There’s nothing better than curling up with a comforting bowl of hot soup after a long, frigid, wintry day. The new year is in full swing. Everyone is back to work after the holiday fun, and it’s game time.
Since the arctic like conditions have arrived here in Chicago, fully making themselves known, it’s time to take care of our bodies with proper immune-boosting nourishment (unless of course you live in a warm place, then please send us some of your warm air!).
This oil-free Cleansing Detox Soup is packed with all the good stuff, and by good stuff I mean immune-boosting natural remedies like fresh lemon juice, fresh zingy ginger, bright turmeric, balancing cinnamon, and a touch of spicy cayenne. Detoxifying vegetables and leafy greens like kale, broccoli, celery and carrots will cleanse, nourish and make you feel whole. I carefully chose each ingredient based on it’s healing properties and am sticking to oil free recipes all of January. You especially want to avoid cooking with oils in a cleansing and detoxifying recipe to allow the detoxification process to properly take place.
Lemon:
Lemon is everything. If you have been reading my blog for a while, then you may have noticed that I drink 32 ounces of warm water with the fresh juice from 1/2 of a lemon every day, before anything else. I cannot skip this step! It makes me feel normal and wakes up my digestive system. Lemon has amazing cleansing properties and provides a burst of Vitamin C while supporting the detoxification process. Adding lemon juice to your soup will help to keep your immune system strong while bringing lightness and flavor.
Ginger:
Fresh ginger is so essential. So healing. So digestion-friendly. With it’s natural cold fighting properties, you can battle off congestion, flu and nausea while boosting your immunity. Not only do I add ginger to all the soups I prepare, but I add a huge chunk to our daily green juice, in salad dressings and in hot tea. (ground ginger
Turmeric:
This is a spice that I’ve grown to love due to its skin-loving properties (aids in a healthy glow), antiseptic, anti bacterial and anti inflammatory wonders. It comes from a root similar to ginger, is high in antioxidants and adds a beautiful bright golden color to any dish (again fresh turmeric is best, but ground turmeric
Cinnamon:
So wonderful in this cleansing soup! Not all cinnamon is the same, which I recently found out. Saigon cinnamon (vs. regular cinnamon) has a distinct flavor, boldly delicious scent and aids in balancing blood sugar levels while stimulating digestion. It’s also a natural sweetener – add saigon cinnamon
Cayenne Pepper:
I add the tiniest bit of cayenne to many dishes. While it’s optional, I really love the dose of heat and flavor from cayenne because I don’t have to add as much salt when there is enough spiciness. Not a ton of spiciness, just enough for noticeable flavor. Cayenne pepper
Since this Cleansing Detox Soup doesn’t have rice, noodles, beans or legumes of any sort, it’s easily digestible for everyone due to the soft vegetables, but if you want to add extra plant protein like tofu, lentils, chickpeas, wild rice or noodles, feel free. You will adore this cure-all soup! I keep coming back to it because it makes me feel warm, wholesome and healthy.
- 1/4 cup water (or vegetable broth)
- 1/2 of a red onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 celery stalks, diced
- 3 medium carrots, diced
- 1 small head of broccoli, florets
- 1 cup chopped tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced
- 1 teaspoon turmeric (I used powdered)
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste (optional)
- fine-grain sea salt and black pepper, to taste
- 6 cups water (or 4 cups vegetable broth + 2 cups water)
- 2 cups kale, de-stemmed and torn in pieces
- 1 cup purple cabbage, chopped
- juice from 1/2 of a small lemon (or a whole lemon, depending how much lemon flavor you prefer)
- In a large pot, add the water and turn on the heat to medium-high. After it's hot, add the onion and garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the celery, carrots, broccoli, tomatoes and fresh ginger. Stir and cook for 3 minutes, adding in extra water or broth as needed (another 1/4 cup). Stir in the turmeric, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper plus salt and pepper to taste.
- Add in the water or vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Add in the kale, cabbage and lemon juice near the last 2-3 minutes of simmering.
- Enjoy!
