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Vegan Beet Soup Recipe

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This Vegan Beet Soup recipe highlights fresh garlic and tarragon. It’s a beautiful culinary combination according to the Vegetarian Flavor Bible, and it’s proven to be true in this delicious soup.

Bright red Garlic-Tarragon Beet Soup in a white and blue rimmed bowl with fresh beet greens around it. Just like you can turn the volume up or down when you’re listening to a song on the radio, you can also do so with recipes.

Yes, I’m talking about quiet and loud.

Want to quiet down a recipe? Use tofu. Make it louder? Bring on the wasabi.

Get it?

Front cover of the Vegetarian Flavor Bible GiveawayThis is just one of the ways that the renowned Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg use to match flavors in their newest book, The Vegetarian Flavor Bible.

Vegetarian Flavor Bible

This is not a recipe book, rather it’s a book that profiles hundreds of foods from açaí to zucchini.

Inside pages of the Vegetarian Flavor Bible.Each ingredient is profiled with its flavor description, season, botanical relatives, and possible cooking techniques. It also includes substitutions, pairings, nutritional information, and serving suggestions.

It does all of this in a super organized fashion that easy to follow.

Valentina with the authors of the Vegetarian Flavor Bible.I’ve been reading books by the James Beard Award winning Karen and Andrew since 1996. Upon graduating Culinary school, I was given Culinary Artistry and Becoming a Chef.

I was happy to be invited to this book signing at Melissa’s Produce to meet Karen and Andrew. Their presentation was incredibly delightful and educational. It’s also what led to the creation of this Vegan Beet Soup.

(You can read all about their fascinating journey to vegetarianism in the introduction in the book.)

Scenes from book signing for the Vegetarian Flavor Bible - the authors, cauliflower and dessesrts with oranges.

Andrew Dornenburg, Karen Page and Robert Schueller of Melissa’s Produce

As always, Melissa’s did a superb job presenting their beautiful produce.

Veganism in the Name of Gastronomy

During the presentation, Karen and Andrew told us about the best butternut squash soup they’d ever had. Why was it so amazing? Two main reasons:

  • Butternut squash stock was used instead of a typical vegetable stock that includes more than one vegetable. The butternut squash stock intensifies the squash flavor.
  • The omission of cream, which while delicious, takes away from the flavor of the squash.

And this was not about trying to make a vegan soup — as Karen put it, it was “veganism in the name of gastronomy!”

Collage of 3 images of fresh beets with bright green leaves.*Click here for How to Cook Beets*

Inspiration for Vegan Beet Soup

So what did I do?

I thought about one of my favorite vegetables, and certainly one of the most gorgeous — beets.

Inside page about beets of the Vegetarian Flavor Bible.I used the butternut squash soup they talked about as a guideline, using beet stock and no cream.

Then I looked under beets in The Vegetarian Flavor Bible for additional tips.

One of the many “flavor affinities” they listed was beets + garlic + olive oil + tarragon. And off I went.

Vegan Beet Soup in a blue and white rimmed bowl.If you love to cook (or even just eat!), vegetarian, vegan, or not, I think you’ll love The Vegetarian Flavor Bible.

Enjoy every last spoonful of this beautiful Vegan Beet Soup!

5 from 6 votes
The Best Beet Soup-blue-bowl-micro greens
Print
Vegan Beet Soup Recipe
Prep Time
25 mins
Cook Time
1 hr 45 mins
Total Time
2 hrs 10 mins
 

This Vegan Beet Soup recipe highlights fresh garlic and tarragon. It's a beautiful culinary combination according to the Vegetarian Flavor Bible, and it's proven to be true in this delicious soup.

Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Keyword: recipes using tarragon, soup with beets, vegan soups
Servings: 6
Calories: 144 kcal
Author: Valentina K. Wein
Ingredients
  • 2 pounds fresh beets with their greens intact (about 4 large beets)
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 cup yellow onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon dried tarragon
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
  1. Remove the greens from 3 of the beets, wash them thoroughly and tear them in half. Add them to a large stock pot and pour enough water over them to cover, about 3 quarts.
    The Best Beet Soup-beet greens-water-pot
  2. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Simmer the stock for 45 minutes. Strain into a couple of large pitchers or bowls and set aside. (It will be a yellow/green/brown color -- not pink like the beets.)

