Vegetarian Soups

This huge category includes soups that either are vegetarian by their nature or do not suffer when made with water instead of stock. Many of them contain meat as optional ingredients, some contain dairy, but most can be made not only “vegetarian” but vegan with little trouble.

Having said that, I’ll also say that I believe that almost every soup is best when it begins with stock. This can be anything from vegetable stock or a stock made with mushroom broth, to full-fledged chicken stock. The body and extra flavor provided by this base will improve any soup. And, in fact, vegetarian soups made with water can be insipid if you’re not careful (soups containing meat, poultry, or fish rely less on stock because of their richer ingredients).