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Creamy vegan broccoli soup made with tender sautéed broccoli and carrots, infused with savory spices, and a rich cashew-based broth. The paleo fall recipe is Whole30 compliant and totally dairy-free, yet full of cheesy flavor and deliciousness—perfect for a cozy family dinner!
See recipe card below for full list of measurements, ingredients, and instructions.
Why This Recipe is So Good
- I based this vegan cheddar broccoli soup on the offerings at Panera and TGIFriday’s, hoping to convert the dairy-loving diehards to my cheesy vegan broccoli soup substitution.
- It’s super easy to make and comes together quickly; all you do is sauté the onions, add broccoli and carrots, cover with broth, blend the other ingredients, and combine!
- This soup delivers serious nutritional value, featuring 4 cups of vitamin C-rich broccoli, protein-packed cashews, and beta-carotene-rich carrots. You’re sneaking in clean eating that doesn’t feel like you’re missing out!
- It’s the ideal fall weeknight dinner, reappearing as early-lunchtime-inducing leftovers the next day. And since it’s dairy-free, it’s easy to freeze! You could dip Vegan Zucchini Bread, Gluten Free Cornbread With Honey, or Sweet Potato Cornbread into this soup. Just remember to make vegan modifications when using these bread recipes.
What You Need to Know Before You Start
- Begin with ¼ cup of nutritional yeast and work up to ½ cup based on your taste preferences. If you’re new to “nooch,” the flavor can be intense, but if you’re a vegan cooking veteran, you might want the full ½ cup for maximum cheesy goodness.
- That tablespoon of fresh lemon juice isn’t just random—it brightens the entire broccoli cheddar soup vegan recipe and helps balance the richness of the cashews. It’s what makes this taste like the real deal!
- A pinch of turmeric will give you that familiar broccoli cheese soup color that makes everyone’s mouth water. Start small and add more until you get that perfect golden hue that screams “comfort food.”
- Blend the cashew mixture until it’s completely smooth. Any grittiness from under-blended cashews will ruin the luxurious texture you’re going for. When you think it’s smooth enough, blend for another 30 seconds.
More Delicious Vegan Recipes
- Vegan Potato Soup
- Whole30 Instant Pot Tomato Soup (Dairy-Free & Vegan)
- Vegan Pad Thai
- Creamy Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce
- Vegan Seitan “Chicken”
- Seitan Grilled Chicken with Vegan BBQ Sauce
- Vegan Enchiladas
- Vegan Fried “Chicken” (Made with Tofu)
- Vegan Corned Beef and Cabbage
- Vegan Chili
- Vegan Alfredo Sauce
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions or variations listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
Vegan Cheesy Broccoli Soup
Creamy vegan broccoli and cheddar soup features tender sautéed broccoli and carrots in a rich, savory cashew broth. Whole30 compliant and totally dairy-free, it's packed with cheesy flavor that’s full of flavor and deliciousness!
servings
Equipment
- medium saucepan with lid
- high-speed blender Vitamix, Blendtec, or similar
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or ghee, if not vegan
- 1 small onion diced
- 1-2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups vegetable stock or chicken stock if on Whole30 or not vegan
- 4 cups broccoli florets
- 1 ½ cups shredded carrot about 2 medium
- 1 cup raw cashews soaked for 4 hours if you don’t have a high-speed blender
- 1 cup water
- ½ teaspoon mustard powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice about half a lemon
- ¼ cup almond milk
- 1 dash cayenne pepper dash
- sea salt to taste
- freshly cracked pepper to taste
- fresh parsley to serve, optional
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat olive oil. Add onion and sauté until translucent, stirring often. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, about 30 seconds, or until fragrant.
- Add stock, broccoli, and carrots, then cover with a lid. Simmer until broccoli is tender, about 10-15 minutes.
- In a high-speed blender, combine cashews, water, mustard powder, smoked paprika, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, almond milk, and cayenne pepper. Blend at high speed until very, very smooth. Pour mixture into broccoli mixture and stir until smooth. Add plenty of sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste. Spoon into serving bowls and top with fresh chopped parsley and shredded vegan cheese (optional).
Video
For the Smoothest Texture: Blend the cashew mixture for at least 2 minutes on high speed until completely smooth. If your blender isn’t getting the mixture silky enough, strain it through a fine-mesh sieve before adding to the soup.
