Healthy Ratatouille Soup
Loaded with summer vegetables, this hearty and healthy ratatouille soup is low calorie and satisfying. It makes a great vegetarian meal with some warm fresh bread and cheese.
The chunky, nutritious, tasty soup is a take on a classic ratatouille. Healthy comfort food and a delicious taste of summer.
If you don’t have all the ingredients listed in the recipe, check out the variations we listed to better suit your tastes. Versatility is one of the great things about this easy ratatouille recipe for soup.
What is ratatouille?
Ratatouille is a classic French vegetable stew from Provence, France typically consisting of onions, zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, garlic and bell peppers. The word ratatouille means ‘seasoned stew’.
All the summer vegetables are available year round these days, but are best straight from the local farmer’s market in peak season if you have one nearby.
We are converting a traditional ratatouille recipe into a soup. I actually serve it as a main dish by including an extra add-in or by topping it with cheese toast as pictured. It’s sort of like a thinned-out chunky stew.
Tailor To Your Taste
Here are several variations and substitutions to make the soup your own.
- Vegetable variations
- Instead of canned tomatoes, substitute 3/4 -1 pound/340-450 grams of peeled fresh summer ripe tomatoes. Here’s the best way to peel tomatoes.
- Use mushrooms instead of eggplant.
- Substitute the fresh spinach with kale.
- Extra add-ins
- Try adding olives, capers or fennel seeds.
- Add cooked diced sausage for a non vegetarian option
- Add even more nutrition
- Add canned chickpeas (extra protein), a diced sweet potato or a 1/2 cup small high-fiber pasta before simmering the soup. These will thicken the soup a bit, so you may need to add more broth.
- Texture and flavor options
- Chunky or smooth: I like to leave the soup chunky, but you can also puree half the soup with an electric immersion blender and leave the other half chunky. Do this before adding the fresh baby spinach.
- To deepen flavors, you can roast the chopped vegetables in a hot oven (425F/218C) for 15-20 minutes until slightly caramelized or browned.
- For a mellower or creamier soup, top with or mix in a dollop of sour cream, yogurt or cream.
- Seasoning: Substitute the seasonings in the recipe with herbes to provence if you like. You can also use fresh herbs to replace the dried thyme and rosemary.
Shortcut
- To save chopping time, pulse the vegetables a few times in the food processor instead of dicing them.
Step by step
What to serve with ratatouille soup (or on top)
- For cheese toast, top sliced baguette with grated Parmesan, Gruyere or Emmental cheese and bake. Serve on the side or on top of the soup. Instructions are in the recipe notes.
- Top the soup with croutons.
- Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.
- Sprinkle with chopped fresh basil.
- Drizzle with a store-bought or homemade basil pesto.
- Or, just serve with simple warm crusty bread and butter. Yum.
Recipe FAQ
I suggest using the highest quality canned tomatoes you can find. San Marzano tomatoes are a perfect choice as they are sweet, have low acidity and are a deep beautiful red color. Fire roasted tomatoes are another good option.
Yes, it’s very low in calories and has excellent amounts of fiber, vitamin A, C and iron. The soup is also vegan and gluten-free without the toppings.
Looking for low calorie meals?
Try our 31 delicious meals under 400 calories.
Other vegetarian soups you might love to try
- vegetarian pea soup
- easy gazpacho recipe (chunky or smooth)
- vegetable barley soup
- curried lentil soup (instant pot)
- root vegetable soup with barley
- red lentil soup recipe with vegetables
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Healthy Ratatouille Soup
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon olive oil (not extra virgin)
- 1 medium onion
- 4 garlic cloves (4 teaspoons)
- 1 small eggplant or Japanese egglplant
- 1 zucchini
- 1 red bell pepper (orange, red or yellow)
- 1 can (28 ounce) crushed San Marzano tomatoes, Note 1 (or Fire Roasted tomatoes)
- 2 cups (473 ml) vegetable broth or chicken broth
- 1/4 cup (5 grams) fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped (or more to taste)
- 3 cups (90 grams) fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped (add after soup is cooked)
Seasonings, Note 2
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon rosemary or marjoram
- OPTIONAL: pinch of sugar, bay leaf, pinch of red pepper flakes – or to taste
Toppings/garnish (optional – Note 3)
Instructions
- PREPARE VEGETABLES: Cut onion, red bell pepper, eggplant and zucchini into 2 inch/5 cm. chunks. If using a food processor to speed up chopping, you might need to do two batches. First, process garlic. Then add half the vegetables and pulse several times until chopped into small pieces. (you may still be left with a few pieces that need to be cut further with a knife). Repeat with remaining vegetables. Alternatively, use a knife to mince garlic and dice vegetables.
