Vegan Sweet Potato Broccoli Cheese Soup. So incredibly rich, creamy, dairy-free, oil-free and just 8 easy ingredients.
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Who really loved broccoli cheese soup as a kid? Please tell me you said yes. Well, today I’ve got a vegan broccoli cheese soup with a twist….a sweet potato-ish, cheesy-ish broccoli soup. Not overly cheesy, but more of a combo of a sweet potato flavor and a cheesy flavor. As you all know by now, I love soup. They are so easy and fast to make and with my schedule lately and for this year, I need easy meals.
One of my absolute favorite recipes my mom made for us growing up, was broccoli cheese soup. I’m not talking about the purred broccoli soup where there is no visible broccoli florets left. No, I want the chunks please, thank you. Roasted chunks, to be exact. I did my usual roasted broccoli trick that I do for a lot of my soups. As I’ve mentioned before, I hate overly cooked/soggy broccoli, which happens a lot when you cook it in the pot. I avoid all this by roasting my broccoli under tender and just beginning to brown. It adds such a better flavor and texture to my soups.
VEGAN BROCCOLI CHEESE SOUP
This Vegan Sweet Potato Broccoli Cheese Soup is so satisfying, creamy and comforting. Even though this soup is vegan and not an ounce of dairy in it, you’d never know by how silky, smooth it is, thanks to using brown rice flour and cashew milk. The soup my mom made was obviously loaded with dairy and processed cheese. Yummy, yes, but I’m no way interested in putting that in my body anymore.
I decided to give the traditional broccoli cheese soup a dairy-free version and a twist, by adding sweet potatoes. My first trial was with regular potatoes and it just was a bit bland for my taste and a bit too starchy for what I was going for. Sweet potatoes taste much less starchy than regular potatoes, plus they also give a beautiful color.
I’m a huge potato soup fan in general and if you are too, then make sure to check out one of my most popular recipes, this Low-fat Smoky Broccoli Potato Soup!
OTHER VEGAN SOUP RECIPES TO TRY:
- Lazy Red Lentil Curry Soup
- Vegan Cauliflower Curry Soup
- Lazy Day Vegan Tomato Bisque
- Easy Vegan Ramen Noodle Soup
- Vegan Black Bean Soup
- Hearty Veggie Potato Stew
- Smoky Sweet Potato Black-eyed Pea Soup
Sweet Potato Broccoli Cheese Soup
Ingredients
- 2 heaping cups (300g) peeled and chopped 1/2 inch pieces sweet potatoes
- 1 packed cup (160g) finely diced white onion
- 5 large garlic cloves, minced (15g)
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 4 heaping cups frozen broccoli florets (depending on how chunky you want it)
- 1/2 cup raw cashews + 1 1/2 cups water for HOMEMADE cashew milk (see directions)
- 3 tablespoons (30g) brown rice flour
- 4-6 tablespoons nutritional yeast (I highly recommend this Sari brand, it is non-fortified with much better taste.)
- 4 Tablespoons (60g) dill pickle juice (this aids in the cheesy flavor-do not skip!)
- fresh lemon juice for serving
NOTE
- This has a more non-traditional flavor than typical broccoli cheese soup. The sweet potatoes give it a more subtle sweet flavor, less savory.
Instructions
- Saute the onion in a bit of water for 5-8 minutes over medium heat until translucent. Add the garlic and cook another minute.
- Add the water and sweet potatoes, salt/pepper and bring to boil, once boiling, cover and turn to simmer on low for about 15-20 minutes until potatoes very fork tender. They need to be almost mushy so they can puree easily.
- Meanwhile roast the broccoli. Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Spread your broccoli out and season well with salt and pepper. Bake 15-20 minutes or until just beginning to see the tips browning. Depending on your oven or the size of your broccoli florets, it may need longer, up to 10-15 more minutes. You want them fork tender, but still fairly firm, as you will not be cooking them in the soup. If using fresh and not frozen, watch them so they don't burn.
- The homemade cashew milk is amazing in this. Do not use store-bought cashew milk, as it will not produce near the same flavor or result. Hear me on this, it will not work the same. To make the cashew milk, add 1/2 cup raw cashews and 1 1/2 cups water to a Vitamix and blend until completely smooth.
- After your potatoes are tender in your soup, stir in the milk, brown rice flour, nutritional yeast and pickle juice until well mixed. Cook about a minute so it thickens up. Remove from heat.
- Use a hand immersion blender or a Vitamix to blend the soup until it is completely smooth. It should be nice and thick, but if you'd like it thicker, reheat it just for a minute or two. Homemade cashew milk makes the soup thicken very well and quickly!
- Taste and add any additional salt. Add the roasted broccoli and serve. I added some more freshly ground pepper and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice right before serving.
This was amazing! I’m glad I read the reviews and made a double batch! Thank you for all of your delicious recipes!!
