You'd never guess that this creamy vegan broccoli soup is totally dairy-free! It's made of a rich, savory blend of potatoes, veggies, and herbs.
Drumroll, please! This vegan broccoli soup recipe is super creamy, comforting, and brimming with cheesy flavor. I started working on it after I posted a photo of this gorgeous pile of broccoli on Instagram with a call out for broccoli recipe requests. Overwhelmingly, people asked for a healthy/vegan broccoli cheese soup. Jack loves cheesy broccoli soup (and most cheesy things, to be honest), so we were both excited to take on the challenge. I’m happy to report that the results do not disappoint!
This vegan broccoli soup recipe is not to be confused with cream of broccoli soup. I have a super delicious, very green, Creamy Broccoli Soup on page 55 of my first cookbook. It’s made with leeks, coconut milk, broccoli, lemon, and spinach. It’s light, healthy, and tastes similar to a soup my mom made for me while I was growing up.
This recipe – vegan broccoli cheddar soup – is thicker, richer, and more cheese-like. I think you’re going to love it.
Vegan Broccoli Soup Recipe Ingredients
Tasting this vegan broccoli soup, you’d never guess that it’s made without cheese or cream. Its creamy texture and rich taste come from these plant-based ingredients:
- Broccoli, of course! I get tons of requests for recipes that use a whole bunch of broccoli, so here, I do – stalk and all! I blend the stalk into the soup’s creamy base and pulse in the florets for texture. If you’re looking for more whole-vegetable recipes, try making a broccoli salad or cauliflower rice next. Waste not, want not!
- Cashews and potatoes – This combination is a great one for giving vegan recipes a gooey cheesy texture. Like in my vegan cheese recipe, it makes this soup rich and creamy.
- Carrots – For cheesy color.
- Celery, onion, and garlic – They add savory depth of flavor.
- Apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, and lemon juice – For tang.
- Fresh dill – It’s the secret ingredient that ties this soup together! It helps give it a delicious cheesy flavor without an ounce of cheese.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
To make this recipe, start by sautéing the onion, carrots, celery, and broccoli stems until they soften. Stir in the potatoes and garlic. Then, add the broth and simmer!
Meanwhile, steam all but 1 cup of the broccoli florets until they’re tender, but still bright green.
When the potatoes are soft, transfer the soup to a blender along with the cashews, vinegar, and mustard, and blend until smooth. Add the broccoli florets that you’ve steamed, as well as the lemon juice and dill. Pulse until the florets are incorporated, but still chunky. Enjoy!
Vegan Broccoli Soup Recipe Tips
- Top it with something crunchy. Whenever I’m making creamy soup, I love to top it with crunchy garnishes for textural contrast. While the soup simmers, roast the last of the broccoli florets and make a batch of quick homemade croutons. These crispy toppings will take your vegan broccoli soup to a whole new level!
- Don’t blend the broccoli too much. You don’t want this soup to become a smooth puree; it should have some texture. Blend the potatoes, celery, onions, broccoli stalk, and carrots until they’re completely smooth, but just pulse in the steamed florets. They add lovely green flecks and texture to the soup.
- Don’t skip the dill! Even if dill isn’t your thing, I urge you to try it in this recipe. It’s essential for mimicking the rich, complex flavor of sharp cheddar cheese. If you want to skip it, I recommend blending in a few tablespoons of nutritional yeast to make the soup taste more cheesy.
More Favorite Soup Recipes
If you love this vegan broccoli soup, try one of these delicious soup recipes next:
- Butternut Squash Soup
- Cream of Mushroom SoupÂ
- Best Lentil Soup
- Many-Veggie Vegetable Soup
- Pumpkin Soup
- Tomato Basil SoupÂ
- Creamy Potato Soup
- Or any of these 30 Best Soup Recipes!
And for more tasty vegan recipes, check out this post!
Vegan Broccoli Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- ½ cup chopped celery
- â…“ cup chopped carrots
- 1 pound broccoli, stems diced, florets chopped
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small Yukon Gold potato, diced (1 cup)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 3 cups cubed bread, for croutons
- ½ cup raw cashews
- 1½ teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ cup fresh dill
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 2 small baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, carrots, broccoli stems, salt, and several grinds of pepper and sauté until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the potatoes and garlic and stir, then add the broth and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft. Let cool slightly.
- Set aside 1 cup of the broccoli florets to roast as a topping for the soup. Place the remaining florets in a steamer basket, and set over a pot filled with 1 inch of water. Bring the water to a simmer, cover, and steam for 5 minutes, or until the broccoli is tender.
- Meanwhile, place the reserved broccoli florets and the bread cubes on the baking sheets. Toss with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and roast until the bread is crispy and the broccoli is tender and browned around the edges, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Transfer the soup to the blender and add the cashews, apple cider vinegar, and mustard, and blend until creamy. Work in batches, if necessary. Add the steamed broccoli florets, dill, and lemon juice, and pulse until the broccoli is incorporated but still chunky. The soup should be thick; if it's too thick, add 1/2 cup water to thin to your desired consistency.
- Season to taste and serve the soup in bowls with the roasted broccoli and croutons on top.
Notes
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Wow, I made this tonight. It’s fantastic! I subbed 1/4 cup of cashew butter instead of the cashews. I tried two other broccoli cheddar soups and this one is the best by far. I like how it doesn’t need store bought cheese or a cup of nutritional yeast. Love the dill. This will be my go-to from now on.
