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I can’t wait to share my favorite vegan potato soup recipe. It’s creamy, loaded with robust flavor and oh so comforting. No dairy, no problem.
This Autumn I’m sharing my family’s fav vegan potato soup recipe. It’s super creamy and actually filling. Potato soup is the ultimate comfort food in cooler weather and this gluten-free potato soup is no exception.
Table of Contents
Originally featured in my Autumn Cleanse Guide, this recipe is loved by the Simple Green Smoothies community and will quickly become a staple on your menu as well.
Vegan Potato Soup Ingredients
Here are the superstar ingredients that make this potato soup a cut above the rest:
- Coconut oil: This is my go-to healthy fat for cooking.
- Leeks: A gorgeous vegetable with a mild-onion flavor.
- Golden potatoes: Golden potatoes are the creamiest of the bunch. You can also use them in my Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie if you have extras.
- Garlic: Use real, whole garlic for the best flavor and nutritional benefits.
- Vegetable Stock: Do you know how easy it is to make your own stock?
- Cauliflower: A not-so-sneaky way to add creaminess and more veggies to my soup.
- Nutritional Yeast: A cheesy flavor without the dairy!
- Kale: Used in crunchy kale croutons to perfectly finish off this dinner.
That’s it! I know soups are known to have lengthy ingredient lists, but not this one! I keep it short, sweet and delicious.
Pro Tip: Depending on the type of vegetable stock you use, your final soup may be more yellow (I’m talking cheddar cheese!) or potato-white. Either is fine. It just depends on what’s in that stock.
Gluten-Free Potato Soup Ingredient Swaps
Soup is a wonderful meal idea since you can swap in/out ingredients for what you have on hand. If leeks are hard to find, use a yellow onion instead. While golden potatoes are usually on-hand at my house, use whatever potatoes you want. Cauliflower can be swapped with broccoli (just don’t be alarmed by the color change).
While I love the creaminess this vegan potato soup brings, sometimes I like to switch it up and leave a few potato chunks in the final product. Or add some chopped carrots for something to chew on.
How to Make Delicious Potato Soup
For a successful potato soup, you’ll need a large pot as well as a heat-safe blender (or immersion blender). I love using a ceramic Dutch Oven to sauté the veggies before simmering them into a soup.
Step 1: Start by heating the coconut oil or cooking oil of your choice in the large soup pot. Add the chopped leek and a pinch of salt to sauté.
Step 2: After the leek softens, add the minced garlic and sauté, stirring constantly. Garlic burns easily, so make sure you continue to stir the garlic while it browns to avoid burning.
Step 3: Since the cauliflower and potatoes will take about the same time to cook, add them both in next along with the vegetable stock. Once the pot is simmering, turn the heat down to keep it on a low simmer until everything is fork-tender. Adding a lid at this stage helps the vegetables soften faster as well as keep the flavors locked in.
Step 4: Remove the soup pot from the stove and on to the fun part! Check that your blender container can handle hot items (my old Vitamix couldn’t but my new one can), or decide if you want to use an immersion blender. The soup will be hot, so be careful. You may need to add a bit more vegetable stock at this step to help the soup blend nicely and still keep a soup-like consistency.
If I want some potato or cauliflower chunks in my soup, I’ll save a few and add them into the pot after I blend. Then I return the pot to the heat and cook for about ten minutes to soften the veggies. Now on to the best part… the kale croutons!
Crunchy Croutons
You can enjoy your beautifully fragrant potato soup at this point, but I strongly suggest giving these simple kale croutons a try. They are that good.
Step 1: While your soup is simmering, tear the kale into large pieces after removing the stems.
Step 2: Mix with melted coconut oil, Dijon mustard and sea salt until all the leaves are well coated. This gets a bit messy but is worth it.
Step 3: Bake at 300°F for 20-25 minutes, or until the kale is crispy. My croutons often firm up a bit more after removing from the oven if I keep them on the baking tray for a few minutes. This way I don’t over-cook them.
Topping this gluten-free potato soup with kale croutons keeps out the often inflammatory gluten but also provides quite a lovely burst of flavor.
Vegan Potato Soup FAQs
My vegan potato soup uses cauliflower to make it cream up during blending without needing any dairy.
No need! They will cook down nicely in the simmering stock mixture, so pre-soaking is an unnecessary step.
I use golden potatoes since they are the creamiest variety in my opinion, as well as cauliflower that creams up nicely when blended. Cauliflower adds another vegetable to your soup without adding any overpowering flavors.
More Autumn Soup Recipes
I love fresh Autumn produce, and what better way to use them than in warm soups? Here are a few of my go-to recipes this season:
- Tortilla Soup: This surprising soup is fun to make and enjoy with the toppings of your choice.
- Vegetable Noodle Soup: My take on a plant-based chicken noodle soup. All the flavor without the meat.
- Creamy Tomato Soup: The perfect soup for kids and adults alike, loaded with veggies.
