The most AMAZING Vegetable Soup!! Thick and creamy, loaded with tender vegetables, it tastes luxurious and rich but it’s a SUPER HEALTHY soup recipe with 90% LESS calories than the usual creamy soups!
Magic super low calorie creamy Vegetable Soup!
Though my recipe feed doesn’t exactly scream “healthy eating” by any stretch of the imagination, the more discerning may have noticed that most of my dinner recipes actually have a sensible level of calories.
I don’t often cook with cream. I control my use of butter (sometimes reluctantly). And I am pretty sure I can count the deep fried recipes on this blog on one hand.
I believe that food is for enjoying not just survival. I don’t believe in butchering great dishes of the world for the sake of drastic calorie reduction and compromising taste. I’d rather eat a smaller serving of something super tasty and bulk up on vegetables.
However, I do have a thing for creating seriously tasty, super low cal meals that are filling. I have a few friends I often brainstorm with for calorie controlled food intake ideas. (Well, they brief me on exactly what they’re after and I do the brainstorming).
This is the product of one such session – a Healthy, Creamy Vegetable Soup recipe that’s just 124 calories for a big bowl and it’s seriously delish!
Secret ingredient: Pureed peeled zucchini
This recipe is sort of an extension of my Creamy Cauliflower Soup. Which I initially used as the soup broth for this healthy creamy Vegetable Soup and while tasty, it had a distinct cauliflower flavour which was not what I was after. I was specifically trying to make a super low cal cream of vegetable soup, so I wanted the white soup broth to have a fairly neutral but seasoned flavour.
The solution? Two zucchinis in the bottom of my fridge past their used by date. Peel off the green = almost pure white flesh. I knew it would thicken the soup and add silkiness just like in my Creamy Zucchini Soup – except this soup would be white.
Bingo.
Flavour!
The soup broth is also flavoured with onion and garlic which is cooked with the cauliflower and zucchini in vegetable broth and water until soft, then whizzed up until silky smooth. Pour it into the pot loaded with even more veggies, simmer to bring it all together and this is what you end up with – a big pot of HEALTHY creamy Vegetable Soup that looks like it’s been made with tubs of cream.
I’m not going to lie to you. Is it as good as making a real Cream of Vegetable Soup made using a big chunk of butter and 1/2 cup of flour to thicken milk? And let’s add a nice swish of cream while we’re at it, and we’d be mad not to sauté the veggies for the soup in more butter, because after all, butter = flavour.
Then we must, oh we MUST serve it with big hunks of grilled cheese on toast, and don’t hold back on the cheese please, and while you’re at it, please slather the bread with butter before topping with cheese.
No, this Healthy Creamy Vegetable Soup is not “as good” as that.
But does it stand on its own as a seriously delicious soup for a ridiculously low amount of calories for a gigantic VERY filling bowl?
YES IT DOES.
I know some people would use all the calorie credits for a little sweet treat. Not me. Bring on the grilled cheese. – Nagi x
Soup Dippers
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WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Magic healthy low cal creamy Vegetable Soup!
Ingredients
- 1 medium head of cauliflower , about 600 - 700g / 1.2 - 1.4 lb (Note 1)
Low Cal Creamy Soup Broth:
- 500g / 1 lb zucchinis (2 large), peeled and cut into 1.5cm / 3/5" slices
- 1 large onion , roughly chopped (brown, white, yellow)
- 2 garlic cloves , whole
- 2 cups (500 ml) vegetable or chicken broth
- 2 cups (500 ml) water
- 1 cup (250 ml) 0% fat milk (or other milk of choice)
- 1/2 tsp each garlic powder and onion powder (or 1 tsp of one of them)
- Pinch black pepper
Soup:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 1 onion , chopped (brown, white, yellow)
- 2 large carrots , cut into 1.25cm / 1/2" pieces
- 3 celery sticks , cut into 0.75cm / 1/4" slices
- 2 red capsicum / bell peppers , cut into 1 cm / 2/5" pieces
- 500g / 1 lb zucchinis (2 large), peeled and cut into 1.25cm / 1/2" slices
- 1 tsp dried thyme (or other herb of choice)
- Salt and pepper
- Finely chopped parsley , optional garnish
Instructions
Cauliflower:
- For soup - Break off 1/4 of the cauliflower into small bite size florets and put aside to use in the soup.
