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I made this soup and it was absolutely delicious. I’m always looking for healthy, vegan recipes and this one is a winner! Thanks for the recipe:)
Lisa S
Video For Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup
This Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup Is A Hug In A Bowl
Truly though, it is the best. Creamy, cheesy-like without cheese, velvety and rich, and just all-around delicious. Kind of like a soup that gives you a hug for lunch, when it is, in fact, A SALAD in disguise!
No? Too awkward?
In addition to this Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup being creamy and velvety and absolutely gorgeous in texture, it is super nutritious. Just pause to think of the rainbow of veggies in here: sauteed onions, celery, carrots, potato, and broccoli simmered with a little bit of vegetable broth and almond milk, pureed to smooth cheesy-like perfection. That is my kind of salad. Soup. Whatever.
Those olive oil pan-fried croutons don’t hurt the cause, either. I mean, if your soup doesn’t include fried bread, who are you really?
Hey you over there, wearing the cozy sweater even though it’s slightly too warm for that in August – yes, you! I made this one for you. Let’s embrace the soup season!
And this soup in return will love you back with all its veggie, nutritious, almost-cheesy goodness. ❤️
What’s In Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup
In addition to broccoli as the star, obvi, we’ve got a whole lotta almond milk keeping this creamy and smooth for us while also staying dairy free. I am not dairy free, but when I do a healthy eating reset, or my own version of a detox, I like to press pause on dairy for a few days. It’s perfect in non-dairy savory dishes like this red pepper pasta and this summer corn chowder that is still the object of my dreams.
Besides the almond milk, here’s what else makes this soup magic:
- Mirepoix (carrots, onion, celery)
- Potatoes
- Broccoli
- Garlic
- Broth
- Nutritional yeast
- Croutons (see recipe notes or FAQ to make these!)
About Nutritional Yeast
A word about a newish ingredient we have on the loose in this soup: nutritional yeast. Have you heard of it?
It’s a deactivated yeast that is sold at health food stores. It looks like flakes. Borderline like fish food. Wait! Mom, don’t hang up.
It is yellow in color and it’s known for having a cheesy, creamy, nutty flavor to it, which makes it the perfect complement to our already-nutty almond milk and also gives us a boost of cheese flavor without needing dairy-cheese. It’s got lots of vitamins and stuff (google) and it is YUM CITY but if you can’t find it, not a big deal. I made this soup at home the other night without nutritional yeast and it was still creamy and luscious and cheesy in the best non-cheesy possible way.
How To Make Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup
I love this soup so much because it is delicious but also SO EASY. This is all you need to do:
- Make Your Soup Base: Carrots, onions, celery, potatoes, garlic, WOW, all the good things to get this soup started.
- Add Broccoli: Broccoli, vegetable broth, and almond milk enter the scene and get simmered until the broccoli is bright green.
- Blend It Up: Pull out most of the broccoli and blend everything together until smooth. Add the broccoli back in an pulse just a few times until it’s chopped up. Stir in the nutritional yeast and serve!
Frequently Asked Questions About This Recipe
Yes! Stir in some freshly shredded cheddar at the end instead and stir until combined.
Oat milk would be a good alternative, if regular whole milk if you don’t need it to be vegan.
Heat 1/4 cup olive oil (more as needed) in a skillet over medium high heat. Add a clove of smashed garlic and let it hang out (WITHOUT browning) for a few minutes. Remove garlic. Add cubed bread (about 6 thick slices cut into chunks) and toss around in the pan until golden brown and chewy/crispy. Drain on paper towels. Season with salt.
You could serve this with a salad but to be honest, we’ve already got a lot of green going on here! I love this with the croutons above, or with some fresh bread or garlic bread, or with grilled cheese.
Nutritional yeast is not necessary for texture, but it adds a yummy, salty, cheesy flavor and some extra vitamins, too.