- This cleansing recipe is oil-free because avoiding the use of oil during a cleansing meal is important for the detoxification process (and you won't miss the oil at all due to all the flavor!) but if you feel like cooking with oil, use a minimal amount - 1 tablespoon or less.
- Leftovers stay well in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
I recommend cleansing with every new season. My 5-Day Body Balance Cleanse promotes whole food nourishment rather than deprivation, with real and fresh body-loving ingredients to get you feeling balanced and refreshed. I love doing this 5-Day Cleanse after the holidays, before and/or after a vacation and whenever I feel like hitting the reset button on my body too! You will feel amazing.
Happy cleansing!
I was looking for cleansing detox soup recipe and i found this. Amazingly described. I will definitely try this one. Thanks a ton for sharing ♥
I have been making this soup on a regular basis for about 2 years now. It’s the BEST. You feel so good and thin after a week of eating it (i live alone and make extra to freeze so it lasts). I always add a skinless chicken breast (boiled and shred) to the pot at the very end of cooking (around the same time you add the kale) to make it a little more filling and help power my workouts.
Over the summer you can add cilantro, avocado and lime to mix it up too.
Really, the best. I force the recipe on everyone i know. It’s the only way i manage to get all my daily servings of vegetables.
I have been making this soup every Sunday for 6 weeks. I have it almost every day for my lunch. I keep the soup for 5 days. Along with a healthy breakfast and light balanced dinner, regular exercise 5 times a week and yoga and meditation, I have lost 12 lbs. I feel great. What was a major help as well was cutting out nighttime snaking and alcohol. This soup is yummy and packed with nutrients. It fills me up and gives me tons of energy. Thank you!!!!
I just made this last night and OMG! I usually stay away from veggie soup due to a bad experience with canned stuff as a kid (food poisoning) but I’m on the ETL diet now and needed an oil free dinner option. I went into it thinking it would just taste like a bowl of steamed veggies that I would begrudgingly eat because I had to. Boy was I wrong! It was so delicious! Bright, flavorful, filling and just makes you feel all clean and warm inside!
I omitted the cinnamon and subbed the red cabbage for Brussels sprouts(thrown in w/ the broccoli). Other than that I followed the recipe and it was perf!
I’ve already shared with like everyone! Thanks for sharing this!
Can I use frozen vegetables ?
Fantastic start to 2018! This detox soup is so tasty and feels wonderfully cleansing. Thank you!
Oh! My! Days! I just made this soup and I’m hooked! This will be a weekly dish in my house! The lemon juice is the key ingredient in this soup that makes it phenomenal! The most time for this recipe is in the preparation of the veggies because everything only took 15 minutes to cook from start to finish.
I made it exactly as described, using water (to make it extra clean eating) and it looks exactly like your picture. I used Hungarian Paprika instead of Cayenne Pepper because I don’t like the taste of cayenne. Hungarian Paprika packs a bit of heat so it’s a great substitute.
I wanted my veggies more on the crisp side so I only simmered them half the time at just under a boil. But I added the tomatoes (same kind you used in the picture) with the kale and cabbage, instead of with the broccoli, carrots, and celery. This would be the ONLY change in the directions I’d make because then the tomatoes won’t go mushy. Also, once the soup simmered for six minutes, I turned off the heat and THEN added the kale, cabbage and tomatoes. As the soup cooled, it cooked those three ingredients PERFECTLY without getting mushy or leaving them too crunchy.
Seriously, BEST SOUP EVER! Thank you SO MUCH!
I’m really glad I found your blog. I found this recipe linked to another of your recipes I found on Pinterest, and made it tonight for my vegan teenage daughter. She’s enjoying a bowl right now, telling me how much she likes it an how clean it makes her feel 🙂 We’ve got a lot of late blooming home grown Roma tomatoes, so I’ve been looking for recipes to make a dent in our supply. I added some fresh chopped mushrooms and bell pepper, just to use temp up/clean out the frig, and also used fresh spinach instead f the kale, since I already had that. Very tasty, and we look forward to trying more of your recipes!
