A creamy and cozy Winter Root Vegetable Soup, with bright flavors of ginger and dill. This easy-to-make soup is so healing when you’re sick! Make extra soup to freeze for quick lunches and light dinners. This vegetable soup uses seasonal ingredients and is Whole30 and vegan friendly.
Contents
A Cozy and Comforting Winter Soup
The best meal during chilly winter months? SOUP! Make mine creamy, a bit spicy, and loaded with veggies.
I’ve made this soup for many years. It’s one I think about every fall on the first really cold day. When I’m sick, I crave the bright, spicy ginger flavor!
This Creamy Root Vegetable Soup is an unexpected combination of turnips, parsnips, carrots, potatoes, ginger, and fresh dill. I amp up the creaminess with a cashew base.
Because this soup is pureed, it’s perfect for freezing. I am not a fan of rubbery vegetables that have been frozen and thawed, but this one you’ll never guess. I like to make a double batch, and freeze it in individual or double portions. When I need a quick lunch or a healthy appetizer for a dinner, it’s the perfect solution.
My dad loved parsnips and turnips so they were a part of my childhood. If you’ve never tried these vegetables, this soup is a great introduction. Both have a mild sweet flavor with a little bit of a bite.
If you’re adding this soup to your Whole30 diet, rest assured – white potatoes are now approved! However, if you don’t use white potatoes in your diet, you can substitute the potato for 3 cups of cauliflower or use a similar amount of sweet potato or butternut squash in it’s place.
Serve this soup with crackers (we love the Simple Mills grain free crackers!) or warm crusty bread, if that’s more your style.
The Magic of Ginger Root
Ginger is a regular part of my diet. It’s not only insanely delicious, it has medicinal properties that keep me feeling my best.
An oil in ginger root called gingerol has healing properties. It’s a powerful anti inflammatory, and has antioxidant effects. It also helps with other inflammation related diseases, like arthritis, cancer, and diabetes.
I’d much rather consume delicious foods that prevent and treat disease, rather than rely on doctors and pharmaceuticals!
Food is medicine, and a few sips of this delicious soup will help you understand why!
What You’ll Need
- Cashews (this adds creaminess without needing any dairy – you can substitute 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk or 1/4 cup of pastured (grass-fed) heavy whipping cream if desired).
- Avocado Oil (or olive oil)
- Onions
- Garlic
- Parsnips
- Carrot
- Turnip
- Potato (a large russet potatoes works great here)
- Vegetable Stock (or water and vegetable bouillon, or even chicken broth)
- Ginger Root (this is where the magic happens!)
- Fresh Dill
- Sea Salt + Black Pepper
How to Make Winter Root Vegetable Soup
Step 1: Soak cashews in water overnight. To save time, soak cashews in nearly-boiling water for 5 minutes, drain them, and soak them a 2nd time in nearly-boiling water. Drain prior to using.
Step 2: In a large pot or cast iron dutch oven, add avocado oil, onions, and garlic. Saute the vegetables until softened over medium-high heat, about 5-7 minutes.
Step 3: Add the vegetable broth and chopped vegetables (not the ginger or dill) to the pot, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Boil for 20-25 minutes, until the vegetable are softened.
Step 4: Add the vegetables and broth (in batches) to a blender, along with the soaked and drained cashews, dill, and ginger. Process until smooth, then return to the pot. Alternatively, leave the soup in the pot and use an immersion blender until the vegetables are very smooth.
Step 5: Season the soup with salt and pepper. The ginger flavor should be a bit milder than you’d ideally want it. You can add in more ginger if you’d like, but know after the soup sits for an hour or overnight, the ginger flavor will become more pronounced.
Step 6: Serve the soup swirled with coconut milk, cream fraiche, or heavy whipping cream, if desired. Garnish with additional dill. A drizzle of olive oil and other fresh herbs, like fresh parsley, are also great additions!
Tips and Variations
Mix up the Veggies: I’ve made this with cauliflower instead of potato, and didn’t enjoy it as much. You can add rutabaga, celery root, chunks of butternut squash, or a chopped sweet potato, if you have those veggies on hand.
Make it Nut Free: If you need this soup to be nut free, use 1/2 cup of coconut milk or 1/4 cup of pastured (grass fed) heavy whipping cream in place of the cashews.
Save Time: You can use 1/2 cup of cashew butter (add directly to the blender) if you do not have whole cashews or time to soak them.
Lower the carbs: If you’d prefer a lower carb soup, I suggest trying this Keto Cauliflower Soup instead.
Whole30 Compliant Soup: This soup is Whole30 compliant as written, as long as you don’t use one of the substitutions that recommend dairy products. If you’re wondering, white potatoes are now compliant on the Whole30. If you’d prefer not to include them in your diet, substitute 3 cups of cauliflower, or a similar amount of sweet potato or butternut squash in this soup.
Other Warming Whole30 Soup Recipes:
- Creamy Tomato Basil Soup
- Thai Red Curry Soup with Chicken and Zoodles
- Whole30 Zuppa Toscana
- Roasted Cauliflower Soup
- Carrot Apple Fennel Soup
- Sweet Potato Soup with Roasted Red Peppers
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Winter Root Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cashews soaked
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 1 onions roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 6 cups vegetable broth (I use water + vegetable bouillon)
- 2 parsnips peeled and chopped
- 1 turnip peeled and chopped
- 1 large potato peeled and chopped
- 1 carrot (or 2 small carrots), peeled and chopped
- 1/4 cup ginger root peeled and roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh dill removed from stems, (or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried dill)
- sea salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Soak cashews in water overnight. Do this quicker by soaking them for 5 minutes in very hot water, draining it, and soaking them a 2nd time in very hot water (almost boiling).
- In a soup pot, add avocado oil, onions, and garlic. Saute over medium heat until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add vegetable broth and chopped root vegetables (except ginger and dill), and bring to a boil. Allow to boil over medium heat for about 20 minutes, until vegetables are very soft.
- In batches, add the broth and vegetables, along with soaked cashews, ginger, and dill. Process until very smooth, then return to pot.
- Season the soup with sea salt and pepper.
- Garnish soup with creme fraiche, yogurt, or coconut milk, if desired.
- Store leftovers in an air tight container refrigerated for up to 5 days, or frozen up to 3 months.
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