Creamy Vegan Soup Recipes
A good creamy vegan soup was key for me to figure out when I went vegan, and I have good news! There are a million ways to make creamy vegan soups without dairy! In this post, I’m spilling all the secrets I’ve learned in my 10 years as a vegan for making the coziest, most luxurious plant-based soups you’ve ever tasted. I’ll walk you through all my tips and tricks along with some well-tested recipes to keep in your back pocket.
This post contains affiliate links. As Amazon Associates, we earn a small commission from qualifying purchases (at no cost to you). Click here to read our full policy about affiliate links. Thank you for shopping our affiliate links, as it helps us keep the free vegan recipes coming your way!
I loved a good creamy soup in my day.
When I went vegan, I missed them. I thought I would never have a creamy good soup again.
But as I got in the kitchen and learned more, I realized there were a million ways to make a creamy vegan soup.
And now they are some of my favorite soup recipes to develop for the blog and some of the most popular recipes on our site!
In this post, I am spilling all my secrets for making creamy vegan soups without dairy with you!
How can I make my soup creamy without dairy?
It’s easier than you think to make a soup with a creamy consistency without using a drop of dairy!
Here are a few of our top tips and resources:
Blenders
Sometimes all you need is a good blender!
A heat-safe high-powered blender is essential for recipes using cashews or sunflower seeds to be blended, like in our Cheesy Broccoli Blender Soup. We love our Vitamix and our Salton Power blender for these occasions.
An immersion blender (a much less expensive option) can also be used to puree soups, but I would avoid blending cashews with this! We use one in our Curried Pumpkin Soup recipe.
Vegan Heavy Cream
There are a number of heavy cream options on the market. Our favorite is the Silk heavy whipping cream, Califia Better Half, and Elmhurst’s oat creamer.
This is what we use to thicken our creamy vegan tomato soup recipe! They’re great because they can be used as a 1:1 sub for regular heavy cream in all your favorite recipes and create a nice thick soup!
Check your local grocery store for more brand options. Just remember, when buying vegan heavy cream for soup, you always want to get a neutral-flavored option. Something marked “unsweetened” and “plain” or “original” is always your best bet!
Canned Coconut Milk
The OG vegan option for making creamy soups is full-fat coconut milk or coconut cream! This is how we thicken the broth in our Creamy Curry Zoodle Ramen recipe.
To avoid coconut flavor, make sure you purchase a coconut milk with as few ingredients as possible and marked “unsweetened”. We love Native Forest and the coconut milk from Target’s store brand!
Non-Dairy Milk
Non-dairy milk can be used as a 1:1 sub for milk in any soup recipe. Any milk will do: oat milk, almond milk, soy milk, etc.
As with the other non-dairy products we mentioned, you want to make sure you are using an unsweetened and plain milk with as few ingredients as possible. This will help you avoid that weird sweet taste in your soups!
Our number one suggestion is always the unsweetened line of plant milks from Elmhurst! We love to use their milked cashews in our creamy vegan pumpkin soup.
Cashews + Other Nuts and Seeds!
We love using raw cashews to make a cashew cream to thicken our creamy vegan soups!
You can either blend them separately and add it to the soup like you would a heavy cream (like we do in our Creamy Vegan Chicken Stew) or boil the cashews with the rest of your ingredients in the soup pot and blend the whole mix in a heat-safe high-powered blender (like we do in our Blender Soup recipes!).
If you need a cashew replacement for any vegan soup recipe, try sunflower seeds or hulled hemp seeds!
White Beans and Other Legumes
Blended white beans, red lentils, or chickpeas can add a nice thickness to your soups!
We use this in soups like our Vegan Cream of Chicken or to thicken the broth in our Copycat Campbell’s Vegetable Soup!
Vegan Roux
A roux is a mix of butter, milk, and flour used to thicken sauces and soups. You can make a vegan roux easily!
Just replace the butter with vegan butter or refined coconut oil and the milk with an unsweetened non-dairy milk. Voila!
We use this trick in our Creamy Vegan Wild Rice Soup (recipe coming soon!), and it works like a charm!
Vegan Sour Cream
Vegan sour cream or cream cheese is another great way to make creamy vegan soups! It’s especially tasty in a vegan potato soup or tortilla soup.
My favorite brand of vegan sour cream is from Tofutti, but I also love the options from Kite Hill and Forager.
Creamy Vegan Soup Recipes
Now, let’s talk about the best creamy delicious vegan soup recipes we have to offer!
Creamy Tomato Soup
Behold: Creamy, cheesy, and cozy homemade vegan tomato soup! This simple blended soup recipe is an easy and healthy vegetarian dinner or make-ahead lunch that can be made from either fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes and other simple ingredients.
Dairy-free cream of tomato soup is freezer-friendly, perfect for meal prep, and has a rich creamy texture you have to taste to believe. Serve with crusty bread or a vegan grilled cheese!
Creamy Spinach Soup
This creamy vegan spinach soup is my FAVORITE spinach recipe! It’s easy to make in a Vitamix or other high-powered blender.
