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 Soup
- Best Lentil Soup
- Many-Veggie Vegetable Soup
- Pumpkin Soup
- Tomato Basil Soup
- 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
- ⅓ 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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LOVE this soup!
I am in the process of making this now! I’m so excited! I only have dried dill on hand, how much would you recommend using?
Hi Teri, I would start with 1/2 teaspoon and add more to taste if you’d like.
The BEST recipe for broccoli soup EVER. The dill was an amazing touch. Thanks!
I’m so glad you loved it!
This soup is an absolute WINNER. It was as good or better the next day. I bought a big bag of organic broccoli from Costco, and I looking for a soup without the fat of coconut milk.
I did add some nutritional yeast, as you suggested, but followed the recipe.
Thanks R
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This soup is a big dill! I made it for a friend who can’t eat dairy. So good they really didn’t believe it was dairy free. I had to show them the recipe haha! I did add a tablespoon of nutritional yeast for that extra cheezy flavor, though it probably would be fine without. I also added a pinch of turmeric while blending to boost the orange color.
Next time I want to try white beans and celery root! Both those sound like great substitutes depending on what’s easy to find.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I’ve made this several times. Always comes out great! I was wondering if you’ve ever tried freezing leftovers? Sometimes dishes with potatoes don’t defrost great. What do you think?
Hi Kit, this freezes pretty well since the potato amount isn’t as much as, say, a potato soup.
In my experience, veggie-averse and non-vegan kids will happily eat this soup. Definitely a keeper!
I’m so happy to hear!
Do you have the nutritional chart for this recipe?
Could I use frozen broccoli and cauliflower for this? Would the cauliflower affect the taste much? I’m hoping to make this but can only use what I have on hand.
Hi Bernice, I think frozen would work fine, and I think a mix of cauliflower in there would be great!
Wow! Amazing! This was impressive! Even my non-vegan family loved it. They had no idea it had no cream or cheese! I can’t wait to make it again! Thank you for sharing this.
Hi Ashley, I’m so glad the soup was a hit!
If I don’t do nightshades, would sweet potato work in place of potato? Thanks!
Hi Flannery, it would have more of a sweet potato flavor, less like a traditional creamy broccoli soup, but I think it would be delicious nonetheless.
Have you ever tried sunchokes? Very similar to potato but with way more nutrients! I usually air fry them like I would potatoes but I think they could work here ?♀️ Maybe also parsnip or celery root? (Celery root has such a mild flavor it could totally work here)
Hi Mel, I think any of those 3 would be fantastic, I’m a fan of them all!
All I can say is, Wow! This was so delicious and I will definitely make again. I did make a couple adjustments because I was feeling lazy and just microwaved one 12oz bag of frozen broccoli and blended that up with the rest of the soup and cooked another bag and used that to add texture and I totally skipped the croutons. I never have fresh herbs on hand so I just used roughly 1/4-1/2 tsp of dried dill and it worked just fine for me and we loved it! Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Do you think white beans could be used instead of cashews?
Thank you kindly!
I think that would be great! If they thicken the soup too much, add a little more water or broth.
Yum looks tasty, I plan on making this for Christmas Eve. Do the cashews need to be soaked overnight or without?
Hi Brian, they don’t need to be soaked. I hope you enjoy!
Omg!! This soup was delicious! Thank you! You were so right about the dill ?
This soup was super yummy! I had to make a few changes for food sensitivities (no garlic) and dried dill instead of fresh. But was happily surprised with how delicious it was!
I will make this again.
Hi Debby, I’m so glad you loved it!
can you create this in an instant pot and a immersion blender?
Hi Hannah, the cashews will only get creamy in a regular blender. I think it could probably be made in the instant pot, but I haven’t tried so I don’t have specific instructions.
I soaked the cashews in hot water while I prepped, then drained and blended them with an immersion blender with the vinegar mustard and broth from the soup! Then was able to dump that back in the big pot and immersion blend the rest as instructed.
Delish! Made it simpler by just using frozen broccoli and skipping separating stems, roasting, etc. Added nutritional yeast at the end. Food processor to chop everything made it all super quick.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I made the soup with the listed ingredients; however, I made it in the instant pot and blended it all into a smooth soup before adding the dill. It was very good. I would leave the dill out next time though. While I love fresh dill, I didn’t feel that it complimented this soup. It was served in sourdough corn bread bowls.
Great recipe!
My son had six bowls.
I changed it a little:
Puréed all the broccoli.
Used russets with skin
Added as much water as vegi stock
Added potato flakes to thicken
Added non-salt seasoning.
Will make this, again.
Thanks,
John
I’m so glad the soup was a hit!