I find March to be a sort of in between strange time of the year.
We’ve sprung ahead an hour and the official spring season starts in a couple days, but in most places in America, it’s still wintery. I know that you northeasterners just had a snow storm, and it’s looking like there’s a good chance for more snow this week.
Meanwhile in the San Diego area, last weekend we had a rainy Saturday – and not even just a drizzle here and there. It was a full-blown rainy day like the rest of the country often gets. We’ve also had some daytime temperatures in the 50s lately, which is pretty much as cold as it gets here (no complaints here).
So, even though it’s about to be springtime, I find myself craving soup throughout March and sometimes well into the season. I love having soup for dinner, and since I’ve made my go-to soup recipes more times than I can count in the past bunch of months, I decided to create something new.
My criteria for this soup recipe? It had to 1.) be easy to make, 2.) be healthy & produce-packed, 3.) require only a handful of ingredients, and 4.) be tasty, of course.
This tomato soup certainly fits the bill! The base of it is an easy tomato soup made with cans of diced tomatoes, and then I added in some pasta to make it heartier, as well as some zucchini to give it some veggie power.
Thanks to some shortcuts, like using diced tomato cans that have basil, oregano & garlic and using a vegetable bouillon cube for spice flavor, this soup is simple to whip up. It’s ready in less than 30 minutes, and I like serving it with some fresh bread for dunking.
Next time you’re in the mood for a bowl of warm, comforting soup, I hope that you give this soup recipe a try!
Easy Tomato, Pasta & Zucchini Soup
Ingredients
- 2-14- oz cans of diced tomatoes with basil oregano & garlic
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 medium zucchini
- 6 oz mini farfalle 2 cups dry, or other short shaped pasta
- 1/2 yellow onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
- 1 vegetable bouillon cube
- Optional: fresh basil and/or grated parmesan or cashew cheese for topping
Instructions
- Warm olive oil in a large pot over medium low. Mince garlic and onion, and chop zucchini.
- Add garlic and onion to the pan, and sauté until lightly browned, 3-5 minutes.
- Add zucchini to the pan and sauté for 5 minutes.
- While that's cooking, place the diced tomato chunks in a blender. Pulse for just a few seconds, until tomatoes are mostly pureed.
- Add the broth, vegetable bouillon cube, and tomatoes to the pot. Increase the heat and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Add in the pasta. Cook until it's al dente and the soup is at a desired consistency, around 7 minutes.
- Top with fresh basil and/or cheese, and serve with fresh bread if you'd like.
Nutrition
And if you’re looking for a soup that uses a lot of in-season spring veggies, try out my creamy spring veggie & asparagus puree soup. I just made it for dinner last night!
Tell me… What kind of soup have you been eating lately? What are you looking forward to in spring?
Tomato soup is so good! I like the idea of adding pasta to it and that it’s fast to make. I will be trying it!
Thanks, Lauren! This is a great one to whip up during busy weekday nights.
This looks delicious, Nicole! As I leave this comment, it’s currently snowing outside…the 3rd Nor’easter in 2 weeks. I’m over it! And I see the long-term forecast is calling for more of the white stuff (that’s the nicest term I have for it right now) next week. You grew up over here…so you know the love-hate relationship with snow! I’m thinking a bowl of this soup would be perfect for after the latest round of snow shoveling. Great photos, by the way! 🙂
Ahh yes, this is the time of year when everyone is OVER the snow!! I can’t believe how many snow storms the northeast has gotten lately. I hope that you have an absolutely gorgeous springtime ahead to make up for the grueling winter!!
This is the perfect recipe for this time of year! I love pasta and I love easy dinners!
You are the queen of making awesome 30-minute dinner recipes, Izzy! 🙂
Can I move to San Diego, please? We are lucky to have a high of 50 degrees here. It feels like winter is lasting forever, UGH.
I guess I can stand it to eat more soup for a bit. 😉
You are the queen of easy soups and this one looks delicious!
Thank you lady! Springtime will hopefully make a glorious appearance very soon by you.. 😉
oooo this soup is calling my name! I love would a huge bowl! It’s been so chilly again here lately (it had warmed up and just when I thought winter was over, bam! So cold!!! haha)
The crazy temperature swings can drive me nuts, so I hear you! I hope that you try this recipe out!
March is a confusing time of year…I don’t know how to dress from one day to the next! Now it’s nice and light out late yet the weather is crazy — we had a hail storm today! Needless to say it’s soup weather and this is looking really delicious Nicole!
Wow, a hail storm?! I haven’t seen one of those in awhile. Oh yes, it’s definitely still soup season… and I’m still whipping them up several times a week!
The soup was perfect. I was delighted to see you instructed to puree the tomatoes, since I had my garden San Marzano’s bottled from last year…pureed. I just harvested my garlic and had fresh basil. To top it off, I had Bow tie pasta. Thank you so much for this one. Greetings from Prince Edward Island, Canada
Thanks for commenting – I love to hear this. That’s awesome that you used so many ingredients that you harvested yourself!
taste great and looks great I highly recommend this soup. it’s great for cold weather and healthy again I highly recommend this altho
it could use a little pepper