Roasted root vegetables can be an incredible side dish. It’s often a colorful medley ingredients, including squash, potatoes, onion, carrots, garlic, turnips, parsnips, or beets. While this soup doesn’t use all of those ingredients, it does use a few winter staples, some of which exhibit impressive antioxidant properties. In fact, three of the ingredients in this soup are excellent sources of beta-carotene!
Although we have a list of ingredients, you can take a little creative liberty with your root veggies. We don’t recommend using beets because they will turn your soup red quickly. The combination of sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, and parsnips is quite tasty and the ingredients complement one another. If you want your soup to be more peppery, swap out the parsnips for some turnips. Just make sure that you always include red onion in the roasting pan, in addition to the onion you’ll sauté for the the soup base.
After the vegetables are nicely charred and fork tender, you’ll need to transfer them to a blender, along with your soup base. Now, if you have an immersion blender, you can pour the roasted vegetables into the large pot with your soup base and blend that way. Choose your own destiny, but make sure to savor the flavors along the way!
- Prep Time:15m
- Cook Time:45m
- Total Time:1h
- Serves: 8 servings
- Category: Soups & Stews, Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten-Free
Ingredients
- 2 c sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 2 c butternut squash, peeled and cubed
- 2 c parsnips, peeled and sliced
- 2 c carrots, peeled and sliced
- 1/2 red onion, roughly chopped
- 6 tbsp. olive oil, divided
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 1 brown onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 c vegetable broth
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425º F and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or aluminum foil.
- Prepare your root vegetables, including the red onion, and scatter them across the baking sheet in one layer.
- Drizzle with about four tablespoons of the olive oil and season with the sea salt and pepper. Mix gently to coat and then roast for 40-45 minutes, or until fork-tender.
- Add the two remaining tablespoons of olive oil into a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent, but not browned (about five minutes).
- Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute or so before pouring in the vegetable broth and bay leaf. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to simmer for 15-20 minutes. When the timer goes off, turn off the heat and remove the bay leaf.
- Once the vegetables are done roasting, add the root vegetables to a blender along with the broth and blend until smooth. You can also add the root vegetables to the pot and use an immersion blender to puree the soup.
- Serve and garnish with fresh herbs (optional).
