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This Mexican vegetable soup, or sopa de verduras, is packed with fresh veggies like zucchini, carrots, potatoes, and green beans. A quick and healthy dinner ready in 35 minutes.
A Note from Isabel
I grew up eating Mexican vegetable soup, aka sopa de verduras, all the time. My mom would make it for me and my brothers and sisters, and it was one of those soups that instantly warmed me up when it started getting chilly out. (Other soups she made us all the time? Caldo de res and lentejas. Just the best.)
It’s similar to a vegetable or minestrone-style soup but with a Mexican twist. The tomato-based broth is mixed with vegetable broth and Mexican spices, which gives it so much more flavor.
I make this one often because it’s really easy and such a great way to get a ton of veggies in one bowl. The best part is that it tastes like it’s been simmering on the stove all day, even though it comes together in about 35 minutes. It just doesn’t get any better than that.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Tomato base: What sets this soup apart from other traditional vegetable soups is the tomato-based mixture that flavors the broth. For this, I used Roma tomatoes, onion, garlic, vegetable bouillon, and a cup of water.
- Vegetable broth: To keep this soup vegetarian and vegan, I used vegetable broth, but you can swap it out for chicken or beef broth if you prefer.
- Vegetables: I used a mix of carrots, zucchini, russet potatoes, yellow bell pepper, and green beans, but you can substitute other vegetables you have on hand, like green or red bell peppers, asparagus, corn, or broccoli.
- Seasonings: A simple blend of salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, and a few sprigs of cilantro creates a delicious Mexican flavor profile.
How to Make Mexican Vegetable Soup
Make the tomato base. Blend together the tomatoes, garlic, clove, onion, vegetable bouillon, and water until completely smooth.
Saute the carrots in a large pot or Dutch oven in some olive oil over medium-high heat for 2 minutes to soften. This is important since this is the vegetable that takes the longest to cook.
Then pour in the blended tomato mixture and cook for about 3 minutes. This helps eliminate the raw onion and tomato flavor.
Add the vegetables and seasonings, including the zucchini, russet potato, bell pepper, green beans, vegetable broth, salt, cumin, black pepper, oregano, and cilantro sprigs.
Cook. Raise the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 15 minutes until the vegetables are fork-tender.
Serve. Once all the vegetables are cooked through, remove the cilantro sprigs. Serve immediately in bowls and garnish with lime juice and cotija or queso fresco.
Recipe Tips
- You can swap out most of the vegetables for whatever you have on hand, like asparagus, green or red bell pepper, corn, broccoli, or even kale.
- Keep this soup vegetarian and vegan by using vegetable broth and bouillon, or you can substitute chicken or beef broth and bouillon if you prefer.
- To add a little spice, blend in a serrano or jalapeño pepper when making the tomato mixture.
Serving Suggestions
I love serving this soup with some crumbled queso fresco or cotija cheese, a squeeze of fresh lime juice, and a sprinkle of extra cilantro.
Accompany it with some warm corn tortillas, flour tortillas, or crusty bread.
Mexican Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 2 Roma tomatoes, quartered
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ medium yellow onion
- 1 teaspoon vegetable bouillon
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 1 zucchini, diced
- 1 Russet potato, peeled and diced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
- ½ cup chopped green beans (fresh or frozen)
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- 3 sprigs cilantro
- For topping: Lime juice, cotija cheese or queso fresco, and chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Blend the tomatoes, garlic, onion, bouillon, and water in a large blender on high until completely smooth.
- Heat the olive oil in a medium pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and saute for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the blended tomato mixture and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the zucchini, potato, bell pepper, green beans, vegetable broth, salt, cumin, black pepper, oregano, and cilantro. Raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes until the vegetables are tender and cooked through.
- Remove and discard cilantro sprigs. Taste and season with more salt as needed.
- Serve immediately with some freshly squeezed lime juice and cotija cheese or queso fresco.
Notes
- Vegetables: You can swap out most of the vegetables for whatever you have on hand, like asparagus, green or red bell pepper, corn, or even broccoli. Also, make sure to cut the vegetables into fairly uniform, equal sizes to ensure they cook at the same rate.
- Broth: Keep this soup vegetarian and vegan by using vegetable broth and bouillon, or you can use chicken broth and bouillon if you prefer.
- Storage: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Reheating: Heat in the microwave in 1-minute increments until the soup is warmed. You can also reheat it on the stovetop in a pot over high heat until it’s warmed through.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Photography by Ashley McLaughlin.
This post was originally published in January 2024 and has been updated in December 2025 with more helpful recipe tips.
I made this soup for lunches, and it is a definite hit! So easy, healthy, and flavorful. I doubled the cumin, tripled the oregano, and added a habanero and crushed red pepper. The cotija was an added indulgence! Perfect!