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Vegetarian Chard Soup is a delicious, easy, healthy soup starring nutritional powerhouse Swiss chard. This is perfect for a weeknight, or how about Meatless Monday?
I had a Swiss chard plant that sprang up in my vegetable garden, unbidden but not unwelcome.
It must have been from an errant Bright Lights chard seed that I thought never would germinate, so I planted something on top of it and went about my gardening business.
Months later, up popped a gorgeous chard. What magnificent luck!
So when I heard Emma Kelly-Hasken on Twitter talking about her dad’s chard soup, I had to have the recipe. I didn’t know her, but I reached out anyway, and since we were both chard lovers, she obliged me with the recipe. It turned out to be yummy!
She says, “It’s super easy, healthy, and delicious. My dad made up the recipe after growing an abundance of chard a couple of years ago. :)”
I know what she meant about an abundance of chard! I got a new raised planter recently, and stuck a few baby rainbow chard plants in there, and look what I have now! Those leaves are as big as my head!
Healthy? I’ll say. Chard is a kind of powerhouse of nutrients. It’s one of those veggies that is said to be “nutrient dense,” which means it packs more nutrients in fewer calories, which makes it a good deal, foodwise.
I’m glad her dad had too much chard. I’m hoping to follow suit, by planting more!
How to make Vegetarian Chard Soup
Gather the chard, either from your garden, or the produce section at your grocery store. Wash it well, and pat dry.
Remove the stems from the leaves (fold leaf in half vertically with the stem on one edge, and slice it away). Then slice stems into small pieces, say 1/4-1/2 inch thick.
Slice the leaves in 1- to 2-inch pieces and set aside.
You’ll cook the soup for 15 or so minutes, and then add the chard leaves, so they stay bright green.
A relatively quick time in the soup pot makes this a great weeknight dinner.
The soup is brothy, but full of healthy ingredients. You can see tomatoes, potatoes, onions and beans here.
A delicious, easy, healthy soup starring nutritional powerhouse Swiss chard. This one is perfect for a weeknight, or how about Meatless Monday?
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (evoo)
- 6 large chard leaves, stalks separated (leaves should be cut in 1- to 3-inch pieces, stalks sliced to 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces)
- 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 32 ounces (4 cups) vegetable broth (or use chicken broth or stock)
- 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes in juice
- 1 (15-ounce) can cannellini (or any white) beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 large potato, diced small (I leave the skin on for more nutrition)
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Garnish: Parmesan cheese, grated (or use vegan cheese to keep this a vegan soup)
Directions
- Sauté onion in olive oil on medium heat, about 5-7 minutes, until onion begins to brown.
- Add chard stalks, stir and sauté until they are starting to get soft, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute.
- Add stock/broth, tomatoes, beans and potato, plus 1 cup water. Bring to a simmer, and simmer 10 minutes, uncovered. Add chard leaves and simmer another 5 minutes, uncovered.
- Add 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Portion into bowls, and once served, top with grated Parmesan cheese or vegan cheese if you prefer that.
- Serves 4.
Notes
Recipe source: Emma Kelly-Hasken.
Pin the image below for Vegetarian Chard Soup to your Pinterest board to save this recipe
I can’t get enough of how pretty a chard plant is, whether it’s in a vegetable garden like above…
…or a raised planter bed. See that little hole in one of the leaves? Who cares! It’s organic!
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This post was originally published October 24, 2011, and has been refreshed and republished today.
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At ShockD, you’ll find scrumptious, tried & true, "scary good" recipes, tips and coaching to make YOU a fabulous home cook! Don't blame me if you need a 12-step program to wean yourself away!
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So jealous of your garden! I need more space here!
Karen,
If you have a patio, try the raised planter bed like I have here. It’s a game-changer, especially for herbs.
I’ve grown Swiss shard as a decorative plant and ate it a couple of times. I want to try it again in this soup.
This is a lovely looking soup and I really like the idea of using chard in it!
Cant’ wait to try this recipe! I still have some chard in the garden that will be perfect for this! Looks tasty!
I love your photos in this post! Not to mention the recipe!
Thank you Kevin!
I love soup season for recipes just like this one! Adding this to my dinner line up for the week, indeed!
This Vegetarian Chard Soup couldn’t look any more perfect!
Love this tasty soup, so much flavor! I’m a chard lover myself
This looks very tasty and perfect for those cold evenings!
I loved this soup! I live in Chile and here chard is easy to get, so I will be making use of this recipe a lot 🙂
Thank you for coming back and telling me Brandee! So glad you loved it!
Can you freeze this soup?
Dford,
I did not try that because we ate it all in 2 days, but I would not hesitate to freeze it.
Substituted frozen baby limas for the white beans, and bite sized cauliflower florets for the potato, also added 2 small celery stalks sliced thinly. Used braggs vinegar as it is what I had in the house. DELISH soup!
Wendy,
Love hearing your substitutions! I always say, “Use what you have!” Thanks for the compliment. <3
Really nice soup, especially when you add a couple of drops of Tabasco to each bowl. Looks great as well. Thanks very much.
Josh,
Highly approve of the Tabasco! Have you ever tried the Tabasco Habanero? My husband is addicted. Thank you for coming back to let me know you liked it!
fabulous – used fire roasted tomatoes and added braggs at the end, less broth so it was more stew than soup. absolutely delicious!
Susan,
Sounds great! I often make more of a stew than a soup. I always say, suit yourself! Or is it “soup yourself?”
This soup is fantastic! Im hooked, great tip on adding the leaves towards the end of the soup. thank you!
Bobby,
So glad!
I got swiss chard in my CSA box this week, and it rained today. Perfect combination. This was a great recipe…thanks for sharing!
Carissa,
Fantastic! So glad you liked it!
It’s me with all the questions….Can this be made in a slow cooker or will it get too mushy? I’ve never cooked with swiss chard before.
Nena,
Good question! This soup cooks in a half hour or less, so is relatively fast. I personally wouldn’t bother with the slow cooker on this one, although if you try it, let me know how you like it. For me, the slow cooker does a better job on things that are meant to cook longer conventionally. For the fast stuff, just make it the usual way. You can buy a bag of Cut `n Clean Greens chard, which is already triple washed and chopped, which will eliminate one more prep step from this recipe, if you like.
This chard soup looks delicious. Do you use the entire part of chard?? I see you use the stems and the leaves separately. Tammy
Tammy,
Yes, you use the whole chard, stem AND leaf. The stems need just a BIT longer to cook, usually, so you will often see them thrown in the skillet or pot first, with the leaves coming later. But yes, the whole thing! Plus, the stems are gorgeous, aren’t they, especially with the rainbow chard!
So I wake up to rain and a soup recipe. It seems as if someone were trying to give me a hint. GREG
Greg/Sippitysup,
Take the hint! Make the soup!
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