Soup season has arrived, which means looking forward (assuming you're a fan) to months of dishing up everything from avgolemono to chili. In that spirit, we urge you to add a one unbelievably flavorful vegetable soup to your rotation. With the right combination of aromatics and veggies, simple supermarket produce easily transforms into this slightly rustic, super-satisfying meal.
Legendary French chef Eric Ripert shared with us this recipe for vegetable bouillabaisse from his latest cookbook, Mindful Cooking. "With the traditional aromatics that make up the base of a classic bouillabaisse — Provençal seafood stew — you don’t even miss the fish," Ripert writes. "The potatoes, tomato, and fennel make it hearty enough to eat on its own, but I often like to serve it with a toasted baguette slice topped with aïoli." Best of all, despite its chef-worthy flavor, this beautiful, veggie-packed stew is entirely doable for a home cook, with straightforward steps and no hard-to-find seafood to worry about.
There are a few techniques that take this meal from traditional to transcendent. For starters? "It’s important to really cook down the garlic and leeks so you’re not left with an overbearing raw garlic taste," Ripert says. And some fun, very French ingredients make this dish even more irresistible: "The nonnegotiable splash of Pernod and sprinkle of saffron evoke many fond memories of evenings spent in Provence." If you can't escape to Marseille on a whim, think of this dish as the next best thing.
Vegetable Bouillabaisse
Author: Eric Ripert
Prep Time: 17 min
Cook Time: 45 min
Calories: 320 calories per serving
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 8 small Yukon gold potatoes, washed
- Fine sea salt
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 medium leek, white part only, rinsed and chopped
- 1 large fennel bulb, trimmed and diced (if your fennel includes fronds, reserve for garnish), and 4 baby fennel bulbs, trimmed and halved lengthwise, or another large fennel bulb, outer layer removed and cut into eighths
- 1½ teaspoons saffron threads
- 1 large tomato, peeled, seeded, and diced
- Freshly ground white pepper
- ½ cup Pernod
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 4½ cups water
- 8 cherry tomatoes
Directions
- Place the potatoes in a medium saucepan and fill with enough water to cover the potatoes by 1 inch. Season generously with salt and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are easily pierced by the tip of a knife.
- Drain and let cool to room temperature, then using the tip of a paring knife, carefully remove the skins from the potatoes. Set aside the potatoes.
- Put a large saucepan over medium-high heat and drizzle in the olive oil. When the oil starts to shimmer, stir in the garlic, leek, diced fennel, and saffron. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the vegetables start to turn translucent.
- Add the tomato and cook for an additional 2 minutes or so, or until it softens and starts to release its liquid. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the Pernod and simmer for about 3 minutes, or until reduced by half. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for an additional 2 minutes.
- Add the water and bring to a simmer; gently simmer for 15 minutes to infuse the flavors.
- Add the baby fennel and cook for about 8 minutes, or until softened. Stir in the cooked potatoes and cherry tomatoes and cook until warm. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Divide the broth and vegetables evenly among four shallow soup bowls. Just before serving, garnish the pieces of potato sticking up out of the broth with fennel fronds, if using, and serve immediately.
Excerpted from Mindful Cooking copyright © 2026 by Eric Ripert. Photography copyright by Nigel Parry. Used by permission of Random House an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
