Today's clear soup recipe is a common dish in central European, Austrian and German, cuisine.
To make the clear broth soup from scratch is super easy. You can add dumplings and noodles to enrich your dining experience.
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What is a Clear Soup?
This particular soup is prepared with whole fresh root vegetables and spices. The soup seasoning is subtle and for someone who's used to spicy food, it might taste a bit plain.
The Clear Soup, Klare Suppe in German, is also called a consommé in German.
Which is a bit miss leading, as Consommé usually involves egg whites to get rid of impurities. It comes from French cuisine.
It is strained through a fine sieve or a plain cotton muslin cloth to get rid of impurities and to clear it completely. The result is a flavorful clear soup.
Ingredients
For a vegetable-based clear soup, you will need a set of vegetables.
The soup requires flavor giving root vegetables. This can be a combination of carrots, celery roots, parsley roots, onions, and leeks.
Some root vegetable root varieties are not suitable for this because they don't give the right flavor to the dish. This includes beets, radish, potatoes, turnip, and fennel.
Spices and fresh Herbs
The spices used in the clear soup recipe have been essentially picked in such a way that they all have a certain purpose for our health.
- Bay Leaf: Treats a cold well and helps you to digest
- Juniper Berry: Anti-bacterial, increases appetite and improves digestion as well
- Nutmeg: Increases immune system function, reliefs pain and detoxifies
- Black Pepper: Anti-bacterial, respiratory relief and supports your digestion
- Parsley: Boost the immune system and aids digestion
You can also add allspice, lovage, and celery seeds to your soup to season it further.
Process Overview
Here is an overview of how to make this clear broth soup from scratch with fresh ingredients.
Step 1
Prep and cut vegetables.
Heat up a large soup pot and sauté vegetables.
Step 2
Pour water to vegetables and season with spices.
Cook the soup. The soup needs to be reduced and infuse with the ingredients.
Step 3
Strain soup when ready. You can use the vegetables for something else like a mash.
Serve up hot.
📖 Recipe
Clear Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound Root Vegetables *see Notes and Post
- 1 Onion
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- ½ gallon Water
- 1 large Bay Leaf or 2 small
- a few Parsley Fresh
- ¼ Teaspoon Nutmeg
- 7 Juniper Berries
- 10 Black Peppercorn Whole
- Lovage, Allspice or Celery Seeds optional
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Rinse your root vegetables to get rid of impurities. Cut them into chunks and slice onion.
- Heat up a large soup pot with the oil and saute onion slices.
- Stir in the vegetables and saute for a short time to bring out the flavors.
- Add the water and season with bay leaves, nutmeg, black peppercorn, and juniper berries. You can also season with lovage, celery seeds, and allspice seeds if you have any.
- Bring the soup to a boil, and give it a quick stir. Keep on a steady medium heat setting.
- Cook and reduce soup, it will infuse all the more over time. This can take 60-80 mins.
- Season with salt when it's done cooking.
- Strain soup with a fine sieve or cheesecloth. We use the veggies in another dish (vegetable mash, casserole dish,...)
- Bring the strained soup back to the heat. Keep it hot until serving time.
- Serve as is or with dumplings or noodles (see post for ideas).
Notes
- Root vegetables can be a combination of fresh carrots, celery root, parsley root and leeks
- You can also add a few leaves of lovage (fresh, frozen or dried), 1 teaspoon of celery seeds or a 3-5 allspice seeds.
- See post for ideas on how to use this broth
Nutrition
Serving
A clear broth soup is served in German and Austrian homes and inns (called Gasthaus), either plain as is or with dumplings and noodles.
It's a common all-year-round soup, served on Mondays because Monday is a meatless Monday and people call it a Mehlspeißen (flour dishes) day.
The addition of dumplings or savory pancakes, cut in strips, is called a Suppeneinlage. Just in case if you ever venture to taste local foods in Vienna or Salzburg.
In our house, the clear soup made its appearance always on Sunday nights, and it would usually be served with Wiener sausages cut in.
The clear soup is meant to give the body warmth from within on cold days. It's a concentrated broth.
The soup gives your body much-needed strength after a hard-working day. When served as a plain starter, the clear soup is considered a stomach tease. So to say it's preparing your hungry stomach for the main meal to come.
The soup is also traditionally served up after a funeral with a sausage and a bread roll.
Uses
- Add Grießknödel - semolina dumplings
- Add Schöberl with Herbs - biscuit dumplings with herbs
- Add Semmelnödel - classic bread dumplings
- Add Pressknödel - flattened cheese dumplings
- Add Fritatten - savory pancake cut into strips
- With egg noodles
- As a broth to make other soups such as a green turnip soup
- Add Tibetan Momo dumplings or Chinese dumplings to it
- add sausage as in Wiener sausage
- add noodles as in ABC noodles or Pastina
Storing & Leftovers
Keep leftovers in an airtight container in your fridge. It keeps well for days.
You can freeze the soup in batches, too. To reheat, just place in a pot over the stove and heat until it has melted, and it's hot, ready to be served.
The vegetable leftovers, separated from the broth, can be used in another dish.
You can turn the veggies into a mash or add it to a casserole dish or make a sauce of it. Just make sure to pick out the whole spices from your vegetables.
Is this soup appropriate for a diverticulitis clear liquid diet?
Hi Lauri, Theoretically yes, but I'm not sure if you can have all the spices used in this particular recipe. So, I recommend showing this recipe to your doctor and show the doctor also this healing clear broth soup. It's another clear broth soup, and it contains ginger and turmeric, which may be helpful. A doctor can tell you exactly if these two soups are good on a diverticulitis diet.
