It’s a homemade version of cup-a-soup!!! A creamy Vegetable Soup made without cream, with noodles and lots ‘n lots of veggies. Adapt this recipe to whatever veggies you have – fresh or frozen. This one is all about that creamy broth!
Creamy Vegetable Soup
This is a homemade version of the Cream of Vegetable Soup cup-a-noodle packs which is a little optimistically labelled with “lots of noodles!!” Because let’s be honest – a powder soup packet mix for a mug can only have so many noodles in it.
And while we’re on the topic, there’s not that much veggies in it either. (And I STILL loved it growing up!)
Hence the beauty of homemade!
Secret Ingredient: Vegeta
This is a standard creamy soup recipe, thickened with a roux made with melted butter and flour. It’s made with both milk and vegetable or chicken broth (or flavour), plus one very important secret ingredient: Vegeta.
Vegeta is a vegetable stock powder and this is what I use in place of salt in this soup. More flavour!! It’s widely available here in Australia, found in the herbs & spices section of supermarkets.
A NOTE ON STOCK POWDERS AND MSG
Vegeta contains MSG which is a food additive. In years gone by, there has been the misconception that MSG is “bad for you”. MSG is one of the most extensively researched food additives and studies show that MSG does not contain anything that is specifically harmful to you. However, there are people who are sensitive to it, just like with many foods like peanuts.
Here is some information on this topic from the Food Authority of NSW, Australia, and here is some more information on Vegeta, including other recipes I use it in!
Fridge forage time!
I’ve made this cream of Vegetable Soup using ingredients that I (think I) spy on the packets of the cup-a-noodle soups. A mixture of fresh (carrots, celery, onion, capsicum) and frozen (peas and corn), all vegetables that make my weekly shop.
However – and regular readers know I say this a lot – feel free to make this using any vegetables you want! Use 7 to 8 cups of chopped veggies of choice, including onion.
I like to break the pasta into short pieces to make them easier to eat with a spoon, because as much as we all love the long pasta pulls, nobody likes hot soup slapping around on their chin.
To mimic the cup-a-noodles, I use linguine here, but any pasta will do – short or long.
Soup dunkers
I know this has noodles in it, so one could consider a side of bread as carb overkill. But nobody ever says no to warm crusty bread for dunking into creamy soup broths, right?? Here are some of my favourites!
Best way to store noodle soup
If you leave cooked pasta in any liquid, it becomes bloated and overly soft. My Asian roots make me a rice snob – I cannot stand overcook mushy rice – and this snobbery extends to pasta.
So if making ahead or you know you’ll have lots of leftovers, cook the pasta separately and place into bowls then ladle over the soup. This is because pasta left in any liquid becomes bloated and overly soft.
This applies to all noodle and pasta soups! – Nagi x
PS I should probably mention the SUPER LOW CAL version of this Cream of Vegetable Soup (what’s the secret??!🤫)
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Creamy Vegetable Soup with Noodles (No cream!)
Ingredients
- 50g (3 tbsp) butter , unsalted
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/2 onion , finely chopped
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/3 cup (70g) flour (Note 2 cornflour/cornstarch GF)
- 3 cups (750 ml) milk , any (I use low fat)
- 2 cups (500 ml) vegetable or chicken broth , low sodium
- 1 cup (250 ml) water
- 3 tsp Vegeta or other stock powder (Note 1)
- 200g / 7oz linguine or other pasta , broken into 4 pieces
- Salt and pepper to taste
Vegetables (sub 8 cups any diced veg):
- 2 carrots , diced
- 2 celery ribs , diced
- 1 red capsicum/bell pepper , diced
- 1 cup corn kernels , frozen or canned drained
- 1 cup frozen peas
Optional garnish:
- Fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large pot over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 2 minutes. Then add carrot and celery. Cook for a further 2 minutes, then add capsicum and cook for another 1 minute.
- Add flour and mix, cook for 1 minute.
- Add about half the broth and mix. Once flour is incorporated into the broth, add remaining broth, milk, water, dried thyme, Vegeta and pepper. Mix, then add corn and peas.
- Bring to simmer then lower heat slightly.
- Break pasta into 4 pieces and add into pot. Cook for 10 minutes or until pasta is just cooked. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Ladle into bowls and serve, garnished with a tiny sprinkle of fresh thyme leaves if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Other favourite soup recipes
-
Chicken Noodle Soup from scratch, using a whole chook or try this faster Chicken Noodle Soup
-
Classic Pumpkin Soup – or try this roasted No Chop Pumpkin Soup
-
Lentil Soup (it’s amazing!)
Life of Dozer
This is what happens if you sit at the table next to me at the coffee shop.
Absolutely outstanding soup! Thank you for this recipe, Nagi
Hey Nagi …
Love your recipes … but … not picking …. you have a pic of an onion … saying it’s flour … totally LOVE your recipes …
So good! I omitted the pasta and added thinly sliced baby potatoes instead. And then I stirred in a couple of handfuls of spinach at the end. The soup is really delicious!
