Potage aux Légumes is a French vegetable soup that has been blended until there are no visible chunks left. It can also be known as soupe passée or soupe moulinée. Similar to a creamed soup, except that there does not need to be any cream. My French Grandmother-in-law loved to serve a potage soup to her family. There is something so nurturing about it. Your tummy is not feeling well? Here, I made you a Potage. You are sad? Have some Potage. Paired with a crusty baguette and some cheese, it is the quintessential French meal.
Mireille Guiliano, author of the book, French Women Dont Get Fat (I highly recommend!) has a great Basic Vegetable Soup Recipe as well that was passed to her by her mother.
I first started to cook Potage aux Légumes years ago as a knee-jerk reaction to throwing out too many vegetables at the end of the week. I hated to see beautiful, fresh vegetables go to waste at the bottom of my fridge whenever I didn’t have the time or energy to cook as much as I had expected. Since then, making a French Vegetable Soup has become a ritual to me. I always make sure to have bouillon cubes on hand to make a potage soup whenever the mood, or the need, strikes!
Magical Leek Soup is a delicious and healthy soup made with leeks. Magical Leek Soup is not a new trend but a generations old weight management trick from French women. Leeks, of the onion family, are very good for you and also are a known diuretic.
What Kind of Vegetables Go into a Potage?Carrots.Parsnips.Potatoes.Sunchokes.Sweet potatoes.Rutabaga.Celery root.Beets (they would take the soup in a beautiful color direction!)
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Carrots.
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Parsnips.
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Potatoes.
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Sunchokes.
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Sweet potatoes.
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Rutabaga.
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Celery root.
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Beets (they would take the soup in a beautiful color direction!)
How to serve French Vegetable Soup
Serve as is or with a drizzle of olive oil over the top for a light meal.
Freshly baked baguette (my baguettes for beginners makes it easy to have Fresh baked baguettes at home) and cheese is the perfect accompaniment to a good Potage for a typical French déjeuner (lunch) or souper (dinner).
Potage aux Légumes also makes for a great first course for a family meal. (I love a first course that you can cook in advance! It takes the pressure off when entertaining)
Potage aux légumes can keep up to 5 days in the fridge or else freezes beautifully. I often make Potage aux Légumes as part of my Freezer Meal Batch Cooking.
To reheat the soup from frozen simply defrost in a soup pot (with a little bit of water in it) or in the microwave.
Baby Led Weaning Hack: I take a couple vegetables out of the soup before mixing to feed my baby (once they have cooled, of course!) as part of Baby led Weaning.
In French, a Potage is a thick soup cooked in a pot that is usually blended. The origin of the word is from Medieval France where many homes had a “Potager” or Potage Garden that was used to grow vegetables to cook in the pot. Soup, in English, covers all types of broths, chunky soups and blended soups.
You can add as many veggies as you would like to this soup! I often like to add cauliflower, broccoli or spinach. A turnip adds a nice bit of bite to the soup and yellow potatoes are great for adding sweetness and a rich orange color. I would advise against adding celery however as it doesnt blend well and you still end up with stringy fibers in your soup.
The beauty of a well made Potage is that it has a natural creaminess from the potatoes. You can, of course, add heavy cream to the soup for extra creaminess. I suggest pouring in a ¼ cup of cream halfway through blending the soup. I also like to decorate the bowl with a little drizzle of cream too. Bon appétit!
How to make French Vegetable Soup (Potage aux Légumes)
- First, Peel the potatoes and the carrots. Roughly chop all the vegetables into halves or quarters. The soup will be blended at the end so precision is not necessary.
- Drizzle olive oil in the bottom of a soup pot.
- Add the garlic to the hot oil. Let sear lightly.
- Add in all the veggies at once.
- Pour enough water to cover (or vegetable broth if you prefer, then just make sure you are not adding in a bouillon cube as well). This is KEY! Too much water and the soup is no good. I love a nice, thick soup. You want to barely cover all the vegetables. If needed you can add more water at the end.
- Heat to medium. Let simmer on medium heat for about a half hour until all the vegetables are cooked through. The potatoes should break apart with your spoon.
- Turn off the heat.
- Mix with a mixing wand until smooth. Adjust the seasoning if needed.If you don’t have a hand mixer, I recommend the investment. They are much easier to use than a food processor when making soup. I have used my kitchen aid immersion blender for over 8 years now for everything from guacamole to baby food to French potage.
Vegetable Potage Soup Recipe (Vegan!)
FAQ
What is the difference between a potage and soup?
What is potage?
What are the different types of potage?
What is the secret ingredient in soup?
What is French potage soup?
This French Potage is a blended vegetable soup that’s rich and savory and completely satisfying. This easy vegetable soup is made with the most humble of ingredients yet has the most incredible depth of flavor, and it comes together in just about 30 minutes.
Does homemade tomato soup include a lot of potassium?
The average cup of tomatoes contains roughly 544 mg of potassium, while the average adult requires 4700 mg of potassium daily. While tomatoes are a good source of potassium, the processing method may affect the amount that it contains. Heat at certain levels can reduce the amount of potassium within the tomatoes. A cold tomato soup would have higher levels of potassium than a hot tomato soup would have, though both have a sufficient amount for a meal.
What are the ingredients in a soup?
The most common ingredients are a base of leeks, carrots, and potatoes to which celery, zucchini, turnips and tomatoes are added along with fresh herbs and garlic. Please don’t underestimate the potential for the amazing depth of flavor this soup possesses by the relative simplicity of its ingredients.
What is a vegetable potage?
Often referred to as a vegetable potage or by the number of vegetables it contains such as a 7 vegetable soup (soupe aux 7 legumes), it’s a thick and velvety soup that’s cozy and comforting and a staple during the colder months.