Looking to lose a few pesky pounds or get motivated for a big weight loss journey? THIS vegetable diet soup is your NEW BEST FRIEND! I'm telling you it has worked for me and it will for you. Our weight loss soup recipe is lean, so healthy, and rich in flavor. You will be craving it every day for your meals.
I really love this easy vegetable soup recipe and I think you will too! I actually make it frequently so I have easy lunch options on hand that take me only minutes to prepare. Since low-calorie vegetable soup stores great in the freezer, I can make a whole batch for my meal prep.
Also, I 100% recommend that you make a batch of homemade beef broth or this instant pot chicken bone broth for this weight loss soup instant pot instead of opting for storebought. It'll change. your. life.
If you have leftover broth, add this easy broth fondue to your menu for a fun, interactive dinner.
Why You'll Love Weight Loss Vegetable Soup
- Hearty and satisfying soup to lose weight.
- Easy to make
- Perfect to make ahead
- Ensures you have a healthy option for meals
- Lots of variation
- Make it in a pressure cooker, stovetop, or slow cooker
How Does Soup Help You Lose Weight?
- This soup for weight loss is low in calories and virtually carb-free. Quite a few vegetables and the broth are basically calorie-free and by including more of them you can create a hearty and satisfying soup that's low in calories.
- Our diet soup recipe skips cheese and dairy but is also full of flavor from spices like garlic and oregano.
- It will keep you full for hours and hours. Being full and satisfied will help you from snacking and craving other foods.
- You can eat an enormous bowl of this soup while consuming minimal calories.
What Vegetables Are Lowest in Calories?
When it comes to vegetables to use in making your own version of magic weight loss soup, here are the ones we find are the lowest in calories and work well in soups.
- cabbage
- celery
- carrots
- onion
- garlic
- tomatoes
- zucchini
- squash
- herbs and spices
- chopped greens
- green beans
Ingredients to Make A Healthy Soup for Weight Loss
- Ground beef: Choose the leanest package of ground beef. If eating on a budget, go ahead and use one with a higher percentage of fat and keep reading to find out how to remove some of the extra fat it contains. Sometimes I opt for a weight loss turkey soup and choose ground turkey instead.
- Aromatics: Garlic, onion, carrot, and celery are not only healthy additions to your diet soup, but they also contribute flavor.
- Zucchini and yellow squash: Super low-calorie veggies that bulk up the soup.
- Herbs and spices: We keep it simple with a touch of oregano but a wide variety of different herbs and spices work well. Try experimenting with Italian seasoning, thyme, marjoram, and bay leaves.
- Canned tomatoes: A super simple pantry staple that adds depth of flavor and a bit of acid to the soup.
- Beans: The beans are optional but they do bulk up the soup, making it heartier. Plus beans are packed with lots of fiber and other nutrients.
- Potato: Choose any white potato when making your batch of low-calorie vegetable soup.
- Cabbage: An inexpensive and low-calorie vegetable that's perfect for soups.
How to Make Cabbage Soup in the Instant Pot
Start out by browning your meat in a large stock pot. Add garlic and onion and let it sauté until the onions are translucent.
PRO TIP: While you can do this step in your pressure cooker on sauté mode, I prefer to get it done on my stovetop. It's a lot faster and I'm not overloading my instant pot.
While the meat is browning, start prepping your veggies. Wash and chop them into bite-size pieces. I love cutting my carrots long and thin and the squash into one-inch chunks. Cut your potatoes nice and small, so they go further. But of course, you can cut them as you prefer.
- Transfer the cooked meat to your instant pot.
- Add the carrots.
- The yellow squash.
- And zucchini.
- Add the sliced celery.
- Drain and rinse the beans before adding them to the pot.
- Add the canned tomatoes but make sure you don't drain them as the juice adds flavor and contributes to the broth.
- Add the diced potatoes.
- Add the homemade or storebought broth.
- Add the cabbage to the pot. You can really use as much or little as you like for this soup. Kadee adds the entire head of cabbage, I prefer about ¼-1/2 of a head of cabbage sliced thin.
- Pour in your spices and salt then stir everything together.
- Mix everything together and cover with the lid to cook on high pressure for four minutes.
- QUICK RELEASE! When your soup is done cooking in the pressure cooker make sure to quick release the soup, or you run the chance of your veggies overcooking.
If you prefer to make this low calorie vegetable soup on the stovetop or slow cooker, see the recipe card for additional instructions.
How Do I Serve Weight Loss Soup?
This soup is so rich in flavor that it does not need any additional creams or cheese. You can feel free to add some more salt and pepper, or top with fresh herbs like basil.
Here are some ideas for side dishes if you feel like you need a heartier meal.
- Avocado toast or toasted cheese bread
- Half a sandwich
- Chia pudding
- Fresh fruit or a healthy salad with fruit
- An easy salad
How Do You Store Diet Vegetable Soup?
- Refrigerator: Store in an airtight container in the fridge. It will last up to two weeks in the fridge.
- Freezer: You can freeze individual servings and they will last at least three months.
Meal Planning to Lose Weight
I always have a meal plan. This helps me keep from buying unnecessary foods and snack foods.
I plan a lunch for myself along with dinners for my family. My two most go-to meals for my lunches are this ground beef vegetable soup and this healthy chicken stew. Both are very low-calorie and delicious.
