If you’ve got a bag of beets and aren’t sure what to make with them, this hearty roasted beet soup is a very good answer.
Roasting the beets first brings out their natural sweetness and gives this simple vegetable soup a deeper, richer flavor. They’re combined with potatoes, carrots, parsley root, red beans, fresh dill, and marjoram, with a splash of apple cider vinegar to balance everything out.
The result is a colorful, comforting vegetarian soup that’s substantial enough for dinner—and somehow tastes even better the next day.
Why You’ll Love This Soup
- A delicious way to use fresh beets
- Hearty enough to serve as a meal
- Packed with vegetables and beans
- Perfect for fall and winter
- Naturally vegetarian
- Great for making ahead
- Even better the next day
Why Roast the Beets First?
You could cook beets directly in soup, but roasting them first changes their flavor.
The oven concentrates their natural sweetness and gives them a richer, more intense beet flavor. Adding them toward the end of cooking also means the rest of the vegetables can cook normally without having to wait for raw beets to become tender.
It’s an extra step, but most of that hour is completely hands-off.
You can also roast the beets ahead of time and keep them in the refrigerator until you’re ready to make the soup.
Why Add Apple Cider Vinegar?
Beets are naturally sweet, especially after roasting, so this soup needs some acidity to balance them.
Apple cider vinegar does exactly that.
Start with the two tablespoons in the recipe, then taste the finished soup. If you like your beet soup slightly more tangy, add another small splash.
Don’t Skip the Dill
Fresh dill makes a huge difference here.
The earthy roasted beets and hearty potatoes need something fresh, and dill gives the finished soup a much brighter flavor.
I like stirring a generous amount into the pot at the very end and then adding even more to each bowl.
Why This Soup Is Better the Next Day
This is one of those recipes that’s worth making ahead.
After a night in the refrigerator, the flavors of the roasted beets, marjoram, garlic, vegetables, and vinegar have more time to come together.
So if you’re meal prepping, make the entire pot one day and plan to eat it the next.
It also makes an excellent leftover lunch.
Make It a Complete Meal
Unlike a light vegetable soup, this one is quite substantial.
Potatoes provide plenty of comfort, while kidney beans make the soup more filling. Add sour cream and a slice of good bread and it can easily stand on its own as dinner.
Try serving it with:
- Sourdough or rye bread
- Garlic toast
- A spoonful of sour cream or Greek yogurt
- Extra fresh dill
- Crumbled feta
- A simple sandwich on the side
What to Do With Beets Besides Salad
Beets often end up in salads or roasted as a side dish, but they’re much more versatile than that.
If you have extra beets, you can also use them in Roasted Beets with Feta and Walnuts and keep them in the fridge for sandwiches, wraps, and bowls.
They also work beautifully in grain bowls—like the Colorful Millet Bowl with Herb Vinaigrette—so roasting several beets at once can give you ingredients for multiple meals.
More Cozy Vegetarian Meal Ideas
If you’re looking for simple, filling vegetarian dinners, try:
- Veggie-Packed Lentil Spaghetti Bolognese
- Bolognese Stuffed Baked Potatoes
- Easy Chickpea Curry
- Bean & Lentil Chili
- Creamy Cabbage with White Beans and Feta
Make a Big Pot Now, Eat It Tomorrow
This isn’t necessarily the soup I’d make when I need dinner in 20 minutes.
It’s the soup I’d make when I want a big pot of something comforting waiting in the fridge.
Roast the beets, simmer everything together, and let the soup rest overnight if you can. The next day, all you need to do is warm it up, add sour cream and fresh dill, and dinner is ready.
And it might taste even better than it did the first time.
Want to Make Meals Like This Easier to Plan?
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F.
- Wash the beets thoroughly but don’t peel them.
- Wrap each beet individually in aluminum foil and place them on a baking sheet.
- Roast for approximately 1 hour, or until they’re tender when pierced with a knife. The exact cooking time will depend on the size of your beets.
- Remove from the oven and allow them to cool until they’re comfortable to handle.
- Unwrap, peel, and grate the roasted beets using the coarse side of a box grater. Set aside.
- Peel the carrots and parsley roots and grate them using the coarse side of a box grater.
- Finely dice the onion and chop the garlic.
- Peel the potatoes and cut them into bite-sized cubes.
- Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat.
- Add the onion and cook for about 2 minutes, until it begins to soften.
- Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add the grated carrots, parsley roots, and marjoram.
- Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Pour in 2 liters (about 8 1/2 cups) of water and add 2 teaspoons salt.
- Cover the pot and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften.
- Add the diced potatoes to the pot.
- Continue simmering for another 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are almost tender.
- Stir in the grated roasted beets and apple cider vinegar.
- Simmer for another 10 minutes.
- Because the beets are already cooked, they don’t need a long cooking time here—we’re simply allowing their flavor to combine with the rest of the soup.
- Drain and rinse the kidney beans and add them to the soup.
- Cook for another 5 minutes, just until the beans are heated through.
- Taste and add more salt if needed.
- Finally, stir in plenty of chopped fresh dill.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with a spoonful of sour cream and extra fresh dill.
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