This zucchini and cabbage soup is so flavourful and very tasty with its focus on green vegetables. It's a flavourful lunch, even in the summer months, as it's such a light soup. Also works well as a vegan appetizer before a main meal!
Green soups always feel so nourishing, being packed with all their green goodness! This zucchini soup (or courgette soup if you're in the UK!) combines our greens with coconut milk to make it super creamy, as well as a hint of spice and lots of herbs to really up the flavour.
If you love soups as much as I do, then perhaps you may also like to see some favourite recipes here on the site such as my asparagus broccoli soup, my creamy broccoli and zucchini soup and my broccoli cauliflower soup. All brimming with greens too!
And for another cabbage option, my chicken cabbage soup is so good for a winter lunch or light dinner!
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⭐ Why this recipe is so good
Feels so nourishing. It's bursting with greens, herbs and a touch of spice.
Versatile. Enjoy as an appetizer or a light lunch with breads or crackers.
Easy to make. A super simple soup that doesn't require too many steps, and all are easy to do!
🥬 Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
Some pointers on a few of them:
- Zucchini: the main ingredient of the soup. It has a light and fresh taste, and I think it makes this soup perfect for both summer and winter.
- Cabbage: for even more greens! Both savoy cabbage and asian cabbage work well in this soup. My low histamine readers may wish to note that savoy cabbage scores 1 on the SIGHI list, with a ? as a liberator. Green cabbage scores 0.
- Onion and garlic: use white onion if you are low histamine, and the garlic is optional.
- Turmeric: this gives a little hint of spice.
- Ginger: use fresh if you can, as it will give a better flavour in my opinion!
- Coconut milk: to balance out the spice, and to make it super creamy. You want the type in a can rather than pouring milk.
🥘 Varieties of cabbage
In terms of cabbage, there are lots of different varieties to choose from. I have used an asian cabbage from my local store, as well as savoy cabbage and both worked so well.
For zucchini I sometimes use a mix of regular green ones and yellow round ones, as those are the ones growing away in my garden. You could use a mix, or just one type - it will be delicious either way!
🔪 Step by step instructions
An easy to make vegan zucchini soup, it's just a few steps to make your tasty lunch:
Step 1
Heat the oil in the pan, and add the chopped onion, celery, turmeric, garlic and ginger. Cook for 4-5 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is cooked through (image 1). Add the chopped zucchini and cabbage and stir through. Cook for a further five minutes (image 2).
Step 2
Add the vegetable stock to the pot and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and pour in the coconut milk. Cook on a very low simmer for about 30 minutes (image 3).
Step 3
Take the soup off of the hob and blend with an immersion blender until smooth (image 4). If you prefer a thinner soup add some hot water or extra stock.
💭 Recipe tips and notes
- Dice the zucchini and shred the cabbage to small pieces. Don't worry about them being even in size as they will be blended.
- Adjust the amount of garlic to taste preference. Feel free to add another clove (or two!).
- If you don't have an immersion blender you can transfer batches to a food processor and blend that way.
⏲️ Equipment needed
Large pot - this soup makes 3-4 servings so you need a fairly large pot.
Immersion blender - to blend the soup.
📋 Freezing guidance
This cabbage and zucchini soup can easily be blended. Divide into portions and freeze in tupperware containers. You will likely need to add some extra water or stock when reheating.
🥣 More tasty soup recipes
There are so many tasty soups to discover here, including my popular quinoa vegetable soup, my celery soup and the fall favourite of butternut squash and apple soup. Some recent recipes:
I’m always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes. And please do leave a star rating ⭐⭐⭐ if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Zucchini and Cabbage Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 medium zucchini roughly cut into chunks
- 2 cups savoy cabbage lightly packed, shredded
- ½ celery stick diced
- ½ white onion diced
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 cm fresh ginger grated or finely choped
- 1 clove garlic finely chopped
- ½ can coconut milk
- 2.5 cups vegetable stock
- pinch salt
- parsley sprigs to garnish, optional
Instructions
- Heat the oil in the pan, and add the chopped onion, celery, turmeric, garlic and ginger. Cook for 4-5 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is cooked through.
- Add the chopped zucchini and cabbage and stir through. Cook for a further five minutes.
- Add the vegetable stock and bring the mixture to the boil. Reduce the heat and add the coconut milk. Cook on a very low simmer for about 30 minutes.
- Take the soup off the hob and blend with a immersion blender until smooth. If you prefer a thinner soup add some hot water.
- Add the garnishes if using, and serve immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
- I've used both savoy cabbage and asian cabbage in this recipe and both work well.
- Shred the cabbage into fairly small pieces to allow it to cook more easily.
- Adjust the amount of garlic to preference.
- If you don't have an immersion blender you can transfer batches to a food processor to blend.
- Please note that nutritional information is offered as a courtesy. It is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- garlic and ginger, which score 1.
- savoy cabbage, which scores 1 with a ? as a liberator. You can swap for green cabbage, which scores 0.
- vegetable stock is not rated on the SIGHI list. Making your own from low histamine vegetables and herbs is a good option if branded products don't work well for you.
Jill says
I cooked everything as directed, but instead of adding coconut mild, I waited until everything else was cooked, turned off the heat, and then added almond milk. This makes the soup much more low-calorie diet-friendly, while remaining delicious.
Claire says
So glad you enjoyed it Jill, and that the adaptation for your health needs worked so well! Thanks for taking the time to comment 🙂
Jenny says
This soup recipe was delicious. I added 1/2 tsp sage and a 1/2 tsp of thyme. I substituted celery seeds for the 1/2 celery stick. I served this as part of our Christmas meal with ham, sweet potato casserole, and a green salad. It was nice to have something green on the table. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Claire says
Hi Jenny, so lovely to hear that you enjoyed the soup as part of your Christmas meal! Sounds like you had a delicious spread of dishes! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment, much appreciated 🙂
zaib says
Lovely gentle flavour, really enjoyed it.
Claire says
So glad you enjoyed it! And thank for you for taking the time to leave a comment!
Jennifer Gaffiney says
I couldn’t see where to add the celery so did it with the onion and garlic. I used half a spring pointed cabbage, one large courgette and a pack of Tenderstem broccoli. I was able to use up the coconut milk left in the tin from a previous meal and saved the broccoli and cabbage from being wasted.
The soup tasted great and will definitely be making it again as a healthy and nutritious lunch.
Claire says
Hi Jennifer, so glad you like the soup! It's very nourishing with all the greens isn't it. Apologies, I've edited to include where to add the celery to the pot.
Vicky says
This was really yummy - I love a good cabbage soup. Even my husband liked it (I added Parmesan to his)
Claire says
Very happy to hear you both liked the soup Vicky!
Sarah Semer says
do you think that yellow squash would work too?
throughthefibrofog says
Hi Sarah, I haven't tried it myself but I think it sounds like it would be good!
Holly says
Hi,
How much coconut milk do you add?
Thanks!
throughthefibrofog says
Hi Holly, Sorry for not putting an amount - totally passed me by when I was writing the recipe obviously, whoops! I would use half a can of coconut milk for the soup. Hope you like it! Claire