Storage and Reheating: Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat gently on the stovetop over low heat, stirring frequently. The soup may thicken when cold – just add a splash of vegetable stock or almond milk to thin it back out.
Make it Whole30: Use ghee instead of olive oil and chicken stock instead of vegetable stock. Make sure your almond milk is Whole30-compliant (no carrageenan or added sugars).
Freezer-Friendly: This soup freezes beautifully for up to 3 months! The dairy-free base won’t curdle like traditional cheese soups. Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat gently.
Cashew Substitute: If you can’t have cashews, try ¾ cup of unsweetened coconut cream (the thick part from a chilled can of full-fat coconut milk) blended with the seasonings instead.
Boost the Flavor: Add a splash of apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar along with the lemon juice for extra tang that mimics traditional cheese soup’s acidity.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Serving Size: 1servingCalories: 331calProtein: 12gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 4gSodium: 562mgPotassium: 805mgTotal Carbs: 27gFiber: 7gSugar: 8gNet Carbs: 20gVitamin A: 8970IUVitamin C: 87mgCalcium: 98mgIron: 3mg
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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Can this be done without the nutritional yeast?
It can, but you’d be missing a lot of the yummy cheesy flavor 🙂
What is best about this recipe is that my kids love it. Usually takes some persuasion to try new things, but whit this I had no problem. Thank you so much for sharing, and definitely trying more of your vegan recipes.
Not going to lie… I’m kind of jealous! Ha! My toddler is still apparently allergic to anything green… I’m so glad you and your family liked it, Ashley <3
This sounds amazing, although I wish you wouldn’t label it as being vegan! I can see someone trying to helpfully make this for a vegan family member, and including the chicken stock and ghee. Many people don’t seem to have any idea what vegan actually means, and I would hate to be served this as is and told it was vegan. Maybe include a note in the recipe like “use chicken stock for omnivores, vegetable stock for vegans.”
There are notes in the recipe 🙂
I’m pretty allergic to cashews ?Is there a suitable substitute?
So….. we can work with this 🙂 Try steaming 2 cups of cauliflower and then blend it until smooth with 1 cup of coconut cream. Replace the almond milk with more coconut cream/full-fat milk. It won’t be QUITE as rich or creamy, but I think it’ll still be good. Please let me know if you try it! I’d love to hear how it goes.
Sounds awesome! How many servings For this recipe?
About 4-6 depending on serving size!
Thank you for this recipe! I made it tonight and loved it; the texture is perfectly creamy and the flavors are lovely. And my fourteen year old daughter, who is a huge fan of the traditional recipe, thinks it is delicious as well. She also really appreciates the “making better choices” aspect of it. Oh, and I made the cranberry orange bread. Absolutely to die for! You are a wonder!
I’m so so glad to hear that you liked both of those recipes! Thank you so much for your sweet comment, Sarah ❤️
My son’s favorite soup is Panera’s broccoli cheese, but after discovering that he has an intolerance to gluten and dairy, we had to give it up. I made this for him as a special surprise for dinner last night and he devoured it! Happy days! We have very little left over but I am wondering if this is freezable? I’d love to make a big batch to just warm up for an afterschool snack for him. Thank you for all all the work you do!
I am so, so thrilled to hear that! Yes, I think this would freeze beautiful, thanks to it being dairy-free. You could even freeze it in little individual portions in a silicon mold and pop them out whenever you need! Such a great idea, Melissa. Let me know if you freeze it and how it goes!
this recipe worked out beautifully! sharing it with all my vegan and dairy free friends! i followed the recipe as instructed, with no ingredient substitutions. the only adjustment i made was to whiz it a little with an immersion blender once it was finished
That’s wonderful to hear! And another friend of mine did the same – blending it up a bit at the end. Great suggestion! I’m so glad you liked it, and thank you for coming back to tell me so 🙂
My boyfriend and I made this recipe and it was amazing! It was very filling and super tasty! It was also very easy to prepare and make. Cheryl is a genius.
Hi Jen!!! I’m so glad you tried it and liked it 🙂 So happy to hear from you!
TGIFridays is always what comes to mind when I picture my favorite cheesy cream of broccoli soup I’ve been craving this!
But..tell me…high speed blender? I have a normal blender, an immersion blender and a food processor. Which should I use?