Homemade Vegetable Soup with V8 Juice

Who knew the secret to fast and flavorful vegetable soup was a bottle of V8?! This V8 Vegetable Soup is the quickest and easiest homemade soup you will ever make! Just 2 ingredients + a couple seasonings and 10 minutes to make perfectly comforting homemade veggie soup with a rich tomato broth. You don’t even need to chop anything! This trick takes the effort out of making soup, without taking out any of the flavor.

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We love making this homemade vegetable soup with V8 juice. It’s so fast, ridiculously easy, and tastes absolutely amazing. Seriously. Even B, who was a major skeptic at first, now asks for this soup on a regular basis! 

The whole thing only requires a handful of ingredients and takes less than 10 minutes to make. There’s no cutting or chopping and barely any measuring, but it tastes like it’s been simmering all day. 

V8 tomato juice is the key secret to creating the most flavorful vegetable broth. It works so much better than just straight tomatoes or tomato juice. 

With its signature blend of delicious vegetables like carrots, celery, beets, watercress, and more, they’ve done the extra work for you by adding tons of flavor. Oh, and because you’re not chopping and pureeing dozens of tomatoes, cleanup is a breeze!

Why You’ll Love This Simple Vegetable Soup Recipe

• Budget-friendly – Just a few inexpensive ingredients that are easily found. Use fresh, canned, or frozen veggies.
• Easy. So easy – Combine the two ingredients with some spices and heat. Perfect for any busy weeknight.
• Familiar favorite – A beloved family-pleasing soup with a lot of flavor that works great as a starter or full meal.

V8 Soup Ingredients

You only need a few simple ingredients for this delicious and hearty soup.

• V8 Tomato juice – Or use a similar tomato-based vegetable juice blend.
• Mixed Vegetables – We used canned veg in this recipe, but you can also use frozen vegetables.
• Vegan chicken bouillon – This is optional, but if you do use it, we highly recommend our homemade bouillon powder.
• Italian seasoning – Or use a combination of dried basil and/or oregano
• Black pepper

Substitutions & Alterations

• Add a little heat to your broth with a few drops of hot sauce or use the V8 Spicy blend 
• You can use frozen vegetable mix instead of canned. You just want to let the soup simmer a little longer to heat the vegetables through.
• Use up to 4 cups of your favorite variety of veggies. Note that we use pre-cooked canned or frozen, so if you’re cooking the vegetables from fresh in the soup, the recipe will need to be adjusted, and you may need to add extra water.
• Add extra fresh herbs like thyme or bay leaves to create an even more flavorful broth
• Add a can of chickpeas or white beans with the vegetables for an extra boost of plant protein
• Cook some small form pasta like ditalini, elbow macaroni, or orzo and add to the soup as it simmers or when serving.

Vegan Vegetable Beef Soup Made With V8 Juice

For a vegan ground beef vegetable soup with V8, omit the bouillon and add a 1/4 – 1/2  teaspoon of Gravy Master or similar browning sauce to the V8 when you pour it into the pot to create a tomato beef broth flavor.

Then, cook up some of your favorite vegan beef crumble or our TVP Vegan Ground Beef and add it to the soup when ready to serve. 

How to Make Easy V8 Vegetable Soup

Step 1: Drain any excess water from canned vegetables.

Step 2: Add all ingredients to a large soup pot and stir. Cover, turn the heat to high, and bring to a boil. 

Step 3: Once the soup reaches a boil, remove the lid and turn the heat to low. Let the soup simmer for 5-7 minutes.

See the photo below to get a sense of how much it thickens up when it cooks.

Slow Cooker Directions

This recipe is also perfect for the slow cooker. Just add all the ingredients to your crockpot, stir, and set on high for 2-3 hours or low for 4-5 hours then lower to warm.

That timing gives the soup a chance to warm gently, taste fully cooked (not just hot), and still keep the veggies from turning to mush.

Campfire Version

This vegetable soup makes a great option for a campfire soup recipe. Simply mix all ingredients in a large airtight container or heat-sealed bag and transfer to your campfire pot when ready to heat and eat.

Tips & Tricks

• Decrease the salt amount in the recipe by using low sodium V-8 juice and decreasing the bouillon to 1/2 – 3/4 tablespoon or omit it entirely. We highly recommend making our homemade bouillon for this recipe, which is lower salt than commercial brands.
• You can achieve a thicker broth by simmering at a low boil for longer to evaporate excess water, or stir in a tablespoon or two of tomato paste to thicken.
• Top the soup with a little grated vegan parmesan cheese when serving.
• Make a double batch, especially if you’ve got a lot of hungry kids
• For more tips on how to zhuzh up this simple soup, check out our informative post on How to Season Vegetable Soups.

What to Serve with V8 Soup

This hearty vegetable soup makes an easy meal on its own or paired with any of the following.

Salads

Serve this simple soup with a simple wedge salad and some Homemade Italian Dressing or with our Olive Garden House Salad or Easy Vegan Caesar Salad.

Breads

Easy Bread – A really delicious and Simple Homemade Bread Recipe ready in under an hour!

Dinner Rolls – These vegan Homemade Dinner Rolls are a great accompaniment to this soup.

Garlic Bread – You can use baguettes or just spread some of our delicious Vegan Garlic Butter on some hot dog or hamburger buns!

Parmesan Breadsticks – Made with our Homemade Pizza Dough, these Cheesy Vegan Breadsticks go so well with this soup.

Sandwiches

We love this simple veg soup with a vegan grilled cheese like our Vegan Feta and Spinach Grilled Cheese sandwiches as part of a classic combo. 

It also goes great with our  Vegan Tuna Salad or Veggie Sandwich.

How to Store Leftover Vegetable Soup

Allow any leftover soup to cool completely before covering for storage. Store in an airtight container, large mason jar, or freezer bag and place in the refrigerator. Consume within 3-4 days.

How to Reheat Leftover Soup

Stovetop – Reheat over medium or medium-high heat for about 7-10 minutes or until hot.

Microwave – Reheat in a microwave safe bowl on high for 2 minutes. Stir and heat for another minute or until heated to your liking.

FAQs

More Vegetable Soup Recipes

• Copycat Campbell’s Vegetable Soup
• Vegetable Barley Soup
• Creamy Vegetable Soup
• Copycat Olive Garden Minestrone
• To find all our great veggie soups in one place, check out our Vegetable Soup Recipe Roundup

Looking for even more quick & easy plant-based meals? Check out our full collection of quick vegan dinner recipes with 10-15-20-and-30-minute options!

We hope you try this ridiculously simple and delicious soup, and we’d love to hear what you think about it! 

Other than the great taste, what was your favorite part? No chopping? Barely any cleanup? Simple ingredients? Leave a star rating and let us know in the comment section below!