Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe
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My daughter’s first official job was at Panera Bread in Ohio, she enjoyed working there while attending college.
So I asked her what was one of the customer’s favorite soup and she said, their broccoli cheddar soup was definitely a hit!
Personally, I never had Panera broccoli cheese soup, but I loved broccoli cheese soup so much as a student in England.
I have been making and enjoying vegan versions for many years but somehow I never shared a recipe on here.
Today as I was scouting through my refrigerator wondering what to prepare.
I decided to make a dish with broccoli, so this is how this version of my dairy-free broccoli and cheese soup was created.
I used sweet potatoes for the beautiful cheesy color and it also added to the creamy texture along with cashews.
My daughter and son love it so much, she takes it as packed lunch for college in her thermos.

How To Make Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup
You won’t miss the cheese nor milk of the conventional recipe
. This is way better for your heart. It is easy to prepare and the results are flavorful. You can use fresh or frozen broccoli to make this soup and you can garnish it with Coconut Bacon.
- Heat a large saucepan with oil or water over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute until soft, about 4 minutes.
- Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add broccoli florets stir to coat, add vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes until broccoli is tender. Meanwhile, prepare the cheesy sauce.
- Place cashews and water in blender and process until smooth. Add sweet potatoes, yeast flakes onion, garlic, salt, and pepper and continue processing until smooth and creamy.
- Transfer cheese sauce into a bowl and set aside. Take half the broccoli soup and pulse in a blender (I prefer it to be chunky).
- Return the blended soup to the saucepan along with the cheesy sauce and cook stirring until thickened. Enjoy on its own or baked potato, or bread.
For more recipe idea check out my:
- Broccoli Cheese Baked Potatoes
- Vegan Broccoli And Rice Casserole
- Gluten-Free Vegan Cauliflower Casserole
- Vegan White Bean Soup

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Categories
- Categories: Gluten-Free, Vegan
- Courses: Entrée, Main Course, Soup
- Cuisines: American, Mediterranean
Nutrition
(Per portion)- Energy: 252 kcal / 1053 kJ
- Fat: 13 g
- Protein: 13 g
- Carbs: 24 g
Cook Time
- Preparation: 10 min
- Cooking: 20 min
- Ready in: 30 min
- For: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 4 cups broccoli florets, chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, or 1/4 cup vegetable broth for sauteing
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked for 1 hour
- 1/2 cup cooked sweet potatoes
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 tablespoon onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Heat a large saucepan with oil or water over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute until soft, about 4 minutes.
- Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add broccoli florets stir to coat, add vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes until broccoli is tender. Meanwhile, prepare the cheesy sauce.
- Place cashews and water in blender and process until smooth. Add sweet potatoes, yeast flakes onion, garlic, salt, and pepper and continue processing until smooth and creamy.
- Transfer cheese sauce into a bowl and set aside. Take half the broccoli soup and pulse in a blender (I prefer it to be chunky).
- Return the blended soup to the saucepan along with the cheesy sauce and cook stirring until thickened. Enjoy on its own or baked potato, or bread.
I love your site and recipes! Thank you. Do you think he would be able to tell a difference using frozen broccoli versus fresh in the soup? Thank you
Mary, thank you very much. Frozen broccoli is fine and it will taste great.
I made this soup tonight and it was fantastic! I’ve tried multiple vegan broccoli soup recipes and this is by far the best! I will be making this regularly and I will double it next time. So so delicious. What a great recipe! Thank you so much.
Greetings Mrs. Blackwood. It is a pleasure to have stumbled upon your site. I’m questioning the ingredients and instructions to your vegan broccoli cheese soup. You wrote: 1 med onion chopped, then you wrote,1 tbsp onion chopped; 2 garlic cloves chopped, then 1 garlic clove. I’m new at cooking, so I’m not following the instructions. Help! I want to eat this!!
Jameilah, greetings. Thank you very much for your observation. This happened when I updated the recipe. This one was a very old favorite so I must have not updated it correctly. Going to add it on my list of recipes today. I’m so happy you found my website. Blessings.
The soup was absolutely delicious. I was so glad I have everything to make this soup. The only thing I had to adjust due to my allergies was the cashews cheese sauce I used walnuts instead. Just sharing in case another has the same kind of allergy or none in your house. Thank you for this healthy version.
Dang girl! LOVE it!
Thanks for the recipe.
This soup was so delicious!!! I have been looking to incorporate more plant-based foods into my diet. I look forward to making the coconut bacon…in the meantime, I used real bacon on top. It was so good, I had two bowls and now am stuffed!!! Will definitely keep this in my soup rotation.
Brenda, I’m so happy you enjoyed it. Thank you very much for sharing your feedback, I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy the coconut bacon too.
Made this tonight and it was SO good – even my picky 10 year old loved it. Mine didn’t look anything like the picture, but still looked and tasted like broccoli cheese soup. I thought the cheese sauce needed an extra kick, so I added some garlic powder and Trader Joe’s onion seasoning + tumeric for color. Will definitely make this again.
Elisa, I’m so happy you and your 10-year old enjoyed it. I love how you added extra garlic powder and Trader Joe’s seasoning. I do love to use both to give an extra kick also. I go through a lot of Trader Joe’s onion seasonings but don’t like to add it to the ingredient list since Trader Joes aren’t common in some locations.
Yet another winner! This soup is DEElicious! I added some cardamom and turmeric and it is absolute heaven! You are truly a God send Michelle.
Nicci, I’m so happy you enjoyed it. Thank you very much for your kind feedback, I will have to try it with cardamom and turmeric. Thank you again for sharing with us your adjustment.