I made this with plain potatoes and it was absolutly delicious! Now I make this at least every other week – so addictive! 😀
Hiiii I’m so excited to make this. What can I substitute for the dill pickle juice? Thanks 🙂
Hi there, the pickle juice is a big part of the flavor profile, adding tang and a cheesy flavor. You an find dill pickles at any store these days so I wouldn’t recommend subbing it.
Do you happen to have a link to your cashew milk recipe? I can’t seem to find it. Thank you!! 🙂
Hi! It’s listed under NOTE on the recipe card!
I have tried and tried to like nutritional yeast (non-fortified) and it just never works out. Is there something I could use as a substitute? Perhaps cashews?
Hi Debbie! That’s tough since this recipe relies on quite a bit of nutritional yeast. Do you have my cookbook? If so, there is a broccoli cheese soup in there that is my fave of all-time and there is no nutritional yeast. Well, there is 2 tablespoons but it is optional. I’m afraid without the yeast in this one, it will be on the bland side since it really does amp up the overall flavor.
This soup is ridiculously delicious. I always try a recipe exactly as its written for the first time, then I will make adjustments the next time. Honestly, there is nothing that can improve this soup, so just follow the dang recipe! Was so creamy and cheesy that no one (my non vegan eaters) had any idea it wasn’t full of the dairy puss they love so much lol. One thing I would want… to live next door so I can just drop over for all your leftovers.
Thank you for another great recipe!
Haha, I love this review, thank you so much Stacey for making it and I’m so happy you loved it so much! Haha, come on over!
The dill pickle water and nooch are delicious thank you!
Wonderful Sarah, so glad to hear that!
We loved this recipe. So unusual to see a “cheese” sauce made from sweet potatoes. In fact, my husband loved it so much he is in the process of making the cheese for a dip with Rotel tomatoes and chilis. He liked the slightly sweet flavor of that the sweet potatoes imparted to the dish. Thanks!
This is the best plant-based recipe I have ever made in my life! I believe you can fool anyone into thinking this is the REAL deal! Thank you so much for posting!
I love soup too. This really does look very “cheesy”! It looks delicious. I must try it this weekend.
I made this today. Including making my own cashew milk for the forst time. Roasted my broccoli in my new air fryer. Recipe was straightforward and easy to follow.
This was really good. Especially with extra black pepper. I had to walk away … I wanted to just keep eating more!
I really appreciate the recipe and all the comments. I have been reluctant to try cashew milk in soup as well as nutritional yeast. And it is great! Going to be less reluctant going forward!
Thanks!
I just made the base of this soup using purple sweet potatoes. It is a gorgeous mauve color and the taste is amazing. I don’t have dill pickles so I added 3/4 tsp dill weed and 3 TBS apple cider vinegar. Did not add the rice flour because the soup was plenty thick without it. I will heat it again later and add broccoli but I think it will also be an awesome sauce to put over any veggie/grain combo and I think it will also be good with roasted cauliflower…the white on the purple will be pretty. And what about roasted beets? The possibilities are endless.
So glad you loved it, thank you so much Anne!
I used fresh broccolette, which has longer thinner stems (because it’s what I had in the fridge) It was really delicious! I love your simple tasty recipes. 😋
So happy you loved this soup Lori, thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review and star rating! I really appreciate it!
Made this soup tonight and served it over mashed potatoes… oh my gosh!! So so good. This will be a staple soup for the fall and winter. I do have a question- will this soup freeze well?
So awesome to hear that Renee, thank you so much for the amazing feedback! I have not tried freezing it because we eat everything usually in a couple of days but I would imagine it would freeze just fine.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious!! I didn’t add the pickle juice only because I didn’t have any on hand. Other than that I followed the recipe exactly. For those of you tempted by the beautiful photos try it, you won’t be sorry! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much Helaine for the awesome feedback! I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much!
Not a fan of sweet potatoes but MY WORD, I cannot explain how delicious this soup is! I’m in HEAVEN right now! 😋❤️😋❤️😋
Oh yay! That makes me very happy to hear Samantha, thank you so much for the wonderful feedback!
I really can’t stand pickles. Is there a sub for pickle juice or could I omit it? Thanks!
Hi Nichole! Hmm, the pickle juice is a big part of the flavor and cheesy touch. You could try using apple cider vinegar instead but I would use much less. Start out with 1-2 tbsp and add more to taste and you will likely need more salt too since pickle juice is very salty.
Thanks! I will try it and let you know:)
I’m a little late to this comment thread, but I just made this soup and substituted Bragg’s Liquid Aminos for the pickle juice, because I’m not a pickle fan either. My soup came out wonderfully “cheesy,” so you could try that!
Oh yes, I use the liquid aminos in my fat-free cheese sauce, it is great for cheesy flavor as well! So glad you enjoyed it!
Someone posted this recipe on a Whole Foods Plant Based FB page I’m on and it looked so delicious I printed it out and left it on my desk for a few weeks. Well, today it’s raining and cold so I finally made it and OMG! it is amazing! I used sweet potatoes and added the liquid smoke. Instead of water I used some veggie broth I made yesterday. This is the first of your recipes that I’ve tried, so now I can’t wait to try more! I’ve bookmarked this recipe to make over and over! Thank you for sharing it!
