Hearty Vegetable Chowder Recipe (2024)

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This filling and hearty Vegetable Chowder recipe is full of veggies and flavor! It can be made with or without the dairy items, making it perfect for those (like me!) who are dairy free.

This recipe is similar to potato soup–filling and comforting. Instead of potatoes, you’ll keep the carbs down by using radishes. Surprisingly, radishes cook very similar to potatoes and lose that spicy taste they have when cooked!

Where’s the recipe?

Here at My Crazy Good Life, our recipes are written out the same way for ease of cooking. In this post, you’ll find ingredient information, detailed cooking instructions, and information for Healthy Eating Plans such as 2B Mindset, the 21 Day Fix, and Weight Watchers.

Scroll down to the printable recipe at the bottom of the page for the printable recipe. You’ll find basic cooking instructions there along with nutrition information and links to supplies needed.

Table of Contents

Ingredients in Vegetable Chowder

Avocado or Olive Oil (or vegetable broth if you’re oil-free)
Onions
Garlic
Seasonings
Radishes As I mentioned above, these surprised me when they cooked just like a potato! You won’t be able to tell it’s a radish when the soup is done!
Carrots Super hearty and filling!
Celery I love the crunch this adds
Yellow Squash You can swap this for zucchini if you’d like.
Cauliflower I love how this “quietly” adds extra veggies.
Broccoli
Vegetable Broth Low sodium, of course!
Brown Rice Flour This is used to thicken the chowder. You can also use corn starch.
Greek yogurt 2% unflavored is what I recommend. Add this after the soup cools a bit to prevent curdling.
Cheddar Cheese Optional!

The great thing about this vegetable chowder is that a lot of the delicious flavors come from all the vegetables. You won’t even miss the meat in this great recipe, it’s packed full of great flavors and those essential nutrients we all need.

Recipe Tips

Add salt and pepper to taste after you’ve made this.
Wait until the soup has cooled to add the dairy products, if you’re adding those. If the soup is too hot, they will curdle.
If you’d rather not use oil, you can use vegetable broth or melt butter in your pot to avoid sticking.
I’ve never added them, but some readers have mentioned adding black bean to this recipe and it sounds delicious!
If your vegetables are already cut up, this soup takes about 20 minutes to cook–perfect for a busy winter night!

How to make this Chowder in the Instant Pot

Time needed:35 minutes

This recipe takes about 35 minutes from start to finish, not including the time it takes your pot to come to pressure. My pot typically takes less than 10 minutes but based on your elevation and the size of your pot, yours might take longer.

Set up your pot.
Turn the Instant Pot to sauté mode.
Add the avocado oil, or oil of choice, to the Instant Pot. When the oil is hot, saute the onions, garlic, Italian seasoning, pepper, and cayenne pepper for about 30 seconds until they are fragrant.
Sauté veggies
Add the radishes and carrots to the Instant Pot. Sauté the carrots and radishes for 3-5 minutes.
Add veggies
Next, mix in the celery, yellow squash, cauliflower, and broccoli. Add the broth, then close and secure the lid. Turn the pressure valve to sealing.
Cook on high
Cook on high pressure using the “manual” or “pressure cook” setting for 1 minute.
This may not seem like enough time, but remember that the pot is cooking as it comes to pressure.
Release the pressure intermittently
Release the pressure by opening the pressure valve for a few seconds and then closing it. Repeat this motion until all the pressure is released. This will prevent the soup from spraying out the top.
Remove the lid and thicken
Remove the lid and turn the Instant Pot back to saute mode. Mix in the brown rice flour or cornstarch. This will thicken your soup.
Turn off the pot
Turn off the pot and allow the soup to cool for a few minutes. If the soup is too hot when you add the Greek yogurt and cheese, it will curdle. I typically wait 10 minutes or so before adding these ingredients.
Enjoy!
Serve and enjoy!

Stovetop Directions

Heat the avocado oil in a stock pot over high heat on the stove. Saute the onions, garlic, pepper, Italian seasoning, and cayenne pepper until fragrant.
Add the radishes and carrots to the stock pot. Allow the carrots and radishes to saute for 2-3 minutes, then add the rest of the vegetables to the stock pot.
Cover the vegetables with the broth and bring it to a boil.
Cover the pot and reduce the heat to medium heat. Allow the soup to simmer for 10-15 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
Remove the lid and allow the soup to cool for a few minutes, then mix in the Greek yogurt, cheese, and brown rice flour.
Continue to stir the chowder until the cheese melts and the soup thickens.
Remove the soup from the heat and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Crockpot Directions

Making this vegetable chowder in the slow cooker makes it so easy!

Combine all the ingredients in the crock pot except the Greek yogurt and cheese.
Cover the slow cooker with the lid. Cook on low heat for 3-4 hours or on high heat for 1-2 hours.
Remove the lid and allow to cool for a few minutes, then mix in the Greek yogurt and cheese until the cheese is melted. If you add these items while the soup is too hot they’ll curdle.
Serve and enjoy!

We could eat this creamy vegetable soup recipe year round (thank you Instant Pot for not heating up the whole house) but it’s definitely a great fall and winter soup.

This healthy soup recipe is creamy and delicious, and there are so many options for making this recipe friendly as a vegan or vegetarian soup as well as gluten free!

Healthy Eating Plans

Eating winter soups and stews is perfect for any healthy eating plan because they keep you full! Enjoy this soup–which is similar to cream of vegetable soup–any time of year.

