Vegan Potato Soup

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This easy vegan potato soup is creamy, hearty and loaded with flavor. It’s a comfort-food classic that will quickly become a family favorite.

This vegan potato soup is so simple to make, creamy yet healthy and packed with delicious flavor. I’m not wishing for a snowstorm, but let’s just say I know what will be on the menu for the first snowfall!

A bowl of vegan potato soup topped with vegan sour cream, vegan shredded cheese, "bacon" bits, and chopped green onions. A silver spoon rests aside the bowl.

Why You’ll Love this Soup

As soon as I recipe tested this soup, I knew it was going to be a fan favorite! Here’s why you’ll love it:

  • Comfort food made healthy
  • Budget-friendly
  • One pot meal that is perfect for meal prep – cook once and eat healthy all week!
  • Super simple ingredients
  • Absolutely delicious!
Ingredients measured out to make vegan potato soup: olive oil, veggie broth, non-dairy milk, pepper, potatoes, garlic, onion, spices, herbs, flour, celery, carrots, salt and bay leaf.

Ingredients Needed

I grew up on creamy, comforting soups. Broccoli cheddar soup, chicken wild rice soup and of course potato soup. As with many of my childhood favorites, I took it upon myself to make a lightened up version with healthier ingredients. Here’s what you need:

  • vegan butter or olive oil – to sauté the vegetables in.
  • gold potatoes – I prefer using Yukon gold potatoes for this soup. They add a buttery, creamy texture and mash up really well. That said, feel free to use Russet potatoes or any type of white potatoes.
  • vegetables – a combination of onion, garlic, celery and carrots adds the main source of flavor to this soup! Try to chop the celery and carrots the same size so each bite has a similar ratio of veggies.
  • all purpose flour – helps thicken the soup. If you’re gluten-free you can use a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend.
  • cashew milk or almond milk – make sure you grab unsweetened milk! Any dairy-free milk works but I prefer cashew or almond milk in this recipe.
  • vegetable broth or vegetable stock – the liquid base of the soup. I like to use low-sodium broth so I can control how salty the soup is at the end.
  • seasonings and spices – bay leaf, dried thyme, marjoram, nutmeg, salt and black pepper seasons the soup and brings all of the flavors together!
Tip! 
When chopping your potatoes, chop them into small pieces all about the same size. They'll be easier to eat and cook faster. 
Collage of six photos showing the process on how to make vegan potato soup: sauté garlic and onion, adding celery and carrots, adding flour, adding broth, potatoes and spices. Blended soup and then the soup in a bowl topped with green onions, vegan bacon, cheese and sour cream.

How to Make Vegan Potato Soup

Sauté vegetables – In a large pot or Dutch oven add oil over medium heat. Once warm, add onion and garlic and sauté until onions are translucent and fragrant, about 7 minutes or so. Add in carrots and celery and sauté for 5-7 minutes more.

Add remaining ingredients – Add in the salt, pepper and flour and gently toss until veggies are coated. Then add milk, vegetable broth, potatoes, bay leaf, thyme, marjoram and nutmeg.

Simmer – Stir and bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, turn the temperature down to low, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Blend Smooth out the soup with an immersion blender, potato masher or high powdered blender to your desired smoothness.

Serve – Spoon soup into bowls for serving and top with toppings of choice. I love serving it with vegan shredded cheese, sour cream and green onions. Tempeh or coconut bacon bits are also delicious.

An overhead shot of two bowls of vegan potato soup. Both bowls have been topped with vegan sour cream, vegan shredded cheese, "bacon" bits, and chopped green onions.

No Immersion Blender? No Problem!

I prefer to use my immersion blender to smooth this soup, leaving some chunks for texture. That said, if you don’t have an immersion blender there are a few alternative methods you can use to smooth your soup.

  1. Potato masher: This option is great if you prefer more of a chunky texture. Once your potatoes are fork-tender use a potato masher to mash some of the potatoes until you reach your desired texture.
  2. High powdered blender: This option is great if you prefer a completely smooth soup! If you’re using a blender, just blend in batches, making sure to not fill your blender past the maximum fill line and be extra careful because the soup will be hot! You can still achieve a chunky soup with a blender. Just add about half of the soup to your blender and blend until smooth, leaving the rest of the soup as is.

Can You Make Potato Soup in a Slow Cooker?

I haven’t tried making this soup in my slow cooker, but this is what I would do:

Sauté vegetables – Start, by sautéing your onion and garlic over the stovetop until onions are translucent and fragrant, about 7 minutes or so. Add in carrots and celery and sauté for 5-7 minutes more.

Add remaining ingredients – Transfer sautéd veggies to your slow cooker, add remaining ingredients, except flour and milk and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours, until potatoes are fork-tender.

Make roux – About 15-20 minutes before you’re ready to serve the soup, make a roux by melting about 2-3 Tablespoons of vegan butter in a medium saucepan. Once melted, whisk in your flour and cook for about 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in your milk and bring mixture to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened up.

Add flour mixture – Add flour and milk mixture to your slow cooker and stir to combine.

Blend – Remove the bay leaf. Smooth out the soup with an immersion blender, potato masher or high powdered blender to your desired smoothness. Serve immediately with desired toppings!

