Nothing beats a fresh batch of vegan broccoli cheddar soup.
While some box or sachet options are available, making it from scratch is healthier.
The whole family can enjoy this nutritious soup with healthy ingredients.
Plus, it won’t take too long for you to serve the soup at dinner time.
As a vegan option, the soup is filling and a gluten-free, dairy-free, and cruelty-free option.
Ingredients to Make Vegan Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Ensure you pick fresh carrots to use in the soup.
- Red Onion
- Olive Oil. For folks who don’t like olive oil, other good ones to use are coconut or canola oil.
- Raw Cashews. Only use raw cashews for this recipe and not roasted ones. Roasted cashews affect the final taste of the vegan broccoli cheddar soup.
- Fresh Broccoli. Fresh broccoli is the best when you want to make this vegan soup. But, you can always use some frozen ones at home. Thaw the frozen broccoli, drain the excess moisture and use them to make the soup.
- Unsweetened Coconut Milk. Making the vegan broccoli cheddar soup will require non-GMO and gluten-free unsweetened coconut milk. Check the label of the coconut milk for an option that’s dairy-free.
- Fresh garlic is the best. Peel and mince it yourself before adding it to the cooking pot.
- Salt and Pepper
- Vegetable Broth. You can use canned vegetable broth that you buy at the supermarket. Another alternative is making a healthy vegan vegetable broth at home. When you have all your ingredients remember to avoid boiling and opt to simmer to get the best vegetable broth.
- Vegan Cheddar Cheese.
- Adding potato to the vegan broccoli cheddar cheese ensures you end up with a good texture. The thickness is what makes the vegan soup a hit.
Ingredient Quantity
- 1 medium red onion, diced
- 1 medium fresh carrot, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- Fresh vegan cheddar cheese, 2 cups, shredded
- 2 tbsp of olive oil, canola oil, or coconut oil
- Raw cashew nuts, ½ cup
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
- Fresh broccoli florets, 2 cups
- 1 medium potato, peeled and sliced
- 5 cups fresh vegetable broth
- Salt and pepper to taste
How to Make Vegan Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Fetch a small pot, add 2 cups of water and bring to boil. Add the fresh broccoli florets and boil until soft.
- Remove the pot from the heat source and drain the excess water. Place the broccoli in a food processor and pulse 3 times. Ensure you retain some chunks to add a better consistency to the vegan broccoli cheddar soup.
- Fetch a large pot and add the oil of your choice (olive, canola, or coconut). Heat the oil and add the red onion. Sweat the onion for 5 minutes until it’s translucent and soft to the touch.
- Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant. Cook the onion and garlic for 60 seconds.
- Add the potato, raw cashew, and carrot. Stir for a few seconds, then pour in the vegetable broth. Bring the mixture to a boil on high heat and cover the pot.
- Remove the cover, add unsweetened coconut milk and allow the mixture to simmer for 25 minutes.
- Carefully pour the mixture into a blender. Ensure you do so in batches if the blender’s capacity can’t carry all the soup safely. Blend the mixture until you get a smooth consistency.
- Pour the mixture back into the pot and add salt and pepper to taste. Return the pot to medium heat, add the vegan cheddar cheese, and let it melt. Simmer the soup in low heat until it thickens, which can take up to 8 minutes.
- Remove the pot from heat and serve the vegan broccoli cheddar soup in bowls.
Tips for the Best Vegan Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Storing Leftovers
After you finish serving the vegan broccoli cheddar soup, you can store the leftover to enjoy later. Place the soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
The soup is good to have for the next 3 to 4 days. If you prefer to have it later, place the soup in baggies and freeze it in the freezer. This is good to have for up to 60 days.
Reheating the vegan broccoli cheddar soup
When you want to enjoy the leftover soup, pour it from the airtight container into a pot. If it’s frozen, give it time to thaw, then bring the pot to heat.