HI! I absolutely love this soup, but there is only one of me. I know it says it will stay well for 3 days. Is that the max you’d recommend or will it be okay for longer?
Hi Terah! You could do up to 4 days, but you can also just freeze leftovers you don’t think you can finish!
duh! why didn’t I think of that? haha I’m actually eating some right now. Seriously one of my favorite things to make. Thanks so much!
There’s only one of me, too, and I just made this soup for the first time. It won’t last three days! Dinner and lunch the next day. (And I gave a bowl of it to my vegan neighbor, along with the recipe and link to this site.)
I have made this soup on a regular basis after seeing your recipe a few months ago. I love it and feel like it is so healthy. Thank you for sharing it.
Lovely recipe thank you, I used a 400g can of diced tomatoes, 1/4 cup of lemon juice and omitted the cannayne pepper (as i couldnt afford it) and it was delicious. For my hubby I chucked in a handful of BBQ chicken to his bowl and even tho he HATES celery, he loved this soup – I even cut up the celery leaves off the 3 stalks, yum-my!
I found the recipe not only healing and refreshing, but also, a treat for the taste buds.
I just made this soup and I have to say it was fantastic! I sautéed with vegetable broth. I did end up with a fair bit of soup so I’ll have to decide whether I can eat it all within the next three days or freeze some of it or perhaps I’ll give some away.
Wow , that was really wonderful , I tried it at my home , it was really tasteful, healthy and yup refreshing too
This soup tastes amazing, thank you! So refreshing, and has encouraged me further that meat is not the answer for a flavoursome meal. I added chopped chillis as I didn’t have cayenne, and might serve like a Vietnamese pho next time (i.e. with udon noodles) so that it is a more filling.
For this soup. What meal are u post have it for and how much for serving?
Carla, you can eat this soup for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a midnight snack! Serving size is completely up to you and how hungry you are. When you’re eating something this clean, and this healthy, you don’t have to worry about portion sizes. It’s not going to cause you to gain weight, even if you eat the whole pot of soup in one sitting!
This is one of my favorite recipie ! Especially since it’s non stop raining here in California (finally)
I logged this recipie into my fitness pal and it says it’s only 105 calories per serving. Could that be right ?
Thank you so much for all of your great ingredients !
Could butternut squash be added to this recipe and still make the soup beneficial?
I used this recipe but added 1/2 of a jalapeno, sliced, with seeds. Wow. I think jalapenos are good for you and full of vitamin C but dang. Don’t laugh while you’re eating this soup if you made it with peppers.
I think I’ll made this again with kale. I kind of also want to try red capiscum, tofu, and maybe a little mashed potato, skin on.
I’ve heard that saigon cinnamon is very strong and in some cases can cause liver damage. I know that Ceylon is recommended over Cassia – Cassia, which is commonly found in regular supermarkets and doesn’t have many medicinal qualities- So my question is, are you recommending Saigon cinnamon in this case because it is being so diluted in a soup? Would i be as well off using the Ceylon?
Am i crazy for thinking others would have this much information on kinds of cinnamon 😉
Thanks in advance!
calorie count pls
Does this soup freeze well?
This soup is fantastic! I added a bit of ground turkey and brown rice pasta for my meat and carb eating family. I also added some yellow zucchini squash because the color caught my eye in the grocery store. I also used a left over sweet potato by boiling it and then putting it in the food processor with a bit of the soups broth then stirred it into the soup. Even with all these additions, the flavours of the recipes original ingredients is what made it a clear winner. Even my boys, who are my fussiest critics, slurped down every drop of the broth, something they never do. Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe!
My husband and I just completed a two-day vegan detox/cleanse. I didn’t like the looks of the vegetable soup on the official cleanse, so I found this one to make instead. I have literally never commented on a recipe before, even though I “steal” online recipes all the time. But this soup is outstanding with an excellent combination of flavors and feels very healing to consume. My husband declared it his new favorite meal. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Great recipe However kale is unheard of where I live so do I just leave it out or is here something else I could replace it with. I had thought of using celery or the stems of broccali. Believe me I do live on the same planet as everyone else . Maggie
Check the frozen section. They may have organic frozen kale or bagged kale.
try swiss chard. I buy it frozen.
