This thick and creamy vegan broccoli cheddar soup is comfort food in a bowl… and you only need 7 ingredients to make it!
One-Pot Cheesy Broccoli Cheddar Soup
A homemade broccoli soup perfect for busy weeknights, because it’s super easy to make.
The recipe is so rich and creamy that no one can ever it isn’t full of butter and heavy cream!
If you’ve ever had the famous broccoli cheddar soup from Panera, this is like the healthier answer to that classic recipe – chopped broccoli and carrot in velvety smooth cheese sauce, made with good-for-you ingredients.
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The soup can be all of the following:
Vegan
Oil Free
Gluten Free
Dairy Free
Keto Friendly
Whole30
Traditional Panera copycat recipes are normally thickened with flour and call for 1/4 cup of butter, a cup of heavy cream, and a full TWO cups of cheese.
No flour is needed for this lightened-up version, and heart-healthy cashews stand in for the heavy cream, so you get the same rich texture without all the saturated fat.
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My personal favorite way to serve it is with homemade English muffins from the Hello Breakfast ebook.
Serve in bowls, or bread bowls if you want to be super fancy, or it also makes a great sauce over pasta, roasted cauliflower, baked potatoes, or spaghetti squash.
(See How To Cook Spaghetti Squash.)
Leftover soup can be covered and refrigerated 3-4 days, or you can also freeze it to have on hand for a night where you don’t want to cook. The recipe makes a small batch, so feel free to double it!
For dessert, try these Coconut Fudge Bars!
Vegan Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 2/3 cup finely diced or shredded carrot
- 3 cups chopped small frozen broccoli florets, thawed
- 1 cup milk of choice
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup raw cashews or macadamias
- 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste, and optional dash pepper and/or nutmeg
- Either 1 cup cheese shreds, such as Daiya, OR 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
Instructions
- A few hours in advance (or the day before), cover the nuts with some water and let sit 4-6 hours. Drain fully, pat dry, and set aside. In a medium pot, sauté the onion—either in 1 tbsp oil or butter, or with oil spray or a little water—until browned. Add the nuts, carrot, milk, broth, salt, and about 2 cups of the broccoli. Pulverize in a blender or with an immersion blender until completely smooth. Stir in remaining broccoli, then bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower to a simmer and stir in the cheese shreds (if using) just until melted, continuously stirring. Immediately remove from heat. Taste, and add salt and pepper as desired. If a thinner soup is desired, feel free to add more broth.View Nutrition Facts
Have you made this recipe?
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More Healthy Savoy Recipes:
How To Cook Sweet Potatoes – The Better Way
Vegan Breakfast Enchiladas, from the Hello Breakfast ebook
Anita Lamm says
I purchased the hello breakfast ebook and I do not see a recipe for English muffins in the book.
This recipe says that there is a recipe for English muffins in the ebook.
can you either send me the recipe for English muffins or refund my money for the ebook?
Jason Sanford says
Oh no, you should absolutely have it! I’m looking into it right now, so let me know if you don’t get an email within the next few minutes, and sorry for the trouble!
Jason (media relations)
Linda says
What is the point of having a gluten free recipe if one was to serve it in a bread bowl? Isn’t that a gluten item?
Jason Sanford says
Hi Linda, the recipe CAN be served in bread bowls, but it definitely does not have to be! As shown in the photos, it is fine to serve in regular bowls as well 🙂
Jason
Nina says
I made this tonight and it was super easy and delicious. I loved that it tasty creamy without all the fat.
Cherise says
Anyone have a favorite vegan cheese that isn’t Daiya? Not a fan of that one. Nutritional yeast is fine, but I do love the cheese shreds on top to garnish.
Angela says
Chao or Follow Your Heart! Miyokos is also really good but I don’t think they have shredded cheese.
Angela says
This was delicious!
Brandi says
Would you be able to make this nut free? Would something like pumpkin seeds work instead? Thank you!
Jason Sanford says
There’s no way to know unless you experiment, but it sounds like a fun experiment… maybe sunflower seeds? Or use pumpkin seed butter or sunbutter (since the cashews will be pulverized anyway). Be sure to report back if you try!
Jason
Robin says
Hi there! This does look delicious. I did just buy the Hello Breakfast Cookbook, but is it too late to get the (bonus pack) English Muffin recipe? The rest of cookbook looks amazing, though. Have a terrific day 🙂
Jason Sanford says
Absolutely, you should have it. Sending now, so let me know if you don’t see it within the next few minutes!
Jason (media relations)
Robin says
Excellent! Thank you so much, Jason 🙂
brigitte says
the english muffin recipe sounds perfect for me where do i find it sorry thanks
Christine says
I was so excited to try this recipe, but mine turned out terribly – I tried my Ninja blender, an immersion blender, and a food processor but I couldn’t get the cashews to blend and turn creamy. So the final texture was slimy tiny cashew confetti all throughout the soup. I soaked them overnight in the fridge before making it. The flavor was good though – so any tips for the texture?
Jason Sanford says
Hmm, have you tried other recipes with cashews before and had the same not smooth results? Such as vegan cream cheese or raw cheesecake recipes? Usually soaking will do the trick to make them creamy in these sorts of recipes, so the only thing I can think of is that maybe you’d just gotten a particularly tough batch of cashews somehow? Sometimes the recipes will specifically say to use a high speed blender like a vitamix because they’re more powerful, but I usually make raw cheesecake in my food processor and never have an issue with the cashews blending smoothly in this recipe or in the cheesecakes. (I’ve never personally tried using an immersion blender.)
Jason
brigitte says
the english muffin recipe sounds perfect for me where do i find it sorry thanks
Jackie says
I have now made several of your recipes & I am especially impressed with the way you honor different eating systems. I have sent your website address to 2 vegan friends – one in Illinois & one in Oregon. Keep up the good work.
Kara says
This was delicious!