A veganized version of broccoli cheese soup to make in your Vitamix
There are certain comfort foods that you just miss when you veganize your household.
For me, broccoli cheddar soup is one of them.
Doesn’t matter the season, snowy, rainy, windy, tropical… it’s always been a favorite.
This recipe couldn’t be any easier. Steam some broccoli and then throw all of your ingredients into your Vitamix.
It’s hearty, it’s comforting, and best of all, it’s dairy-free!
Make a batch for dinner tonight, you’re going to love it.
So easy, your sous chef could make it
I conceptualized this soup, bought all of the ingredients, and started to really crave the taste.
But then I got busy. Like crazy busy.
So I sent my sous chef, Lenny, a text.
Shalva: “Please make broccoli cheddar soup”
Lenny: “Um, I don’t do dairy”
Shalva: “Steam some broccoli, make your queso, and add some broth”
Lenny: “YUM!”
With those simple directions, I came home from running errands to a piping hot bowl of soup.
Well, the soup he served me was pretty good. But it wasn’t quite NOYOKE quality.
Side note: We’ve got a little joke in our kitchen that I always come in for the save.
For broccoli cheddar soup, you’re looking for a mild flavor. So I brainstormed what could cut the taste of the distinct nacho-ness a little.
Tofu! It’s virtually tasteless, has loads of protein and got us better optics (much closer to the original’s color and texture).
Perfect.
Make this soup and you’ll have a winner winner chicken-less dinner!
Recipe
Broccoli Cheese Soup
Vegan comfort food served piping hot
Almonds, Broccoli, Cashews, Nutmeg, Nutritional Yeast, Red Bell Pepper, Tofu, Vegetable Broth,Ingredients:
- STEAM
- broccoli - 1 head (400 g)
- CHEESE
- almond milk - 1 cup (240 mL)
- nutritional yeast - 1/4 cup (20 g)
- raw almonds - 1/2 cup (70 g)
- raw cashews - 1/2 cup (65 g)
- red bell pepper - 1 whole (de-seeded)
- kosher salt - 2 tsp (11 g)
- garlic powder - 1/2 tsp (1.5 g)
- onion powder - 2 tsp (5 g)
- crushed red pepper - to taste
- SOUP
- vegetable broth - 1 cup (240 mL)
- nutmeg - 1/4 tsp (.5 g)
- tofu - 1/2 block (210 g)
Instructions:
STEAM
- Steam some broccoli
- Save on the side for a moment
CHEESE
- Add all ingredients under the CHEESE category to your Vitamix container
- Ramp from variable speed 1-10
- Blend on High for 4-5 minutes (or use “Soup” preset”)
- Taste a little, so good
SOUP
- Add broth, nutmeg, and tofu
- Blend for another 2 minutes on High
- Add your broccoli
- Pulse on variable speed 4 about 5 times
- You want to keep some texture
SERVE
- Serve straight from the container to the bowl
- Snap a pic and tag #lifeisNOYOKE
- Enjoy!
Useful tips for Broccoli Cheese Soup
Just add steamed broccoli and some broth to our queso. Tough to mess this one up. 🙂
do you press the tofu or use it right out of the container?
In this case right out of the container.
Wow Wow Wow! Just made it and it was sooooo yummy can’t believe how cheesy it tastes without cheese! Fantastic recipe. I would be interested in how many calories (approx) this has and how long this keep in the fridge? Is it ok to re-heat?
So glad you like it! We don’t post calories because our readers are global and we find that nutritional info for ingredients vary greatly from country to country. Your best best is to throw your ingredients into an online nutrition calculator. It keeps in the fridge for about 5 days and reheats pretty well. If it’s too thick we just add a little water when reheating.
My husband and I love this recipe and have made it quite a few times. Question: can you suggest how to do it use cashew and almond milk instead of whole nuts? Comment: We love it full strength without the tofu. May others would too?
So glad you like it, Bonnie! We’ve made it without the tofu as well and it should taste basically the same (we add it for extra protein). But the nuts I think would be hard to replace. They are what give the soup it’s texture. You may be able to get away with skipping the almonds, but the cashews I think are vital.
Shalva, thanks for your reply! Sorry, I wrote my question wrong. I made it again today. Instead of using almond milk as the liquid, I just added an additional 1/4 cup of almonds plus 1 cup of water. Some people might want to add a bit more liquid in the final product, but I thought it came out great.
Ah, yes! We often do that with our queso recipe too. It’s surprisingly few almonds to make the consistency of store-bought almond milk. Something like 4-8 almonds per cup of water.
This is so delicious! Just made this, following the recipe but added a little cauliflower as I didn’t have quite enough broccoli. It’s delicious!!! I know I just said that…. It’s so fun to make simple quick meals that I can feel good about feeding my family. Thank you for this recipe!! My new joke around the house is we eat fast food several times a week now…. Thanks to wonderful recipes like this and the Vitamix. Haha….
Haha, it IS fast food. But good for you fast food and that’s the best combo.
