Autumn harvest vegetable soup
Hearty, chunky autumn soup packed with butternut, root veg and chestnut mushrooms — comforting, simple and vegan-friendly.
This autumn harvest vegetable soup celebrates the season’s best: sweet butternut, earthy parsnip and chestnut mushrooms. It’s the sort of bowl that makes you want to curl up and call it dinner early.
Make it chunky or whizz it smooth — both ways are brilliant. The recipe is vegan, unfussy and forgiving, so perfect for midweek or a weekend batch to fridge-and-freezer through the colder months.
Ingredients
- 30 ml olive oil
- 1 brown onion — peeled and finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves — crushed
- 1 leek — white and pale-green part only, thinly sliced
- 2 carrots — peeled and diced (about 200 g)
- 1 parsnip — peeled and diced (about 150 g)
- 400 g butternut squash — peeled and diced
- 300 g potatoes — peeled and diced
- 1 courgette — diced (about 150 g)
- 150 g chestnut mushrooms — quartered
- 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 15 ml tomato purée
- 1 l vegetable stock — hot
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 fresh thyme — sprigs
- 5 ml sea salt
- 5 ml black pepper — freshly ground
- 15 ml lemon juice — freshly squeezed
- 15 g flatleaf parsley — chopped, for garnish
Equipment
- stick blender or blender
Instructions
Prepare all the vegetables: peel and finely chop the brown onion; crush the garlic cloves; slice the leek; peel and dice the carrots, parsnip, butternut squash and potatoes; dice the courgette; quarter the chestnut mushrooms. Having everything ready makes the cook much quicker.
Place a large saucepan over a medium hob flame and add the olive oil. Warm for 30 seconds.
Add the brown onion, leek and garlic to the pan and sweat gently until soft and translucent — about 6–8 minutes. Stir regularly so they soften but do not brown.
Add the carrots, parsnip, chestnut mushrooms, courgette, butternut squash and potatoes. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring now and then, to start releasing their juices.
Stir in the tomato purée and cook for 1–2 minutes, then add the tinned chopped tomatoes and mix well.
Pour in the hot vegetable stock, add the bay leaves and fresh thyme sprigs. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender.
Test a piece of butternut or potato for tenderness. Remove and discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs.
For a pleasantly chunky texture, use a stick blender to purée about two-thirds of the soup in the pan, leaving the remainder chunky. Alternatively, transfer half the soup to a blender, purée and return. If you prefer a fully smooth soup, blitz everything.
Season with sea salt, black pepper and the lemon juice. Simmer for a further 2 minutes to let the flavours marry.
Ladle the soup into bowls, scatter over the chopped flatleaf parsley and serve hot.
Tips
- For deeper flavour, roast the butternut squash at 200°C fan/220°C conventional for 20–25 minutes until caramelised before adding — the soup will be richer and slightly sweeter.
- If you prefer a creamier finish without dairy, stir in 60–80 ml of coconut milk or a spoonful of tahini at the end.
- Store cooled soup in the fridge for up to 3 days or freeze in portions for up to 3 months; defrost overnight in the fridge before reheating gently on the hob.
- Don’t over-blend: blitzing some but not all of the soup preserves texture and prevents it becoming gloopy.
- If the soup is too thick after blending, thin with extra hot vegetable stock or water, 50 ml at a time, until you reach the desired consistency.
Substitutions
butternut squash → pumpkin, same quantity (400 g)
Stays closepotatoes → sweet potato, same weight (300 g)
Noticeably differentchestnut mushrooms → field mushrooms, same weight (150 g)
Stays closevegetable stock → hot water plus 1 vegetable stock cube, prepared to 1000 ml
Stays close
Nutrition
Per serving · estimated
- 280
- Calories
- 6 g
- Protein
- 47 g
- Carbs
- 8 g
- Fat
- 8 g
- Fibre
- 9 g
- Sugar
- 600 mg
- Sodium
FAQ
Can I make this soup ahead?
Yes — make up to two days ahead and reheat gently on the hob. Add a splash of stock or water when reheating if it has thickened.
Can I freeze the soup?
Absolutely. Cool completely, portion into freezer-safe containers and freeze for up to three months. Defrost overnight in the fridge before reheating.
How can I make the soup creamier without dairy?
Stir in 60–80 ml coconut milk, or 1–2 tablespoons of tahini, at the end of cooking for creaminess without dairy.
My soup tastes flat — what should I do?
Brighten it with a little more lemon juice, a pinch more salt, or a splash of good olive oil just before serving.
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