Baked Feta & Veggie Soup

Baked Feta & Veggie Soup is the perfect way to take advantage of seasonal spring vegetables but with a trendy twist. Baked feta is all the rage, so we roasted it with beautifully green and vitamin-packed asparagus, leeks and fresh English peas. We piled on the antioxidants with spinach and roasted garlic and blended it all together to make the creamiest soup with a richness and balance not found in a store-bought soup. Fresh dill, cracked black pepper and Greek yogurt are the finishing flourishes of a soup you’ll want to make all season long. Keep reading for our expert tips on how to prep your vegetables for maximum roasted flavor and more.

Tips from the EatingWell Test Kitchen

These are the key tips we learned while developing and testing this recipe in our Test Kitchen to make sure it works, tastes great and is good for you too! 

• To save on prep time, consider using pre-trimmed asparagus, bagged peas and peeled garlic cloves.
• Roasting the vegetables enhances and adds depth to their natural flavors.
• Adding fresh baby spinach while blending gives the soup a bright green color. 
• Feel free to use any combination of vegetables and herbs. Basil and roasted shallots would taste great in this soup. And our recipe method is ideal for making creamy tomato soup with feta and cherry tomatoes.

Nutrition Notes

• Asparagus comes in white and green varieties, but green is definitely more available. You’ll get great nutritious benefits with both. Asparagus is heart-healthy—it’s filled with potassium, which helps to lower blood pressure. Asparagus is also rich in an antioxidant called glutathione, which is something our body makes and also gets from food. Glutathione is extremely important to help calm both acute and chronic inflammation from illness.
• Feta cheese is a sheep’s-milk cheese that has a tangy flavor. It falls between a soft and a hard cheese, which means it’s slightly lower in calories than a hard cheese, but still contains a good amount of calcium—great for your bones and muscle contraction. It’s high in sodium, so if you are watching your salt intake, use it sparingly. 
• Peas are packed with nutrition. A source of plant protein, peas can help augment your animal proteins when you are working to increase dietary protein to build and maintain muscle. Peas are also an excellent source of fiber, which is helpful for your digestive system and for maintaining the health of your microbiome. 
• Spinach, whether frozen or fresh, like in this recipe, should be a staple ingredient in your kitchen. It is an excellent source of vitamin A, which is essential for reproductive health and immune function. It also has two carotenoid antioxidants, lutein and zeaxanthin, both helpful for healthy vision.