Healthy Dairy Free Broccoli Cheese Soup
This Healthy Dairy Free Broccoli Cheese Soup is so creamy and comforting and comes together in no time at all. It is a perfect family-friendly recipe (even my insanely picky 3 year old ate it!). Serve it with a piece of crusty bread or a sandwich for the perfect meal.
*originally posted 03/2020; updated 03/2022
My whole family loves this soup. It is a great way to get them to eat veggies but in a way that they enjoy. It is so creamy, you would never know that it has no dairy in it! This is my healthier take on a classic soup and I hope you love it.
Making This Soup Dairy Free:
- The first key ingredient to keep this dairy free but still get that ‘cheesy’ taste is the nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast is a inactivated form of yeast that is well known for its nutty and cheesy flavor. You can find it in the baking aisle of most stores.
- To get that decadent and creamy texture, I add potatoes to the dish. They later get pureed and leave you with the most beautiful velvety soup.
- Chicken broth is the main liquid in the soup, but I also add full fat coconut milk for some added richness. The soup doesn’t taste like coconut milk, it takes on the flavors that are added in.
Onion, carrots and garlic form the base of the soup before the potatoes are added in. You get so much flavor from them and they puree right into the soup at the end. The carrots really give it a nice sweetness. This broccoli ‘cheese’ soup really tastes like the one from my favorite restaurant (maybe even better).
Do I have to use an immersion blender?
Nope! I just love the immersion blender because it makes it so easy to blend it up right in the pot. But you can also blend it in batches using either a standing blender or food processor.
More Recipes you will love:
Instant Pot Chicken Pot Pie Soup
Healthy Beef and Vegetable Soup
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*photography by Loren Runion of sweetrusticbakes.com
Dairy Free Broccoli Cheese Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Tbls Avocado Oil or olive oil
- 1/2 cup Yellow Onion diced
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- 1 cup Carrots peeled & chopped
- 4 Yukon Gold Potatoes large (or russet) peeled & cubed
- 4 cups Chicken Broth*
- 14.5 oz Can of Coconut Milk full fat
- 2 Tbls Nutritional Yeast
- 1.5 tsp Sea Salt
- 1/4 tsp Pepper
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 2 cups Fresh Broccoli Florets chopped
- 1 Lemon optional
Instructions
- Heat the avocado oil in a large dutch oven or soup pot over medium low heat Add in the onions, carrots and garlic. Saute for 3 minutesThen add in the cubed potatoes, nutritional yeast, sea salt, pepper, and paprika. Stir and pour in the chicken broth. Bring to a boil and reduce to a gentle boil. Cook until potatoes are fork tender (about 10-12 minutes)
- Once the potatoes are tender add in 1 cup of the broccoli florets and let gently boil another 3 minutesTurn the heat off and use immersion blender in the pot to blend the soup together
- Stir in the coconut milk and remaining broccoli florets. Turn to medium low heat and cook another 5-7 minutes or until broccoli is tender (I like mine to still have a little crunch to it)
- Remove from heat and taste for salt and pepper(optional) Squeeze in some fresh lemon juice for a lovely added flavor
Very good soup, I will make this again and again. I substituted the potatoes for 2 cans of canelli beans, which turned out fantastic! I was going to omit the coconut milk but it was too salty, so I added coconut milk. I’m very sorry, but you mention the soup will not taste like coconut… it really does and I’m disappointed because I don’t like the taste of coconut in my savoury meals, only in my tropical drinks. Could I substitute coconut milk with something else?
Do you have a substitute for the nutritional yeast?
I’m sorry, no, it is the ingredient that gives the soup its ‘cheesy’ flavor without the cheese. It wouldn’t taste the same without it
This soup and a crusty bread was so satisfying! I was out of carrots so just made it without and it is a keeper. Thank you
This soup is delicious and it is my daughter’s favorite!