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If you haven’t made my creamy vegetable soup yet—you’re missing out. This is a “lazy day recipe,” using a TON of vegetables, sneaking in some plant-protein and requiring minimal prep. It’s dairy-free, yet still delivers that rich, silky texture you’ll love. Pair this soup with crusty bread, a kale caesar salad, or those “biscuits in a can” the kids all love and be in awe.
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What is Creamy Vegetable Soup?
Creamy vegetable soup is a classic, comfort food made with simple ingredients like potatoes, beans, and frozen vegetables simmered in a flavorful broth. Instead of heavy cream or cheese, my recipe uses blended cashews to create a silky, dairy-free base that tastes rich and indulgent while staying light and nourishing. It’s hearty enough for a full meal, quick enough for weeknights, and can be frozen and enjoyed later, too.
Ingredients You’ll Need
To make this creamy vegetable soup you’ll need a few basic ingredients you can find at any grocery store:
- Cashews: The base of this soup is raw cashews, blended into a silky cream that keeps this soup dairy-free, high in protein and sooooo creamy.
- Onion + celery: The classic aromatic duo that builds depth of flavor. If you have extra, save it to use in my Cabbage Soup recipe.
- Potatoes: baby red or gold potatoes give this soup body and creaminess. You can swap half out for cauliflower, like I did in my Vegan Potato Soup, if you’re trying to cut down on carbs.
- Garlic powder + Italian seasoning: Together, they add a savory, herb-filled flavor that you’d recognize in most cream-based soups.
- Frozen mixed vegetables: time-saving, cheap and versatile; use carrots, peas, corn, beans, or whatever you’ve got.
- Cannellini beans: These silky beans add plant-based protein and a creamy bite. These are my favorite beans to use in soups.
Recipe Tips
• Use a medley of frozen carrots, peas, corn, green beans, or broccoli for variety.
• You can use larger potatoes— just dice them small to cook quick.
• Add a splash of lemon juice or top with fresh parsley for brightness.
• Stir in cooked quinoa, rice, or barley for an even more filling meal.
Free 5-Day Soup Challenge
Get cozy with 5 of my most flavorful, plant-based soups that’ll help you feel lighter, nourished, and totally satisfied. Let’s soup it up!
How to Make Creamy Vegetable Soup
Soften the cashews. Soak raw cashews in hot water while you prep everything else.
Build the base. Sauté onion and celery in avocado oil until softened.
Add the heartiness: Stir in potatoes, seasonings, frozen vegetables, beans, and black pepper.
Simmer the soup: Add most of the vegetable stock, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer until the potatoes are fork-tender.
Make the cashew cream: Blend drained cashews with the remaining broth until completely smooth. Works best in a high-speed blender (not an immersion blender).
Finish creamy: Stir the cashew cream into the pot, simmer a few minutes longer, and adjust seasonings as needed.
Storage Suggestions
Leftover creamy vegetable soup tastes even better— so double this recipe so you can enjoy it again and again.
- Fridge: Store in airtight containers for up to 5 days.
- Freezer: Freeze in 1-cup Souper Cubes for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
- Reheat: Warm gently on the stovetop or in the microwave, adding a splash of broth or water if it thickens too much.
Freeze Your Food + Save Your Money
Souper Cubes make it easy to portion and freeze leftovers, helping you reduce food waste, save money, and save time with ready-to-heat meals whenever you need them.
If you make this creamy vegetable soup recipe, I’d love to hear how it turned out in the comment box below. Your feedback helps me and all the readers in this community. And if you’re interested in more plant-based recipes (and exclusive content), sign up for my weekly recipe newsletter.
Creamy Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 2 tablespoon avocado oil
- 1 cup yellow onion diced
- 1 cup celery rib diced
- 16 ounce baby red potatoes quartered
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon black pepper, ground ground
- 3 cups mixed vegetables frozen
- 1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans drained
- 8 cups vegetable stock divided
Instructions
- Place cashews in a bowl and cover with hot water. Set aside to soften while you prepare the rest of the recipe.
- Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.
- Stir in the potatoes, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, frozen vegetables, beans, and black pepper.
- Add vegetable broth (set aside 2 cups to use in step 5) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
- Drain the cashews and transfer to a blender with the remaining 2 cups of vegetable broth. Blend on high until completely smooth.
- Pour the cashew cream into the pot and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the soup thickens slightly.
- Adjust seasonings as needed. Ladle into bowls and serve warm.
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Leave a review for a chance to win signed copies of my cookbooks!Frequently Asked Questions
Yes—swap in unsweetened coconut milk, oat milk, and some frozen cauliflower to make it a creamy texture, yet without cashews.
Not at all! Fresh veggies work great—just chop them into small, even pieces so they cook quickly.
Absolutely. Chickpeas, navy beans, or great northern beans are all good substitutes for cannellini beans.
Yes, it freezes beautifully. Just cool completely, portion into containers, and freeze for up to 3 months.
Add fresh herbs (like rosemary and thyme), a squeeze of lemon juice before serving, or top with nutritional yeast for extra cheesiness.
This recipe is amazing. It made me feel full and satisfied, unlike many soups that seem to need something else with them. I have many food intolerances, but all I had to leave out of this one was the onions and garlic. It still had so much flavor. I will definitely make this soup frequently.
So glad you loved this soup and that you made it work for you.
I love a warm, creamy potato soup once the weather gets cold. I usually make a simpler version, but I liked the variety of this recipe. It felt a little more upscale or gourmet than my usual version. Best of all, it uses stuff I already have on hand. I made it with russet potatoes since that’s what I had. Yum!
So glad you were able to use items you already had. That is a win.
