Vegetable Stew – an easy use what you have recipe

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Homemade vegetable stew can be made with pretty much any vegetables you happen to have on hand. I use a combination of fresh seasonal vegetables, home canned vegetables and dehydrated vegetables to make this use-what-you-have vegetable stew.

While I do have a real vegetable stew recipe that I share below in the recipe card, I rarely use the exact vegetables and quantities that it calls for. Not because they aren’t good…it’s a fantastic recipe…but because I’m a big fan of using what I have on hand when I cook and not buying produce out of season.

That means, I won’t buy summer squash during the winter, instead I’ll use the dehydrated squash from our summer preserving.

This time I used quite a bit of our dehydrated squash from our summer garden, canned tomatoes and a can of corn. I left out the celery. (Several members of my family don’t care for celery but I think it’s great in this soup.)

There have been times I’ve added cabbage. When we have some congestion we often add just a dash of cayenne pepper to help with congestion.

I think the key to this soup is in the spices, so be sure to use them as written – even the mustard.

This soup is super versatile and can be made on the stovetop, in a crock pot, or instapot. Make extra because it’s even better as leftovers.

Yield: 8 servings

Homemade Vegetable Soup

This is a super simple and quick vegetable soup recipe. Don't worry too much about following the ingredient list exactly - just use what you have, it will turn out great.

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

  • 1 onion (diced)
  • 1 garlic (diced)
  • 1 potato (cut into chunks)
  • 1 carrot (cut)
  • 1 stalk celery (cut)
  • 1 zucchini (cut)
  • ½ cup broccoli (cut)
  • 1 leek (cut)
  • 2 cans tomato sauce
  • 1 tbsp parsley flakes
  • ½ tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp basil
  • ½ tsp chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp mustard
  • 1/2 tsp cumin1/
  • 1/8 tsp black pepper

Instructions

Cook first 5 ingredients in small amount of water for 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and cook over low heat until tender, approx. 35 min.

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Did you make this recipe?

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This is a super easy and versatile vegetable stew recipe, just use whatever you have on hand. The secret is in the seasonings and the stock.

Thanks for sharing with your friends!

3 thoughts on “Vegetable Stew – an easy use what you have recipe”

  1. I enjoy throwing together soup now and then. They turn out pretty tasty. Veggie soup is so easy. I like to throw together a simple tomato soup when I want a hot soup quickly.

    Reply
  2. I love a cup of tomato soup. We usually make grilled cheese sandwichs to eat with the soup.

    I love veggie stew. My friends have always called mine stew. I also add ground beef sometimes.

    Reply

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