Roasted rutabaga soup is beautiful simplicity, and a super kid friendly creamy soup way to get mineral rich veggies in!
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Beautiful simplicity…
If you haven’t noticed from the last year of recipe posts on the blog, our family is most definitely knee deep in pre-teen and teen years. I’m so happy to hear from so many of you with teens, that you are pumped about the help you are getting from this space as my girls make their way through their teenage years. It’s interesting though…when I really stop to think about it, we aren’t truly doing a whole lot differently than when they were very little. Sure, we have to double (and triple!) the portions and recipe sizes for bigger kids, but my M.O. has always, always been…beautiful simplicity.
Nourishing soup for ANY age!
Because those big kids in the picture above? They still eat the same power packed soups that I fed them as little ones. The pictures below? Dear momma with little ones at home, please let this be your inspiration…and motivation! Those babies in your house are absolutely *blank slates* for developing taste palates! I’m gonna get all tough love on you, and promise that if you skip the toddler puffs and cereal, and go for the beautiful simplicity of a little mug of veggie soup, you will be rewarded with older kids that actually *ask* for certain veggie soups in their thermoses for school lunch. My 3 very different personality kiddos are living proof! So let’s learn how to make a very simple veggie soup that your little ones (and you too, momma!) can sip from a mug, slurp up from a bowl, or lick off a spoon!
Why rutabaga?
Well other than the absolute budget saver that this simple root veggie is, rutabagas are packed with fiber and vitamin C. They have the perfect balance of minerals including potassium which so many of us and our kids need more of! The slow burning carbohydrates give busy, growing kids the energy they need, and that coupled with a load of antioxidants? Well, let’s just say sometimes I think the humblest of foods sometimes don’t get enough credit!
Yes, rutabagas are absolutely divine!
At least when you know how to cook them they are! Rutabagas are just like every other root veggie, in that when you roast them, you’re going to get a slightly sweet, very satisfying starchy taste, that any little one that hasn’t been inundated with sugar will find very, very appealing. And when you blend it up with some bone broth? Those natural, slow burning starches make for a smooth, creamy, very potato soup like texture, and a sweet root vegetable flavor. So let’s learn how to make roasted rutabaga soup!
The Method :: Prepping the veggies
To get your soup started, peel and chop your rutabaga. The skin is super thin, so a simple peeler is all you need. And since this soup gets completely pureed in the end, no precision cutting skills are needed here! Just a coarse chop, and you’re ready to roast. This bods well for busy families, new mommas with active toddlers, and those newer to cooking!
The Method :: Roasting the veggies
Once the veggies are chopped, transfer them to a large baking sheet. If your baking sheets are smaller, simply use two of them! Toss the veggies with melted butter or olive oil and sea salt, then let the oven do the rest! While your veggies are roasting, you can change the baby’s diaper, read the toddler that book, or *gasp!* take that shower you have been trying to get in all day!
The Method :: Finishing the soup
When the veggies are soft and starting to caramelize, you can blend it with your bone broth and a little cream or coconut milk. That is literally it! You get to control the texture and thickness! Add or subtract more or less broth to get a thicker or thinner soup.
Tips for feeding soup to little ones
Here are some thoughts to keep in mind when serving soup to babies, toddlers, and younger children!
- Serve the soup at a cooler temp than you would probably enjoy the soup. Hot soup is very intense for little ones, and I always found that they ate soup better at pretty close to room temp. That might gross you out, but they will eat it better! You can cool it off with an ice cube, or pop it in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes.
- Try different serving vessels! Most little ones like to “do it myself” so try a very small tea cup with a straw or small spoon. Or a smaller bowl. They may even prefer to drink it from a cup or sippy.
- Some little ones love to dunk! Make some grilled cheese and cut it into strips for dunking, use some crackers or pita bread, or toast up some tortillas in a hot pan as “chips” to dunk.
Don’t forget about the school aged kids and teens!
These are the soups that my kids live for! Easy to eat and super yummy! The girls used to pack straws with their thermoses of soup when they were younger. My teens either drink it right out of the thermos like a cup, or pack a spoon now. But the possibilities are endless, really. Pack whatever sides and protein they need to go with it! Below are chicken quesadillas from dinner and some apples. My teens packed some more chicken quesadillas, as well as guacamole to dip the quesadillas in.
Serving suggestions and freezer friendly tips!
I just love soups like this for the versatility and because they freeze for later use so well. When I had very little ones at home, those 2 points were game changers. If your little one loves this soup, it is versatile enough to serve in a little mug with a plate of eggs for breakfast, or in a bowl with some grilled cheese dunkers for lunch! And if you want to double up and freeze, that just makes life that much easier during busy weeks that you don’t have time to be in the kitchen. I like using these SOUPER freezer cubes for soups that I want to portion out for little ones.
Creamy Roasted Rutabaga Soup :: Gluten & Dairy Free
Ingredients
- 2 small/medium onions coarsely sliced into strips
- 3 cloves of garlic peeled and left whole
- 1 rutabaga peeled and cut into 1-inch sticks
- ½ large head of cauliflower coarsely chopped
- 4 tbsp olive oil or melted butter I like to use a combination of both olive oil and butter for the flavor
- 1 ½ tsp sea salt
- 1– 1 ½ quarts bone broth depending on how thick you want the soup
- ¼ cup coconut milk if you tolerate dairy, cream or milk works too
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees
- Toss the onions, garlic, rutabaga, and cauliflower on a large sheet pan with the olive oil and sea salt. Roast at 425 degrees for 45 minutes, until the veggies are soft.
- Blend the roasted veggies in a high speed blender with the bone broth and coconut milk until smooth. If you do not have a high speed blender, you can pour the veggies and broth into a large soup pot and blend with and immersion blender.
- Season the soup with sea salt and pepper to taste. I like cracked black pepper to garnish, or a drizzle of olive oil.