The Best Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 5 servings (2-ish cups each) 1x
Description
This creamy, “cheesy”, vegan broccoli cheese soup has silky smooth texture and classic broccoli cheese flavor with exactly zero ingredients out of a can. Real food meets comfort food.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 an onion, chopped
- 1–2 stalks celery, chopped
- 4–5 large carrots, chopped
- 1 large potato, peeled and chopped
- 2–3 cups broccoli florets, in large pieces for easy removal
- 2–3 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups almond milk (unsweetened)
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast – optional, see notes
- 1 1/2 – 2 teaspoons sea salt
- croutons – see notes
Instructions
- Make Soup Base: Heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the mirepoix, garlic, and potatoes. Saute until softened, about 10 minutes.
- Add Broccoli: Add broccoli, vegetable broth, and almond milk. Simmer until bubbly and broccoli is bright green, about 5 minutes.
- Blend Blend Blend: Using tongs, pull out most of the broccoli pieces and set aside. Blend the soup, sans broccoli, to a suuuper creamy, cheesy-looking consistency, and then add the broccoli and just pulse a few times to mix it in. This will likely need to be done in batches. Return to pot; stir in nutritional yeast and salt. Taste and adjust and serve!
Notes
HERE’S HOW TO MAKE THE MOST AMAZING CROUTONS: Heat 1/4 cup olive oil (more as needed) in a skillet over medium high heat. Add a clove of smashed garlic and let it hang out (WITHOUT browning) for a few minutes. Remove garlic. Add cubed bread (about 6 thick slices cut into chunks) and toss around in the pan until golden brown and chewy/crispy. Drain on paper towels. Season with salt.
FYI, I’ve also casually thrown a spoonful of pesto in there for good measure – it was Level 900 Awesome. Just saying.
If the blended soup looks too thick for you, just add an additional 1/2 cup or so of liquid.
Nutritional yeast is not necessary for texture, but it adds a yummy, salty, cheesy flavor and some extra vitamins, too.
Nutrition doesn’t include croutons.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: broccoli cheese soup, healthy broccoli cheese soup, vegan broccoli cheese soup
Three More Favorite Vegan Soups
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This recipe is part of our collection of best healthy soups. Check it out!
Tasty! Made for a crowd (and one vegan).
Changes:
2 tbsp oil
3 cloves garlic
8 small carrots
no potato
3 small-ish heads of broccoli (kept the florets out to add after blending)
no almond milk, blended in a 1/4 cup-ish raw cashews instead
2 bay leaves
3 large thyme sprigs
Served with seedy sourdough toast
BEST BROCCOLI CHEDDAR soup ever. As a dairy eater, I am mind blown by how creamy and cheesy this dish is. I make a batch every few months, it’s become a staple.
This is our family favorite after trying many vegan broccoli cheddar recipes this season. I doubled the amount of nutritional yeast and added a can of organic coconut milk …it tastes like the Panera soup that I used to love when I wasn’t vegan. Thank you for sharing!
My soup base ended up orange, I used very large carrots. Still tastes pretty good, though. Thank you!
Hi, Lindsay. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I just made it and eating it now. I did add a little vegan cream cheese (Tofutti) as well as cheese shreds (So Delicious) to add a nice fatty-ness to it. Turned out delectable. Great idea with the croutons. They go perfect on top.
is the oil serving correct 1/4 of a cup ?
Yes!
This soup was a 10/10! I’m always skeptical of vegan soups that flavored are cheese forward but this even without the nutritional yeast was super cheesy and creamy. I used oat milk which doesn’t mask the flavored with a nutty background and found it to be incredibly delicious! I froze it and will pop it out for our upcoming chilly evenings!
Can this be frozen? Looks great!
Hi Hayley! We haven’t tested it, but we think it’d work just fine! The texture may change slightly upon reheating, but the flavor will still be good!
Hello friends,
Don’t make the same mistake that I did, do not sure vanilla almond milk. I had unsweetened vanilla and I hoped it wouldn’t be too sweet, but it really throws off the flavor of the whole soup.
