recipe in any weight loss plan. It’s filling, satisfying with wholesome ingredients and full of fiber. It’s a noodle soup made with only plants (bye bye pasta).
This is the soup recipe for all people! It’s a healthy choice that is loaded with vegetables. It’s very low calorie (65 calories per 2 cup serving) and filling so perfect if on a weight loss plan.
This vegetarian soup can be customized in many ways (our suggestions included). A great recipe to help balance holiday over indulging or to start the year off great.
It’s the ‘go to’ recipe when you need to shed some pounds but want food to taste good and make you feel good in the process!
If you follow Weight Watchers it’s only a few points for an ample serving and we’ll tell you how to make it a zero point recipe too!
We aren’t waiting for the new year to pull out this soup recipe. It’s the time of year when holiday entertaining is about to kick off. This recipe needs to be in your arsenal to balance our any partying outside the calorie lines.
To be clear there is no one silver bullet food that will help you lose weight. BUT this is a perfect food to incorporate into a weight loss plan.
Everyone has heard of the cabbage soup diet. Cabbage soup isn’t the only game in town.
This veggie soup recipe is full of a variety of vegetables so it’s a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach. It’s nutrient rich so no empty calories with fake ingredients. This soup nourishes the body with great flavor and nutrition.
It’s the kind of recipe people reach for on January first to kick start a healthy eating regime, weight loss plan or pursue a more plant-based diet. It’s perfect for all those things. And it doesn’t taste like you are on a diet.
Add the zucchini spiralized noodles and it becomes a hearty soup with comfort food texture without the pasta too.
What makes this skinny?
All the vegetables. The bulk of the recipe is vegetables with a vegetable broth.
It uses lean plant protein with beans. Protein helps keeps you full and so adding some makes the soup even more of a win!
Only a tablespoon of olive oil used in 16 cups of soup!
Recipe Ingredient Notes
The recipe is full of wholesome vegetables that are easy to find at any grocery store: onion, garlic, carrots, celery, cabbage, canned tomatoes and more!
Vegetable broth. Use fat free low sodium vegetable broth.
Vegetable noodles. The soup includes spiralized zucchini noodles and spiralized yellow zucchini or summer squash noodles. These can be made at home or purchased! Most grocery stores offer a prepared ingredient section or frozen.
Italian seasoning. This spice blend combines all the delicious herbs common in Italian cooking in one mixture. You can use a store bought brand or homemade Italian seasoning spice blend.
Making Zucchini Noodles with a Vegetable Spiralizer
If you haven’t tried using a vegetable spiralizer now is the time! They are affordable and very easy to use.
They come with different insertable plates that allow you to turn vegetables and fruit into ribbons, thick noodles, thin noodles and more in mere minutes.
For this recipe a ⅛-inch or 3MM noodle blade should be used.
Prepare all the vegetables before starting (photos 1-2).
STEP 2. Saute
Heat a large stock pot or large Dutch oven heat the oil over medium-high heat. When the surface is rippling add the onion, cook, until it becomes translucent.
Add the garlic and cook for another minute (photo 3).
STEP 3. Make the soup
Add the carrots, celery, red beans, diced tomatoes, and vegetable broth, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes (photos 4-5).
After 20 minutes, add the red cabbage and continue cooking for 10 minutes (photo 6).
After 30 minutes, remove from heat and add the zucchini noodles, let it sit for 5 minutes so that the noodles become tender (photo 7).
Change up the vegetables. We picked these vegetables for their flavor, nutritional content and they are eating the rainbow. But you can swap in or out any fresh veggies you love. Green beans, bell peppers, kale, broccoli or cauliflower. Use your favorite veggies.
Use a different broth or stock. We used vegetable stock for flavor and calories. It also keeps the soup vegetarian and vegan. If desired swap it for chicken broth or beef broth for a different flavor.
Use fresh herbs. To up the flavor add in some aromatic herbs like fresh thyme, basil, or cilantro. Add bay leaves too!
Use different beans. We used red kidney beans but you can use any beans you love. Cannellini beans, black beans, white beans, garbanzo beans; they all will work.
Make it spicy. If you like spicy soup add some red pepper flakes at the end.
Add meat. If you want some meat protein sauté some ground turkey to start. OR add a boneless skinless chicken breast with the broth, remove at the end of cooking. Shred it and return it to the soup pot with the zoodles (like our Chicken Zoodle Soup).
Add tomato paste. For more of a tomato soup broth stir in some tomato paste when adding the healthy vegetables and broth.
Weight Watchers Zero Point Soup
To make this zero points:
Do not use the olive oil for sautéing the onion and minced garlic. Instead use a non-stick skillet lightly sprayed with olive oil spray.
Do not include the beans.
Now you have a zero point filling soup!
Pro Tips
Buy prepared vegetables. Prepared fresh vegetables are widely available in the grocery store. Take advantage of veggie already prepped to cut down on time at home!
Use a mini chopper. This mini version of a food processor takes on chopping tasks like a champ. Whenever we need to chop vegetables we use it. Huge time saver.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can low calorie vegetable soup be frozen?
Yes! Allow it to cool and place into an airtight freezer-safe container. Freeze for up to 3 months and thaw in the refrigerator before reheating. I love using this freezer block maker to freeze the soup in bags. It’s a mold that forms in the bag and after it’s frozen you have easily stackable bags of soup!
Can frozen vegetables be used in this easy vegetable soup?
Yes! We prefer fresh vegetables however frozen vegetables can also be used. If following a weight loss plan adding starchy vegetables like corn or sweet potatoes for instance will change the calorie amount and Weight Watchers points.
How to Store
Allow to cool and store in the refrigerator for up to three days.
This Low Calorie Vegetable Soup is loaded with a rainbow of vegetables. It’s hearty and filling with spiralized zucchini and summer squash noodles. Big flavors and few calories.
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