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.
We really enjoyed this soup! Mine got a little too thick, I think I had a bit more potato than called for, so it thinned with some vegetable broth and it was perfect! Thanks for a great dish.
I used veggie broth instead of water to boil the potatoes. Also added some ginger and probably another 2-3 T of the nutritional yeast to give it a bit more kick. Also lightly blended in the broccoli so there are not big chunks. Thanks! Yum!!
Oh I love ginger so much, sounds like a great idea!
where’s the cheese?
This is a vegan recipe, there isn’t actual cheese in it, but rather, the ingredients used give it a cheesy flavor.
Delicious! As always Brandi. The lemon juice makes it complete. Thanks for everything.
Followed recipe to the T- turned out perfectly! I loved loved loved it!
Wonderful to hear, thank you Heather!
Made this today. It is SO good! How did you think to use Dill pickle juice?? Will be making this again. Thank you.
Wonderful, thank you Cindy! Haha. Well pickle juice is salty and acidic and those are 2 elements that lend to a cheesy taste 🙂
Even better than I imagined it would be. Thank you!
Awesome!!
Made it exactly as directed and it was magnificent. I also tried it, adding cayenne, (because I’m one of those who likes spicy) still magnificent. Your recipes never fail me. Thank you so much. Actually found you via tiktok and I’ve sent your website and sometimes your TT’s to my son and his girlfriend. They rave over your recipes!!
Aww this makes me so happy to hear, thank you!!
Unbelievably good. Can’t believe it. I said no way will this be good. Pickle juice? Come on. I was wrong. It’s a keeper. Thanks. I think next time I’ll add some cauliflower with the broccoli. Can’t wait.
Yay! So happy you loved it Charley!
Amazing! This soup is incredible and from a nutrition standpoint (I’m an RD), completely balanced. I realized I ran out of cashews so in a pinch I made homemade hemp milk with 1/2 cup hemp hearts and 1 cup water and it came out so good and creamy. I left the brown rice flour at 3tbsp too and was worried it wouldn’t be thick but it worked. Thanks so much for the recipe! Definitely will be making again and recommending to clients 🙂 DON’T SKIP THE PICKLE JUICE ❤️
Recipe sounds amazing! I was reading the comments, and saw a few references to liquid smoke. Did you remove it from the recipe?
Yes, I removed it since I found it was a bit strong here, but if you like, you can add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon to the recipe when blending!
All I can say is WOW! This soup is dynamite and is incredible with the sweet potato base. I actually cooked the broccoli in with the potatoes and then blended it in. Absolutely delicious…thank you so much for your creativity (who knew about the pickle juice magic!). I added a little turmeric and black cumin for a pop of extra antioxidants. Please keep these great recipes coming! 💕 🍲
Doubled the recipe; did not blend it but just “smashed” the sweet potatoes: OUTSTANDING! This is a keeper!
Yay, thank you Sherrill!
Made with soy milk and it was incredible!! Thank you
Wonderful!!
I can’t believe how absolutely delicious this was. My non-vegan husband was moaning while he ate it with broccoli and toasted French bread, then just by itself. He gave it a 9.9 /10, (only because he believes nothing can be a 10 because there’s always room for improvement). I personally am confused why real cheese doesn’t taste like this! He asked to add it to the weekly rotation. Done and done!
Alterations: I didn’t have cashew milk so I used 120 calorie oat milk instead (Friendly Farms, from ALDI).
Ps
When do you add the liquid smoke? Just curious if it makes any difference as i added it with the pickle juice just before it was blended.
That sounds perfect!
DEEEELICIOUS!!! Time to print this recipe out and and put a big star on the page marker…. This tastes a lot like the garlic alfredo sauce but the smokey flavor gave this an edge so highly recommended you add that optional ingredient.
I bought 2 flavors of liquid smoke–mesquite and hickory. I taste tested both and even tho both were good, the mesquite seemed to have more wow factor.
I think I overcooked the broccoli but still delicious. Will definitely make this again–but triple the amount!!!
Thank you for sharing this great recipe!
I made this much anticipated soup this week, and it was so amazing I sadly had no leftovers, it was such a hit! I LOVE the simplicity of using pre-cut frozen broccoli, it makes the recipe so much faster. This will be a repeat inour house for sure, thanks Brandi!!
That is wonderful to hear!
We made this recipe tonight and we’re so impressed by the delicious flavor!! We decided to use the immersion blender on half of the broccoli too. It turned out great! I couldn’t get over how the pickle juice added so much to the flavor! So easy to put together and so yummy!
OMG! This soup is so good! My husband said definitely make this again! I used the lite coconut milk instead of the homemade cashew milk and it was still amazing! We used fresh broccoli from our garden! Yummy!
Woohoo, so glad to hear that!!
This is soooo yummy! I tripled it for my family of 7 except used about 3 cups of cashew milk and 3 tb of pickle juice. (so those were not tripled). I used the air fryer for the broccoli bc our oven is broken. This is always a favorite!
There have been ‘cheese’ recipe hits but mostly misses for me since becoming vegan a year ago. This one is DEFINITELY a hit! It’s quick and easy to prepare, and it’s creamy, cheesy delicious. Don’t skip the pickle juice, liquid smoke, or homemade cashew milk. Then it will taste almost like the real thing. Maybe better.
So happy to hear you loved it Mairi! I agree, definitely don’t want to leave out those ingredients, those are key ingredients I use for the flavor and texture!
Hello, can I use almond flour instead of brown rice flour. I have almond flour on hand.
Thank you, Barbara
Hi Barbara! I would not use almond flour, it will not thicken up the soup properly. I would just use regular all-purpose flour in place of the brown rice flour.
I just made this and it is delicious! I love that it uses frozen broccoli as I usually have that on hand. I didn’t have any pickle juice so I improvised… I used some sauerkraut juice and a splash of ACV. Still came out so good! Thank you for this easy and yummy recipe!
This is soooo good! I ate all 4 servings in one sitting by myself…oink, oink!
hahaha I’m so glad you loved it so much!!