Comforting, creamy, vegan cheesy deliciousness! This easy recipe for Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup takes just 30 minutes and one pot to make! It's perfect for lunch or dinner served with fresh baked bread or a salad.
Soup is one of my favorite things to make! I find it to be one of the best make ahead meals that I can heat up all week or freeze the leftovers for later. I make it all year round.
So I want to share with you some of my best soup recipes! And vegan broccoli cheese soup has always been one of my go to recipes that people love. Whether I'm making soup for just us or getting paid to do it for clients, this soup is always a winner!
It hits all the notes that make you crave more! It's healthy, creamy, and comforting with the perfect cheesy flavor. No added preservatives or processed food flavor. Just tasty wholesome made with love amazingness!
Ingredients Needed
Simple ingredients make up this recipe to create a delicious vegan broccoli cheese soup!
- Broccoli- Use fresh broccoli that is bright green and not turning yellow for the best flavor.
- Garlic- Fresh garlic works best rather than pre peeled.
- Onion- I used brown onion in this recipe.
- Yukon Gold Potatoes- You need to use yukon gold potatoes to get the right consistency. They are the perfect balance of starchy and waxy to achieve the vegan cheesy experience.
- Carrot- Just one carrot needed for a touch of sweetness and rounded out flavor.
- Nutritional Yeast Flakes- Sold in almost any grocery store that sells healthy food. Nutritional yeast is good for you and the ingredient that gives the soup its amazing vegan cheese flavor.
- Low Sodium Vegetable Stock- Using stock adds some depth, but you can use water in its place.
- Unsweetened Almond Milk- Plant milk adds to the creaminess of the soup.
- Gluten Free Flour- All purpose flour can also be used.
- Dijon Mustard- The mustard gives a cheddar like taste to the cheesy aspect of the soup.
- Apple Cider Vinegar- Brightens the recipe up without overpowering the soup with a taste that is too acidic.
- Cayenne Pepper- Adds a touch of spice.
- Turmeric- This optional ingredient adds a dash of color.
- Salt- No recipe would be complete without seasoning. I used sea salt.
How to Make Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup
This one pot soup is simple to make and takes just 30 minutes!
All you have to do is saute to your onions, garlic, and carrots in a pot for a few minutes in olive oil. Next, add the vegetable stock, plant milk, broccoli, and potatoes to the pot and bring a boil before turning down the heat to cook uncovered at a simmer for 15 minutes.
Then while everything is simmering you will steam some bite size broccoli florets that will go into the soup at a later step.
When the soup has simmered for 15 minutes and the veggies are soft you will puree the mixture with the nutritional yeast added in batches in a blender or food processor. Now just add a portion of the soup back into the blender along with steamed broccoli and pulse a few times leaving it as chunky or pureed as you like.
Finally, pour all the vegan broccoli cheese soup back into your pot and add the dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, cayenne, and turmeric. Cook for about 5 more minutes to meld the flavors. To finish, taste and season with salt to your liking.
To serve, top the soup with finely chopped tomatoes, croutons, vegan cheese, or anything your taste buds desire!
Tips For Success
- Cold Pan Saute: You really want to make sure that you add the olive oil, onions, and garlic to the pot before turning on the heat. In this recipe you want to soften the onions and garlic not fry them. We aren't going for a char flavor here. This technique is not widely known but is used by a lot of chefs all over the world. It will create a layered effect in flavor by highlighting the onion and garlic without making the garlic bitter in taste.
- Broccoli: To cut down on cost and add some extra fiber, use the broccoli stalks too. They are just as nutritious as the florets. It's a great way to use the entire vegetable. To use the stalks, simply peel, cut a few inches off the very bottom of the stalk, and chop into cubes.
- Fully Cooked Potatoes: The potatoes must be nice and soft before you puree the soup. So if they aren't quite there when you check for doneness just wait a few more minutes. If you don't the soup will not have the right consistency. This recipe relies on the waxy starchy powers of fully cooked yukon gold potatoes.
