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Southwestern Soup Sabroso Recipe | Gluten Free with Vegan and Sugar Free Options

Southwestern Soup Sabroso

Being from the North where it gets pretty chilly, I grew up eating a lot of different soups. I love that they are so versatile and easy to throw together, plus they freeze well. When my husband was deployed and I was pregnant, I would make several batches of soup when I had the energy and froze them in serving sizes to feed my 3-year-old and myself without having to cook or eat out after the baby was born. Soup is almost always a perfect dish for the winter, but it can also be delicious and refreshing in the summer, especially when you add garden fresh summer squash!

Okay, I’ll admit it—I am not the greatest at coming up with dinner all the time; I try to plan ahead but often forget ingredients or run out of time or forget to make a meal and mess my schedule up. I find myself wasting foods we purchase because the go bad, they don’t fit into the recipes I usually cook, or I simply forget I have them in the house. One of my goals is to waste less and get creative with meals using what I already have sitting around and that is how my Southwestern Soup Sabroso was created. When we had visited family recently, my grandma sent us home with some fresh zucchini from a local farm. I wanted to use it up before it spoiled and I have an excess of canned beans and had no meat in the house at the time so I decided to make a vegetable soup. I added some rice to make it more filling.

This soup is well-rounded with vegetables, proteins, and grains. It is very filling while low in calories.

Are you on a vegan or gluten-free diet? Look towards the bottom for a tip on how to make this soup satisfy your dietary needs!

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup sweet onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 zucchini, half coins or quarters
  • 4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
  • 1 yellow pepper, chopped
  • 1 cup yellow corn, frozen
  • 1 can, 14.5 oz, crushed tomatoes
  • 1 can, 14.5 oz, diced tomatoes
  • 1 teaspoon fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • Dash of black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 can, 15.5 oz, Navy beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can, 15.5 oz, red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can, 15.5 oz, black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 cups white rice, cooked (1 cup uncooked)

Directions

1. In a large pot add the oil and onion. Sauté on medium heat, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes, until it begins to become translucent.

Saute Onions

2. Add the garlic and continue to cook, stirring frequently, for 1-2 more minutes.

Saute Onions and Garlic

3. Stir in the zucchini and cook another 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Saute Onions Garlic Zucchini

4. Pour the chicken broth into the pot to deglaze the bottom, then add the bell peppers, corn, (carrots, if replacing the sugar in step 5**), and tomatoes.

Southwestern Soup Sabroso Add Tomato

5. Stir in the sugar, cilantro, salt, pepper, cumin, cayenne, chili powder, and paprika. Adjust the seasonings to your personal taste. This recipe is intentionally lower in salt and spice, so you may want to add more if you’re like me and love big flavor. Note: the flavors will not come through much on your taste test until it has cooked together a bit, so start with the recommended amount unless you’re a natural at seasoning.

Southwestern Soup Sabroso Add Spices

6. Bring to a simmer, then mix in the beans.

7. Reduce to low and cook uncovered for 20-25 minutes until the zucchini is tender and you can insert a fork. Be sure not to overcook so the zucchini does not become mushy.

Southwest Soup Sabroso Add Beans

8. Serve over rice in a bowl (unless you’ve chosen to cook the rice in). You can even add toppings like sour cream, avocado, tortilla chips, cheddar cheese, jalapeños, or add what my son did—Goldfish crackers!

Southwest Soup Sabroso Spoonful

Bonus Tip: On a vegan or sugar free diet?

Make these quick alterations to fit your needs:

To make this dish vegan, replace the chicken broth with your favorite vegetable broth. Simple as that! Using a vegetable broth will change the flavor of this dish, so you may want to try adding more seasonings or leaving out the crushed tomatoes to compensate for the flavor differences. Make your own vegetable broth, or try the vegetable bouillon powder at this link (affiliate link), recommended by a friend of mine!

To make this dish sugar free, simply replace the sugar with a sugar free alternative. The purpose of the sugar is to cut back on the acidity from the tomatoes. A perfect replacement is a handful of minced carrots.

See more great suggestions on the recipe card below.

BONUS Bonus Tip: Have leftovers and don’t want to waste them? This dish freezes well! I would suggest leaving out the rice when you freeze the soup and add fresh rice after you reheat it.

Southwestern Soup Sabroso Recipe
Southwestern Soup Sabroso
Yield: 16 servings

Southwestern Soup Sabroso

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

This Southwestern Soup Sabroso is a beautifully colorful soup with a mild flavor (though you can pump up the flavor as desired). Vegan, sugar free, and grain free alternatives are suggested at the bottom.

Instructions

  1. In a large pot add the oil and onion. Sauté on medium heat, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes, until it begins to become translucent.
  2. Add the garlic and continue to cook, stirring frequently, for 1-2 more minutes.
  3. Stir in the zucchini and cook another 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
  4. Pour the chicken broth into the pot to deglaze the bottom, then add the bell peppers, corn, (carrots, if replacing the sugar in step 5**), and tomatoes.
  5. Stir in the sugar**, cilantro, salt, pepper, cumin, cayenne, chili powder, and paprika. Adjust the seasonings to your personal taste. Note: the flavors will not come through much until it has cooked a bit, so start with the recommended amount unless you're a natural at seasoning.
  6. Bring to a simmer, then mix in the beans.
  7. Reduce to low and cook uncovered for 20-25 minutes until the zucchini is tender and you can insert a fork. Be sure not to overcook so the zucchini does not become mushy.
  8. Serve over rice in a bowl. Feel like customizing? Add toppings like sour cream, avocado, tortilla chips, cheddar cheese, jalapeños, or add what my son did—Goldfish crackers!

Notes

* To make this vegan, substitute your favorite vegetable broth for the chicken broth.

** To make this sugar free, add a handful of minced carrots instead of sugar. This is a natural source of sweetness and will still cut down the acidity, just as the sugar is intended to do.

*** To go grain free, simply omit the rice. Alternatively, you could use riced cauliflower or something similar. I like to use a small amount of brown rice now, personally.

If you're short on time, you can add uncooked rice directly to the soup when you have about 10-15 minutes of cook time left. Keep in mind, the rice will soak up the broth this way and may take longer to cook, so the soup will be thicker and the zucchini may get soft if cooked too long.

This soup is low on seasoning to make it family-friendly. If you're like me and you like more spice, you can increase the spices in the whole soup or add some hot sauce or thin slices of jalapeño to individual bowls at the time of serving.

Out of a certain type of bean? No problem! You can use any variety of beans you like. I like having multiple colors, sizes and textures, but sometimes I will substitute. The last time we made this, I used pink beans instead of kidney beans!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

16

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 158Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 451mgCarbohydrates: 27gFiber: 7gSugar: 4gProtein: 8g

This nutrition information is auto-generated. Nutritional values may change with specific items and brands used, so manual calculation is recommended if exact nutritional counts are needed.

-What is your favorite zucchini dish? Be sure to check out my Cinnamon Apple Zucchini Muffins recipe!

9 Comments

  1. Looks tasty!! Thank you for the recipe!

  2. Looks delicious and healthy. Thank you!

  3. this is great! i love southwestern-style recipes!

  4. This recipe looks delicious! I love trying new soups!

  5. Pingback: Gluten-Free White Turkey Chili Recipe | Leftover Turkey Recipes

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