the best vegan broccoli cheese soup
When I was in college, I managed this little restaurant, and one of the soups we were best known for was our broccoli cheese. I always dreaded those days because not only did the fanaticism of that flavor combination elude me, but I found the odor completely off-putting. I was a lone woman on that strange smelling island, though, because every Wednesday, people would go batshit bonkers for that soup. Fast forward twenty years, and I find myself with no inspiration and about eleventy-seven crowns of broccoli in my crisper. Or maybe just six, but either way, how do I have this much broccoli?!? As I’m standing in my kitchen trying to think of something to do with it that doesn’t involve steaming and drowning it in nooch, my mind flashes back to those days in that tiny kitchen, and I can immediately smell that putrid soup. So naturally, the logical thing to do is make it, right? Vegan, of course becase that’s what I do, and I didn’t want to use storebought fake cheese because gross, so I got to work on perfecting a plant-based cheese sauce and trusted that the rest would fall into place. It did.
the best vegan broccoli cheese soup
serves 6-8
for the cheese sauce
1 yukon gold potato (6-7 oz), diced
1/2 large carrot (appr 4 oz), diced
1/4 cup raw, unsalted cashews
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 Tbs lemon juice
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp sea salt + more to taste
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1/2 cup water + more, as needed
for the soup
1 medium sweet yellow onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, diced
4 1/2 cups veggie broth, divided
6-7 cups broccoli florets
1/2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 Tbs mellow white miso
1 Tbs nutritional yeast
1 pinch red pepper flakes
sea salt & fresh ground black pepper, to taste
optional 3-4 splashes hot sauce (I like Cholula or Valentina)
1) Place the diced potato, carrot, and cashews in a small sauce pan. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until the potatoes and carrots are fork tender - approximately 10 to 12 minutes.
carrot, cashews, & potato
and my twenty year old pot
2) Drain the potato mixture and place in a high speed blender. Add the remaining ingredients, and blend until smooth, tasting for seasoning. If the sauce is too thick to blend, add additional water one tablespoon at a time. Set the sauce aside.
3) In a large soup pot, sauté the onion, garlic, and celery in 1/2 cup vegetable broth until veggies are soft and translucent.
all the veggies
chop those broccoli crowns into florets
4) Add the red pepper, sea salt, black pepper, and broccoli and sauté another three minutes.
5) Stir in the remaining four cups of broth, lemon juice, miso, and nutritional yeast, and simmer for another fifteen minutes.
6) Remove from heat and stir in the cheese sauce.
7) Scoop three cups of the soup back into your high speed blender, and blend until smooth. Pour it back into the pot, stir, and taste for seasoning.
vegan broccoli cheese soup
that people go batshit bonkers for
the best vegan broccoli cheese soup
serves 6-8
for the cheese sauce
1 yukon gold potato (6-7 oz), diced
1/2 large carrot (appr 4 oz), diced
1/4 cup raw, unsalted cashews
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 Tbs lemon juice
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp sea salt + more to taste
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1/2 cup water + more, as needed
for the soup
1 medium sweet yellow onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, diced
4 1/2 cups veggie broth, divided
6-7 cups broccoli florets
1/2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 Tbs mellow white miso
1 Tbs nutritional yeast
1 pinch red pepper flakes
sea salt & fresh ground black pepper, to taste
optional 3-4 splashes hot sauce (I like Cholula or Valentina)
1) Place the diced potato, carrot, and cashews in a small sauce pan. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until the potatoes and carrots are fork tender - approximately 10 to 12 minutes.
2) Drain the potato mixture and place in a high speed blender. Add the remaining ingredients, and blend until smooth, tasting for seasoning. If the sauce is too thick to blend, add additional water one tablespoon at a time. Set the sauce aside.
3) In a large soup pot, sauté the onion, garlic, and celery in 1/2 cup vegetable broth until veggies are soft and translucent.
4) Add the red pepper, sea salt, black pepper, and broccoli and sauté another three minutes.
5) Stir in the remaining four cups of broth, lemon juice, miso, and nutritional yeast, and simmer for another fifteen minutes.
6) Remove from heat and stir in the cheese sauce.
7) Scoop three cups of the soup back into your high speed blender, and blend until smooth. Pour it back into the pot, stir, and taste for seasoning.