So delicious!! Thanks for posting! I added a tbsp of flour to the mirepoix (after cooking) to make a bit of a roux .. just to make sure it would be thick enough. I also tossed in a splash of sherry + 1 tbsp of vegan cream cheese after I put the blended soup back in the pot. Looking forward to going through the rest of your recipes! 🙂
So glad you enjoyed the soup, Erin! Thanks for the comment!
Does this soup freeze well? I tried skimming the comments but I did not see anything that said this recipe was or was not freezer friendly.
We haven’t tried freezing this soup before, we think it will work out just fine!
What other milks could you use? I can’t have dairy, eggs, soy while breast feeding and husband has nut allergy. Could coconut milk work?
Coconut milk could work, it’ll just have a slightly different flavor.
This soup was delicious . I am also in Minnesota and with the snow this week I am in full on soup mode. However, I don’t want to gain those extra winter pounds. I This soup was satisfyingly hearty. Definitely don’t sleep on the homemade croutons or the nutritional yeast. I am not a vegan but love to eat plant based meals often. The recipe took longer than 15 minutes to cook but that might be because I didn’t chop my veg as small as it could have been.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Jenni! Those croutons are awesome!
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This soup is on regular rotation at our house and is toddler approved which makes it even better!!
Always a win when you can get a thumbs up from a toddler! 🙂
I’ve made this soup 3 times and everyone loves it. It freezes really well too; in fact that’s why I’m commenting now. I defrosted a 4 cup portion yesterday and reheated it for lunch today. It was better than I remember. It has the perfect creamy texture, and is quite filling.
Glad you enjoyed this soup! Thanks for sharing, Erin!
I was so excited to make this and it didn’t come out as I expected at all 🙁 Tasted more like mirepoix than anything. 5 carrots was too much. Recipe says 4-5 large carrots and I used 5 small-medium ones. I also used 3 cups of broccoli florets…and the color of mine was not like the pictures. It was a combination of orange and green. Pretty disappointed 🙁
So sorry to hear this soup didn’t turn out for you, Ana. 😕 Thanks for taking time to share this feedback with us!
I am confused by the responses since it doesn’t seem like anyone has actually made this soup. I am currently making it and the time to cook everything is not working out. The potatoes are hard as a rock. It looks delicious but is going to take a lot longer to cook. Has anyone found this to be true?
Hi, Lesley! Sorry to hear this took a bit longer for you. One thing you could try for next time is seeing if it helps to cube up the potato into smaller cubes. Hopefully that’ll speed up the cook time a bit. 🙂
Hi, I made this today, and messed up, by using the remaining rice milk and some coconut milk, so it’s got quite a sweet taste to it, lesson learned. Aside from that, I just looked at the sodium content, I was shocked, so what is in here that causes the high sodium, per serving?
I know broth has a lot of sodium, but divided into several portions, I didn’t expect that much, I also didn’t add any extra salt, thanks.
Hi, Saundra! It’s a combo of the broth and the salt here that contribute to the higher sodium content in this case.
Yum and oh so easy! I did use Oat Milk and Chicken Broth since I had those on hand. Creamy and cheesy without any cheese!!
Glad you enjoyed the soup, Jan! 😊
I’ve naked this twice and each time it’s been delectable. I can’t believe how similar it tastes to the fatty cheesy loaded version, yet it’s so much healthier. I do sub the almond milk for water and give it a splash of cream instead but that is simply personal preference. Great recipe!
Glad to hear you like the soup, Olivia!
I made this with low sodium broth and put it over noodles for my 1 year old and he loved it!! A great way to serve lots of veggies.
Glad he enjoyed it, Rachel!
This soup was simple to make and really delicious. I will definitely be making it again and again.
So glad you enjoyed the soup, Sur!
I made the soup. Delicious. Can you freeze it? How long will it last in regrigerator
We haven’t tried freezing this soup yet, but we think it would work just fine. If you keep it in the fridge, we’d suggest keeping it for 3-4 days. Enjoy!
This was so easy and so delicious! I did add a little shredded cheddar at the end because I am a cheese person.
Thank you for such wonderful recipes!
YUM! Shredded cheese on top! 👌