A Healthy Vegetable Soup made extra tasty……this is my version of the famous Zero Weight Watchers Points cabbage soup. It has 0.4 points (let’s round it down to zero!) but it tastes way, way, way better!
A healthy vegetable soup made extra tasty.
Do you know about the zero Weight Watchers Points cabbage soup? Essentially, all you do is put all the vegetables, broth/stock and a dollop of tomato paste into a pot, bring it to a boil then that’s it.
I don’t even need to try it to know that it would be rather bland. I just couldn’t bring myself to make it. So I made up my own version. of a healthy vegetable soup:-)
Yes, mine involves a tiny bit of oil so a soffrito of onion, celery and carrots can be slowly sautéed until sweet which creates a beautiful flavour base for this soup. There is a reason that this is the way that many of the greatest classics in this world start – like Beef Ragu!
In addition to the soffrito, I also sauté oregano and fennel. Much like hot water makes the flavour of cocoa powder “bloom”, sautéing dried herbs and spices really opens up their flavour. If you haven’t tried it before, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!
I know fennel may sound like an interesting choice, but the reason I chose it is because I wanted to give this soup a Spanish kick and what better way to give a soup a big flavour kick than to use Chorizo seasonings? 🙂
So that’s why I use fennel. It’s very subtle and not a key ingredient, so skip it if you don’t like or have it.
But if you do buy it especially to use in this recipe (and it costs no more than the usual dried herbs), use the leftovers to make my brother’s epic Sausage Rolls. They are da bomb! – Nagi x
Soup Dippers
Quick Cheesy Garlic Bread • Better-Than-Dominos Garlic Bread • Soft No Knead Dinner Rolls
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Healthy Vegetable Soup (0.4 WW Points) recipe video!
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Spanish Healthy Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
Soup:
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 onion , finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp fennel seeds (optional)
- 2 medium carrots , finely chopped
- 1 large celery stalk/rib , finely chopped
- 2 red capsicums / bell peppers , cut into 2 cm / 4/5” pieces
- 5 cups cabbage , cut into 3 cm / 1.2” pieces
- 800 g / 28 oz crushed tomato
- 3 cups / 750 ml vegetable or chicken broth (low fat!)
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika (or any paprika)
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper (adjust spiciness to taste)
Finishes (not optional!):
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 lemon – zest + juice to taste
- Finely chopped parsley
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 30 seconds or so.
- Add oregano and fennel seeds, cook for 2 minutes (lets flavour “bloom”).
- Turn heat down to medium low. Add carrots and celery, cook, stirring regularly, for 8 minutes until onion is sweet (not browned). This step is key to the flavour base of this soup.
- Add capsicum, turn heat up to high and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add remaining Soup ingredients, bring to simmer then place lid on. Turn heat down to medium low, simmer for 25 minutes.
- Remove lid, adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Ladle soup into bowls. Grate over lemon zest, squeeze of lemon juice and sprinkle with parsley. Serve!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
When Dozer sings…
Delicious!!! So happy we found this recipe!! Thank you
Wahoo!
This is a nice simple soup that’s easy to put together. I agree that the mirepoix step was very important but what made the soup special was the smokey depth of the paprika and touch of heat from the cayenne. I paired the soup with with a baguette and nice Reserva Rioja. A crisp Albarino would also complement. This tastes even better the next day!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Ted ❤️
Nagi, this was amazing. So tasty, and simple to make. Very filling too. Thank you!
Yessss how good is it!!?? It’s my go to diet soup 😉
This should be called ultra yummy vege Soup! It’s absolutely delicious as are all you your recipes!
Yum! When I saw this recipe and the amount of cabbage I thought it would be bland and watery…how wrong I was. This is one of the most delicious soups ever. Easy and quick to make and tastes divine
I’m so glad you still gave it a go and love it!
Just to earthy and so delicious, you don’t even know your eating healthy. Thanks Nagi. I LOVE your recipe blog. I tell EVERYONE about you.
Woah what a nice compliment – thanks so much Sue ❤️
Nagi I made this soup today for mine and my husbands lunches for the week. It was so good we just ate it for dinner too! So tasty! I used chilli flakes instead of cayenne pepper because that’s what I had and it is deliciously spicy. I love with your recipes that I can make little adjustments to my taste or what ingredients I have and still they turn out fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing.
I’m so glad you loved it Jessica! ❤️
AMAZING … So good … thank you for making this “lo-cal” staple … The BEST!!!
Great to hear you enjoyed this one Brooke! Thanks for letting me know – N x