Beet Soup
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Beet soup is what I make when a bunch of beets shows up from the garden, a produce box, or the market and I’ve already roasted enough of them and eaten enough beet salad. Mine gets roasted first, then blended into a smooth, bisque-style bowl with onion, garlic, and rosemary.
I roast the beets rather than boil them, which keeps their sweetness in the beet instead of in the cooking water. Rosemary is the part most beet soups skip, and it’s what keeps all that sweetness in the beets from landing as one flat note.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Blending the roasted beets into the broth makes it smooth and creamy without a drop of cream in the pot, so the soup stays light while still coating the spoon.
- The soup comes together in two simple moves: roast the beets, then build the pot around them. Like my Roasted Tomato Soup, roasting the vegetable first is what does most of the flavor work before the broth ever goes in.
- It freezes well, which makes it a steady make-ahead for the weeks when beets are everywhere, and you’re short on time.
- It’s naturally vegan if you skip the yogurt, so it suits a mixed table without a second pot on the stove.
Ingredients You’ll Need
You’ll need all the ingredients shown in the photograph below.
- Beets. You want about a pound, which is two or three medium beets. Look for firm ones with smooth skin, and if the leafy tops come attached, they cook up well another night.
- Vegetable broth. Four cups, and low-sodium is worth it here so you can season the soup yourself at the end. The broth is the whole savory backbone, since there’s no meat or stock doing that job.
- Rosemary. Two sprigs of fresh rosemary. It’s the one ingredient that turns this from sweet beet puree into something you want a second bowl of, so don’t leave it out.
- Olive oil and garlic. Two tablespoons of oil and three cloves. The garlic and onion soften in the oil first, which builds a base the broth sits on top of.
- Plain yogurt. Optional, for a swirl on top. It cools the sweetness and looks the part against the color, and you can leave it off or use a plant-based yogurt to keep the soup vegan.
How to Make Beet Soup
A complete printable recipe and the measurements in both US customary and metric are available in the recipe card below.
Roast the Beets
Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Wrap each raw beet in foil, set them on a baking tray, and roast for about an hour. Size decides the time more than the clock does, so go by feel: a small paring knife should slide into the center with no resistance.
It’s the same foil-roast approach I use for my Roasted Beetroot and Feta Salad, so the beets come out tender and easy to peel. Let the beets sit until they’re cool enough to handle, then the skins rub away with a paper towel or come off with a quick pass of the knife. Chop the peeled beets into rough chunks once cooled.
Make the Soup
While the beets cool, warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat and soften the onion, garlic, and rosemary, sautéeing for about five minutes. Add the beet chunks, pour in the broth, and simmer for ten minutes. Pull out the rosemary stems if they’ve dropped their needles, then blend with an immersion blender until the soup is completely smooth.
The method is the same roast-then-blend approach behind my Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, so if you’ve made that one, you already know the rhythm here. Season with salt and pepper, and thin with a splash more broth or water if it’s thicker than you want.
Recipe Notes and Expert Tips
- Wear gloves, or oil your hands. Beets stain skin and cutting boards. A thin coat of oil on the hand that holds the beet helps, and any color on your fingers washes off with hot, soapy water or a scrub of salt within a day.
- Peel while they’re still warm. The skins give up easiest just after roasting. If a stubborn one doesn’t want to slip, a paring knife takes it off in seconds, so don’t fight it with your thumbs.
- Adjust taste with a squeeze of acid at the end. Beets are sweet, and a little lemon juice or red wine vinegar stirred in right before serving keeps the bowl from tasting flat. Add it a little at a time and taste as you go.
- Blend longer than you think. A beet puree turns silky only once it’s fully broken down, so give the immersion blender an extra minute. For a glass-smooth bowl, you can pass it through a sieve, though that step isn’t necessary.
Recipe Variations
- Golden beets stand in at the same quantities and taste a little milder, with the bonus of not staining your hands. I haven’t tested this exact soup with them, so treat it as untested, but they roast and blend just the same.
