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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.
Smells Delicious !!
I can’t wait to dive in ❣️❣️
Love this healthy creamy soup. I love soup.
Making this in my Vitamix was fast and easy. Using cauliflower, garlic, leeks and all the other ingredients makes this super healthy for me. I didn’t add the sea salt because I have salt restrictions in my diet.
I personally needed a bit more potato to make this super good! But, I may have just had small potatoes. The kale croutons were AMAZING!! I want to cut these in bigger sizes just to snack on them.
I liked this recipe. I love potatoes and cauliflower. The flavors blend together nicely. I feel like the kale croutons add a nice touch to it, but whether or not I added it, I like the soup. I did add some cayenne pepper to it for a little kick.
We all loved the potatoe Soup. The golden potatoes gave it a wonderful flavor.
So tasty! I love the consistency of this soup. Delish!
Delicious! I love the kale “croutons”!!
Delish! I’ve never made a potato/ leek soup before but I’d definitely make this one again. I added some extra spices (a lil cayenne too because I like it). The Kale croutons were a great addition. I almost forgot to sprinkle on the nutritional yeast I purchased. It was easy to make and satisfying.
This potato soup was delicious! I have never added cauliflower to any potato soup I have made in the past. It added a good boost of veggie goodness! I made a double batch of the kale croutons. The kale added a nice flavor and crunch to the soup
I just posted a comment but the rating did not show. Here it is now!
I was so happy to be wrong about this soup. I was convinced I was not going to like it because of the smell while the leeks were sautéing. I was so convinced, I didn’t want to taste it once I puréed. With my nose raised and eyes squinted, I tasted it and was so pleased. I made it nice and thick and it reminded me of a deliciously seasoned creamy mashed potatoes. I just made the kale croutons too, and I don’t know that I’ll make it to dinner time to try a full bowl.
Excellent easy soup for lunch…enjoyed by both my hubby and me. Loved the kale croutons also. I will definitely make this again -very satisfying!
Please tell me where to get those cute lidded Peace, Love, and Leafy Greens smoothie jars!
This soup really hit the spot, great on a cool day like today in Montreal.
Leak and patotoe is always a winning combo, but the califlower really elevates the flavors.
Potato soup has always been one of my favorites! On a cool rainy damp day this was perfect❤️
This soup is very easy to make. I love how it is fast and simple. It was filling and full of flavor. The cauliflower is very subtle, the potatoes are just enough to not make it too thick. The leeks add a great sweet oniony flavor. I have never cooked with nutritional yeast before. It has a nice nutty, cheesy flavor that is very pleasing. I will be adding this to future dishes.
This soup would be great for a starter with a salad. It can be paired well with a light meal if anyone wants to add meat; fish, chicken , or steak. We live in Alaska so I think it would be great this season for the holidays on a cold rainy or snowy day as you sit in front of a crackling fire. My husband said he hates kale. I got him to try it (woo hoo).
He kept eating it and telling me how he didn’t like it. After the 10th kale chip, he gave in and said it was good. We stored the leftovers in mason jars and he claimed one as his own. I call this a winner for the recipe books.
Very flavorful combination of potatoes and cauliflower with savory additions. I did add a couple more garlic cloves and some homemade fermented chili powder for a little bite. The kale croutons was a good idea. Nice crunch along with the blended soup. However, I would add less coconut oil.
Today was chilly so it was the perfect thing to have for dinner. I’ve had this spup previously with either one of the other soup challenges or one of the cleanses. It’s a great soup with great flavor! We opted to made it chunky. Only 4 stars because i found the leeks a tad bit overpowering. I would definitely make this again, though.