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This Spicy Colorful Vegetable Sour Soup is easy to cook, tasty and super healthy. Delicious when served by itself or with a selection of extras that will transform it into a special culinary experience. But don’t take my word for it and try it for yourself!

Why you should cook this colorful sour soup, you ask? Simply because it’s:

Easy to Make
Vegan
Plant-Based
Fresh
Natural
Satisfying
Spicy and Sour
Delicious

Two bowls of Spicy Colorful Vegetable Sour Soup on a table, served with brie cheese and full-fat sour cream

Ingredients for our vegan sour soup

Secret note to all soup lovers: I always start a soup like this one with my favorite vegetables (list below!) and I like using frozen vegetables whenever I can. These days you can easily find frozen broccoli, cauliflower, green beans or green peas, in any season. And as a bonus, frozen vegetable will always cook faster so they are a win-win, especially if you’re short on time.

Broccoli, cauliflower and sweet potatoes are one of the best ways to make sure that your soup will have enough “texture” (aka soluble and insoluble fiber). Carrots and green beans are also popular in my soup recipes, as well as bell peppers, celery and fennel.

One of my best-kept secrets (not anymore!) is making sure that my recipe includes at least two of the following allium vegetables: garlic, leeks, onion, shallots, scallions, or chives. Why? Because the vegetables from the allium family are loaded with potent phytonutrients, not to mention plenty of vitamins and minerals. These plants will literally upgrade your soup to a whole new level. They’re simply good for you and you should include them in your cooking as often as you can.

One last thing, our spicy sour soup won’t be complete without spices …. duh! For this recipe we are using fresh chili, black pepper, turmeric powder, ginger powder and bay leaves. I’ve also included Himalayan salt plus my special lemon and lime fresh juice (this helps with the sour taste of this soup).

Top-down view with two bowls of Spicy Colorful Vegetable Sour Soup on a table, served with brie cheese and full-fat sour cream

How to cook the Spicy Colorful Vegetable Sour Soup

  • Prepare all the ingredients as needed – peel, slice, chop – and add them into a big pot.
  • Continue by adding spices like chili pepper, black pepper, turmeric powder, ginger powder and bay leaves.
  • Add enough water to cover the ingredients and bring to a boil. Cook on medium heat for about 15-20 min, until all the veggies are soft.
  • When the veggies are cooked, it’s time to add lemon and lime juice, as well as salt.
  • Incorporate using a wooden spoon and let the soup simmer for 5 more minutes.
  • DONE! Remove from heat and enjoy a hot bowl of sour soup. Pair it with delicious extras (see below) and you’ll be soup-amazed.
Two bowls of Spicy Colorful Vegetable Sour Soup on a table, brie cheese and sour cream on the side

How to serve this delicious vegan sour soup

This recipe is vegan and you can keep it this way. You can definitely serve it by itself or with a few extras.

Here are a few ideas to enhance the taste and the nutrient value of this sour soup:

  • a few olives – Don’t you love those salty Greek olives?!
  • a few avocado slices – Use a few slices of raw avocado to add a bit of creaminess (read healthy fats) to your sour soup.
  • handful of your favorite nuts – I love walnuts or pecans … A LOT, and they match perfectly the sweet and sour tante of this soup.
  • a few slice of soft cheese (brie or camembert) – I find it best to use a traditionally made soft cheese that comes from France.
  • crème fraîche – This is a must try with sour soup. Add 2-3 tsp of creme fraîche to a hot bowl of soup, mix and serve.
  • freshly baked bread – I know, I know! You’ll say that bread is not “healthy” but for some of us it’s one of those things. Gluten-free breads or keto breads are also a great choice.

My Favorite Choice: Vegetarians only, for an extra special culinary experience add 1-2 tsp of crème fraîche to one bowl of sour soup. This little trick will transform your soup into a delicious culinary experience like no other. Try it and let me know what you think!

If you make this soup, let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment and don’t forget to take a picture and tag it @refreshmyhealth on Social Media because I would LOVE to see what you come up with.

What’s your favorite soup recipe? Have you served sour soup before and did you liked it? Let me know in the comments.

5 from 2 votes

Spicy Colorful Vegetable Sour Soup

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 8 portions
Print Recipe
This Spicy Vegetable Sour Soup is easy to cook, tasty and super healthy. Delicious when served by itself or with a selection of extras that will transform it into a special culinary experience.

Ingredients

  • 2 sweet potatoes (peeled, cubed)
  • 500 g frozen vegetables mix (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, green beans)
  • 1 red bell pepper (chopped)
  • 3 cloves garlic (thin slices)
  • 2 onions (sliced)
  • 1 stick celery (sliced)
  • 2-3 slices fennel (sliced)
  • 1 chili pepper (chopped)
  • black pepper (to taste)
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1/2 tsp ginger powder
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 lemon (juice only)
  • 1 lime (juice only)
  • 2 tsp Himalayan salt
  • water

Instructions

  • Prepare all the ingredients as indicated: peel, slice or chop into various sizes.
  • In a soup pot (I used a 5L Le Creuset) add all the vegetables: sweet potatoes, frozen veggies (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, green beans), red bell pepper, garlic, onion, celery, fennel.
  • Continue by adding spices: chili pepper, black pepper, turmeric powder, ginger powder and bay leaves.
  • Add enough water to cover the ingredients, bring to a boil and cook on medium heat for about 15-20 min, until all the veggies are soft enough.
  • When the veggies are cooked, it’s time to add lemon and lime juice, as well as salt. Incorporate using a wooden spoon and let it simmer for 5 more minutes.
  • Once the soup develops that sweet and sour taste, that’s when you’ll know it’s ready to be served,
  • Remove from heat, let the soup rest for a few minutes and enjoy a fresh (and hot) bowl of colorful vegetable sour soup. Pair with different extras for a special culinary experience.

Notes

You don’t have to defrost the veggies before adding them into the pot. They will defrost once you start cooking the soup, plus you’ll save some time.
This is a recipe where you can play around with the ingredients, especially the frozen vegetables. I used frozen broccoli, carrots, cauliflower and green beans, but you can use only broccoli and carrots, or use green peas instead of green beans. Be creative!
Depending on the size and type of both lime and lemon that you’re using, sometimes the soup may turn out a bit too sour-ish. What you can do to prevent this is to only add half of the lemon-lime juice and taste the soup before adding the rest.
In this recipe we used red chili, as well as ginger powder, which means this soup will turn out a bit spicy. If spicy is not your thing, you can use half of the chili powder and the soup will still turn out delicious.
This soup is great by itself but, for the ultimate culinary experience, consider serving it with one or more of the following extras: green olives or kalamata olives, traditional French brie or camembert, or a few teaspoons of crème fraîche.
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Low-carb, Vegan, Whole30
Keywords: sour soup, vegan soup, vegetable soup, vegetables
Author: Marcel Corbeanu
Marcel Corbeanu

Hi, I'm Marcel! I'm a health coach, I write about health and wellness and I love cooking healthy food with fresh and simple ingredients.

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