- For broth - Break up the rest of the cauliflower into medium florets. If you have a small cauliflower, use the stem too - peel then rough dice.
Broth:
- Place cauliflower for broth in a large pot. Add zucchini, onion, whole garlic cloves, vegetable broth and water. (Note 2)
- Place lid on, bring to boil then adjust heat so it's simmering energetically. Cook for 15 minutes or until cauliflower is soft.
- Transfer to blender (Note 3), add garlic powder, onion powder, pepper and milk. Place lid on, place tea towel on lid and hold down very firmly, then whizz to puree soup, starting on low then getting faster.
- Remove lid. Marvel at super low cal ultra creamy soup broth.
Soup:
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic, cook for 1 minute. Then add carrots and celery, cook for 2 minutes.
- Add thyme, capsicum and zucchini. Cook until softened, around 2 minutes.
- Pour in soup broth. Adjustment consistency with water to achieve desired thickness. Add reserved cauliflower.
- Simmer 5 minutes to bring flavours together. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve, garnished with parsley. Or splurge your calorie credits on a piece of grilled cheese to dunk into the soup!!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
A familiar sight: a furry head peeking around the bench to check out if anything of interest (to him) is going on in the kitchen….. In this case, no, just raw cauliflower!
Very nice recipe chef 👍👌👏. I made it yesterday afternoon, I added 1 avocado to the broth, I enjoyed it later in the evening with your artisan bread yammy 😋. Thank you for your effort 🌹🌞😎
Amazing soup. If you’re scared of cauliflower like I was, don’t be. Also, we needed more salt and pepper but it was awesome.
Nagi you are a genius with this soup base, you can manipulate the liquid to create any type of cream sauce substitute!! I can not thank you enough for this recipe, TOTAL game changer 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
This was the most unique idea for soup and it is truly delicious. It is now in my top five of soup recipes, and not just the healthy ones. Amazing recipe.
scrumptious
i didn’t have cauliflower so used washed potatoes skin on for broth and added peas and corn to the mix. great way to use up homegrown zucchini and parsley
Definitely worth it! I added 2 seedless poblanos to the broth recipe to give it a smoky burst of flavor. SO GOOD. Not spicy, just flavorful. I also added a dash of pesto and peas at the end to stir in and they offer a bit more texture in the soup. Also, needs way more salt! But overall, great base recipe to work with.
I am happy that you enjoyed it Olivia! N x
This soup is FABULOUS. I’ve been eating it for breakfast every morning. Super healthy and filling. LOVE IT. Always have a hard time with breakfast. This soup is life changing soup. THANK YOU.
I followed the recipe and it turned out fine, but for me it was very bland. So I had to add more spicies for flavor. Yeah, it’s a good recipe as a base healthy cream vegetable soup.
Absolutely delicious, and super healthy! This could easily be a tasty vegan soup if you swap the broth for veggie stock and milk for plant based. I didn’t have any celery, but it still came out great. I also added 1/4 cup nutritional yeast for a cheesey flavor. Despite the recipe saying its a little time consuming, i didnt think so. This will definitely be in the rotation of meals at my house.
That soup is amazingly delicious I added chopped spinach and oh my how awesome was that THANK YOU for this recipe
Broth was a little thin. I’d recommend less water. Good flavor!
A lovely, warming soup, full of vegies. Amazing that it’s so creamy with only 1 cup of milk. Quite time consuming but nice to do on a winter’s day. I added some savoury yeast flakes at the end for a hit of umami.
I love that idea Lulu, genius! N x
I had a cauliflower, broccoli, and carrot bag, and it was fine…the broth was a little darker than what she had (kinda orangey) but it was delicious!
This soup was delicious! The only difference I made was to take out the bell peppers and I also cooked it for longer as when I simmered for 5 min, the onions and celery were uncooked, so I wound up cooking it for about 25 more min until everything was soft. It was phenomenal! Thanks, Nagi!
Can’t wait to cook this tomorrow, going the frozen cauliflower version, my question is I have cauliflower & broccoli mixed bag, will this have same outcome?? Thanks 😊
Hello! Can’t wait to try this. Do you know what the serving size is in cups instead of grams?
Thank you so much!