We fixed this recipe for dinner tonite exactly as written. It was so delicious and “cheesy” – we did not miss the dairy at all. Seasoning and spices were spot on. My next thought is that it would make a good cheesy sauce over baked potatoes (but would probably leave out some of the broth to make it thicker for that application). Thanks for the awesome recipe!
That sounds amazing! It’s basically a soup made out of our cashew queso (in case you haven’t tried that recipe yet).
What did you use the cannelloni beans in place of? The tofu? (Please say yes.) I don’t have tofu in the house right now, and we live far from a grocery store, but I do have a can of cannelloni beans!
Argh. I really thought that I was replying to NIck’s comment below.
I’m thinking that’s the sub Nick was talking about. Sounds like it would work to me.
just made this tonight…. absolutely delicious!!!! stuck s=trictly to recipe for the first run… may dabble a tad with some of the spices but I am totally pleased with this…
Yes! You know a good cook when they stick to the recipe and THEN make adjustments 🙂
Slowly trying to remove all animal products from my diet and took the Vitamix plunge. This is the first soup recipe I made in my new Vitamix and it is incredible! I am looking forward to my lunch today just so I can have another bowl of this soup. Really great and easy recipe, thank you!
Good for you, Serena! Slowly reducing is exactly the way we did it too. There’s so many tasty options now and having your Vitamix will really help you achieve your goal.
This is amazing!!!! Best broccoli cheese soup I’ve ever had, by far! I’ve made the queso a few times, so this soup was just a few more steps to more deliciousness!! Thanks for sharing these great recipes 🙂
Thanks, Melissa! If you liked that soup, why not give our Fancy Tomato a try, too?
You might have a similar reaction 😉
I can’t wait to try this recipe! Do you know if it freezes well? Thank you!
We haven’t tried to freeze this one. But feel like it would hold up okay. If it isn’t the exact texture you want when it thaws you can add some more veggie broth (that’s what I do with most of our soups after freezing).
If enough soup survives the initial feeding frenzy (doesn’t happen at our house unless we make a double batch), it freezes and reheats just fine. No problems with separation or change in texture in our experience.
Awesome! Thanks, Chris 🙂
Oh my god! This is amazing … I can’t believe it is vegan!!!
That’s exactly the comment we want to hear!
I don’t usually post comments but i had to for this. This was soooo good. Looking forward to trying your other recipes. Btw nice presentation :). I used sautéed real onions, my own Vitamix-made almond milk, and did not use tofu nor nutmeg. It was so good. I will try tofu next time. Thank you!!
Yay! I love it when people that don’t usually comment leave one. That means you really liked it!
From John E via email: I did tweak your Broccoli Cheese Soup adding steamed potatoes/carrots, “roasted” red pepper, brown mustard, lemon juice, and turmeric to the cheese blend. My wife and I loved it.
It sounds good, it kind of reminds me of a hummus dip,I wonder if I could add hummus to the tomato spup?
Omg. I made this for the first time after recently purchasing a vitamix a3500. LIFE ALTERING! I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a dairy free dish that tasted so creamy, cheesy, and decadent. I’m exploring more vegan cooking lately for my health, and I really appreciate your recipes and look forward to trying more! Bought your ebook and will be working my way through all of them 🙂 Thanks for the inspiration!
This just made my day, thank you, Laura!
Just made this for lunch again today, second time this week. It’s so simple and delicious, thanks for creating and posting this recipe. I added the broccoli stalks to queso stage for a little extra nutrition, made the cannelloni beans substitution and added some peas to the bowl. I’ll excited to try more of you soups.
Excellent substitutions! Especially love the addition of broccoli stalks (underutilized ingredient for sure).
We have only had our Vitamix for 2 days. Made this soup tonight and it is rich, “cheezy” and delicious. Saved the rest for tomorrow. Sadly, we only found your site yesterday or we would have bought through you. I love your site for the recipes and the personal feel. We’ll go through here when we’re ready for the 20 ounce and 8 ounce self-detect cups.
That’s so nice, thank you, Chris 🙂
Quick question… Do you use firm tofu? Medium? Soft? Thanks!
We use firm for almost every recipe, but my guess is that because it’s blended, any version of tofu would work.
Are the soup ingredients blended in with the cheese (after it is made), or am I supposed to set the cheese aside, clean out the container, then blend the soup separately? Looking forward to trying this recipe.
Thank you
It all goes into one container. We don’t like doing extra dishes 🙂
Sounds delicious! Can this be made without tofu?
We haven’t tried, but thinking some soaked cashews would help add to the creaminess. Let us know how it goes 🙂
Hi. I just bought a Vitamix, and discovered your website/youtube videos/instagram tonight…and for the last 3 hours have completely lost myself in the lifeisnoyoke universe. Congratulations to you both on building such a great business and web presence! I have one question for you – have you made this soup successfully with out using tofu? I try and avoid soy products. I can’t wait to try so many of your recipes!
Thanks for the kind words, Jared! Our goal is to make content people can get lost in, so that’s amazing! We’ve never made it without tofu, but find that cannellini beans are an excellent substitute. Try one cup of drained beans and let us know how it goes!