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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.
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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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Did you make this recipe?
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 soup is delicious. The use of cashews is genius and will use this a lot. Used a bunch of fresh herbs/seasonings which added additional flavor.
This soup came together so easily! I took all of Jen’s tips and they all helped make this an easy delicious meal. The cashews made to soupsillt and indulgent. Delicious! I will definitely make this recipe again.
5 stars! This is really, really delicious! Personally, I am not vegetarian so the idea of trying something veggie-licous is not high on my list but we need more vitamins and minerals. So I signed on for the Soup Challenge. First up is this Creamy Vegetable Soup, and I am not disappointed. I made a few tweaks, that I will get to, but first I just have to say that my mom and my husband liked this too! I didn’t tell my mom about the cashews until AFTER she ate it and liked it. And I didn’t tell my hubby about the celery leaves until AFTER he ate it and liked it. He then tried to renege but I declared it too late. LOL This one is a KEEPER, and to me it is like eating a __Chowder, as in insert whatever kind you want… My hubby suggests Clam. It’s just a really, REALLY good soup!
Now on to the tweaks I made for my non-vegetarian family: Jen said to use what we had first. I have homemade bone broth (stored in my Souper Cubes!) so I used it. Also on hand are olive oil, sweet onions, fresh ground pepper (and after it was done I seasoned it with just a little of Redmond’s Real Salt) and celery from my organic garden (stalks and leaves). I made two versions with the same tweaks but one has only celery leaves, for my husbands benefit, and it paid off. For the mixed vegetables, I chose a store brand Broccoli Stir-Fry blend of broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, sugar snap peas, white corn, mushrooms, water chestnuts and red peppers. The little crunch from the water chestnuts was nice addition as I had hoped. The one with just the celery leaves was in the stock pot, and the one with celery stalks and leaves was in the crock pot. I had hoped to only use the crockpot, but it is just 4 quarts and that wasn’t big enough for me to double the recipe. (My 8 quart Ninja Foodi was in service making more bone broth with the veggie scraps from the soup today.) I am planning to save the leftovers that I planned for in my Souper Cubes 2-cup trays so that they can be reheated in the Souper Cubes re-heatable dishes that I just got! Just take the frozen cube of soup out and place it in the bowl. Then reheat. Voila! Why eat from a can when the homemade version is SO good?!? Thank you, Jen!
I meant to add that I also used the russet potatoes I had on hand and it cooked longer that I had intended. It is a forgiving and easily adaptable recipe. : )
This was delicious! My husband said, ‘this was quite good’, which is a huge compliment. I’ve never used cashews in place of dairy – nice texture and creaminess. As luck would have it, my order of Souper Cubes arrived today so I’ll have nice, tidy cubes of frozen leftover soup!
Hi Jen,
The soup was very very good. Two items I never had before, cannellini beans and creamed cashews in a soup. I will absolutely make the soup again (knowing it’s so healthy) but next time I think I will puree the cooked potatoes with the cashews, since I’m not a potato lover. I might even save some of the beans, toast them for a topping for a little crunch, once the soup is laddled into the bowls.
Thank you for your creativity and willing to share.
Leslie Geer
This soup is super yummy! My husband who is a classic meat and potatoes guy even like it! Will make again 🙂
I like this for the fall! I decided to not put cachews in it. After it cooled I added about 1/2 cup of Greek Yogurt (slowly). Also, I used a bag of Vegetable Soup veggies. It included okra so I think that helped with the thickening. I decided to put in onion flakes (I love onion). Toward the end I added some shredded kale for texture (and taste). It made a lot! Next time I am going to try kidney (small) beans in stead of the cannellini beans!
This creamy vegetable soup is absolutely delicious- rich, velvety and full of fresh flavour. Thanks!
We are not big soup eaters in our home of two, but “maybe we are now,” my beau just added over my shoulder.
Flavorful. “Chock full of deliciousness.” I loved the ease of using frozen veggies. Mine didn’t look as creamy as this picture, so I’ll make a note to use only 1 cup of broth with one cup of cashews to see how that turns out.
The rainy day added to the charm. Served it with a slice of lightly toasted bread with smashed avocado and tomato (fresh garlic on mine).
Delicious. And filling.
I added some cooked brown rice and some zucchini to my frozen vegetable mix. Next time I make it, I will add a couple cloves of garlic when I first do the onions and celery. I love garlic in soups.
This creamy vegetable soup reminds of a classic chowder, full of rich deliciousness full a variety of vegetables to offer plenty of nutritional benefits.
It’s a simple recipe that seems as if it took some effort!
Well done
This is a delicious and hearty soup recipe. This was my first time using cashews as a thickener. Worked really well and added that healthy fat and protein. Instead of the 3 cup serving recommendation,
I was able to get 8 1 1/2 cup servings. Perfect for our lunch. So excited to freeze extras and get a head start on meals for the coming weeks. Next time I make this, I will wait until the end of the week and throw in my leftover veggies from the refrigerator. No more waste from spoiling!
I enjoyed the cashew cream, first time making it.
I liked everything about the soup except the frozen vegetables I chose. I used mixed that had carrots, corn, green beans, and peas. I think it would taste better with broccoli and cauliflower.
You had me at cashews! Never thought to use cashews as a thickener in a soup but it is genius. Loved the combination of the vegetables and silkiness in the soup. I used frozen stir fry vegetables and added some corn left over from dinner last night. The soup was flavorful and tasty with a great combinaton of vegetables. I usually want generous amounts of salt, but this soup was perfect without any salt. I would eat this again and again and am putting it in my rotation of favorite foods.
I am not a vegan but am trying to broaden my horizons with healthier foods. That said, the cashew cream was a revelation to me. I am surprised with how creamy it makes the soup without cream. Overall, I found it to be filling and comforting but somewhat bland for my taste. I did add fresh garlic in the beginning and some more salt, onion powder and a little more Italian seasoning and that helped. I think this is a great base you can build on and wonderful for a cold, rainy day like today. I plan on packing it up for lunches and freezing some for later. Looking forward to trying the other recipes!
I had to go to two stores to find the cashews, but it was worth it. The soup was so good! I’ll definitely make it again.