Another option is placing the soup in a bowl and popping it into the microwave.
Frozen Broccoli
The recipe calls for fresh broccoli to bring out the chunky consistency when you place it in the food processor. However, you can still enjoy amazing soup when you have frozen broccoli.
Thaw the broccoli and drain out the excess moisture before cooking it as per the recipe.
Potatoes and Carrots
Adding some potatoes to the vegan soup gives it a better starchy consistency. However, the potato needs to cook before you blend the soup. The best trick to cooking a potato is slicing it into small pieces. These cook faster and won’t need extra time to soften. The same applies to carrots.
Chop into small pieces before adding to the soup pot.
Vegan Cheeses
Apart from cheddar cheese, you can use any other vegan cheese you like to make this soup.
Try cream, parmesan, or mozzarella, depending on your preference. If you’d rather stick with the original, that’s fine.
Onion
Red onion has a distinct flavor that adds to the soup’s taste. But, there’s no limit to the type of onion to make the vegan soup.
Pick the type of onion you want and replace the red onion in the ingredient list. Good options are white or spring onion, which adds good flavor to soups.
Garnishing
Garnishing the soup is optional. It’s best to serve the soup and garnish individual bowls depending on the individual’s preferences.
Good soup garnishes include fresh herbs like chives. You can also serve the soup with some vegan crackers.
Raw Cashews
Many recipes require soaking raw cashews before using them in the recipe. When you soak the cashew, they soften. But, since this recipe requires boiling the ingredients, it’s safe to skip soaking raw cashews in water.
If you still feel it’s better to soak raw cashews, that’s okay. Leave the cashews in water for about 8 hours, then drain them before cooking.
Other Vegan Soups to Enjoy
Vegan French Onion Soup
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegan mozzarella cheese, shredded
- Olive oil, 2 tbsp.
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 4 yellow onions, sliced
- 1 1/2 cup of white wine
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- Vegetable broth, 5 cups
- 2 bay leaves
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- Sprigs of thyme, 2
How to Make Vegan French Onion Soup
- Preheat the oven before you begin preparing the vegan soup. Ensure it’s set at 350°F.
- Fetch a large stock pot and bring it to a source of heat. Add the olive oil to it on medium heat.
- Place the sliced onions in the hot oil and cook for 20 minutes. Keep stirring until all the onions are a brownish caramelized color.
- Add the minced garlic, bay leaves, and sprigs of thyme. Cook the mixture for 60 seconds, then add the white wine. Allow the mix to cook on medium heat for 6 minutes.
- Pour in the 5 cups of vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and allow the soup to simmer for 20 minutes.
- Stir in the balsamic vinegar, then remove the bay leaves.
- Add salt and black pepper to taste. Remove the soup from the source of heat and add the shredded cheese. Place the pot in the oven for 5 minutes until all the cheese melts.
- Serve in small bowls with a baguette or vegan bread of choice.
Vegan Ginger Garlic Soup
Ingredients
- ½ cup of vegan noodles
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 piece of 2” fresh ginger, peeled and minced
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- Salt and pepper to taste
How to Make Vegan Ginger Garlic Soup
- Fetch a large soup pot and place over medium heat. Add in the olive oil and allow to heat.
- Place the minced garlic and ginger in the hot olive oil. Allow the mix to cook for up to 3 minutes over medium heat.
- Pour in the vegetable broth and bring to a boil.
- Add the salt and pepper to taste. Add vegan noodles and cook the mix for 12 minutes.
- Remove the noodle soup from heat and serve in medium bowls.
- Store the leftover soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator. There’s also the option of freezing it in the freezer to enjoy later.
Conclusion
A hot bowl of steamy vegan broccoli cheddar soup can make the best dinner. It’s a nutritious soup for the whole family to enjoy.
The ingredients are easy to source, and it doesn’t take long to prepare the vegan soup. The soup is good to enjoy alone or with vegan bread for a complete meal.