Chinese Vegetable Soup
Posted: 02/18/21
Updated: 07/08/22
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Chinese vegetable soup is an incredible, light-yet-filling meal that’s full of flavor and nutrients. It’s naturally vegan and easy to make gluten-free. Ready to eat in less than 20 minutes!
What Makes This Soup So Good
- It’s full of hearty veggies, so it’s super filling, on top of being super tasty. It’s a light, brothy soup that doesn’t leave you feeling like you ate nothing.
- If you’re cutting out meat for a meal (or a month or a lifetime), this is a great option. Our Chinese vegetable soup is completely vegan, plus it’s a good source of protein for a meal, coming in at roughly 11 grams per serving.
- It comes together in no time at all. Perfect for any time you just need something quick and easy.
Key Ingredients
Bok Choy – This traditional Chinese leafy vegetable has a flavor sort of similar to cabbage, but also a little like celery and cucumber. If you’re not able to get bok choy, you can substitute Napa cabbage!
Vegetable Broth – Go for low sodium broth, since we’ll be adding our own salt to this soup! If you’re not vegan or vegetarian, you can use chicken broth or even beef broth if you want to.
Chef’s Tips
- For extra flavor, try adding a little rice vinegar. Just a splash!
- For the freshest bok choy, look for green heads with firm stems that fit close together. The leaves will separate from the others when they begin to wilt.
- Don’t overcook the bok choy. It only needs a few minutes, and you want it softened, not mushy!
- If you want your Chinese vegetable soup to have even more substance, you can prepare a package of rice noodles while your broth is on the stove, then divide the noodles between two bowls and ladle the soup onto them.
More Tasty Soup Recipes
- Keto Egg Drop Soup
- Smoked Turkey and White Bean Soup
- Vegan Potato Soup
- Healthy Zuppa Toscana (Whole30, Paleo, Dairy Free)
- Best Ever Tom Kha Gai Soup
- Irish Potato Soup
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Chinese Vegetable Soup
Chinese vegetable soup is an incredible, light-yet-filling meal that's full of flavor and nutrients. It's naturally vegan and easy to make gluten-free. Ready to eat in less than 20 minutes!
servings
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 head bok choy sliced
- 8 ounces mushrooms sliced
- 1 cup carrots shredded
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger minced
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons salt plus more as needed
- pepper to taste
- cilantro optional, for garnish
- scallions optional, for garnish
Equipment
- medium saucepan
Instructions
- In large pot, bring water and broth to boil.
- Reduce heat to low. Add bok choy, carrots, and mushrooms. Cook approximately 2 minutes.
- Add soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and sesame oil. Cook an additional 2-5 minutes, until bok choy softens.
- Stir in salt and pepper, to taste. Portion into bowls and garnish with cilantro and scallions. Serve warm.
Notes
- Make it Gluten Free: Double check that your broth doesn’t include any gluten-containing ingredients, like hydrolyzed wheat protein, and make sure to use a gluten-free soy sauce (or tamari).
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 141kcal | Protein: 11g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 0.3g | Trans Fat: 0g | Total Carbs: 24g | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 14g | Net Carbs: 17g | Vitamin C: 196mg | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 4596mg | Potassium: 1647mg | Calcium: 478mg | Iron: 4mg
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
I just looked at the sodium amount for one serving. It shows 4596. That seems really high since the maximum recommended is 2400 mg per day. It looks really good and healthy.
Our nutrition information is approximate and is based on the ingredients we used. To get more accurate nutrition information, we recommend calculating the nutrition breakdown yourself using your specific ingredients. Using low-sodium broth and soy sauce will reduce the amount of sodium in the dish, and you may find that you don’t need a full 2 teaspoons of added salt based on your ingredients and preferences.
Can you add noodles? What kind?
You could! Any noodle you prefer should work.
easy, quick and very tasty
So glad you enjoyed the soup, Marco! Thank you for leaving a review!
The soup was great, but I have a question. Where does the trans fat come from. A gram of trans fat is quite a bit.
Sorry about that, John! That was an error and I’m not sure where it came from, honestly. I just ran all the ingredients through our nutrition calculator again and checked each ingredient individually, and none of them have any trans fat listed. I’ve corrected the recipe card to reflect that!
Thank you. Once again – the soup is outstanding and part of my regular rotation. Sometimes I add a protein (like shrimp or chicken). Sometimes I also add miso paste. It makes a great basis for a host of Asian cuisine. :^)
Shrimp, chicken, and miso paste all sound like delicious additions, and a great way to mix things up from time to time! Thank you so much for your kind words, John. I’m so happy you love this soup!
This recipe was a winner for our lighter version of a fish based Asian Passover seder dinner. Everyone at the table thoroughly enjoyed the soup.
So glad to hear this! Thanks for sharing!
I just made this with tofu and cabbage instead of bok choy (it was all I had) and it was so yummy!!!! And so simple too.
So glad to hear it!
Where is the garlic
In your kitchen