I think cabbage would be good and it is an ingredient in several other detox soups.
I used fresh spinach instead of kale, because I already had some and wanted to use it up.
I just made this and ate two bowls. It is delicious and very flexible. I added a red pepper and replaced the kale/cabbage with a pre cut bag of kale/cabbage/Brussels sprouts. I also topped it off with 1-2 TB of olive oil. Fat is essential for many nutrients to be absorbed! Anyway, the taste was fantastic. I’m not sure why others may have found this bland. The combo of fresh ginger, turmeric and cinnamon was so good! Anyway, you feel healthier after eating this than before and it’s a cinch to make. Thanks!
This soup caught my eye on Pinterest because of how colorful and beautiful it is. I was growing very tired of eating the same old meals every day. So since I had most of these vegetables, I tried this soup tonight. It was amazing! I substituted with some of my other favorite seasonings such as celery salt since I didn’t have celery and I did cook a small bowl of rice to add to it. It is definitely a winner. Thank you
thank you so much!! I’m doing my first veggie soup as we speak!! I had a little taste to it ..it taste so good. I love the lemon taste and I also added other extra ingredients. i have a question, can i add egg plant to the soup?
Can this be made in a slow cooker?
Found it pretty unbearably bland, i had to add franks and hickory smoke bbq sauce and it fixed it up.
That defeats the purpose of a detox!
I made this soup and it is absolutely delicious!! My young toddler even enjoys it! One question I do have is, what is the calorie count on this meal?
Loved this soup!! Used it tonight to recover from a cold/flu that I have had for the last week – think this will do the trick. I subbed green cabbage though instead of red cabbage because the heads were smaller and I live all on my own. Very, very good and already recommended it to a friend… 🙂
Can I blend the soup?
Hi Jey, Yes you can blend the soup for a smooth texture. I haven’t tried it, but I’m sure it would work just fine!
I was just wondering about the same thing, as I have to avoid much of the solid foods in this recipe (due to gastroparesis, I have to beware fibrous foods, especially leafies) and was thinking if I just drank the broth maybe I could throw the veggies in a stir-fry on rice for my omni-stomach-like-a-bottomless-pit boyfriend, who eats anything I make him (provided he can put ketchup on the “weird stuff”… I swear, he’s like a 5 year old!). Turning it into a smoothie-type soup could get ME the veggies into my body in an easier-to-digest form though. (I don’t use my vitamix nearly enough to justify the fact that I even own one, let alone had to save forever to get it! I got it primarily for datorade, but I only make that a few times a year – sad, right?!)
Side note, one time I brought home a cabbage-style salad that had a super yummy sweetened rice vinegar dressing (boy do I love me vinegar and sweet, especially together) but because I can’t do cabbage/lettuce/etc I threw it all in the vitamix for a few minutes and added extra acv and came up with a refreshing cold smoothie! So good! And nothing wasted. Yay.
I just found your website when I was searching for a good detox soup recipe. This looks amazing and I love all the ingredients and spices you used. I am definitely making a pot of this soup for this week. Thank you again!
Do the soup freeze well?
Hi
Did you get a response to freezing it? Or have you tried?
Thanks
Hi Clare,
I haven’t tried freezing the soup but I don’t see why it would be a problem because soup is usually freezes well and there aren’t noodles or anything. It should work fine!
Thanks,
Shannon
this might be a silly question, but would it make a huge difference in terms of nutritional or detoxing benefits to use canned tomatoes instead of fresh, and white instead of red onion? thanks!
Hi Sara! Fresh is best but canned works fine too. White onion is fine as well!