- Season At The End: Like almost any recipe you want to taste for and season with salt at the very end. But it is extra important when making soup. Remember as liquid evaporates the salt doesn't evaporate with it. So if you salt in the beginning or middle of cooking you may very well end up with soup that is too salty to eat. And the only way to fix that is to add more liquid. We can't take out the salt at that point.
How to Store Soup
You can store vegan broccoli cheese soup in the fridge for up to one week or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Always reheat at a medium temperature on the stove.
If the soup is a tad watery when you remove it from the freezer simply just reheat it for a few extra minutes to allow it to thicken back up.
This vegan broccoli cheese soup is bowl licking good...
- Creamy and comforting like the real deal
- Vegan cheesy good
- One pot meal
- 30 minutes to make
- Freezes for up to 3 months
I hope you enjoy this recipe! May we all eat delicious soup and be happy!
If you try this recipe please let me know how it turns out by leaving a comment and rating. You can also hashtag #danceswithknives with a photo of your creation on Instagram where you can find me @dances_with_knives.
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Creamy Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ large onion, diced (about 1 ½ cups)
- 1 medium carrot, diced (about ½ cup)
- 2 tablespoon gluten-free or regular flour
- 2 ½ cups low sodium vegetable stock or water
- 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
- 2 medium yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced (about 1 cup)
- 4 cups broccoli florets and core, chopped
- 2 cups broccoli florets, bite size (set aside from chopped broccoli)
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 pinch cayenne (optional )
- 1 pinch turmeric (optional for color)
- ½ to 1 teaspoon salt (season to taste at the end)
Instructions
- Add the olive oil, garlic, and onions with a pinch of salt to a deep pot. Turn the heat on to medium high and cook for about 2-4 minutes until the onions are translucent. You want to sweat the onions and garlic not fry them, so it is important that you aren’t adding the onions and garlic to hot oil. This is why you want to begin with a cold pot and then turn the heat on with the onions, garlic, and oil starting out at the same temperature.
- Next, add the carrots and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Now, sprinkle the flour over the veggies and stir to coat. Don’t spend too much time to get to the next step as you don’t want the flour to burn.
- Add the vegetable stock and almond milk. Now, scrap the bottom of the pan to make sure there are no flour bits sticking.
- Add in the potatoes and 4 cups of chopped broccoli florets and core. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.Note, if you don't want a chunky broccoli soup then add the other 2 cups of broccoli florets now. If you do this it will mean that your soup is closer to a pureed soup having less texture and little to no chunks.
- While the soup is simmering, steam the other 2 cups of bite size broccoli florets in a steamer or the microwave.
- Once the 15 minutes have passed, the potatoes, carrots, and broccoli in the pot should be nice and soft. If they aren't fully done then cook for a few more minutes. Now, in two batches, puree the mixture in a blender or food processor along with the nutritional yeast. You can pour the pureed soup into another pot or bowl for now.Make sure to be careful when working with hot soup. To be safe, only fill your blender or food processor to ¾ of its capacity. Do not overfill or you could end up with soup everywhere and a minor burn. If your blender or food processor is on the small side do more batches.
- Once the soup is fully pureed, add a portion of it back into your blender or food processor with the remaining 2 cups of steamed broccoli. Pulse the mixture until you reach your desired consistency. I left a few broccoli chunks, but you can make it as chunky or smooth as you like. You can also skip this step and just add the bite size florets to the soup for extra chunky soup.
- Now pour all the soup back into the pot and add the dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, cayenne, and turmeric. Heat the soup to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes to meld the flavors. If the soup is too thin cook a tad longer to thicken. If the soup is too thick add a bit of vegetable stock or water.
- Once the flavors have had a few minutes to develop, taste for salt and season to your liking. If you used water in place of vegetable stock you will likely need more salt. My recommendation is to start with ¼ teaspoon if you used vegetable stock and 1 teaspoon if you used water. Then add in ¼ teaspoon increments until you reach your desired taste. I used low sodium vegetable stock and ended up adding an additional ½ teaspoon of salt. How much salt you add will be based on not only your preference, but the type of stock you use, type of salt you use, and if you use or add additional water.
- To serve, top the soup with fresh chopped tomatoes, croutons, or vegan cheese.
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