- Carrot Ginger Soup: Probably my favorite lunch soup!
Don’t forget to rate + review this recipe once you’ve made it!
Vegan Potato Soup
Ingredients
For Vegan Potato Soup:
- 2 tbsps coconut oil
- 2 leeks white part thinly sliced
- 4 gold potatoes chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 1 ½ cups cauliflower chopped
- dash sea salt
- dash ground black pepper
- dash nutritional yeast
For Kale Croutons:
- 2 cups kale tough stems removed
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- ¼ tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Heat coconut oil in a large pot, Add the leek and a pinch of salt.
- Once the leeks start to soften, add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
- Add the vegetable stock, potatoes and cauliflower and bring to a simmer.
- Cook until cauliflower and potatoes are tender. While the soup is cooking, prepare the Kale Croutons.
- Remove soup from heat and puree using an immersion blender or standard blender (Use caution when blending-soup will be hot!). If soup is a little too thick, add a little more vegetable stock.
- Ladle into bowls and top with Kale Croutons. Season with salt, pepper and nutritional yeast.
For Kale Croutons:
- Tear kale into large pieces.
- Mix with remaining ingredients.
- Bake at 300°F for 20-25 minutes or until kale is crispy.
Equipment
- dutch oven
- heat-safe blender
Notes
- To keep sodium levels lower, use low-sodium vegetable stock (or make your own!).
- Swap leek with 1 yellow onion.
- To create a chunkier soup, dice 1 extra potato and 2 carrots. Add to the large pot after blending and simmer the soup for 10 more minutes, or until vegetables are tender to your liking.
My husband and I really enjoyed this soup! It was filling and and satisfied your hunger. The soup was easy to make including the Kale croutons. I did not see on the printed recipe that the potatoes should be peeled. I peeled mine. Otherwise it was a great autumn soup!
Hi Kyra! No need to peel the potatoes in this one. So glad y’all enjoyed it!
I was pleasantly surprised how easy this soup was. It had a nice creamy consistency. I don’t have an immersion blender so popped it into my Vitamix on the soup cycle. I love my Vitamix and the soup was very good too! I would make this again. I didn’t have time to make the kale croutons – next time.
This one is perfect for the vitamix soup cycle, Gwenda! Rawkin’ job!
Easy to make, tasty, and filling. I’d prefer the recipe called out either weight of potatoes or cups once diced. The number doesn’t really tell you how much given the variety of sizes potatoes come in.
I started this program just in time. We had potatoes that needed using and this was a great recipe for me to do that. I also made enough to put some in the freezer for this winter. My husband is going on this journey with me and so far has asked for seconds and thirds on all of the soups I have made. That is a first as my husband was brought up on meat and potatoes.
Hi Helyn! So happy y’all are enjoying the Soup Challenge!
Delicious. I tried it using leeks but I am going to try it again using onions since they are something I always have around the house and leeks, I have to go out and buy. I’m never going to be a fan of the crunchy kale, but I’ll keep trying it.
I bet the onions will turn out great, Kelly! Let me know how it turns out when you do.
I have used potato and cauliflower to thicken soup before. This soup was pretty good, especially after I added a little extra salt.
Potato and cauliflower are two of my favs to use when wanting to thicken up a soup!
Very creamy potato soup. Definitely add the kale croutons and in fact I would add extra – they were tasty.
Hi Linda! I can’t get enough of the kale croutons either!
Easy to make, lots of flavor and I loved the addition of cauliflower and kale croutons. I used a prepared no salt vegetable broth. I definitely preferred the use of the immersion blender. Toaster oven was used to roast the kale. It was really crispy initially, but the next day kale was chewy.
Hi Janie! The Kale croutons are definitely better right after roasting!
Excellent. I will go lighter on the sodium next time, but there will definitely be a ne t time.
Love to hear there will be a next time, Leona!
Soup was delicious and I am not a vegan. Loved how creamy and flavorful it was. Also, I tried a new product that I never heard of – nutritional yeast.
Hi R! So glad I could introduce you to nutritional yeast.
Yummy!
So glad you liked this one, Ingrid!
Great!
Thanks so much for the awesome feedback, Ingrid!
very easy to make i added a carrot which added flavor. enjoyed very much it is a keeper.
Hi Janet! Adding a carrot is a great way to add some flavor to this one!
Excellent mild flavor, great choice to please people with diverse tastes.
It was easy to make and I appreciate the common ingredients.
I read the notes and added carrots for sweetness and color.
Hi Iryna! You’re so right, this one is great for families or groups where everyone likes something different!
Delicious and nutritious. I didn’t take the time to make the kale croutons, but did add the nutritional yeast.
Hi Mary! So glad you liked this one, next time be sure to try the croutons!
Easy to make. Creamy consistency and good hearty potato taste. Very filling and kale croutons were delish
Hi Pam! The kale croutons are the best part, right?!