Go Back
–+ servings
Print
a bowl of beet greens soup and a poppyseed bagel with a large container of soup behind

Beet Greens Soup, The Vegan Version

This soup is basically vegetable soup that uses up all those beet greens you might have otherwise thrown away. It's also a "stone soup", so you can use whatever you have instead of, or in addition to, carrots and potatoes.

Course Soup
Cuisine American, Eastern European
Keyword beet greens, soup, vegan, vegetables
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 6 servings
Author Laura

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch beet greens (from 3-5 beets). Well washed and finely diced. About 5-7 oz/145-200 g. Include the stems as well as the green leaves. See note below about how to cut them.
  • 1 medium-large onion, finely diced. About 6 oz/170g
  • 1 leek, white and light green parts only, cut in half vertically, then thinly sliced, washed & dried or 1-2 shallots, finely diced. About 5 & 3/4 oz/164 g
  • 1/2-1 stalk celery, finely diced About 2 & 1/2 oz/75 g
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and finely minced See note about mincing versus dicing.
  • 1 medium carrot, peeled and coarsely grated About 2 & 3/4 oz/80 g
  • 4 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled or well washed and cubed About 1 & 1/2 lb/680 g
  • 3 tablespoons Olive or other vegetable oil
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3 allspice berries
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
  • 1-2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 4 cups hot water
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup combination of fresh dill and flat leaf parsley with thin stems only, finely minced. About 1/2 oz/15 g. See note about mincing versus dicing.
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil for a few minutes in a medium-large pot until it shimmers. Add the bay leaf, allspice berries, finely diced onion, leek or shallot, and celery. Sauté, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes. If the vegetables make a crackling sound, that's fine. Just don't let them burn or even brown much at the edges.

  2. Add the garlic, beet greens, and carrot. Continue to cook and stir for another 2-3 minutes, allowing all the vegetables to soften and begin to cook.

  3. Add the potatoes, soy sauce or tamari, tomato paste. and the water. Stir to combine all the ingredients, raise the heat and bring the liquid to a boil. Then cover the pot and lower the heat to a simmer. Continue cooking for another 20 minutes.

  4. Add the parsley, dill, salt, and pepper and cook, covered, for another 10 minutes.

  5. Serve warm or hot with bread, a bagel or a similar starch. Salad would also be a nice accompaniment.

Recipe Notes

Wondering how to dice or mince? Check out the definition and a how-to here. 

The easiest way to cut beet greens (with the lovely and delicious red stems) is the same way you cut chard or kale except you keep the stems where you would discard them in the case of kale.