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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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I need to be dairy free and unable to use nutritional yeast at the present time, I can already tell this soup would be delicious and I haven’t even made it yet! Is there something else to use beside the nutritional yeast?
If you only need to be dairy-free, not Whole30, you can replace the nutritional yeast with any dairy-free cheese that you can tolerate! The nutritional yeast is only essential for that cheesy flavor on Whole30, since dairy-free cheeses aren’t allowed on the program.
This is a 5-star recipe. The flavour and texture were spot on. This will become a staple at our house. Thank you very much.
So glad to hear that, Madalin! Thanks so much for the review!
As a warning, I would definitely suggest doubling or tripling this recipe right off the bat. It was creamy, cheesy, savory, goodness in a hot steaming bowl! The added benefit is that it was essentially, wfpb…no manufactured vegan cheeses, etc. If you’re frugal, like me…I
subbed some cashews with tofu, and extended the broth with some added miso. Thanks so much for sharing this gem.
Thank you so much for the compliment and great review, Dawn!! I’m so happy you loved this soup so much!
I can’t wait to try this! I have to be nut free though due to an allergy. Any substitution that would work for the cashews?
You might try full-fat coconut cream. Just keep in mind it’ll give the soup a slight coconut flavor!
Awesome satisfying vegan option for broccoli cheddar soup! I love how clean the ingredients are and it really has a great flavor. I used roasted salted cashews because that’s all I could find, still soaked and rinsed them and I feel it added even more to the depth of flavor! I also used a food processor instead of a blender. Delicious! Perfect consistency and thickness. Also a quick recipe with minimal prep (as far as soup goes). Will definitely make this again.
Thank you so much, Molly! I love the roasted cashews sub – that’s a really great suggestion for extra flavor. Thanks for sharing that with us, and I’m so happy you enjoyed this soup so much!
Love this soup!! I made it again for the 2nd time this week. I used the instant pot (4 min high pressure then quick release). For those who didn’t like the flavour taste your cashew cream and season it before adding it to your soup.
I also used a hand blender at the end to puree it.
Thank you so much for your review, Therese! I’m so happy you enjoyed this soup so much!
This recipe is amazing! Honestly, I thought it was going to taste like the typical vegan cheese, but it actually tasted like real cheese. There might have been a slight difference, but nothing to complain about. Overall, very impressed.
What I’m really curious about…how long can this be stored in the refrigerator? Can it be reheated? Can it be frozen?
So glad you enjoyed it! Yes, it can be reheated and frozen, but the texture may be altered in those processes. It should keep in the fridge for 5 days or so!
Turned out great, thank you for sharing this! I doubled it to meal prep so I have healthy food on the ready. I ended up doing carrot chunks instead and adding them to the blender for colour. All delish 🙂
Thanks so much for your review, Courtney! So happy you loved the soup!
Tasted powdery and Smokey… not good at all. Way too much nutritional yeast.
We’re sorry you had this experience, Kristina, but appreciate the honest feedback.
I have to agree with Kristina, the nutritional yeast completely overpowered the soup… it smelled delicious until I added in the nutritional yeast, and when I tried it, it tasted awfully powdery and zesty.. I added in an extra 1/4 cup of almond milk, but the soup was already getting watery, so I think extra cashews is the way to go on this one. Not a fan of the overbearing taste of nooch. It made my throat dry just tasting how powdery and overly zesty it was 🙁
Oh, no! I’m so sorry that was your experience with the soup, Sarah. I appreciate you sharing your honest feedback, though! I hope you’ll give the recipe another try, maybe starting with just 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast instead of the full half cup.
A cheese connoisseur would never know this is vegan!
Now that’s a compliment!