Farro Vegetable Soup

A lot of you who follow me on Instagram followed my recent (amazing) trip to Italy! It was the trip of a lifetime. My sister and dad and I backpacked in the Dolomite mountains for 5 days. Here is a youtube video (from my own personal channel of family videos!) if you want to see a bit of our incredible, scenic journey.

Our very first day of hiking, we stopped at the first “refugio” or lodge that they have along the way. We stopped there for lunch only, not to sleep. The sweet Italian young woman waiting tables told us the soup of the day was “zuppa di farro.” It was a vegetable soup with some farro and croutons. I had a lot of vegetable soup on that trip, since it was a common option and one of the few vegan choices. It was delicious and made me think that I should make vegetable soup at least once or twice a week all fall and winter. It’s the perfect food! It’s hydrating, filling, uses really affordable ingredients, stores well for days, has vegetables, legumes, and grains.

I was worried my kids wouldn’t like it and my vegetable-soup-all-winter plan would be thwarted, but they actually really liked this soup the two times I’ve made it recently! It helps when they’re hungry for dinner and there is nothing else to eat but soup, haha. But really, when I leave the kale out they enjoy all the components (especially that chewy farro).

Notes about this Soup

For the tomato base, you can use a can of diced tomatoes and just blend them up real quick, or a few tablespoons of tomato paste, or a can of tomato sauce, or that half-jar of marinara sauce leftover in the fridge. You can also use broth instead of water, but I am liking using water and salt and pepper instead of broth more often, to save on broth and avoid the natural flavors in it.

Farro does contain gluten, so you can use wild rice instead if needed. You can also add 1/2 -1 cup of lentils for extra protein or instead of the beans or farro. They will cook in a similar amount of time as farro.

The nutritional yeast, splash of vinegar, and smoked paprika really add to the flavor of this soup!

I think it would freeze well, but haven’t tried it.

More Soup Recipes you MUST Try

A hearty vegetable soup makes the perfect dinner and then the perfect leftover lunch the next day. I’m making it a goal to make double batches of soup every week, and here are some the best recipes that we all love that I’ll be making more of as it cools down.

Zuppa Toscana (my all time favorite soup I think!)

Lentil Vegetable Soup (my go-to meal when I am out of fresh groceries)

Corn Chowder with Coconut Bacon 

Wild Rice Mushroom Soup

Instant Pot Lentil Barley Minestrone

Smoky Tomato Vegetable Soup

Pantry White Bean Salsa Verde Soup

Print

Farro Vegetable Soup

Prep Time

14 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

 

This delicious soup is inspired by soup I ate in Italy (but I think my version is even more flavorful!). It's simple, nutritious, and pretty much the perfect meal to eat all throughout fall and winter.

Servings: 8 servings

Author: Faithful Plateful

Ingredients

• 1 onion, diced
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 ribs celery, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 potatoes, chopped (mine weighed 1.6 lbs)
• 1 cup uncooked farro
• 6 cups water
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 TBSP italian seasoning
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 14-oz can tomato sauce (or 3 TBSP tomato paste)
• 1 14-oz can white beans or kidney beans
• 2 TBSP nutritional yeast
• 2 TBSP red wine vinegar (or lemon juice)
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 cups chopped kale or spinach
• chopped basil, hot sauce, or red pepper flakes for topping

Instructions

Stove Top

1. Saute onions, celery, and carrrots for about 5 minutes until fragrant. Add garlic and stir.

2. Stir in water, tomato sauce, potatoes, farro, spices, and salt. Let simmer 30 minutes, or until farro is tender.

3. Add kale or spinach (if using), and stir until wilted. Add nutritional yeast, vinegar, beans and peas. Add additional salt and pepper if desired, to taste.

4. You may enjoy adding fresh chopped basil, red pepper flakes, or hot sauce to your soup.

Instant Pot

1. Press the saute button and set for 5 minutes. Add onion, celery, and carrots and stir. Add garlic at the end.

2. Stir in water, tomato sauce, potatoes, farro, spices, and salt. Set to high pressure for 10 minutes. It will take about an additional 10 minutes to get to pressure, so don't get your hopes up that you can eat in 10 minutes quite yet. 😉

3. Once timer beeps, you can do a quick or natural release. Add kale or spinach (if using), nutritional yeast, vinegar, beans and peas. Add additional salt and pepper if desired, to taste.

4. You may enjoy adding fresh chopped basil, red pepper flakes, or hot sauce to your soup.