21 Day Fix/Ultimate Portion Fix:

Counts for the entire recipe (I give you these so it’s easy for you to recalculate if you change something!): 11 green containers, 1 red container, 4 blue containers, 1 yellow container.

This recipe serves 4-6, depending on the size of your vegetables. I got 6 servings with mine, and the serving size is about 2 cups.

Per serving (if you get 6 servings): 1 3/4 green containers, negligible amount of red and yellow containers, so I don’t count those, 2/3 blue container.

Weight Watchers:

Making this chowder recipe with no Greek yogurt (or fat free Greek yogurt) and no cheese, which is my preferred way to make it, makes it only 1 2023 Point | 1 Blue Plan Point | 1 Green Plan Point | 1 Purple Plan point per serving!

As written, the recipe is 2 2023 Points | 5 Blue Plan Points | 5 Green Plan Points | 5 Purple Plan Points in each serving. You can enjoy this recipe for lunch or dinner and it is a great one to prep ahead of time for meals throughout the week.

2B Mindset:

This recipe is great for lunch, just add some whole wheat bread for your FFC and a quick protein side. It’s perfect as is for dinner.

More Healthy Stew and Soup Recipes

Healthy Chicken Pot Pie Soup
Crack Chicken Soup Recipe
Cream Of Chicken Soup Recipe
Healthy Cream of Asparagus Soup
Rotisserie Chicken Soup With Salsa Recipe
Healthy Cream Of Mushroom Soup

5 from 15 ratings

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Hearty Vegetable Chowder Recipe

Created by: Becca Ludlum

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Approximate Serving Size: 2 cups

Servings 6 Servings

This hearty vegetable chowder is packed with veggies! It's a creamy vegetable soup similar to potato soup, and can easily be adapted to plant based diets and made to be gluten free and dairy free. This is my favorite winter soup!

Equipment

Instant Pot 6 qt
Kitchen Knife
Sealing Rings

Ingredients

▢ 1 tsp avocado oil or olive oil, or broth
▢ 1 onion yellow, chopped, about 1 cup
▢ 3 cloves garlic minced
▢ 1 tsp Italian seasoning
▢ 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper optional, for spice
▢ 1/2 tsp pepper
▢ 1 lb radishes about 1 cup, cut into quarters
▢ 4 carrots about 2 cups, chopped
▢ 4 stalks celery about 2 cups
▢ 1 yellow squash about 1 cup, chopped
▢ 2 cups cauliflower florets
▢ 2 cups broccoli florets
▢ 3 cups vegetable broth low sodium
▢ 1/4 cup brown rice flour or whole wheat flour
▢ 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt plain, 2%
▢ 1 1/3 cup cheddar cheese shredded

Instructions

Instant Pot:

Turn the Instant Pot to saute mode. Add the oil to the Instant Pot. When the oil is hot, saute the onions, garlic, Italian seasoning, cayenne pepper, and pepper for about 30 seconds until they are fragrant.
Add radishes and carrots to the Instant Pot. Saute them for 3-5 minutes.
Next, mix in the celery, yellow squash, cauliflower, and broccoli. Add the broth then close the lid.
Cook on high pressure using the “manual” or “pressure cook” setting for 1 minute. Release the pressure by opening the pressure valve for a few seconds and then closing it. Repeat this motion until all the pressure is released. This will prevent the soup from spraying out the top.
Remove the lid and turn the Instant Pot back to saute mode.
Stir the brown rice flour into the chowder. Continue to mix the soup for 2-3 minutes until the chowder reaches the desired thickness.
Turn off the Instant Pot and allow the vegetables chowder to cool for 10 minutes, then mix in the Greek yogurt and cheddar cheese. before serving.

Stove top:

Heat the oil in a stock pot over high heat on the stove. Saute the onions, garlic, pepper, Italian seasoning, and cayenne pepper until fragrant.
Add the radishes and carrots to the stock pot. Saute the carrots and radishes for 2-3 minutes then add the rest of the vegetables to the stock pot.
Cover the vegetables with the broth and bring it to a boil.
Cover the pot and reduce the heat to medium low heat. Allow the soup to simmer for 10-15 minutes until the carrots and radishes have softened.
Remove the lid and mix in the brown rice flour.
Continue to stir the chowder until the cheese melts and the soup thickens.
Remove the soup from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes, then stir in Greek yogurt and cheese before serving.

Slow cooker:

Combine all the ingredients in the slow cooker except the Greek yogurt and cheese.
Cover the slow cooker with the lid. Cook on low heat for 3-4 hours.
Allow the soup to cool for 10 minutes before serving, then mix in the Greek yogurt and cheese until the cheese is melted.

Video

Notes

21 Day Fix

Serves 4-6, depending on the size of your vegetables. I counted 6 servings.

Serving size is about 2 cups Per serving (if you get 6 servings): 1 3/4 green containers, negligible red and yellow containers, 2/3 blue container.

Per serving (if you get 4 servings): 2 3/4 green containers, 1/4 red containers, 1 blue container, 1/4 yellow container

Serves:4-6

Serving Size: approximately 2 cups

Weight Watchers:

Making this chowder recipe with no Greek yogurt (or fat free Greek yogurt) and no cheese makes it only 1 2023 Point | 1 Blue Plan Point | 1 Green Plan Point | 1 Purple Plan point per serving!

Nutrition

Make This Recipe?

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Becca Ludlum

Healthy recipe creator, self-confessed food snob, and certified Level 1 Precision Nutrition Coach. I create healthy recipes with minimally processed ingredients, but have never turned down a homemade brownie. ;)