- Swap in mushroom broth for the vegetable broth, and you’ll get a more savory result, with no change to the timing. It’s a well-supported move when you want a bigger base under the beets.
- Store-bought cooked beets turn this into a weeknight shortcut. Use the vacuum-packed kind that aren’t pickled, drain and chop them, and add them straight to the pot with the broth. You lose the roasting but save the hour, so I’d call it a supported shortcut rather than the tested original.
- For a fully plant-based bowl, leave the yogurt off or swirl in unsweetened plant yogurt. The soup itself has no dairy, so nothing else changes. It’s how I serve it when the table is mixed, and I’ve tested it that way plenty, the same as my dairy-free Carrot and Parsnip Soup.
How to Store Leftovers
Once the soup has stopped steaming, cover it and get it into the fridge. Don’t leave it sitting out to cool all the way down, and never for longer than two hours. It keeps for three to four days in an airtight container, and the color holds just as well on day three.
Beet soup freezes well for up to three months. Freeze it before any yogurt goes in, and leave a little headroom in the container because the liquid expands as it sets. Thaw it overnight in the fridge and warm it through gently, adding the yogurt swirl only once it’s in the bowl.
What to Serve With Beet Soup
Beet soup is light, so it wants something with chew beside it. A thick slice of crusty bread or a grilled cheese does the job, giving you something to dip and turning a starter into a meal.
If you’re serving it as a first course, keep the rest of the plate simple. A sharp green salad with a lemony dressing cuts against the soup’s sweetness without competing with it, and a swirl of yogurt with a few torn parsley leaves on top is all the garnish it needs.
FAQs
Yes, up to three months. Let it cool and keep the yogurt out until serving, and give the container a little room at the top, since the soup expands as it freezes. Reheat it gently on the stove once it has thawed.
You can. It holds up chilled, which is handy in warm weather, though most people serve it warm. If you serve it cold, thin it with a little broth first, since it sets up thicker in the fridge.
After. Roasting them whole with the skin on keeps the beets from drying out, and the skins slip off easily once they’re cool enough to handle. A paring knife takes care of any that cling.
That earthy, almost mineral note is natural to beets, and some palates notice it more than others. The reliable fix is acid: a little lemon or red wine vinegar stirred in at the end until the bowl tastes balanced rather than flat. A spoon of yogurt on top softens it too.
More Soups I Come Back To
If this one earns a spot in your rotation, here’s where I’d point you next.
- Creamy Coconut Lentil Soup. When I want that same creamy, spoon-coating bowl but something that eats more like a full meal, with the lentils doing the filling work.
- Minestrone Soup. On a night I want vegetables, beans, and pasta in one bowl, it’s the chunky counterpart to this smooth one.
- Quick Pea and Mint Soup. For a roast-free, blend-and-go bowl that gets on the table fast when I haven’t planned ahead.
- Creamy Tortellini Soup. What I make when I want something heartier and cheese-filled, the kind of pot that feeds a crowd without much fuss.
Ingredients
- 1 pound 2–3 medium fresh beets
- 1 medium onion diced
- 3 garlic cloves crushed
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- Salt and pepper to taste
- ½ cup plain yogurt for garnish (optional)
- Fresh parsley chopped, for garnish (optional)
Video
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Wrap each beet in foil and place on a baking tray. Roast for 1 hour, or until tender.1 pound 2–3 medium fresh beets
- In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, and rosemary; sauté for about 5 minutes, until softened.1 medium onion, 3 garlic cloves, 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Once beets are cool enough to handle, peel and chop them into chunks. Add to the pot with the sautéed vegetables.
- Pour in vegetable broth. Simmer for 10 minutes to let the flavors blend.4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, Salt and pepper
- Use an immersion blender to puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve warm, topped with yogurt and parsley if desired.½ cup plain yogurt, Fresh parsley
Notes
Nutrition
