The last few rainy and cold days here in Chicago had me craving soup! What’s your favorite soup on a rainy day? It has been ages since I had a good bowl of broccoli cheddar soup so I thought I would recreate a recipe I could share here. Rather than doing a traditional broccoli cheddar with cheese and milk, I made a vegan version which is just as creamy and delicious. The secret to the creaminess in this version is canned coconut milk and pureed potato and carrot. You won’t even miss the cheese!
Tips for Making this Vegan Broccoli and Cheese Soup
- Can I make it with a different milk? I like using canned coconut milk in this recipe to really punch up the richness. A traditional broccoli cheddar soup has heavy cream or half and half so the coconut milk adds that same richness. You can’t taste the coconut in the finished soup (at least I can’t!), but if you are a coconut-hater, you can sub plain, unsweetened soy milk and it is just as tasty. I haven’t tried it with all the plant-based milk varieties but soy and coconut are the richest of the bunch and likely the best options for this soup. Not vegan? Go ahead and use dairy milk if you aren’t a fan of coconut milk.
- Can I skip the nutritional yeast? Sorry, the nutritional yeast is a vital ingredient in this recipe since it gives it that cheesy flavor minus the cheese! It is relatively inexpensive (a bag from Bob’s Red Mill is $4 and lasts a long time). You can usually find it in the bulk bins at stores like Whole Foods or Fresh Thyme if you don’t want to buy a lot.
- Don’t toss your broccoli stems! Peel them so that you are left with the tender core and chop up with the rest of your broccoli. You won’t even be able to tell they are there in the finished soup!
- Do I need a high-powered blend or Vitamix to make this? I like to puree the carrots and potato in my Vitamix, but you don’t have to have a high powered blender for that step. After steaming, your carrots and potatoes should be falling apart when poked with a fork so any blender/food processor should be able to handle it.
- Is this soup gluten free? Yes! Just use tamari instead of soy sauce and you can enjoy this soup.
How to Serve this Vegan Broccoli and Cheese Soup
One recipe makes enough for 5 large filling bowls of soup and the leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Top your soup with coconut bacon (my favorite), chopped green onion, croutons, vegan cheddar cheese shreds, or a drizzle of olive oil.
Looking for more tasty soup recipes? Check out these!
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This vegan broccoli and cheese soup is a big bowl of comfort food for the rainiest of days. Serve it up with some crunchy croutons and a sprinkle of paprika.
Ingredients
- 2 large carrots, peeled and sliced (6.5 oz)
- 1 large russet potato, peeled and cubed (10 oz)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup chopped yellow onion (1/2 onion)
- 8 cups chopped broccoli (Two 10 oz broccoli crowns)
- 3 cups vegetable broth or water
- 1 (15 oz.) can full fat coconut milk OR 2 cups plain, unsweetened soy milk
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons reduced sodium soy sauce (use tamari if gluten-free)
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
- Sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste (start with 1/4 teaspoon each and adjust as needed)
- To serve: croutons, sliced green onion, vegan shredded cheese, coconut bacon
Instructions
- Fill a saucepan with 1″ water and add steamer basket. Bring to a boil and add the carrots and potato to the steamer basket. Cover and cook until fork tender, about 10-15 minutes. Transfer to a food processor or blender and allow to cool off for a few minutes.
- Meanwhile, add the olive oil and onion to a large pot. Saute for 3-5 minutes or until onion is translucent and tender. Stir in the broccoli, 2 cups of the broth, and milk. Bring to a simmer.
- Add the reserved 1 cup of vegetable broth, yeast, paprika, and soy sauce to the food processor/blender with the carrots and potato. Puree until smooth and stir into the pot with the broccoli. Cook for 7-10 minutes or until mixture is starting to simmer.
- Stir in the red wine vinegar and season with salt and pepper.
- Pour about 1/2 of the soup into the same food processor/blender and blend until smooth OR use an immersion blender to puree some of the soup. (I still like to leave some broccoli pieces whole). Transfer back into the pot with the rest of the soup.
- To serve, divide into bowls and top with croutons, paprika, vegan cheese, coconut bacon, or whatever other toppings you have on hand.
Notes
Recipe makes about 7 cups of soup.
Nutrition facts below include plain soy milk.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups
- Calories: 185 kcal
- Sugar: 4.5 g
- Sodium: 460 mg
- Fat: 5.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 27 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 15 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
it must taste amazing . can’t wait to try it!. question can I leave out the nutritional yeast? I’m not vegan but I like to find ideas to introduce veggies to the family and this seems one they will like. thanks for sharing
★★★★
Hi Sahily!
The nutritional yeast is the ingredient that give the soup its “cheesy” flavor so it might be a bit bland without it. Since you aren’t vegan, it might be good with just a bit of shredded cheddar cheese melted in towards the end of cooking. I haven’t tried it with the cheddar so you’ll have to let me know what you think if you make it!
Could you use lite coconut milk in this recipe instead of the full fat?
Yes, you an easily use lite coconut milk instead of full fat.
This soup is really good! However I’m only vegetarian so I enjoy dairy, and I felt like I could taste the coconut milk in the end (I hate coconut anything so maybe it was just in my head). Have you ever tried it with just regular milk? If so, would you substitute it with the same amount of milk as the coconut milk?
★★★★★
Thanks Ashley! I haven’t tried it with regular milk, but I think you could totally substitute it with the same amount of dairy milk as coconut milk and it would work.
How well does the soups hold up in the freezer?
Hi Debra,
This soup freezes well! Just store it in an airtight container.