A bowl of vegan potato soup topped with vegan sour cream, vegan shredded cheese, "bacon" bits, and chopped green onions. A silver spoon rests aside the bowl.

How to Serve

Here’s where it gets fun! Get creative with your toppings or set out a little topping bar for people to build their own bowls of soup. Here are some topping ideas:

  • vegan sour cream
  • vegan shredded cheese
  • “bacon” bits – coconut bacon or tempeh bacon would be perfect!
  • chopped green onions
  • croutons
  • roasted chickpeas

This soup could be a meal on its own or it would be delicious served with toasted whole wheat bread, crunchy almond flour crackers or even a side salad like this simple kale salad.

How to Store Leftovers

Like I mentioned earlier, this soup is a great meal prep recipe. I like to make a batch at the beginning of the week and enjoy it for easy lunches or dinners throughout the week. Allow the soup to cool slightly and then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days.

Can You Freeze Potato Soup?

Technically, you could freeze this soup but the texture does change after freezing – the potatoes get a little grainy. If you don’t mind a texture change, freeze away!

More Vegan Soup Recipes to Try

Be sure to check out the full collection of soup recipes here on EBF!

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3.70 from 53 votes

Vegan Potato Soup

This easy vegan potato soup is creamy, hearty and loaded with flavor. It's a comfort-food classic that will quickly become a family favorite.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 6

Ingredients  

  • 2 Tablespoons vegan butter or olive oil
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 ribs celery, diced
  • 2 large carrots, diced
  • 3-4 Tablespoons all purpose flour, gluten-free if needed
  • 2 cups unsweetened cashew milk or almond milk
  • 3 cups vegetable broth or vegetable stock
  • 3 lbs gold potatoes peeled and diced into ½ inch cubes, (about 6 medium potatoes)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • ½ teaspoon marjoram
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 ½-2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, plus more to taste
  • Toppings: vegan sour cream, vegan shredded cheese, "bacon" bits, chopped green onions

Instructions 

  • In large pot or Dutch oven add oil over medium heat. Once warm, add onion and garlic sauté and until onions are translucent and fragrant, about 7 minutes or so.
    Onions and garlic sauté in a cast iron dutch oven.
  • Mix in carrots and celery and sauté for 5-7 minutes more.
    Veggies being mixed around with a wooden spoon in a cast iron dutch oven.
  • Add in the salt, pepper and flour and gently toss until veggies are coated.
    Veggies being coated in flour mixture in cast iron dutch oven.
  • Add milk, vegetable broth, potatoes, bay leaf, thyme, marjoram and nutmeg.
    Potatoes, milk, vegetable broth, and seasonings added to the cast iron dutch oven.
  • Stir and bring mixture to a boil. Once boiling, turn temperature down to low, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
  • Remove the bay leaf. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup until somewhat smooth. If you don't have an immersion blender you can use a potato masher to mash some of the potatoes. I prefer to leave a bit of chunky potato texture to the soup, but if you want it completely smooth you can fully blend it in a high powered blender. If you're using a blender, just blend in batches, making sure to not fill your blender past the maximum fill line and be extra careful because the soup will be hot!
    Vegan potato soup after it has been blended with an immersion blender in a cast iron dutch oven.
  • Spoon soup into bowls for serving and top with toppings of choice. I love serving it with vegan shredded cheese, sour cream and green onions. Tempeh or coconut bacon bits are also delicious.
  • Let soup cool completely and store in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge.

Notes

  • Potatoes: I prefer using Yukon gold potatoes for this soup. They add a buttery, creamy texture and mash up really well in this soup. That said, feel free to use Russet potatoes or any type of white potatoes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/6 of recipe without toppings | Calories: 286kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 953mg | Potassium: 206mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 5g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Soup
Cuisine: American
Keyword: vegan potato soup
Did you make this recipe?Mention @eatingbirdfood and tag #eatingbirdfood!

About Brittany

Hey there, I’m Brittany, the creator of Eating Bird Food, cookbook author, health coach and mama of two littles. Here you’ll find quick and easy recipes that make healthy fun and enjoyable for you and your family!

More about Brittany
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7 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I’m not a chef and don’t like to make recipes that are too “involved”—I found this easy and quick! I’m not completely vegan, but have been looking for ways to incorporate vegan meals into my diet and this was perfect. I was missing marjoram—just did without. And I was feeling like a little kick, so added some jalapeños. Loving it and have plenty of leftovers for the week!

    1. Woo!! Pumped to hear this vegan potato soup was a hit, Kiki. Love the addition of jalapeños for a little kick. Thanks so much for the review. I really appreciate it!

  2. This sounds amazing and I can’t wait to make it (along with a ton of other recipes on your site). I just have a question… I’ve always heard you can’t eat bay leaves but I don’t see a note saying to remove it before blending? Have I been lied to all these years?!?! Lol. Or is it OK if it’s blended in?
    Thanks so much and I love what you do!

    1. Hi, Melissa! Thank you so much for your kind words and thank you for bringing this to my attention! I’ve updated the recipe to remind readers to remove the bay leaf before using the immersion blender. Let me know how it turns out for you if you make it!