Excellent! It is rich and creamy. I would never guess that it had. O dairy. I did add salt (which I never add) and a Penzey’s seasoning. I will definitely make this again!
Oops. I should always proofread prior to submitting. I would never guess it had no dairy. Delicious!
Yes.
So glad you enjoyed it!
This Creamy Vegetable Soup is delicious and perfect for a dreary rainy Fall day or any day when a little comfort food fixes everything. It’s pure comfort food and so healthy too. It was very easy to make. Amazing how the cashews thickened up the soup. Lucious!
Yes! Healthy comfort food for the win!
This soup is fire as my teenagers would say. Such a great switch from tomato based soups. Fill of flavour and filling as we head into cooler months.
Everyone cleaned their bowls!
So glad your whole family enjoyed this soup!
This soup was so easy to make! I already had all the ingredients at home. I skipped the onions and added extra celery and broccoli; it turned out incredible! I also threw in some thyme, red chili flakes, and Calabrian chili, and it made it soooo good. Definitely making this again! I stirred in some nutritional yeast for extra flavor and had it with a piece of toast, such a perfect cozy meal for fall.
I love the heat you added. So glad you enjoyed it!
I thought it was tasty, unfortunately I couldn’t get it to thicken up
Cynthia: Sometimes when I want it thicker, I take out some of the potatoes and liquid and blend that together to make a slurry. Then stir the slurry back into the rest of the soup.
Awesome!
Maybe next time you could add more veggies, or more cashew cream, or even less liquid. Thanks for the review.
Soup was good, very filling, and easy to make. We are not always a fan of creamy soups, but we always follow a recipe the first time we try it. Next time, we will try it without the cashew cream.
So glad you are open to trying it again and making it your own.
Delicious!! I love the bowlful of veggie goodness. (I used the Little Potato Company bag of tiny red potatoes…so easy to chop!)
Yay! So glad you enjoyed this recipe.
I made this soup as part of the 5 day soup challenge. Very easy to make and delicious. I’ve never used the cashew cream in place of dairy before this recipe and I am pleased with the result. Even my picky husband thought it was good.
That is amazing that your picky husband enjoyed it! That is a win for sure.
I thought this soup had great flavor and I really enjoyed the creaminess obtained by the cashews. And being dairy free, I love this alternative. I will say the only adjustment I made was I reduced the vegetable stock from 8 cups to 6. I like my cream based soups a little thicker and I thought 8 cups might be too much. I was happy with the result and it was not too thick using just 6 cups and it did yield enough for 4 servings. I also needed to add some salt.
So glad you reduced the stock and got the outcome that you wanted. Thank you for the review!
Delicious and simple to make, also a great way to add lots of veggies into your day.
Yay! Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Half of my household has dairy sensitivities, so that makes it hard to bring variety to batch cooking soups. I made this soup as part of the 5 Day Soup Challenge and the cashew cream was a game changer. I had tasted the soup prior to adding the cashews to test the spice level, and hadn’t been overly impressed by it. But once I added the cashew cream it was such a huge difference. My picky teen took a bite from my bowl to taste and then took my whole bowl.
I halved the recipe and followed it closely, only changing it up for the frozen vegetable addition. I added frozen green beans, corn and carrots. The corn adds a nice sweet pop of taste and the green beans made it feel homey.
Excellent recipe and definitely going into my cooking rotation after the challenge.
So glad that you now have a substitute for dairy based soups. Thank you for the review.
Very simple and comforting, taste as you go when making it for salt and spice levels. I love to add barely to this soup or have it as a side to a meal.
I bet the soup would be really good with a grain added. So glad you enjoyed it.
This was a perfect lunch on a cool, crisp day. The cashew cream adds the right amount of flavor. This soup is so clean, yet hardy. I will definitely be making this again.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe!
This recipe is delicious and easy to make. I did use cashews, and surprisingly they really added to the flavor profile. I always have fresh veggies in the fridge, so I used them in the soup. Guess I’m used to doing a lot of chopping.
So glad you enjoyed the soup. Thanks for the review.
I was inspired to make this soup as part of the Simple Green Smoothies 5 Day Soup Challenge, and wow, am I glad I did! ✨
I made this soup last night and brought some for lunch today, and it’s absolutely delicious! This was my first time experimenting with a cashew cream base. I’ve always been a little intimidated by making my own cashew cream, but this recipe made it simple and totally doable. The soup turned out rich, creamy, and satisfying, all without a drop of dairy! . I’ll definitely be adding this to my favorites and making it again soon!
Yay! So glad you love the cashew cream in the recipe!
It was bland for my taste. I used unsalted vegetable broth so maybe I needed to add salt. I added salt once I tasted but it was still bland. Maybe red pepper flakes? Any advise?
After seasoning to taste with S&P I stir in a couple, or more, teaspoons lemon juice right before serving to brighten all the flavors. Some chopped fresh parsley or dill would be nice too.
That sounds amazing to add the freshness of the lemon juice and fresh herbs!
I would add some stock with salt, or you can flavor it with sea salt. If you like heat, you can add chili flakes. There are many spices that can uplevel the soup. Hope you try it again.
This soup was easy to make and tasty. I now have leftovers for lunch later in the week. I topped it with some crunchy croutons. Next time I will add one of the suggested add-ins, like barley.
This will be going into my soup rotation. I make a batch of soup every weekend to have lunch for the week.
What a smart idea to make a batch of soup on the weekend. So glad you liked this recipe.
Adding the cashew cream really makes this extra delicious! I used carrots, green beans, and cauliflower for the veggies. Next time I’ll likely add mushrooms too. Definitely one to make again!
Didn’t see the stars when I first posted. Definitely gets five stars!
Thanks, Daila.
So glad you liked it. I bet mushrooms will be amazing!