Roasted Red Pepper and Gouda Soup

This Roasted Red Pepper and Gouda Soup is smooth, creamy, richly flavored, and super nourishing. The perfect vegetarian soup for a cozy fall or winter day!

This Roasted Red Pepper and Gouda Soup is creamy, velvety, cheesy, and the coziest vegetarian soup.

It’s full of nourishing vegetables, like red bell peppers, carrots, onion, and garlic. Everything is roasted on a sheet pan with avocado oil, herbes de provence, and smoked paprika, until soft and tender with a smoky flavor.

Blend it up with some broth, stir in some Gouda cheese and a few final seasonings and that’s it – happy, healthy eating!

And if you’re a fan of nourishing vegetarian soups, you should also try my black bean salsa soup, boursin potato soup, and cashew carrot ginger soup!

Ingredients

For a full ingredient list with quantities, please check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

• Red Bell Peppers: With 3 red bell peppers, this soup is loaded with vitamin C (fun fact: did you know that a cup of red bell pepper has 3x as much vitamin C as an orange?!)
• Yellow Onion: Always a fantastic flavor booster to soups!
• Carrots: Adds more vitamins, nutrients, flavor, and natural sweetness.
• Garlic: A whole bulb of garlic is roasted so the soup has a lovely roasted garlic flavor.
• Herbes de Provence: This French seasoning blend is so delicious with ingredients like savory, thyme, tarragon, rosemary, basil, and lavender.
• Smoked Paprika: I love the depth and complexity that a little smoked paprika adds to a flavor profile. It pairs wonderfully with the roasted vegetables and garlic here!
• Broth: Use vegetable broth to keep this soup vegetarian.
• Apple Cider Vinegar: I love a splash of acidity, like apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, or lemon juice, for brightening all the flavors in a soup.
• Gouda Cheese: You need a gouda cheese that is a “young gouda” and not very aged (over 9 months). The more aged a gouda cheese is, the less creamily it will blend into the soup.

Step-by-Step Directions

For complete instructions, please check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

1. Roughly chop all vegetables and add to a sheet pan with oil and seasonings. Roast until tender.
2. Peel charred peels away from red bell peppers and discard the peels. Add the peppers, carrots, and onions to a pot.
3. Squeeze all of the roasted garlic out of the bulb and into the pot.
4. Add broth and heat soup over medium-low heat.
5. Puree soup with an immersion blender (careful – it’ll be hot!).
6. Stir in gouda until melted. Finish with apple cider vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Expert Tips

• The gouda can’t be aged. You know how parmesan cheese is a harder cheese and doesn’t dissolve very easily? That’s because it’s an aged cheese. Some gouda cheeses are not aged more than a few months – those are perfect for your soup! But if you have a strong, aged gouda, don’t melt it into the soup – I’d recommend just serving on top, instead.
• No need to peel the carrots – just give them a good scrub!
• Keep the garlic in the bulb, but slice the top off. This will protect the majority of the garlic clove, but expose a small bit to let some oil and seasonings seep in while the garlic is roasting.
• Wait until the peppers can be easily handled before peeling their skins off!
• Bell peppers are properly roasted when there’s a little char. So don’t be alarmed if you see some black, charred spots on the pepper skin – that’s why you peel the skin off!
• Discard any burnt vegetable pieces. If you chop your onions and carrots large enough, this won’t be an issue. But occasionally, a small piece of onion may get stuck to the pan on its lonesome, charring it heavily. Just discard any pieces like that!
• Puree longer than you think you need to. Seriously – 1 to 2 minutes. Maybe even 2-3 minutes if your immersion blender is old and not performing at its prime anymore. And yes – time it. 🙂

Substitutions & Variations

• Any onion works! I used a yellow onion, but white, sweet, red, even shallots – it all works!
• Baby carrots are fine! If that’s what you have on hand, use it!
• Gluten-free: This soup is naturally gluten-free, just so long as your broth is gluten-free.
• Broth: using vegetable broth keeps this soup vegetarian, but if you prefer chicken broth or bone broth, you can use those, too (note that bone and beef broths are darker and will result in a darker soup, too).
• Spicy: If you like a little heat, add 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes to the roasting vegetables on the sheet pan. You can also add a teaspoon or two or Sriracha to the soup, if you prefer.
• Toppings: Toppings are always so fun with soup! Naturally, I added more shredded Gouda to my soup, along with some freshly chopped parsley. You can use basil, parsley, rosemary, thyme, a spoonful of sour cream or Greek yogurt, crostini or croutons – have fun with it!

Storage, Freezing, & Reheating

• Storage: Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge.
• Freezing: Freeze in individual portions (and don’t forget to date and label them, so you know what they are and how long they’ve been there if they get lost in the back of the freezer!). Then freeze in airtight, freezer-safe containers or bags for up to 3 months.
• Reheating: This roasted red pepper gouda soup can be reheated in a small pot on the soup (you may need to add a splash of water or broth), or reheated in the microwave for 60-90 seconds.

Supplies You’ll Need

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• Sheet pan
• Large pot
• Immersion blender

More Recipes You’ll Love

• Bone Broth Chicken Soup
• Cashew Carrot Ginger Soup
• Balsamic Lentil Stew
• Black Bean Salsa Soup

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