When I know I have a delicious lunch at home it also keeps me from eating unhealthy fast food while I'm out and about. It can also work as a quick meal for nights when I don't feel like cooking.
Expert Tips
- Best flavor: Make your vegetable diet soup with homemade broth.
- Vegetarian option: Skip the meat for a veggie-based version of this soup and add 1-2 additional cans of beans.
- Looking for a bone broth recipe for weight loss? Swap out the broth with a bone broth instead.
- Low-carb or keto vegetable soup: Skip the beans and potatoes for a low-carb version of low-calorie vegetable soup.
- Drain the ground meat well after cooking. If using a higher fat content ground meat you can quickly rinse with hot water to remove more of the fat.
FAQs
NO! if You want to keep this to a zero-calorie soup keep out the beans and potatoes. I like the beans for extra fiber and the potatoes for a little more filling food. You can sub the potato for sweet potato too for a little healthier option.
On its own bone broth doesn't necessarily help you lose weight. However, it is a nutrient-dense broth and when used in combination with the lean meat and veggies in this recipe, you can have a delicious bone broth soup for weight loss that's perfect for quick meals.
More Easy Soup Recipes
Soups are great since they generally cook in one pot and are easy to make in double batches so you have another meal later on. Here are some of our favorites:
Another favorite is Italian Wedding Soup. I love how hearty it is!
Make This Recipe?
If you tried this weight loss soup or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave us a comment below. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest to see what else we’re getting up to!
Weight Loss Soup
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground turkey or beef *can also use 2-3 chicken breasts
- 1 onion diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 carrot diced or sliced
- 2 celery stalks diced or sliced
- 1 zucchini diced into chunks
- 1 yellow squash diced into chunks
- 1 can beans your favorite, drained and rinsed
- ½ head cabbage about 1-2 cups
- 1 can diced tomatoes with liquid
- 1 small potato or sweet potato optional
- 32 ounces broth beef, chicken, or vegetable, about four cups
- 1 teaspoon oregano leaves
- 1 tablespoon chicken or beef bouillon
- sea salt and fresh ground pepper
Instructions
Stove Top Instructions
- In a stock pot start by adding your ground beef/turkey, diced onion and garlic. Saute until cooked.
- Prepare all of your vegetables by cutting them into bite sized pieces.
- Drain any excess grease from pot to prepare adding veggies.
- Add remaining veggies, including tomatoes beans and chicken broth, water and bullion.
- Add one teaspoon salt and oregano and bouillon.
- Bring soup to a boil then turn to low to simmer. Allow soup to cook until veggies are just fork tender. Remove from heat.
- Flavor with more salt and pepper.
Pressure Cooker
- In a stock pot start by adding your ground beef/turkey, diced onion and garlic. Saute until cooked. Drain the grease and add cooked ground beef to the pressure cooker.
- Add in chopped veggies, can of tomatoes, rinsed beans and broth. Cook on high pressure for 4 minutes and quick release.
Slow Cooker
- Cook the ground beef, onions and garlic in a skillet or pot on the stove first. When the meat is browned, drain it well and add it to the slow cooker along with the remaining ingredients.
- Cook on low for 4 hours or until all the vegetable are tender.
Video
Notes
- Best flavor: Make your weight loss soup with homemade broth.
- Vegetarian option: Skip the meat for a veggie-based version of this soup and add 1-2 additional cans of beans.
- Looking for a bone broth recipe for weight loss? Swap out the broth with a bone broth instead.
- Low-carb: Skip the beans and potatoes for a low-carb version of low-calorie vegetable soup.
- Drain the ground meat well after cooking. If using a higher fat content ground meat you can quickly rinse with hot water to remove more of the fat.
Nutrition
Jaime says
Making this now. It doesn’t say how much water to add but I’m assuming 3 cups because of the Tbsp of bullion? I added 2 for now. I’ll let you know how it turns out!
Kadee says
I don’t add additional water besides the broth. The bouillon is just to season up the soup.
Stacey says
The flavor in this soup is insane! I followed your suggestions of using the Better Than Bouillon (the roasted beef flavor) and Kettle and Fire beef bone broth. I also used smoked sausage instead of chicken and the results were delicious. I used all the veggies including the potatoes and that made it so filling. It's a great soup to make on a Sunday and eat as lunch all week long....wonderful recipe!
Kelly G says
Delicious! Wow! I can’t believe how flavorful the soup is! My hard to please, picky 3 year old gobbled up a whole bowl last night. I added double the amount of cabbage. I’ll definitely be making this again!
Katie says
We had this for dinner tonight and it was great! I used red lentils in place of the meat and used veggie broth. This is a soup we'll make many times this fall/winter season.
Carmen says
Just finished a bowl and it is delish!! Followed recipe as is with the exception of adding two red potatoes as potatoes are listed twice? and used ground turkey. Going to attempt your french bread recipe now to go along with it!
Carmen says
You have potatoes on the list twice.
Shari T says
This was really yummy!! I left out the potatoes and added sliced smoked turkey sausage kielbasa and used spinach instead of cabbage (I can’t eat it). It’s so colorful!! My family loved it!!
Jane says
Do you put grilled chicken in this? It looks like it from the picture, but it isn't in the recipe. Looks yummy
Desarae says
yes! sorry I did leave that ingredient off the list. I'll add it right now. Thank you for noticing!