Hi Christine, I’m so happy to hear that this one was your favorite!
Can I use frozen brocolli florets instead?
I use frozen florets for my own similar style soup. They don’t roast as well depending on how dry they are but are fine. Be careful about overcooking them. It’s very easy to end up with mush.
Which blender do you have ? Because my blender doesn’t mix this soup so creamy. So my next purchase has to be a good blender. Thanks for your advice.
I have a Vitamix, love it!
This looks delicious. I like the idea of it being thicker and cheesier. I’m going to make this on the weekend. I’m hoping my kids will also like it.
I made this soup last week and it was so good! It truly has a cheesy taste, look, and texture. My whole family, kids included loved it. I did reduce the amount of dill I used because my husband doesn’t like it and he didn’t even know it was in there. The leftovers were great as well for lunch the next day.
I’m so glad you loved it – thanks for sharing!!
Sunshine in a Bowl! The dill and lemon together is such a beautiful combination. Perfect for chilly afternoons and evenings. Even considered having for breakfast! Will def be making again.
Ha, I’m so glad you loved it!
Hi! Making this soup tonight and wondering if the broccoli florets needs to be cooked before they go into the blender?
Thank you!
Jeanine
I blend them raw and then simmer in the soup (once it goes back into the pot) until they’re tender and cooked through. Hope that helps!
Made this soup tonight and it was so delicious! Yum! The lemon and dill shine through in this soup. It was light yet substantial with the addition of the cashews. A comfy winter soup.
Thank you for this awesome recipe!
Hi Cynthia, I’m so glad you loved it!
My spouse is allergic to cashews. Is there anything I could substitute for them? I know it won’t be as creamy, but it’s better than having his throat close up.
Hi Samantha, you could try blanched, peeled almonds. (I find them in the bulk section already blanched and peeled – or you could use slivered almonds). They should be close to the cashew texture! I hope that helps!
Thank you L&L for yet another amazing recipe. Made it last night. It’s getting chilly out, and this was the perfect Sunday night cozy supper. I also added nutritional yeast for more of the “cheese” factor. The roasted broccoli on top is so delicious that next time (and there will be a next time) I will make extra. Yum!
Hi Victoria – I’m so so happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how much you enjoyed it 🙂
Delicious! I love this soup! Easy to make too!
I made this last night and my spouse and I both loved it. I decided to add 3 T of nutritional yeast to make it extra cheesy – it adds a nice dose of B12 too! Definitely a great soup for when you are in the mood for comfort food but don’t want to eat badly.
Love the nootch! So glad it was a yummy addition to the soup!
Made it! Loved it!
Only bad thing, no leftovers! ?
Ha Ha, I’m so glad you loved it!
Made this for three generations last night and received rave reviews! It was so so good! The lemon and dill finish off the soup so nicely and the roasted broccoli and bread on top really make it a meal. Per the comment above, I did not presoak the cashews. Thank you for another yummy recipe!
Hi Jennifer – I’m so happy to hear that everyone loved it! Yay!
Am making the soup now and it’s looking and tasting great. One thing – the ground florets are taking longer to cook than I thought and next time think I’ll try stir frying before adding to the puréed stock. Did make it a bit more cheesy by adding some nutritional yeast 🙂
Making it today for a cozy Saturday lunch and plan on adding nutritional yeast for extra cheesy too!
How much nutritional yeast would be good to add for a soup like this?
Hi Tam, it’s not necessary, it’s delicious on it’s own. You could stir in a few tablespoons to taste while blending if you wanted to.
This looks amazing! Do you have to pre-soak the cashews? Thank you!
Hi Kristen, I didn’t because I find they get creamy enough when blended with the hot liquid. If you feel like your blender won’t cream them well, you can definitely soak them at least a few hours in advance (or overnight).
Do you think you could sub out the cashews or another type of nut?
cashews become the creamiest, so I would just stick to those for texture.
Wow, this soup looks stunning. Anything with a generous amount of broccoli and dill, and I’m in! Thanks Jeannine!
Looks fabulous, I am not very keen on dill, does the 1/4 cup added to the recipe taste strongly of dill? What could you sub it out with? Or if I reduce the amount of dill would the soup be balanced in flavour? Thanks.
Hi Nina, I don’t think it’s a strong flavor here, but I think it adds such a nice savory depth of flavor. I’m not sure it could be substituted with anything specifically, I would just season to taste with maybe a little extra salt and pepper.
Hi, thanks for taking the time out to reply, very much appreciated and also Greetings from the UK. I will give the recipe a try!
Just thought I would jump in here! I make a soup very similar to this but without dill, instead I add a bit of mustard powder and thyme. So good!
Carrie, thanks for the tip. Is the recipe you make on a web site or your own? Thanks again.
Mustard powder—what a great idea!
The mustard powder and thyme sound amazing in a soup like this.
I didn’t have fresh dill so added about 1 tsp of dry dill. It seemed to do the trick, although I hope I got the proportions right. I’m sure it’s better with fresh dill but it still tasted nice. Nutritional yeast gave it that extra kick.
I made the soup without the dill and it was fabulous. Best vegan cream soup I’ve ever made?
Thanks for the comment, very much appreciated will try it without dill
I don’t have fresh dill, buuuuut… I have dill pickles ? So since the recipe calls for vinegar, I’m going to give dill pickle brine a try! We’ll see how it turns out!
Wow! That looks delicious and still healthy. Your recipes are always so wonderful. I can’t wait to make this for our crew.
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