This creamy root vegetable soup is made with a sweet-and-savory mix of carrots, parsnips, fennel, sweet potato, and rutabaga, plus flavorful herbs and a splash of coconut milk. It’s comforting, nourishing, and easy to make — just what you need on a cold day!
Root veggies are the underappreciated heroes of late winter, if you ask me! During fall and early winter, I’m all about squash, especially in soups. Butternut squash soup, acorn squash soup, kabocha squash soup… I’m there for all of them. But by this point in the season, the squash bins at the store are pretty picked over. And that’s when I turn to good old, trusty root vegetables.
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Okay, hear me out: root vegetables aren’t as sexy or enticing as squash. (Yes, I just called squash sexy.) But they’re just as delicious and hearty, and they make an equally amazing batch of soup. Plus, unlike most squash, they’re small enough to mix and match — which means more variety, more flavor, and a much more exciting (and maybe even sexy??) soup.
For this root vegetable soup, we’re combining a few favorites. If you loved my sweet potato soup, fennel soup, carrot soup, and parsnip soup, you’re in luck, because they’re all here. I also added rutabaga, an underrated favorite that deserves way more love. Everything gets simmered with fresh herbs and coconut milk for a soup that’s simple to make, deeply comforting, and perfect for cold days.
Ingredients You'll Need
Below you'll find a list of ingredients in this recipe, with notes and substitutions. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe, including the amount of each ingredient.
- Olive oil. You're welcome to swap this out with another neutral high-heat oil if you'd like.
- Onion.
- Carrots.
- Parsnips. These are usually not far from the carrots at the store. They look quite a bit like carrots, too, but they're paler (almost white) and larger. They have a sweet, herby flavor.
- Fennel. Look for big white bulbs with wispy green fronds. You'll only need the bulb for this recipe (though the fronds make a nice garnish). The texture is close to celery, but you'll find it has a hint of licorice flavor.
- Garlic.
- White wine. Use a dry variety like sauvignon blanc or chardonnay. Also keep in mind that not all wines are vegan, so check with Barnivore before you buy.
- Sweet potato. You can really use any type of sweet potato, but I like to go with an orange or red one.
- Rutabaga. One of the most underrated root veggies if you ask me! Look for big white bulbs with a bit of purple on the outside. It's on the starchy side with a mild taste and a nice balance of bitter and sweet.
- Fresh rosemary.
- Dried thyme.
- Brown sugar. Use organic brown sugar, since conventional brown sugar is often processed using animal bone char.
- Nutmeg.
- Coconut milk. Preferably use full-fat coconut milk, from a can. Light coconut milk will work if you want to lower the fat and calorie content, although the soup will have less richness. I don't recommend using coconut milk in cartons, which is heavily watered down.
- Salt and pepper.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Step 1: Cook the vegetables. Heat your oil in a large pot, then add diced onion, carrots, parsnip, and fennel. Cook the mixture for about 10 minutes to soften everything up, making sure to give it an occasional stir. Add minced garlic and cook the mixture for another minute.
Step 2: Reduce the wine. Add the wine to the pot and heat it to a simmer. Allow it to continue simmering for a few minutes, until the volume goes down by about half.
Step 3: Simmer. Now add your broth, diced sweet potato, rutabaga, rosemary, and thyme. Bring the soup to a boil then lower the heat and let it simmer until the vegetables are nice and soft.
Step 4: Blend. Take the soup off of heat, then remove the rosemary. Blend the mixture until it's completely smooth. You can use a hand blender, like I'm doing in the photo, or carefully move it to a standard blender in batches.
Step 5: Finish the soup. Stir in the brown sugar, nutmeg, and coconut milk. If the soup has cooled down too much you can heat it back up at this point. Season it with some salt and pepper to taste.
Tip: This soup is very thick and rich! Feel free to thin it with some additional broth or water if you prefer a thinner soup.
Step 6: Serve. Ladle your root veggie soup into bowls, and if you'd like, sprinkle it with some toppings. I love a little fresh parsley, pepitas, and a drizzle of coconut milk on mine. Want to make it a meal? This soup is great with some vegan cornbread or vegetable focaccia.
Variations
- Keep it chunky. Skip blending, or just blend a portion of the soup if you'd like it to have a little texture.
- Curried root vegetable soup. Skip the rosemary and thyme, and instead season your soup with some curry powder and/or garam masala.
- Roasted root vegetable soup. Roast the carrots, parsnips, fennel, sweet potato, and rutabaga at 400°F until tender and lightly browned, then proceed with the recipe as written. This adds extra depth and caramelized flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, the recipe includes no gluten-containing ingredients.
Sure! Just leave it out and skip step 2.
Store leftover root veggie soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Winter Soups
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📖 Recipe
Creamy Root Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 medium carrots (about 6 ounces / 1 cup), diced
- 1 medium parsnip (about 8 ounces / 1 ½ cups), diced
- 1 small fennel bulb (about 6 ounces / 1 ¼ cups), diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- 5 cups vegetable broth
- 1 medium sweet potato (about 14 ounces / 3 cups), peeled and diced
- 1 medium rutabaga (about 12 ounces / 3 cups), peeled and diced
- 1 (6-inch) sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 tablespoons organic brown sugar, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup full-fat coconut milk
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Coat the bottom of a large pot with the oil and place it over medium heat. Give the oil a minute to heat up, then add the onion, carrots, parsnips, and fennel. Cook the vegetables for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften. Stir in the garlic and cook it with the vegetables for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until it becomes very fragrant.
- Add the wine to the pot and bring it to a simmer. Let it simmer until the volume has reduced by about half, about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the broth, sweet potato, rutabaga, rosemary, and thyme. Raise the heat to high and bring the broth to a boil, then reduce the heat and let the soup simmer until the vegetables are fork tender, about 20 minutes.
- Remove the pot from heat. Remove and discard the rosemary sprig. Blend the soup until smooth and creamy. You can leave it in the pot and use a hand blender, or transfer it in batches to a conventional blender, then return to the pot. Always use caution when blending hot liquids.
- Stir in the brown sugar, nutmeg, and coconut milk. Warm the soup back up over the burner if needed, then turn off the heat, give it a taste-test, and season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.
- Ladle into bowls, serve, and enjoy.
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Initially disappointed that no one flavor emerges - it’s very sweet. Next time I will omit the brown sugar, reduce the amount of sweet potato and possibly make a little mushroom sauce to drizzle on top. I need a little more umami to go with my romanticized notion of root vegetznlex (earth). I had some fennel green tops leftover so sliced them thin snd sautéed in vegan butter. I’ll add them to garnish the soup along with some green onion. I’d love for one flavor to push forward - rutabaga? In any case - thank you for the recipe for it inspires me.