Vegan Healing Soup for Cold and Flu Season
A bowl of this vegan healing soup makes the perfect comfort food for colds and flu. It’s full of wholesome ingredients to warm you up during wintertime.
Winter is often the season for colds and flu and this vegan healing soup can help get you through it. While experiencing my first true winter weather in Japan, I’ve sipped on many bowls of this delicious soup to help fight the flu.
It’s gluten-free, oil-free and chock-full of healthy vegetables and immune-boosting ingredients to keep you nourished.
The light vegan broth is great for soothing a sore throat and is easy to digest if you have a stomach bug. This is a quick and fuss-free kind of soup that you can make on the stovetop, in a slow cooker or Instant Pot.
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Wholesome Soup Ingredients Explained
Kombu
Kombu contains a lot of Vitamin C and Zinc. Both are known to help fight flu symptoms and boost your immune system.
Kombu is an edible seaweed often used in Japanese cuisine that contains natural compounds (indicated by a white coating) that makes soup flavorful.
This flavor is described as umami by the Japanese. Avoid rinsing kombu before using the vegetable soup as this could wash away the flavor compounds.
Kombu was also used in my Vegan Kitsune Soba Noodle Soup recipe. For more details on this vegan broth check out How to Make Kombu Dashi.
Shiitake and oyster mushrooms
Mushrooms contain nutrients that help to improve your immune system and lower any inflammation. Not only that, mushrooms also give the soup that extra boost of flavor or umami.
The texture of oyster mushrooms is rich and “meaty” making this simple vegetable soup a lot more satisfying. Needless to say, mushrooms are definitely worth adding to your soup.
Pumpkin
Pumpkin also contains Vitamin C and Zinc. So add a little pumpkin in your soup to make it more nourishing.
Onion
Onions have been used for healing colds and flu for a long time. Some people, rather than eating onions, believe that placing them at the bottom of your feet can make you feel better.
Not sure how true that is and since we’d rather not walk around smelling like onions, let’s put them in this soup instead.
It is true that onion is full of nutrients that help to boost our immune system. So a little bit of onion will be great for helping you feel better.
Garlic
Garlic was used all the way back in ancient times for fighting sickness. It’s said to help get rid of bacteria and viruses.
Carrots
Carrots are packed with Vitamin A that helps with healing our mouth and sinuses.
Daikon radish
Daikon is believed to be full of a lot of vitamin C. Japan and China have both used this ingredient as a part of a home remedy for many years. It certainly won’t hurt to add this to your soup.
Bell pepper
Bell peppers, particularly the red ones, are also full of vitamin C. You’re going to need all the vitamin C you can get to help fight off your flu.
Thyme and Basil
Thyme is a powerful punch of an ingredient to add in your soup. It’s a decongestant (which means it helps to clear your stuffy nose) and helps boost your immune system.
If thyme is the powerful punch, dried basil is the superkick to your flu symptoms. It’s said to help calm your fever, headache, sore throat, cold, cough, and flu.
Bay leaves
Bay leaves are believed to be able to help clear your stuffy nose.
Chilli pepper
The spiciness in chili pepper can also help clear your congested sinuses. Your nose will be a lot happier with this in your soup.
Ginger
Ginger is great for sore throat. It helps to relieve symptoms of nausea and restore your appetite. It can also help with aches and pain that comes with fighting the flu.
Broccoli
Broccoli is yet another ingredient with that powerful flu-fighting vitamin C. It also has Vitamin E, which also helps fight off the flu as well.
Konjac noodles
Konjac noodles are made from the root of an Asian plant called Konjac. It’s low in calories and full of easily digestible fiber. It’s often used in Japanese cooking. However, it doesn’t have much flavor on its own, so best used in soups. The texture is chewy but easy to swallow.
Konjac can be found in Asia markets or as Shirataki noodles on Amazon. Bear in mind that they do have a fishy smell even though there is no fish included.
This is due to the liquid the noodles are packaged in. Drain and rinse well to get rid of the smell, then add to the vegan soup at the beginning or end of cooking.
Other Soup Ingredients to Include
- Cabbage
- Leek
- White miso (Check out this Miso Hot Pot Soup recipe)
- Tofu or a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas as a source of protein
More Vegan Soup Recipes
- Vegetable Barley Soup
- Zuppa Toscana
- Cream of Mushroom Soup
- Carrot Ginger Soup
- Tomato Basil Soup
- Pumpkin Soup
Vegan Healing Soup for Cold and Flu Season
Baking Recipes: For more accuracy, use Metric measurements and measuring spoons.
Ingredients
- 2 pieces kombu, about 4 inches each or 15g
- 2 tbsps gluten-free soy sauce
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 8 oz pumpkin, 226g
- 1 cup shiitake mushrooms, 70g
- 1 cup oyster Mushrooms, 86g
- 1 medium onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 medium carrot
- ½ daikon radish
- 1 small bell pepper
- 2 cups broccoli florets, 350g
- 1 tsp thyme
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- Spicy chilli pepper or ginger, to taste (optional)
- 7 oz konjac or shirataki noodles, 198g
- 4 cups water, (950ml)
Instructions
- Chop pumpkin, mushrooms, onion, garlic, carrot, daikon radish and bell pepper.8 oz pumpkin ,1 cup oyster Mushrooms ,1 medium onion ,3 cloves garlic ,1 medium carrot ,½ daikon radish ,1 small bell pepper
- Add to a large pot with water and remaining ingredients except the broccoli and bell pepper. Bring to a boil then lower heat to a simmer for 20 minutes.2 pieces kombu ,2 tbsps gluten-free soy sauce ,1 tbsp mirin ,1 cup shiitake mushrooms ,1 tsp thyme ,2 teaspoons dried basil ,2 bay leaves , Spicy chilli pepper or ginger ,7 oz konjac or shirataki noodles ,4 cups water , Salt and black pepper
- Add the broccoli and bell pepper in the last 5 minutes of cooking.2 cups broccoli florets
- Remove from heat and serve.
Notes
- Don’t rinse kombu before using as this could wash away the natural flavour compounds. They appear like a white coating on kombu. This is not mold.
- Konjac noodles can have a fishy smell even though there is no fish included. This is due to the liquid the noodles are packaged in. Drain and rinse well to get rid of the smell before adding to the soup.
- More vegan soup recipes: Vegan Nabe : Healthy Japanese Hot Pot Soup with Miso, Healthy Pumpkin Gnocchi Soup, Vegan Kitsune Soba (Japanese Buckwheat Noodle Soup)
This soup was surprisingly tasty. I didn’t have all of the ingredients but the basis for the soup was great. I used sweet potato instead of pumpkin, and added finely sliced kale as a green because I didn’t have kombu or broccoli. Warm, nutritious and satisfying on this cold Winter’s evening.
So delicious! I used sweet potatoes instead of pumpkin. Seaweed sheet, instead of kombu and turnip head, instead of dakion ( used what I had on hand). It was yummy and fulfilling as I am getting over this cold.
Well done Felicia! Feel better soon!
Delicious and so comforting!!
Thanks so much for trying it Jill! Beautiful photo by the way. Well done!