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This cheesy vegan broccoli soup is rich and creamy, easy to make, and a perfect paleo fall recipe. Whole30 compliant and totally dairy-free, there’s plenty of cheesy flavor but no weird ingredients!
There’s this memory I have of my childhood, a collage of moments recounted to me, flash photography prints I’ve been shown, a slice of my early narrative pasted together over time. I’m standing on the wooden chair with a blue balloon tied onto the hooped back in a dark restaurant with thrift store finds tacked on the walls.
I’m wearing a lavender dress with white trim, and my hair’s pulled half back, secured with a grosgrain bow. My bangs are heavy, my eyes are big and dark, my smile is tiny yet cartoonishly exaggerated. My face is illuminated with the glow from 5 candles, waving gently in front of me, burrowed into the white buttercream frosting atop a Betty Crocker cake mix cake brought from home.
Happy birthday to YOU, happy birthday TO you, happy BIRTHday dear Cheryl, happy BIRTHday to you…
And everyone’s clapping, and I’m blowing out the candles, still grinning, and asking my mom if I can lick the frosting off the bottom of the little pink wax sticks. We’re at the Broccoli Cheese Soup Place, aka TGIFriday’s, as we are every childhood birthday during this particular stretch. We went often, my parents certainly thrilled by knowing I’d actually eat what I ordered and by the fact I’d willingly eat something green. And for kid birthdays, they’d stand me up on a chair, provide a latex balloon, sing loudly, and clap heartily.
To this day, broccoli cheese soup is one of my all-time favorite soups, if not my hands-down forever-and-ever favorite. And what’s not to love? Heaps of rich, gooey cheese stirred into an already creamy base with tender broccoli to make you feel better about your choices. I could eat it every day, except…
Heaps of rich, gooey cheese stirred into an already creamy base with only a handful of tender broccoli to make you feel better about your choices. With fall on the horizon, I knew I had to create a healthier, dairy-free version of the American favorite, leaving out all of the ingredients that make you feel sluggish and integrating more nutrient-dense foods.
This cheesy vegan broccoli soup is Whole30-compliant, too, (and paleo, of course!) making it a perfect fall weeknight dinner on a round, reappearing as early-lunchtime-inducing leftovers the next day. And since it’s dairy-free, it’s easy to freeze!
Why this recipe is so good:
- I based this paleo broccoli cheese soup on the offerings at Panera and TGIFriday’s, hoping to convert the dairy-loving diehards to my cheesy vegan broccoli soup substitution.
- This cheesy vegan broccoli soup is rich and creamy with plenty of delish cheese flavor, tender broccoli, and carrots.
- It’s easy to make and comes together quickly, made originally one night when a bout of morning sickness left me uninterested in the chicken dish we’d meal planned. Instead, I whipped together this vegan broccoli soup and hurriedly snapped photos before diving in.
And oh, oh, oh. The little girl at the Broccoli Cheese Soup Place has certainly grown up.
Variations
- If you’re vegan, definitely use olive oil or vegan butter to cook your onion in. Make sure you use vegetable stock to boil your broccoli and carrots.
- If you’re not vegan, you can use ghee to sauté the onion, and you can use chicken stock to boil the broccoli.
Tips
- Start with 1/4 cup nutritional yeast and work up to 1/2 cup. If you’re vegan, you’re probably super used to that “nooch” flavor! But if you’re not, 1/4 cup will probably hit that sweet spot for you.
- Add turmeric to this cheesy vegan broccoli soup for color: start with just a pinch and work up to the saturation of yellow you want!
How to make it
Sauté onion in a medium saucepan over medium heat in a bit of olive oil; cook until translucent. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, about 30 seconds or until fragrant.
Add stock, broccoli, and carrots; cover. Simmer about 10-15 minutes or until broccoli is tender.
In a high-speed blender, combine cashews, water, mustard powder, smoked paprika, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, almond milk, and cayenne pepper. Blend on high speed until completely smooth. Pour into saucepan and stir. Season with salt and pepper, then ladle the vegan broccoli soup into serving bowls and garnish with chopped parsley.