I would like to add northern white beans,will this make a big difference
I will add some of your ingredients to my chicken soup with mustard dumplings (1c flour, 1 egg, 1/2 c milk, 1 tsp mustard and 1/8 tsp baking soda). Yum. If you remove too much oil/fat from your diet your hair will fall out in clumps! Drinking any kind of citrus water the day it is made will help with your digestion and keep harmful bugs out of the digestive system for sure. Also drinking a 1/4 cup of organic apple cider is very benefical or taking apple cider tablets. Live probiotics is also a way to keep the digestive system in great shape. They must be ones found in a health store that are refrigerated, live is the key word here, the ones on the shelf are a waste of money! Finally, adding yogurt to your digest is healthful too. Watch the Greek yogurt though, some is full of fat and bitter tasting, yuck
It looks good and I’m going to try it.. thanks for the recipe
How vibrantly beautiful and nourishing! Thanks so much for sharing!
I really love this recipe! Thanks for sharing!:)
I just found your site and so glad I did! I am a vegetarian who tries to eat a lot of vegan meals. 🙂
Blessings,
Somer
do you eat this all day everyday? How many days do you detox for. Are you just eating the soup and nothing else. Would love to try it. Looks so good. Doing anything to lose a few pounds. Please advise.
Thank you
I use My Fitness Pal to track my meals and exercise. But, I don’t know how to add this soup to my menu. Can you tell me the calorie amount in each serving and for what size that serving is?
You can make your own recipes on myfitnesspal by adding each ingredient and choosing the serving size. It takes awhile but you can save them and then eat this soup all the time!
Me too. Does anyone know the nutritional facts on this soup? I would like to add to MyFitnessPal app. Thank you
Thank you so much for this recipe! I was shocked at how absolutely delicious it was!! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes 😀
Hi there,
im new to detoxing. should I be enjoying this delicious soup for all meals throughout the day and how long should i be eating it for?
GREAT tips in this post!!! I can’t wait to make this soup!
Do you peel the ginger like you would a potato? In the past, I’ve added ginger to smoothies and it’s such a tedious process that I’ve given up on it. Any tips?
THANKS!!
Hi Julia – I know what you mean! I just cut off a chunk of ginger and then cut off the skin rather than peeling it but I wish there was an easier way that I knew about! It is a task 😉 thank you and hope you enjoy
Love this recipe, thank you very much for posting it.
When using ginger I often use a garlic press; just cut off chunks big enough to fit in press and squeeze, peel and all. This is great as it squishes it up and also presses the nutrients out of the skin.
Use a spoon to peel the ginger! It is a soft root and a veggie peeler or knife will waste a lot of the ginger.
Another way to peel ginger is to run it along a lemon zester until all the skin is off. You don’t lose a lot of ginger that way. I use a lemon zester when I need a small amount of minced ginger (like for tea) because it’s so fast and easy. For a larger amount, cutting it with a knife is best but you can still use the zester for the skin.
I am allergic to Turmeric, is there a substitute or can I just leave it out?
I didn’t have Tumeric on hand, so I jut left it out, and I still thought it was really tasty!
Take a teaspoon to peel your ginger it is so easy!!
Use the side of a spoon to peel the skin off. It’s super fast and easy! You can see it done on YouTube
Lighthouse has great dehydrated herbs and they have ginger. If u add water to it they are fresh again.. I use them all the time and they make a huge difference. When it is winter and where I live they don’t have the great stores like many other places so these are a wonderful alternative. Good luck hope u enjoy..
Use a spoon instead of a knife. You can’t imagine how easy it gets, believe me!
Hi. This soup looks like just what I’ve been looking for – thank you! But I am confused about the water. It says to add water at the beginning of step 1 and saute the onions and garlic in it. I thought you had to use oil or the water would just cook away?? Or are you supposed to add all 6 cups and boil rather than saute? Then later it says again to add water or vegetable broth. Is that when I add the 6 cups? Please help. I would love to make this healthy soup…
Thanks!
Sarah
Hi Sarah,
Sorry if that part is confusing! Since this is a detox soup I decided to make it oil-free so I used water instead to sauté the onions and garlic. It does evaporate eventually which is fine, you can always add a little more if needed but I’ve found that 1/4 cup is the perfect amount. You can also use oil if you prefer to sauté the onions and garlic in oil. Then you will add the 6 cups of water (or vegetable broth) for the base after you add the rest of the vegetables. So you sauté in water or oil and then boil the vegetables in water or vegetable broth. Vegetable broth adds nice flavor but I didn’t have it when creating this recipe which is why I used water. Hope this helps!
