Plant-Based Hungarian Potato Soup (Krumplileves)

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Plant-Based Hungarian Potato Soup is hearty and flavorful. It's the perfect simple cold-weather dish. Gluten-free, oil-free, and vegan!

A bowl of plant-based Hungarian potato soup topped with tempeh and garnished with parsley.

As I'm diving more into Hungarian cooking, I'm learning how simple it is. Many of the recipes use only a few ingredients, but they are still SO flavorful.

It's kind of an analogy to plant-based cooking. Plant-based dishes often use simple ingredients, but you prepare them in a way that makes them taste amazing. It's so beautiful how food is actually delicious in its basic form. You don't need to process or add to the foods to make them good. It's like God made them exactly how we need them. Crazy!

This particular dish is pretty simple. It's potato soup at it's core. Just some diced potatoes and a few vegetables for flavor. Plus paprika, of course.

A Hungarian cook might add sausage or some sort of meat to this simple soup, so I decided to add a plant-based version of sausage. I used tempeh, which naturally has that sausage texture. And it tastes amazing!

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Recipe Features
Ingredient Notes
How to make Plant-Based Hungarian Potato Soup
Tips and FAQs
Recipe Prayer
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Recipe Features

Dietary needs - this recipe is plant-based, oil-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free
Perfect main dish or appetizer- this soup is hearty, especially with the addition of the tempeh sausage, but it can also be served as a first course before a larger meal
Twist on a classic - this soup is modeled after the traditional Hungarian potato soup, krumplileves, and has a few tweaks to make it completely plant-based

Ingredient Notes

There are two parts to this recipe: the soup and the "sausage". Since we cook the tempeh sausage first, I'll go through those ingredients first.

Tempeh

The goal of the tempeh sausage is to emulate a sausage texture in the soup. And to add some extra protein and heartiness that sausage would provide. Tempeh is pretty bland by itself, so we'll add a few spices to help give it some flavor!

Tempeh: Tempeh is a block of fermented soy beans. When you crumble it up it resembles sausage in texture. And it packs a punch of protein!
Vegetable Broth: We'll marinade the tempeh in some vegetable broth - it will soak up all the liquid.
Smoked Paprika: Paprika is a classic Hungarian spice. I chose smoked paprika to give the tempeh some extra oomph.
Minced Garlic: Garlic adds that pungent umami flavor.
Salt: Salt enhances other flavors, so it really brings out the paprika and garlic flavors.

Soup

After prepping the tempeh, the next step is the soup itself! It only has a few simple ingredients, but boy do they create a beautiful flavor.

Yellow Potatoes: Most Hungarian recipes call for "potatoes" but don't specify the type. You can use basic white potatoes, like russets. But I chose yellow potatoes for some extra creaminess and flavor. I asked my Hungarian grandma if this was okay and she said yes! She actually suggested yellow potatoes.
Vegetable Broth: Traditional Hungarian recipes call for a roux using lard. We'll replace the lard with vegetable broth. Look for a veggie broth that had no added sugar.
Oat Flour: The other part of a roux is the flour. I used oat flour because it is easy to make at home and can be naturally gluten-free. Any flour you have will work.
Paprika: It's not Hungarian unless you use ALL the paprika. We'll use more paprika in the soup to get that sweet, peppery flavor.
Red Onion: you could also use a yellow or white onion.
Green Pepper: I chose green pepper for color, and to balance out the red pepper from the paprika. You could use any color pepper you'd like.
Parsley: Parsley adds an element of freshness to an otherwise heavy soup. Don't skip it!

Plant-Based Hungarian Potato Soup Ingredients

How to make Plant-Based Hungarian Potato Soup

Step 1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Step 2. In a small bowl, mix the tempeh, 2 tablespoons of vegetable broth, smoked paprika, garlic, and salt. Arrange on the baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, until crispy.

Step 3. Meanwhile, cook the potatoes for 1-2 minutes in the pot with the flour, remaining vegetable broth, and paprika.

Step 4. Add 4 cups water, the onion, and green pepper to the potatoes. Simmer until tender, around 15 minutes.

Step 5. Roughly chop the parsley and stir it into the soup. Taste and season with salt.

Step 6. To serve, ladle into bowls. Add your desired amount of tempeh to each bowl. Sprinkle with paprika and additional parsley. Enjoy!

Tips and FAQs

Preparation

If you want, you can prepare and cook the tempeh ahead of time. It's easy to just add into the soup at the end.

Storage

Store this Plant-Based Hungarian Potato Soup in an air-tight container in the fridge. I recommend leaving the tempeh in a separate container until you're ready to eat. That way the tempeh won't get soggy.

Recipe Prayer

Praise Jesus for this meal. Let this soup nourish our bodies and keep us healthy. Amen.

Soup is great! Here's some more tasty plant-based soups for you to try:

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