- MAKE SOUP: Heat olive oil to medium-high heat in a large pot. Add chopped vegetables and garlic. Cook for 5-7 minutes stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes with juices, broth, basil and seasonings. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender soft. Stir in fresh spinach until wilted, about 30 seconds. Taste and adjust seasonings including optional pinch of sugar, a splash of cream and/or pinch of red pepper flakes. If soup is too thick, add additional water or broth to taste. Note 4 for variations.
- FINISH SOUP AND SERVE: Prepare side dish, topping or garnish for soup if you like, Note 3. Ladle soup into bowls. Add one of the optional toppings as desired or serve with hot fresh bread.
Notes
- To use fresh tomatoes instead of canned: substitute about 3/4 -1 pound of peeled fresh summer ripe tomatoes. Here’s the best way to peel tomatoes.
- Seasoning alterative: Use the salt and pepper as per the recipe as well as 2 teaspoons (or more to taste) of herbes de provence.
- Topping or side dish options:
- For cheese toast
- Heat oven or toaster oven to 425F/218C. Top sliced baguette with grated Parmesan, Gruyere or Emmental cheese . Place on foil-lined pan. Sprinkle with dried basil, pepper or thyme if desired. Bake for 3-5 minutes until cheese is bubbly and toasts are lightly browned.
- Top the soup with croutons.
- Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.
- Sprinkle with chopped fresh basil.
- Drizzle with a store-bought or homemade basil pesto.
- Or, just serve with simple warm crusty bread and butter.
- For cheese toast
- Variations
- Vegetable variations
- Use mushrooms instead of eggplant.
- Substitute the fresh spinach with kale.
- Extra add-ins
- Try adding olives, capers or fennel seeds.
- Add cooked diced sausage for a non vegetarian option
- Add even more nutrition
- Add canned chick peas, a diced sweet potato or a 1/2 cup small high-fiber pasta before simmering the soup. These will thicken the soup a bit, so you may need to add more broth.
- Texture and flavor options
- Chunky or smooth: I like to leave the soup chunky, but you can also puree half the soup with an electric immersion blender and leave half chunky. Do this before adding the fresh baby spinach.
- To deepen flavors, you can roast the chopped vegetables on a lined baking sheet in a hot oven (425F/218C) for 15-20 minutes until slightly caramelized or browned.
- For a mellower or creamier soup, top with or mix in a dollop of sour cream or yogurt or cream.
- Seasoning: Substitute herbes to provence for the seasonings in the recipe if you like. You can also use fresh herbs to replace the dried herbs. Use 1 1/2-2 teaspoons fresh thyme and 1 teaspoon rosemary – add at the end of cooking.
- Vegetable variations
- Make Ahead
- Store leftover soup (without garnishes) in an airtight container in the fridge for 5-7 days
- Freeze soup for up to 3 months. Defrost and heat in microwave or on stove top.
Nutrition
The recipe is adapted from the Food Network Kitchen in Feb 2018 and updated with new information and edited images.
I had the veggies in the fridge needing to be used, so I made about half+ this for my solo dinner and have leftovers to share. Added a little sliced carrot, used baby kale/spinach blend, some cooked white beans, and used garlic/herb blend and marjoram for the seasonings along with fresh basil at the end. Soooo good and nutritious – even on a hot summer night it was the bomb.
Love your description! So glad you liked it Cheryl.
This soup is delicious, hearty and filling, Thanks so much giving me this soup, especially welcomed in the February freeze. Judi
Pleasure. Does this mean you’ll continue to be a tester?