Our creamy vegan broccoli cheddar soup packs both flavor and nutrition. It's rich and filling, but it's made with a base of vegetables and white beans, making it lighter than other broccoli and cheese soups. It's kid-friendly and perfect for a weeknight dinner!
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Why We Love This Recipe
- Nutritious: Our vegan broccoli cheddar soup is packed with veggies, including, broccoli, carrots, celery and potatoes. We also added in white beans for extra creaminess without all of the fat. A perfect way to add more plant-based protein and fiber to your diet!
- Kid-friendly: It tastes cheesy and looks like the real deal, so your kids should be on board with this recipe.
- Filling, but still light: Since this recipe is dairy free, it ends up being a lot lighter than other broccoli soups. However, every spoonful is full of veggies, making it filling and satisfying.
- Easy to make: this vegan broccoli cheddar soup requires very little prep time and is mostly hands-off.
Ingredients
Here's what you'll need to make this vegan broccoli cheddar soup:
Ingredient Notes
- Broccoli: chop up your broccoli into small, fine pieces so they cook quickly (and so you don't end up with any huge pieces in your soup!). To reduce waste, you can also use some of the broccoli stem. Just note that it takes a bit longer to get soft when sautéed, so test with a fork to make sure it's ready to blend.
- Potatoes: yellow potatoes (like yukon golds) work best in this soup. They make for a creamy, rich soup without the grainy, waxy texture you can sometimes get from red potatoes.
- White beans: we used cannellini beans, which are nice and soft and blend up perfectly in this soup. You can also use navy or Great Northern beans.
- Onions: feel free to use either a yellow onion or a few shallots in this recipe. Both have a pretty mild flavor – just note that you'll likely need more than one shallot since they are smaller.
- Vegan cheese: we use shredded vegan cheddar in this recipe. A few vegan brands we love and trust include VioLife, Miyoko's and Follow Your Heart and Daiya.
Step-by-step Instructions
Heat 3 tablespoon butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and sauté, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add garlic, potatoes, carrot, celery, salt and pepper and continue cooking for 5-7 minutes.
Add in the vegetable broth, lemon juice, white beans and ¼ cup of the fresh parsley. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the vegetables are fork tender.
Meanwhile, in a separate skillet, heat 1 tablespoon butter. Add in broccoli, season with a pinch of salt and pepper and sauté for 8-10 minutes, until softened and slightly browned.
Carefully transfer the soup to a heat-safe blender, add in cheese and blend until completely smooth. Add in the broccoli and blend for another 15-20 seconds, until mostly blended (it should still have some texture).
Return the blended soup to the pot and stir in remaining ¼ cup of parsley and remaining 1-2 tablespoon butter (optional) for extra richness. Serve warm.
Expert Tips and FAQs
- Buttery breadcrumb topping: we've included instructions in the notes section for a super simple buttery herb panko breadcrumb topping. It adds the perfect textural contrast and it's so easy to make! You can also top with croutons if preferred.
- Don't over-blend the soup: if you blend the soup for too long, the potatoes will start to have a gummy, thick texture. Blend it just long enough for everything to be smooth.
- Don't want to use vegan cheese? Sub with 3-4 tablespoon nutritional yeast, which has a cheesy, savory flavor. Add it in when you blend the soup.
Yes! This vegan broccoli cheddar soup stores well in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat in a pot over medium-low until heated through.
Yes, you can freeze this broccoli soup recipe for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight then heat up the soup on the stove.
Related Recipes
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Print📖 Recipe
Vegan Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
All of the comfort, none of the dairy! This delicious vegan broccoli cheddar soup is perfectly creamy, cheesy and packed with healthy ingredients like potatoes and white beans.
Ingredients
- 5-6 tablespoon vegan butter, divided
- 1 ½ cups diced yellow onion or shallot (~1 onion)
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup diced celery
- 2 cups peeled and diced yellow potatoes
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 tsp fine kosher salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 1 ½ tbsp lemon juice
- 1 14.5oz can white beans, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup chopped parsley, divided
- 4 cups finely chopped broccoli (can include stems)
- 1 cup vegan shredded cheddar cheese*
Instructions
- Heat 3 tablespoon butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and sauté, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add garlic, potatoes, carrot, celery, salt and pepper and continue cooking for 5-7 minutes.
- Add in the vegetable broth, lemon juice, white beans and ¼ cup of the fresh parsley. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the vegetables are fork tender.
- Meanwhile, in a separate skillet, heat 1 tablespoon butter. Add in broccoli, season with a pinch of salt and pepper and sauté for 8-10 minutes, until softened and slightly browned.
- Carefully transfer the soup to a heat-safe blender, add in cheese and blend until completely smooth. Add in the broccoli and blend for another 15-20 seconds, until mostly blended (it should still have some texture).
- Return the blended soup to the pot and stir in remaining ¼ cup of parsley and remaining 1-2 tablespoon butter (optional) for extra richness. Serve warm.
Notes
Buttery breadcrumb topping: heat 1 tablespoon vegan butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add ⅓ seasoned panko breadcrumbs and 1-2 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley. Stir well and toast until browned and crispy, about 6-8 minutes.
Don't over-blend the soup: if you blend the soup for too long, the potatoes will start to have a gummy, thick texture. Blend it just long enough for everything to be smooth.
Don't want to use vegan cheese? Sub with 3-4 tablespoon nutritional yeast, which has a cheesy, savory flavor. Add it in when you blend the soup.
Potatoes: yellow potatoes (like yukon golds) work best in this soup. They make for a creamy, rich soup without the grainy, waxy texture you can sometimes get from red potatoes.
White beans: we used cannellini beans, which are nice and soft and blend up perfectly in this soup. You can also use navy or Great Northern beans.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Bowl
- Calories: 331
- Sugar: 7.2 g
- Sodium: 956.6 mg
- Fat: 14.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 39.7 g
- Fiber: 9.8 g
- Protein: 14.9 g
Keywords: vegan broccoli cheddar soup
Shelly
I’m making this now and just finished, I just “tasted” it about 20 times, I’ve probably had a whole bowl, it’s suoer flavorful, thick and beautifully colored. A little time instensoce for chopping all the vegetables but so worth it. I used chicken bone broth and extra garlic and it’s amazing.
★★★★★
Lexi
Hi Shelly! Thanks so much for your comment and so glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Also great to know that your substitutions worked well 🙂 Have a great night!