Broccoli cheese soup is a wonderful winter soup. It is creamy, cheesy, hearty and yet there is no artery clogging cheese, and very little fat. I love the yellow and green contrast too! Quite festive! Did I mention that it is loaded with proteins, fiber and can be made in less than 30 minutes! It is a great way to sneak broccoli. Not bad for a soup right?
Broccoli is a super food
Rich in vitamin A, C, K, folate, iron, and potassium, broccoli is a total nutritional power house! It is best to eat it raw or lightly steamed. Never boil it too long or risk destroying all the good compounds!
Quick tip: use both florets and stems as they contain different cancer fighting compounds. To use the stems you only need to peel them a little and remove any hard part. They are just as tasty as the florets! Julienne, slice and use them in soups, stews and stir fries. No wasting food!
Let’s make this soup!
Vegan Cheese Broccoli Soup
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
Soup base
- 2-3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 large onion chopped (yellow or white)
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 stalks of celery chopped
- 3 medium carrots diced
- 1-2 large potatoes peeled
- 3-4 cups vegetable broth (Better Bouillon)
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 3 cups broccoli floret
- 1/2 cup white, red or pinto beans (optional)
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- Salt & black pepper
Garlic Croutons
- 2 slices bread
- 1 clove garlic
- pinch salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
Prepare the soup base
- Saute the chopped onion with chopped garlic in 2-3 tbsp oil for a few minutes.
- Add the balsamic vinegar to deglaze the onion mixture.
- Stir in the chopped celery, carrots, potato and salt.
- Add a little broth and saute for another 3-5 minutes until the carrots are tender.
- Add the rest of the vegetable broth, cumin powder, broccoli florets, beans. Simmer 5 minutes.
- Remove the broccoli florets and blend most of the potatoes, carrots, with a little of the liquid soup until you have a creamy texture. Make sure to leave some of the soup base in the pot so you have some texture.
- Pour the blended soup in the pot, add the nutritional yeast, beans (if using) and the broccoli florets. Stir and simmer for a few minutes as the soup will thicken more.
- Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve immediately.
Make the croutons
- Remove the crust from your bread slices. Make cubes.
- Season them by sprinkling some garlic powder, a pinch of salt and drizzle some olive oil (1 tbsp). Toss in a large bowl to evenly coat the croutons.
- At this point, you can either pan fry them until crisp or if you have a toaster oven, place them on a lined tray and toast.
- Serve the soup in bowls and top with garlic croutons.