Awesome Pauline! So happy it was posted and you made and loved it! Thank you so much for the amazing review!
Tried this today using half Yukon gold. I didn’t have pickle juice either so I used a mix of 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp dill weed and 1 tsp white vinegar. It was really creamy and good. Thanks for this recipe!
Wonderful Jaysa, so happy to hear that!
This soup looks so creamy and delicious. I have to admit I’ve never roasted frozen broccoli before. I always thought it would go mushy so I’m glad to learn otherwise. Great idea with the sweet potato, one of my favorite ingredients so this soup is looking really good. Thanks for sharing. I’m going to try making it in the next couple of days, time permitting!
Made this last night after your recent repost in your Potato Soup Roundup post. What can I say? Amazzzzing! I made it the half potato/half sweet potato way since I am not big on sweet-ish flavors in my main course. It was so easy, and delicious, and filing and best of all, tasty, and a perfect balance of flavors….and for me, most importantly, not “sweet” tasting at ALL! There were no leftovers between my husband and me. He was blown away (as was I) and I said “yeah, it’s a “vegan8” and he said “of course it is, since it’s so good!”. We are definitely fans of this and every recipe we have made of yours (only about three, but you are batting 1,000 with those three! I’d say “cannot wait for your cookbook”, but with your website recipes, I have so much to explore, I can totally wait!
Sorry I missed this comment before Marlene! Thank you soooo very much for the wonderful review! Haha! I love that story! So happy you both loved it, thank you!
My first crack at this soup and I nailed it. SUCH a good recipe. Thank you! I did make a couple augmentations per your recommendations Brandi and have a couple comments. I live in Mexico just outside Todos Santos so sometimes have limited access to more specialty items. Well at least they are here. I only had fresh broccoli so used that. It turned out great! I did end up cooking it for around 20-25 min. It was tender with a little crunch. I used two smallish sweet potatoes and one med russet. Instead of brown rice flour I used organic all purpose. Here’s the biggest difference though, instead of nut milk, I used organic canned coconut milk. Unsweetened. I did however cut it with 1/2 cup water. Not coco nutty tast at all you would never know it. Super rich and creamy – wow! I don’t have an immersion blender so I used my blender and also put in about 1/2 the broccoli in two separate batches and returned to pot. Then chopped up 1/2 of what was left and threw that in after the soup had been puréed in the blender and returned to the pot. I added more salt. And about 1/2 tsp liquid smoke to give it that touch of bacon fat flavor . Not even really a flavor but more like the richness that may accompany dishes with a neat component. Everything else the same. The flavor, cheesiness, texture, look an thickness were perfect. Gold star for this one. Thank you so much for sharing such a wonderful recipe!
I’m so sorry I missed this comment! I’m so happy to hear you loved this so much and you made it work for you! Thank you very much for the wonderful feedback, Cambria!
Where to start…I have searched for healthy vegan recipes for years with not very much luck. We’ve got by being vegan, but never had good recipes at all!! About a month ago, I found your Vegan 8 website. We randomly chose to try your Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup recipe since we used to love Panera Bread’s broccoli cheese soup. Our hopes weren’t high, but we followed your instructions. It turned out PHENOMENAL!!!! This soup is our favorite dinner dish ever!!!!! I cannot thank you enough for having delicious, simple, and healthy vegan recipes like this one. It feels like we are dining out every night
!!! This vegan cheese soup is creamy and delicious!!!!!!!! Thank You Vegan 8!!! Everything has changed for us during meal time in our house!!! We are finally looking forward to eating a good meal that tastes amazing!!! Finding your recipes has been a long time coming!!! They have only 8 ingredients which is a bonus too!
Wow Clare, your comment totally made my day! I’m just beyond thrilled that it has been my recipes to change your luck with good vegan food! I’m so happy you love this soup so much, it is one of my favorites too, thank you very much for the wonderful feedback! 🙂
This recipe is beyond good. One of my favorite soups of all time before becoming vegan was Broccoli Cheese and it was hard to think about never eating it again. This recipe is the best Broccoli Cheese soup I have ever tasted and has the benefit of being healthy and vegan. This is going to be a staple all winter long. Thank you so much for providing us with healthy delicious recipes.
Yay! Thank you so much Laurie! I’m so very happy to hear this is favorite all-time broccoli cheese soup, wow! Thank you for the feedback!
Now that is just plain opulent! I used coconut milk since I had it on hand and smoked paprika instead of liquid smoke, same reason. Also, no pickle juice so used 1 tsp dill seed+1 Tbs apple cider vinegar and it was great!
Rather than “4 small servings” though I would call it dinner for two, maybe w/ a thick slice of fresh baked, sourdough rye bread on the side!
So wonderful to hear you enjoyed it so much Geoffrey! Thank you so much for the awesome feedback! This filled up 4 small soup bowls as a “serving”, as noted, but if you are using regular size bowls, then yes, it will be less servings.