My go to recipe when I have a heap of verges that I must use. Thanks Nagi,
Hi Nagi! Do you think this would freeze okay?
Wow! I used a different kind of stock powder and it got too thick but there was amazing flavour.
I made this with a chunky vegetable starter pack (onion, carrot, potato, soup celery, spinach & leeks). It was delicious and my mom said it was the best soup I’ve made this year! Otherwise I followed directions exactly except for adding some rosemary and omitting the pasta because I already had a starchy ingredient. It was the perfect choice to make on a wet and cold South African winter night.
Hi Nagi, I’m hoping you can help – id like to serve this to a group of 100 people this weekend. I’ll be skipping the pasta and adding cooked shredded chicken at the end. My question is if I make this by 6am on the day, can I just leave it on the stove and warm it around 12.30 when I intend to serve it? I’m unsure with the milk in it if it’ll go bad? TIA!
Hi Jay, there are specific regulations around keeping food and the proper way to cool/keep warm to avoid potential bacteria growth. To be safe you’d need to either cool it down to reheat or only have it out for a maximum of 2 hours at a temperature of over 60C. N x
I love your recipes and live Vegeta. I love it in a lot of things but especially love it in white sauce and cheese sauce. It gives the sauce such a great flavour. I never but expensive stock either. I just use vegeta and hot water. The stocks you buy in the supermarket are not good stocks. Good stock gels. If I want good stock I make my own. Note: vegetable stock doesn’t gel.
I tried it and this was super delicious. I had a ton of milk I needed to use and didn’t want to bake anything. This was perfect. I used elbow macaroni since it was all I had. Delicious!!! Thank you for another amazing recipe. I have yet to make one I didn’t like!!
Nagi! … I just read a comment from you to an unhappy ‘cooker’ … good on ya girl … I LOVE your recipes and you are always my go to site. I noticed tho that I may have hit the spam folder … so decided to post here … Nagi? … when do aussies call onions flour … *looks up’ at above recipe … lol … keep up the fantastic recipes …
Nagi,
I made this soup last night and it was delicious. I included a variety of colorful veggies — carrots, zucchini, assorted bell peppers, peas, corn, celery, and onions. Sooo good! My only regret was not cooking the pasta separately as you suggest as an option. As the soup cooled, it did soak up much of the liquid so my soup dish was more of a tasty noodle dish. The flavor was still great but I prefer it as a soup.
I will make this again! Yum!
Hi, I just discovered your site last week. I made your braising ribs and they were delicious. Tonight I made this soup, all with fresh vegetables from our farm share. I can’t begin to tell you how delicious it was with corn fresh from the cob. Literally all the vegetables are from the farm up the street. I have never seen Vegeta here (Canada) but used Better than Bouillon and some chicken bone broth I freeze from time to time. This will definitely be on my rotation from now on. I love how clear your recipes are. Thank you!
I don’t care for frozen peas. I was wondering if you knew whether Le Seur canned peas would work.
Hi Zo, I’m sure they would work fine! N x
I didn’t have any celery – mostly because I’m not a celery fan – and no Vegeta, but it was delicious all the same! My husband was raving about its goodness well past dinner despite being a big meat fan 👍
I’m so glad you still enjoyed it Bl!! N x
This soup is fantastic. I could not find Vegeta so I used Better Than Bouillon. I also used frozen egg noodles that were almost like homemade. I used your hint to keep the noodles separate from the soup when I stored it. This soup is a winner. My husband and I loved and I will be making this all winter long.
I have made this soup several times and it’s always a winner. Using Vegeta makes a big difference. Don’t leave it out if you can help it. Your delicious creamy vegetable soup is on the menu for lunch today. Thanks for your great recipe. 😁
You’re so welcome Karen, I’m so happy you love it! – N x
This soup is sooo good! I’ve just made it for the second time and added in curry powder at the first step and it was delicious! Thanks Nagi!
Sounds great Megan!!
Hi Nagi! I absolutely love this recipe and find myself craving it on the regular. Unfortunately, although my husband likes it too – he has an aversion to recipes cooked with too much flour (it’s like he can tell every time!)
Maybe a dumb question, but is there any way to make this dish and substitute the flour for something else? Thanks a bunch!
Hi Doug, I haven’t tried to be honest as this is the thickening agent. Does he also have an aversion to corn flour as this would be a great substitute.
Made this the other night with a combination of fresh and frozen veggies. I substituted almond milk for milk and it worked out great. I was tempted to add leftover turkey from Thanksgiving but I didn’t want to ruin the flavor. It was delicious and paired nicely with a glass of white 🙂 Next day, the noodles soaked up a lot of the liquid so I added more broth and all was fine. Thank you!
Yum!