To make this vegan broccoli soup, I used…
Other recipes you’ll love
- Best Vegan Queso Blanco (Whole30, Paleo)
- Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce
- Paleo Spinach Artichoke Dip (Vegan)
- Vegan Alfredo Sauce
- Vegan Seitan “Chicken”
- Hearty Vegan Enchiladas
Cheesy Vegan Broccoli Soup (Whole30, Paleo, Dairy Free)
Equipment
- high-speed blender
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.
Video
Approximate Information for One Serving
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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Hi, this looks delciious! But, My son is hyper allergic to cashews….and all nuts. Can you suggest any sort of replacement for this recipe?
Try this: steam 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!
Ive made it this way twice and it’s amazing- creamy enough.
I can imagine it being creamier with the cashews though.
I didnt have mustard powder so, I used turmeric instead and it was great.
Made this tonight and my husband and I LOVED it. We did sub cashew milk for almond milk because that’s what we had on hand. We are almost done with our first Whole 30 and it was so nice to have a break from meat!! We plan to make this many, many times again.
That makes me so happy, Annie! I’m so thrilled you liked it so much 🙂
Loved this recipe! So easy to make and everyone approved. ??
I’m so happy to hear everyone liked it!
I’m super allergic to cashews, but desperately want to try this recipe. Broccoli and Cheddar soup is my vice and aid love to have it while doing a Whole 30. Do you have any recommended substitutions for the cashews? Other nuts perhaps? Would it be fine to omit it? I’m guessing if helps with the thickness/creaminess… Thank you for any tips you can give!
Hi! So, I recommended this substitution to another reader. I think it will work! It won’t be QUITE as rich or creamy, but still pretty dang good, I’d expect 🙂 Try it and let me know what you think!
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.
Excited to make this! Just curious- what is the purpose of the cashews? Flavor? texture? Something else?
The cashews give everything a super creamy texture. So rich! You’ll love them in this
Delicious! I was wondering if you could include the nutritional information so I could add it to my fitness pal?
I’ve updated the post with a nutrition label! It’s for 4 large servings 🙂
I’m pretty sure Ghee is butter, which is dairy. Obviously I’d sub oil for the ghee to make dairy free but wondering why you are advertising as dairy free when your recipe as is, is not dairy free. It’s also not vegan as is with chicken stock. Again, obviously I’d sub veggie broth but it’s misleading for newbies or for someone not vegan trying to make a dish for a vegan friend (and don’t know the rules).
Suggestion – say “can be made vegan and dairy free” or “lactose free.”
Hey Erica! I appreciate your comments. I put “vegan” in the title because, as the recipe states with the ingredient notes, it can easily be made vegan with tiny tweaks. I made sure to explicitly distinguish which ingredients are or are not vegan in the recipe (Like “olive oil for vegan”), so it should be quite easy for any well-meaning but uninformed friends trying to make the dish for a vegan 🙂
Came out great! I did not have smoked paprika, so I used chipotle. I also used cashew milk instead of almond milk. In the end, I tossed the whole thing in the blender which gave it a very smooth texture after I added a bit more cashew milk . I don’t have an immersion blender, but I could see how leaving some of the texture might have been better.
Hi Barb! I’m so glad you liked it. And yes – you could purée part of the soup in the regular blender and leave 1/2 to 2/3 unprocessed. That’d be great!
Oh my! I don’t even love broccoli but my husband bought a Costco size bag and I know how healthy it is so I decided to make a soup.
WOW! This is amazing!
I did simmer for a full 15 mins and a lot of the broth was gone. I did use the immersion blender on the broccoli.
It is thick and creamy! Sooo freaking good!!
THANK YOU!
Ha! I love those giant broccoli bags from Costco! I’m so glad you liked this as much as we do 🙂
Can you make this in a slow cooker?
You could definitely make this soup in the slow cooker, just make sure to sauté your onions and garlic first, before adding the remaining ingredients. It shouldn’t take too long to cook until it’s ready, though! You might consider Erin’s method for a slow cooker broccoli cheese soup to help 🙂
https://www.wellplated.com/slow-cooker-broccoli-and-cheese-soup/