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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.
Wife says, “This one’s a keeper! I could eat a whole bag of those kale croutons.”
Mother-in-law says, “I could eat this every day.”
Cook (me) says, “Fantastic. A little smoked paprika and cayenne sprinkled on top was super tasty.”
I made this but with some sweet potatoes I had on hand with a few small potatoes. Turned out great!
I like the leeks in this recipe. Usually, I use yellow onion and the leeks provide a much richer flavor.
My husband and I love Potato Comfort Soup. It is delicious with kale croutons. I used 2 onions since leeks were unavailable, and baking potatoes gave the soup a pale appearance. Overall, a great soup for cooler Fall weather.
Good! I used my immersion blender (note to self: don’t lift it out of the soup while running!). I had some chicken stock, so I used that (made veggie stock from the linked recipe with all the scraps). My husband had cooked bacon, and I sprinkled a little on top – yummy!
Looking forward to having some soup for lunch every day and a little with dinner – these “challenges” get me motivated.
Didn’t realize soup could be so easy! Enjoyed it for 3 days. (I live alone.). Looking forward to more soups. This one is a keeper.
While the soup is a nice consistency, the taste is extremely bland and even if I add cheese to sprinkle on top, it is bland. Will not make again. Did not use yeast or kale for dietary reasons.
Making the soup this afternoon. Can’t wait it looks delicious!!!!
Good soup and can easily be modified to taste. Also trying using other flavored olive oils such as my mushroom and sage EVOO
Delicious especially with some freshly grated pepper at the end.
This was delicious and my kids love it bc it “tastes like mashed potatoes”. LOOOVE the kale croutons. Such a good idea!
It was delicious and I topped it off with some freshly grated pepper at the end.
I’m a big fan of potato soup but not of the taste of coconut oil in it. Is there any way to dull the flavor of the coconut oil in it or substitute another healthy oil, maybe half ‘n half with another oil? My single criticism is taste related (I’m not a fan of the taste of coconut oil in general). Otherwise, great soup with comforting consistency. Note, I have a vitamix blender for the finished product.
Hi K. B. – Absolutely! You can use olive oil or avocado oil, if you prefer! Great question!
This vegan potato recipe is good but not supurb. It lacks the burst of flavor that makes soup deeply satisfying. If you prefer a very mild taste, this recipe might appeal to you.
I don’t know why you are calling this a Vitamix recipe. The instructions should assume that you own a Vitamix (which can make soup using one of the settings – no heating on a stove!)
What speed should you use? How long?
This might be a good soup but I expect Vitamix recipes here – not standard recipes.
Hi Jim, I always recommend starting on the lowest speed setting and gradually increasing when blending a warm liquid. The duration and speed of blending depends on the volume of what is being blended and the consistency. For example, larger volumes with harder or firmer ingredients, you’d need to blend on a higher speed for longer. So, it really depends. I would say, to do a taste test to determine the blend time and speed.
This recommendation is for all blender types and brands, including immersion blenders. 🙂
Fabulous soup, but the kale croutons are what make the recipe! So good, so comforting. The Viramix immersion blender made easy work of it!
Talking about simply delicious had to try it while preparing. I have it in my crockpot simmer for dinner tonight. My house smalls great. I believe this will be my new favorite potato soup.