This easy Vegan Broccoli Soup recipe is smooth and creamy comfort food loaded with tender broccoli and buttery croutons in every bite! Dairy free broccoli soup is easy to make and so nutritious too! See post tips for making gluten free croutons. Serve this healthy, crouton-infused broccoli soup with vegan grilled cheese sandwiches.
I absolutely love broccoli soup. However, it was a creamy soup just like this one that made me first realize I had a dairy intolerance issue. That’s when I decided to give up dairy, to be honest.
I’m so pleased to say that it’s easy to make broccoli soup vegan. Yes, that’s right. This creamy soup is dairy free. Time to do the happy dance!
You may be tempted to think of this as a vegan cream of broccoli soup, but it’s so much more than that! I have a tendency to think of a “cream of soup” as an ingredient for another recipe. But, trust me, truly vegetarian broccoli soup recipes area delicious stand-alone dishes!
Is broccoli soup healthy?
Broccoli is in the cruciferous vegetable family and therefore super healthy. That makes broccoli soup a healthy option to add more fiber, essential vitamins and minerals to your everyday diet!
Broccoli Nutrition Explained
Broccoli is a healthy vegetable to include in your diet. First and foremost, broccoli is low in calories, but high in fiber and nutrients.
Dr. Joel Fuhrman refers to low calorie, highly nutritious foods as nutrient dense. In fact, he created a scoring mechanism called ANDI to rate the nutritional density of foods and broccoli has a highly nutritious ANDI rating!
How to Make Vegan Broccoli Soup
It’s so easy to make this vegan broccoli soup recipe! Grab a saucepan and let’s start with the “dark and stormy” of every savory recipe — olive oil and onions!
Of course, we’re also adding chopped carrots, celery, and potatoes too.
Quick fix tip: To make this recipe come together even faster, you can cook the chopped carrots and potatoes in the microwave first. Add them to a microwave-safe dish, add just a splash of water, then cook for 2 – 3 minutes, until the potatoes and carrots are tender. Allow them to cool for several minutes – until cool enough to handle. Then transfer to the pot with the cooking onions.
I love this vegan broccoli potato soup because of the variety of vegetables used. Potatoes help add creaminess to this soup!
Create the Broth: Add the minced garlic and cook for about a minute longer. Then add water, bouillon, wine, nutritional yeast flakes, cashews, and broccoli florets/pieces. We’re going to cook it all together so everything gets the delicious flavors.
A note on vegetable broth: I prefer using Better Than Bouillon because it’s such a high quality vegetable broth. Besides, I’d rather use little glass jars of bouillon than big, plastic coated cartons.
Back to our broccoli soup, bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes until broccoli is tender. Remove the pan from heat and let it cool slightly. Use tongs or a slotted spoon to remove half of the broccoli florets from the pot.
Blend the soup: I’m using the blender to create a tasty, vegan cream soup. The cashews and potatoes make a thick sauce which is lovely.
To make the vegan creamy soup, first remove the center cap from your blender lid. Pour the broccoli soup into the blender jar, filling it only half way. Secure the lid on the blender and top with a kitchen towel. Blend on low speed for a few seconds, then slowly increase speed to create a creamy soup.
Transfer the blended soup to a bowl, then repeat the blending process with remaining ingredients from the saucepan. Add about 3/4 of the reserved broccoli florets to the pureed soup, leaving some to place as topping. Having some fuller pieces of florets throughout the soup adds some texture which is nice.
Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with broccoli florets and croutons.
For The Croutons
The croutons on top are purely optional, but they add so much to this recipe. However, there are options if you’re looking for a low carb soup topper! I highly recommend adding roasted chickpeas as a topping. It’s tasty and crunchy!
However, if you’re going for the toasted croutons, good for you! Let’s begin.
I used whole wheat bread, but you can use gluten-free bread to make this a gluten-free broccoli soup. Place the bread cubes in a bowl and then drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle them with garlic powder, salt, and black pepper. Then toss to coat.
Spread coated bread cubes on a baking sheet, spreading evenly across the pan. Try not to crowd them too closely together. Bake for 10 – 15 minutes, until golden brown.
Note: Fresh bread could take a little longer to toast whereas older, stale bread will brown more quickly.
Easy Vegan Soup Recipes
Yes, you love this vegan potato broccoli soup, but now you’re ready for even more easy vegan soup recipes. I’ve got you covered!
- Make this tasty Vegan Cauliflower Soup — it’s a low carb favorite!
- How about a Vegan Cheeseburger Soup? Sound impossible? It is possible…and delicious!
- This plant-based Lentil Soup is so easy and flavorful!
- Looking for something hearty? This smoky Pinto Bean Soup is so tasty and filling too!
I hope you love this recipe as we do! Have you tried it? Be sure and leave a comment and a rating of this recipe below and then take a quick photo and share it with me using #namelymarly on Instagram. I love seeing your creations!
Vegan Broccoli Soup
Ingredients
Broccoli Soup
- 1 head broccoli
- 1/2 cup chopped carrots
- 1 small small red potato , not peeled, washed and diced (1 cup)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion , peeled and diced
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 4 cloves garlic , peeled and minced
- 4 cups water
- 4 teaspoons Better than Bouillon No Chicken Base**
- 1/4 cup white wine (sub lemon juice)
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
- ½ cup raw cashews
Croutons
- 2 cups cubed bread (see note)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
For the Broccoli Soup
- Prepare the Broccoli: Rinse the broccol. Then cut crown away from the stems. Cut the crown into bite-sized florets. Cut branch stems into small, bite-size pieces. Discard the main stem. You should have around 4 cups of florets and small stem pieces.
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, carrots, and potato pieces. Sautee until the vegetables are tender, about 10 – 15 minutes. Add garlic and cook for about a minute longer. Then add water, bouillon, wine, nutritional yeast flakes, cashews, and broccoli florets/pieces. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes until broccoli is tender. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Use tongs to remove half of the broccoli florets from the pot.
- Blend the soup: Remove the center cap from your blender lid. Fill the blender only half way. Secure the lid on the blender and top with a kitchen towel. Blend on low speed for a few seconds, then slowly increase speed to create a creamy soup. Transfer to a bowl. then repeat with remaining ingredients from the pan. Add about 3/4 of the reserved broccoli florets to the pureed soup, leaving some to place as topping.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with broccoli florets and croutons.
For The Croutons
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- To make croutons, place bread cubes in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and freshly ground pepper. Toss to coat all the bread pieces.
- Spread coated bread cubes on prepared baking sheet, spreading evenly across the pan. Try not to crowd them too closely together. Bake for 10 – 15 minutes, until golden brown. Note: Fresh bread could take a little longer to toast whereas older, stale bread will brown more quickly.
Notes
Enjoy!
As the author of this recipe and taste tester extraordinaire, I’m pleased to report the ease of making this recipe along with the delicious flavor. This is now our favorite soup in our meal prepping routine!