This gorgeous immune- boosting, super greens soup is perfect for when you are feeling under the weather and you want food that nourishes your body. It is full of immune-boosting ingredients. And the best thing about it is – it doesn’t take ages to make.
The ingredients are amazing. Turmeric is renowned for its anti-inflammatory properties as is ginger. Whereas broccoli and garlic are great for immune defence. Broccoli is also fantastic for detoxification.
Adding dark leafy greens like spinach and kale means that your soup will also have lots of magnesium, iron and vitamins such as K and C too.
Amazingly it only takes 20 mins to make! Which is great if you are running short of time or don’t feel well enough to cook for hours.
Can I use other vegetables in this soup?
What’s great about this soup is that you don’t have to follow the recipe precisely – just throw in whatever green veg you have available. As long as the quantities are similar it will be fine.
For example, you can swap the peas for edamame or the spinach for kale.
If you are using soft leafy greens like spinach, just make sure you add them in add the end of the cooking time. This way, they just wilt – they don’t need cooking!
How to add protein and calories to a vegetable soup
By adding soy milk (instead of only stock) this will help to you up the protein content of the soup. It will also make sure it tastes really creamy too.
If you want, you can also add in a tin of white beans like butter beans or some chickpeas. They will blend in and make the soup even creamier (and add to the protein in each serving).
Also – serve with a quality sourdough bread. Each slice is around 5-6g of protein.
Which ingredients do you need for a supergreens soup:
- Olive oil
- Onion
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Ground turmeric
- Chilli
- Vegetable stock
- Soy milk (or any plant milk)
- Broccoli
- Courgette
- Spinach
- Lime juice
- Fresh coriander
What are the immune boosting properties of the main ingredients:
Garlic
Garlic contains allicin, a compound with antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal properties. It helps stimulate immune cells and can enhance their response to infections. It also contains manganese, vitamin B6, selenium, and vitamin C.
Ginger
Ginger contains gingerol, which has powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. It can help reduce inflammation and enhance immune function. It also contains key nutrients such as vitamin B6, magnesium, and manganese.
Turmeric
Probably one of the most well-known foods for its anti-inflammatory effects is turmeric. This is due to the fact it contains curcumin, a potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. It also contains iron, potassium, and vitamin C.
Broccoli
Broccoli is high in vitamin C, a key nutrient for immune defence. It also contains sulforaphane, which may help with the production of antioxidant enzymes and is fantastic for detoxification too.
Spinach
Spinach is also high Vitamin C, which is crucial for a healthy immune system, but also contains antioxidants like beta-carotene. Greens like spinach are also rich in folate, magnesium, iron, and calcium.
Lime juice
Finally, using a citrus fruit like lime adds to the Vitamin C content.
Try this soup for yourself and let me know what you think in the comments below.
Recipe Tips:
- I like to blend the soup so it is smooth but you can also eat chunky, if you would prefer.
- If you are very hungry and want to up calories then add in some beans or chickpeas – you can either do this before you blend so it stays smooth or add them afterwards to give it some bite.
- If you don’t like soy milk you can sub for any milk.
- If you prefer this oil free then you can cook the onion and garlic in some water instead of oil.
- It will last for 4 days in a sealed tub in the fridge and freezes well.
If you enjoyed this immune boosting super greens soup, why not check out these other soup recipes:
Butternut Squash & Black Bean Soup
Red Rice & Shiitake Mushroom Soup
Immune Boosting Super Greens Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large white onion
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 5 cloves garlic
- Thumb sized piece of ginger
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- 1 litre vegetable stock (4 cups)
- 250 ml unsweetened soy milk (1 cup)
- 1 large head of broccoli
- 210 g frozen peas (1½ cups)
- 200 g spinach or kale (4 cups)
- Juice of a lime
- Handful of fresh coriander
Instructions
- Chop the onion, garlic and ginger. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onion for 5 mins. Add the garlic, ginger, salt and spices and fry for another couple of minutes.
- Whilst the onion is frying, chop the broccoli (including its stalk) into chunks. Add the stock, milk, broccoli and peas to the pan and cook for about 10 mins until the broccoli is cooked. Turn off the heat and add the spinach to wilt (put the lid on and the heat will wilt it). Finally, add the lime juice and coriander (and season to taste).
- Add everything to a blender and blend until smooth. Check the seasoning, add more if required, and serve.
Notes
- Finish the soup with an optional drizzle of cream or yoghurt and a few pumpkin seeds for a bit of crunch.
- If you are very hungry and want to up calories then add in some beans or chickpeas – you can either do this before you blend, so it stays smooth or add them afterwards to give it some bite.
- If you don’t like soy milk you can sub for any milk.
- It will last for 3-4 days in a sealed tub in the fridge and freezes well.
How many grams is one large head of broccoli?
Hi Cynthia, probably about 400g
Can i use frozen broccoli in this recipe ?
Thanks for different recipes i found on your website
Hi there, yes you can
Fantastic for when you’re a bit under the weather!
Definitely – glad you liked it!
Make this literally every week – it’s so nice and super easy to adapt to add in extra greens or swap greens depending on what you’ve got in.
Thanks so much! So glad you are enjoying the recipe.
I love the sound of this. Can I use frozen spinach?
Yes – you’ll just need to give it a little more time to cook.