Shannon
Ok. Thank you for explaining! I will give it a try.
Sarah
Actually, eating a small amount of oil with vegetables allows you to receive the benefits of the fat soluble vitamins. You might consider sauteing the vegetables in some ghee, olive or coconut before adding the broth.
valuable tips! important information that really make a difference! Thank you!
Has anyone tried freezing this soup?
I just finished making this recipe, but with with spinach instead of kale because it’s what I had. It is absolutely amazing! It’s so warm and comforting! My new favorite soup by far!
This soup is incredible! I made a large batch of it for the next couple days and I am looking forward to eating it all up. I love the variety of flavors in this soup that makes you feel so good about eating it.
It has been a wonderful start to my 60-day vegan challenge! Follow my progress:
https://exploretheballet.wordpress.com/2015/02/20/my-60-day-vegan-challenge/
So, I’m making this now with two changes which I hope won’t make this any less delicious: I’m subbing spinach for the kale (because it’s what I have), and also I’m using green cabbage instead of the purple (again, it’s what I have). I can’t wait to try this! 🙂
Hi Francie – Oh I’m sure this will be JUST as delicious as the spinach is even less bitter than kale! Hope you love it 🙂
I made the exact same substitutions and it was indeed delicious!
This soup looks absolutely amazing but how many servings does it make? I’m planning on making a batch for Sunday and I want to know whether I should double the recipe or triple it.
Hi Jennifer! I would say between 4 and 6, roughly. It’s hard for me to estimate serving sizes with soup because one serving to me could mean something else to another. Hope that helps, let me know how it goes 🙂
Shannon
I like that this recipe uses both ginger and cinnamon! I bet it is very warming…thanks for the recipe.
Hi Doug, it definitely is warming and one of those “feel good” soups. Hope you love it
So I’ve caught myself a bit of a cold and found this recipe. I’ve been gobbling it all afternoon and the combination of spice and lemon (plus all the healthy veg) and it’s so good. Really easy to eat even when you don’t want to eat anything, warming, tasty amazing. Thanks so much for the recipe!!
Hi Kate – Yes! I’m so happy you liked this soup 🙂 The flavors really complement each other and it’s even better the next day. Hopefully you will feel better!
Are you able to provide nutrition information for this recipe? Specifically calories per serving.
Thank you!
I’m a HUGE fan of the [real] rainbow and I’m in LOVE with this recipe. Pinned and shared. Love, love it! =)
Hi Shannon,
I am a huge fan of detox soups. I make them and love to find new recipes so thank you so much for sharing your awesome Cleansing Detox Soup Spice recipe with us at the Healthy, Happy, Green and Natural Party Blog Hop. I going to make this! I’m pinning these beautiful photos too!
This looks absolutely delicious…and warm! I also love cabbage so it seems perfect! Thank you for sharing. #HealthyHappyGreenNaturalPartyHop
Thank you Serena! Cabbage adds the most amazing color and I add it to pretty much every soup I make. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
I came across this recipe on Pinterest. The beautiful picture of this soup drew me in. I made this tonite and it was very delish! Few things are as comforting as a warm bowlful of fresh, nourishing veggies! Thanks for the wonderful recipe! I will make this over and over again!
Aw thank you Lindsey – I love hearing feedback and it makes me so happy that you enjoyed this recipe! There’s nothing better than warm nourishing soup in the winter 🙂
Thanks Shannon. I’m a first time visitor who loves the photo and delicious-sounding detox soup recipe. I saw it at the “Healthy, Happy, Green & Natural” Party Hop 49! I intend to try it out this month. I’m at the blog hop too. If you can, check out 3 Secrets to Clutter Proof Your Home. Be well. Live well. Lead a colorful life! Nancy Andres @ http://obloggernewbie.blogspot.com
Hi Nancy, I’m so happy you stopped by and hope you enjoy the yummy soup 🙂 I’ll definitely check out your blog!