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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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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.
I really enjoyed the flavor of this soup. I wanted it a bit more creamy so I took half the soup and put it in my blender until smooth, added it back to the rest of the soup and then added another can of beans to up the protein. Will keep this on my soup rotation!
I was delightfully impressed with how easy this recipe was to make. The flavor profile and textures were delightful. The soaked and blended cashews added a lovely element and the herbs and spices were spot on. It made a generous portion and was very filling.
This soup is amazing!!! So, so good!!! This is definitely going on my favorites list!!!
Didn’t add too much pepper since I don’t like things too peppery and used garbanzo beans for the cannellini beans since I didn’t have any.
Other changes I made is due to having a genetic disorder in which I have to keep my fats really low. So I used water for the oil and used 3/4C PB2 Powdered Cashew Butter mixed with 1/2C water for the cashews and the 2C of vegetable stock.
Wow. Just wow. I am completely amazed how easy this recipe was. I’ll admit I was intimidated with all the ingredients from the shopping list. But it all came together in no time. The flavors are amazing! My soup came out water, not sure where I went wrong. But I definitely will be making this again.
Soup is delicious!!
We used Mediterranean vegetables and French style green beans. Instead of Italian seasoning, we added Greek seasoning.
This is a challenge as it is our first time going plant based.
Can’t wait to try the next soup.
I really enjoyed the Creamy Vegetable Soup. The taste was superb and it was filling. Once I blended cashews with the 2 cups of vegetable broth and I added it to the soup mixture, it did not thicken up as much as I would have preferred. So I added some Quinoa which helped. I also shared the soup with a friend who also thought it was very good.
Looking forward to trying the Carrot Ginger Soup tomorrow.
I was a bit suspicious – this recipe didn’t call for blending. And frozen veggies, hmm? And although I have used cashew cream for vegan fettuccini alfredo, I wasn’t sure about in a soup. But this soup is the real deal!! Delicious! I love it!!
I prepped the night before: I was soaking the cashews while sautéing the onions and celery. When done, I cooled the sauté and put it in a baggie in the fridge. Then I made the cashew cream and put it in the fridge.
So today, here at the office, I quartered the potatoes, and put everything in instant pot, except the cashew cream. I set it to cook at high pressure for 15 minutes (then promptly got pulled into a meeting for an hour!). When I got out of the meeting, I put in the cashew cream and simmered for about 15 minutes. Oh man, this is soooo good!! It really does taste creamy and wonderful! I ate 2 big bowlfuls!
The only addition I made was some rosemary that a friend gave me – even more delicious!
Great recipe! I tweaked it a bit and cooked in my Instapot. I sautéed the onion and celery in the avocado oil on sear until soft then added two cloves of minced fresh garlic and a minced small jalapeño. (I like spice) for a minute. I added the potatoes, frozen organic corn and frozen organic peas with the beans and Italian spices and pepper. Stirred everything together and added the half of the vegetable stock. Cooked on “soup” setting for 15 minutes. While that was cooking I prepared the cashew cream and added after the Instapot was done (steam manually released). I put the lid back on and cooked another 2 minutes on steam. DELISH!! The soup thickened after letting it set outside of the cooker.
Recipe was easy to follow and it came out has expected . I would try again.
I made this last night. It was a little bland so I added 1 1/2 tsp of salt and blended a portion of the potatoes for a thicker consistency. It was even better today for lunch! My husband even enjoyed it. Thank you for the recipe!
I didn’t have mixed veghies like I thought I did so I used broccoli, peas, and corn. I also added a little bit of turmeric for anti-inflammatory benefits and some sea salt. The cashew cream was an interesting addition to the soup. Nice, simple, nutritious, and pretty quick to cook. It was not a heavy soup so qould even be enjoyable on a warmer day. I would make it again.
10/10! Reading the ingredients, I thought it may turn out bland, but it was the perfect amount of seasoning and didn’t need any salt which was surprising. First time trying cashew cream which was delicious! My soup didn’t get as thick as it appears in your picture, but it still tasted amazing which is all that matters. Definitely a keeper and will be on my rotation throughout the soup season. Thank you!
I was very surprised how quickly the soup came together after I chopped up all the veggies. I can’t eat cashews but after creaming them with the stock, I was very surprised how it made the soup creamy and very tasty. I will make this recipe again. Thank you
After chopping the veggies, preparation went very quickly. Even though I can not eat nuts, I was surprised how creamy the cashews came out and added amazing creaminess and taste to the soup. Very yummy. I will make this soup again.
I am a soup lover all year long so I was excited to join this challenge. Once the prep work was done, I love how easy the Creamy Vegetable Soup came together. It’s amazing to have a nutritious tasty meal for you and your family in a short amount of time. It’s a great recipe; I tweaked it by using 1 TBSP oil, half bell pepper and sprinkled some Dash seasoning. I would recommend this to others looking for an easy but tasty meal.
Tasty! I let soup stand for two hours to let flavors meld. I topped with fresh cracked pepper. First time using cashews as a thickener, I liked the consistency and nutty flavor that was added. Will definitely make it again. I will try other people’s comments and use stir fry mix veggies next time and smaller size white bean. Thanks for the great recipe.