Hi - Im wonderig this for the same reaon -did you do the liquid diet and did it work??
I think, so you should consult a dietician or your doctor. Not everybody is built the same, so what might be good for one might not be that great for another.
Hello, I am not familiar with juniper berries. Where can I purchase them? Or possible substitution.
Thanks, Janel
Hi Janel, you can't substitute juniper berries because they taste quite uniquely. But you can purchase juniper berries online. Large grocery stores or specialized spice stores should carry them too. I hope this helps.
Wow this is my kind of recipe! This soup looks so easy to make and looks delicious with those dumplings!
I love clear soup since I like things not over cooked, this is the perfect kinda soup for me.
Homemade soup is always best. What a great post on getting it clear. I have never tried it, but now I know how it is done. Thanks...it will come in handy for sure.
I love how thoroughly you explained this soup! It's such a healthful, classic recipe and perfect for the fall and winter months!
I love to serve consomme before dinner during the winter. This is great when you don't want a hearty soup. My favorite is with dumplings. Great photos!
This looks awesome, Helene. It is actually one of my staples in the wintertime. Sometimes it is only vegetable-based and sometimes it is bone-broth, but it is always so wonderful. Like most professional kitchens, I generally save my veggie-scraps in the freezer and use them (I did a post a while ago calling it Compost Broth!) I also use a reusable gold coffee filter to strain the broth from bits and sediment. I wash the veggies very well and even save garlic and onion skins, they make a beautiful richly coloured broth.
I love how beautiful your broth looks with the dumplings (my absolute favourite).
The Coffee filter straining idea is genius! How did I not think of that! Ironically, I have a batch of coffee filters which I could just use for that. I am going to check out your post! I will repost the dumplings, they are off-line now, but will be up again soon,, as I would like to re-take some pictures.
Helene, this looks like a broth my mother made... semonlina dumplings are an old old favourite of mine and yours look exquisitely cloud like, light and delicious!
I just made this soup or consomme and it was wonderful and nourishing.
Can you post your recipe for wiener schnitzel.
Also, I love apfelstrudel.
So happy to know that you enjoyed the soup! Yes Wiener Schnitzel is on the plan, I will post it soon. The Apfelstrudel was one of my first recipes that I had posted here, yet I am planning to repost it with a proper picture and some useful step by step pictures. So stay tuned. 😉
Hi Helene,
This looks wonderful! This is my kind of food. Love it!
I love this, those dumplings look wonderful.
Oh my goodness... this soup looks incredible and those semolina dumplings are fabulous!
I had dumplings like this in Munich last year and wondered how to make them. These look divine!
I am absolutely craving this soup right now, Helene. It's absolutely hideous outside and I still have my cold hanging on for at least 3 months now. I had forgotten about this type of dumpling, my dear Mom used to make it for us when we were kids.
I love any sort of brothy soup - they are my favorite. This one sounds so full of flavor...and I love your addition of dumplings.
i love a good consomme! This looks delicious
I love consommé whenever I'm not feeling well and those dumplings look divine.
Something to try! Maybe I will go for a beef broth though...
Never knew about the sunday supper chat on twitter -- thanks for the info. This is a comforting bowl of delicious soup!
both the soup and the dumplings must be a delicious combo.
This is labour of love, Helene. The soup must be very fresh and delicious.
Semolina dumplings are perfectly shaped.
Beautiful, Helene! Consommé is very popular in Japan. In fact we say "Consommé soup" and now when I think about it, it's kind of like redundant...saying soup twice. 😀 I can drink this everyday. I love that you made it from scratch as a lot of Japanese are dependent on Consommé cubes...
This consomme looks so full of flavor! I love it!
This is so unique! I bet it's full of flavour too
You are really making me miss the wonderful soups in Germany. At least I now have a recipe for your wonderful vegetable consomme with the semolina dumplings. Danke!
That consomme looks seriously flavorful, and those dumplings look moist and inviting. Yum!
Very nice soup, those semolina dumplings look delicious!
What a lovely and clean presentation, love the photos, and the soup looks great!
Soup and dumplings is such a brilliant combo 🙂
Yum!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
OH Helene - this soup looks delicious! I am SO much a broth, stock, consomme' person. Bobby laughs at me because I always take more liquid from the soup pot than ingredients. Your consomme's looks perfect and I would love a bowl of it with those delicious dumplings! What a great bowl of comfort!
I love the dumpling recipe. It reminds me a little of Italian gnocchi. Very clever to pair it with a consommé.
Interesting about how you have consomme before meals. Growing up it was made in most houses, but it got lot in these fast times. This is such a comfort food with the dumplings! I´m a fan of semolina, so this soup sounds very nice.
Gorgeous! The dumplings looks so fluffy, and the soup sounds like it has so much flavor!
What an elegant looking soup!! Love all your photos too!!
Griesknoedel Suppe is certainly most delicious any time of year! The Griesknoedel in your soup are most beautiful 🙂
Is there anyone who doesn't like dumplings? I certainly like them! I've never had a semolina one, though - I definitely need to try these. Good stuff - thanks.
We are huge fans of clear soups, my kids have it every day with vegetables in them no matter what else they're having for dinner! I love your semolina dumpling, that's new to me. I use semolina a lot but have never made dumplings with it. Must try it, thanks Helene!
LOVE those dumplings. This soup has my name written all over it!
I nominated you for the Liebster Blog Award. Great blog, keep sharing!