  3. Slice off the root and tip ends of the beets, peel them, and roughly chop them into into bite-sized pieces. Set aside. (The pink stain will go away within an hour or so, but if you don't want your hands to stain, wear kitchen gloves.)

  4. In the same stock pot, over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the onions and garlic. Let this cook, stirring a bit, until the onions are soft, 5 to 10 minutes.
  5. Add the tarragon and stir. Once it's very aromatic, after about 30 seconds, add the chopped beets and cook, stirring a bit, for about 5 minutes.
  6. Pour in 6 cups of the beet stock. (Save the rest for another soup!) Bring it to a boil, cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the beets are very tender, about 45 minutes.
  7. In two batches, pour the mixture into a very powerful blender and purée until it's as smooth as possible.
  8. Pour the puréed soup back into the pot and season generously to taste with salt and pepper, and gently stir in the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. (Here's How to Season to Taste.)

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Comments

  1. Kelly @ TastingPage says

    I LOVE the Flavor Bible and am so excited to see that there’s now a Vegetarian Flavor Bible as I seem to be eating less and less meat. Love the flavor combo you came up with using the beets. I also love black beans with fresh cilantro and chipotle. Yum!

    Reply

    • valentina says

      Kelly, I think you’d love this book. Especially if you already love the Flavor Bible. Love the beans + cilantro & chipotle. Yum is right!

      Reply

  2. Diana Pierson says

    Would love to win this cookbook and share it with my sister, who would also love it. Thanks for the invite.

    Reply

  4. Alison H. says

    I love the beet flavor combo with the tarragon, but I also think I would love the beet, fennel, dill, risotto combo!

    Reply

  7. Cris Peterson says

    Cannot wait to make this soup. Of course, I will be using cracked black Kampot pepper! We’ve been eating a lot of root veggies lately and need more recipes! Color…yay!

    Reply

  8. Deb|EastofEdenCooking says

    My favorite flavor combination is new to me. After making a recipe from the AOC cookbook I have taken to adding a a touch of cinnamon and nutmeg to all things with tomato sauce. I never knew savory could be made better with these spices! I have had the Vegetarian Flavor Bible on my cookbook wish list and would love to enhance my use of spices!

    Reply

  9. Sarah says

    Chocolate + ginger or chocolate + hazelnut! I’ve been vegetarian for 10+ years, would LOVE to add this to my collection 🙂

    Reply

  10. Annette says

    I’m not very good with flavor combinations, which is why I need this book. But I do enjoy ginger with orange – I could add that to so many dishes.

    Reply

    • valentina says

      Love this combination, Stephanie! (Congratulations — I hope you love the book as much as I do!) 😀

      Reply

    • valentina says

      Me too, Greg. I’m loving this book — it’s introduced me to some many combinations I’ve never thought of.

      Reply

  20. Marji says

    Love a ginger and garlic combination.

    I really like the layout of the book! We’re trying to incorporate more veggies into the diet. I will def seek this out.

    Reply

  24. Jayme says

    Valentina! Just entered! This book looks amazing! I just bought another vegetarian cookbook and this would be a fantastic compliment! I hope I win!! Thanks for sharing. 🙂

    Reply

  25. Debby says

    I am actually not very good at flavor combos…. yet. I am a work in progress. I love garlic and put it with almost any other flavors that I am cooking with. I am hoping to just keep cooking and get better with more combos.

    Reply

  32. Michelle says

    That book sounds amazing, we turned vegetarian a few months ago so this would be very handy to have. That beet soup looks so good too x

    Reply

    • valentina says

      It is a great book. I love looking up flavor combinations I might not have thought of. Thanks for the visit! 🙂

      Reply

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