The recipe itself is oil-free, gluten-free, and dairy-free and is packed with hidden nutrients from healthy ingredients like potatoes, red lentils, and miso paste! You’ll love the flavor and luxurious texture (even though there’s not a drop of heavy cream in it!).
Curried Pumpkin Soup
This savory curried pumpkin soup is an easy one-pot plant-based meal. Make this great recipe on the stove or in the slow-cooker with either canned pumpkin or fresh pumpkin and a few kitchen staples.
It’s gluten-free, dairy-free (without coconut milk!), and includes an oil-free option. Topped with some red pepper flakes, this soup is perfect for any cozy dinner occasion in the colder months!
Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup
This healthy creamy vegan broccoli soup is easy to make in your Vitamix. The recipe is dairy free, oil free, AND gluten free.
It’s made with healthy ingredients like chickpeas, cashews (or sub sunflower seeds for nut free), cauliflower, carrots, and of course, broccoli florets! We serve this vegan broccoli cheddar soup recipe over a big steaming baked potato for total comfort food.
Easy Potato Blender Soup
This creamy vegan homemade potato soup recipe is easy to make right in your Vitamix or other high-powered blender!
It’s the BEST dairy-free potato soup we’ve ever eaten – loaded with flavor, a thick creamy texture, and soul-warming from start to end. Load it with your favorite toppings like vegan bacon and cheese or sip it out of a mug on a cold winter day!
Vegan Beer Cheese Soup
This cozy vegan beer cheese soup is nut-free and tastes like actual beer cheese soup, not just a healthy version of it!
Surprisingly though, this vegan soup is dairy-free, easy to make gluten-free, and includes an oil-free option along with some sneaky hidden veggies. Just add everything to a large pot, simmer, blend, and stir in the beer!
Creamy Vegan Chicken Stew
Get this vegan chicken stew recipe on your weekly meal plan STAT. It makes the perfect cozy winter dinner and will immediately transport you back to childhood.
This creamy vegetable stew with meaty soy curls is easy to make using common ingredients, methods, and hidden vegetables too! This vegan stew recipe is also freezer-friendly and the perfect plant-based meal prep recipe. It’s also gluten-free, dairy-free, and easily made oil-free.
Vegan Chicken and Dumplings
A soup fit for a main course! You don’t have to miss out on your favorite childhood comfort food thanks to this hearty vegan chicken and dumplings recipe!
It’s a creamy, dairy-free, veggie and soy curl stew topped with pillowy black pepper dumplings. Make this plant-based dinner when you really want to feel cozy!
Creamy Curry Zoodle Ramen
If you’re looking for a way to sneak more veggies into your diet, you have to try this vegan zoodle ramen recipe! It’s made right in your mason jar, so there’s no mess to clean up.
And you can make them ahead of time and keep them in the fridge for cozy veggie ramen noodle soup whenever you need a pick-me-up! To up the cozy factor, this easy recipe features a creamy green curry veggie broth that packs a robust flavor with a hint of spice.
Creamy Potato Corn Chowder
This creamy corn chowder is oil-free, gluten-free, and (of course) vegan!
It’s an easy, cozy, flavorful, and HEALTHY plant-based dinner option, and leftovers can be frozen for later – making it ideal for busy weeknights or weekly meal prep!
Condensed Vegan Cream Soup Recipes
Along with our basic creamy vegan soups, we also have a wide variety of copycat Campbell’s condensed soups!
These can be used as sauce starters, in casseroles, or just rehydrate them to make a sippable creamy vegan soup!
- Condensed Vegan Cream of Chicken Soup
- Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup Recipe
- Condensed Vegan Cream of Potato Soup
- Vegan Condensed Cheddar Soup
- Condensed Cream of Bacon Soup Substitute
- We also have a whole Vegan Condensed Soup Guide!
FAQs
Let’s end this post by answering a few of the most common questions about making creamy vegan soups! If you have additional questions, please leave them in the comments below, so we can add them to the post to create a more complete resource for future readers!
How do I add richness to vegan soup?
To add richness to vegan soup, you can add any dairy-free milk or cream like canned coconut milk or blended cashew cream. Olive oil is also a lovely addition and adds a rich texture when blended into the soup!
What is a good milk substitute for cream soup?
For cream soup, you want to make sure you use a milk substitute with a high fat content and unsweetened / neutral flavor for best results. We love the unsweetened cashew milk from Elmhurst or the heavy whipping cream from Silk!
How do you thicken soup without dairy?
There are myriad ways to thicken soup without dairy! You can substitute a non-dairy milk or vegan heavy cream, make a dairy-free cream in your blender using cashews or sunflower seeds, or emulsify some olive oil with white beans and potatoes. You can also try using powdered nutritional yeast or whisking some tapioca starch or corn starch into your vegetable broth!
I hope this post has inspired you to get in the kitchen and make your creamy vegan soup dreams a reality!
I know learning these tricks and recipes were a total game-changer when I went vegan, and I hope it helps you as well!
Enjoy!
