Creamy Vegetable Soup Recipe

You don’t need cream to make a soup creamy! Our Easy Creamy Vegetable Soup recipe uses a time-tested vegan kitchen hack for an old fashioned creamy vegetable soup that has a silky, rich texture without a drop of dairy or coconut cream. Packed with veggies, lentils, and rice, it’s like a whole meal in a bowl!

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!

---

This is no ordinary veggie soup, my friends. 

Thanks to the addition of red lentils, brown rice, and a luxuriously silky cashew-based broth, this easy creamy vegetable soup recipe is a satisfying protein and fiber packed full meal. 

It’s slightly inspired by the cream of vegetable soup by Jamie Oliver, but of course I had to put my own twist on it!

Obviously the first switch to his recipe was to remove the cream. Instead of coconut milk which is often the go-to vegan option, I chose the trusted and tested cashew broth to create a more neutral, healthy cream vegetable soup.

And combined with fresh herbs, white wine, and our vegan chicken-style bouillon it creates a broth that is rich, silky, and dare I say restaurant-quality. 

And this soup isn’t just creamy! With its layers of deep, comforting flavor, it tastes like it simmered for hours – without having to actually cook it for hours!

Why You’ll Love This Easy Creamy Vegetable Soup 

• Ultra-Creamy Without Dairy or Coconut Milk – Our cashew based broth achieves a silky, rich texture without dairy cream or even coconut milk.
• Protein-Packed and Satisfying – Not just a typical veggie soup. This creamy vegetable rice soup is a hearty, filling and nutrient-dense meal in a bowl.
• Layers of Deep, Comforting Flavor – The mix of fresh vegetables, herbs, garlic, white wine, and that amazing broth tastes like it simmered for hours – without the long wait.

Creamy Vegetable Rice Soup Ingredients

Use fresh ingredients for the most flavor-packed and best cream of vegetable soup.

For the Creamy Cashew Broth:

• Tomato – I use a roma tomato or a small regular tomato
• Raw cashews – Make sure you get raw and not roasted
• Vegan chicken-style bouillon powder – We highly recommend using our homemade vegan bouillon powder, but you can use store-bought as well.

For the Soup:

• Olive oil
• Onion and garlic – minced
• Carrots and celery – diced
• Fresh herbs – thyme and/or rosemary
• Spice Cabinet – salt, pepper
• Russet Potatoes – peeled and diced
• Fresh broccoli florets – chopped
• Green beans – Frozen of fresh with ends trimmed and cut to ½ inch long
• Brown rice – You want something with a 40+ minute cook time; don’t use instant rice.
• Red lentils – You can sub split green peas or brown lentils, but you will need to add more water and cook the soup for longer (until the lentils are fully cooked through). 
• White wine – or white wine vinegar

Tips, Substitutions & Alterations

My Biggest Tip: Chop all the veggies before you start cooking!

This one step really helps the rest of the process go smoothly. 

I chop all my veggies before getting started and store them in bowls according to what ingredients are added together. Remember to keep diced potatoes in water before draining and using them in the recipe though. This will help them from oxidizing and turning brown!

Check out the photo below to get a sense of how I group them.

Substitution Options

• Feel free to shake up the veggies based on what you have in the house.
• Sub brown lentils for the red lentils, basmati rice or quinoa for the brown rice, etc. But remember: You may need to adjust the amount of water you use and the cooking time with these changes.
• Sunflower seeds are a great sub for cashews. Especially if you have a nut allergy!
• To keep it oil-free, simply omit the oil and saute the veggies in broth or water instead
• If you don’t have a high-powered blender: Replace the cashews with olive oil or coconut milk and the tomato with ¼ cup tomato paste. Add these along with the extra water and bouillon to the soup when it says to add the blender contents.
• For best results, use our Homemade Vegan Chicken Bouillon Powder. If you need to use another bouillon, you may want to add less at first and taste/decide if you want to add more later as store-bought bouillon has different salt content.
• You can sub bouillon paste, but I would cut the amount in half. If you’re using bouillon cubes, I’d start with one and taste before adding another

Do you need to pre-soak the cashews?

You don’t need to pre-soak your cashews for this recipe because we soak them while preparing the rest of the soup.

How to Make Creamy Vegetable Soup Without Cream

This is an overview of the full instructions for our easy creamy vegetable soup recipe. Refer to the complete directions in the recipe card for the best results.

Step 1: Chop all the vegetables. I suggest you save the potatoes for last or cover them with cold water in a bowl until you’re ready to drain and use them.

Step 2: Put broth ingredients in a high-powered blender or food processor. Let sit while you prepare the rest of the soup.

Step 3: Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot on medium-high heat and add the minced onion and garlic and saute for a few minutes

Add the carrots, celery, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper. Saute another 2-3 minutes.

Step 4: Add potatoes, broccoli, red lentils, green beans, rice and white wine or vinegar and pour in the water. Cover with a lid and turn heat to high to bring to a boil.

Once boiling, turn the heat to medium and cook partly covered for 20 minutes stirring often.

Step 5: When the 20 minutes is almost up, blend the cashew broth ingredients that are soaking in your blender for 1 full minute until super smooth and creamy. 

It’s normal for the mixture to be super bubbly at first (see the photo below) but will settle down into a creamy broth after it cooks.

Step 6: Add the blended broth mix to the soup pot and stir. 

Cook uncovered on medium heat for 10 more minutes, stirring often. 

Keep this at a low simmer. You may need to turn the heat down to medium-low if the simmer intensifies at any point.

This is what the soup will look like in the pot when it’s done!

Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. Feel free to add more water to thin it out if desired. If adding more water, make sure you taste the soup once more and adjust any seasonings (more salt, bouillon powder, etc).

How Can You Make Vegan Soups Creamy?

To make vegan soups creamy, you can use cashews and a high-powered blender to create a cashew cream broth, like we do in this recipe! Or you can try something like coconut milk, non-dairy milk, emulsified olive oil, a vegan roux, or even an immersion blender and some chickpeas or red lentils.

Check out our list of Creamy Vegan Soup Recipes for more ideas and exact recipes!

What to Serve with Old Fashioned Creamy Vegetable Soup

A big bowl of this soup is a meal in itself, but sometimes I also like it paired with a side salad and some bread or saltines. Try it with a few of my favorites:

• Quick and Easy Bread 
• Fluffy Vegan Yeast Rolls
• Vegan Garlic Bread
• Vegan Olive Garden Salad
• Easy Vegan Caesar Salad

How to Store Leftovers

Allow the soup to cool completely before transferring to airtight containers or mason jars or any air-tight containers with lids. Store in the refrigerator and eat within 5-7 days.

How to Reheat Leftover Vegetable Soup

On the stove – Reheat in a soup pot over medium heat for 5-7 minutes until hot.

In the microwave – Place soup in a microwave safe bowl and heat on high for 1.5-2 minutes. Stir and heat for 1-2 more minutes or until heated through.

More Delicious Soup Recipes

• Olive Garden Vegan Minestrone
• Vegetable Soup Without Tomatoes
• Copycat Campbell’s Vegetable Soup

And if you’re looking for more insight on making flavor-packed vegetable soups, check out our guide on How to Season Vegetable Soup and our list of Vegan Soup Recipes!

I hope you love this Creamy Vegan Vegetable Soup as much as we do! 

Feel free to leave a comment and/or star rating in the section below to let us know what you think. We love hearing from you, and every rating makes a big difference in more people seeing our recipes!