Cheesy Vegan Broccoli Soup

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This Cheesy Vegan Broccoli Soup tastes very rich and sinful, but it’s actually a healthy soup. Don’t let the word healthy scare you off. It’s stealthy-healthy. The magic is in the chickpeas blended into the soup base. This soup is so yummy and so great to come home to on a cold day!

I have a friend in another state who is convinced that Ryan and I “eat broccoli leaves all day.” I would love to make her this soup, which actually doesn’t have broccoli leaves in it. I pull the leaves off when I prep the broccoli. However, I’m not sure how to ship soup across state lines and soup might be a weird thing for her to get in the mail. The point is — this soup is amazing and meant to be shared.

Cheesy Vegan Broccoli Soup is even better topped with:

• Homemade Garlic Nooch Croutons
• 5 Minute Garlic Hempseed Parm a.k.a Garlic Shake
• Addictive Coconut Bacon Flakes
• Crushed Red Pepper
• Extra Roasted Broccoli

Salt level

Recently I learned (from the internet) that people, including but not limited to military people, were once paid in salt. I used to think the expression, “worth his or her salt” had to do with the salt content of actual human beings as opposed to the salt human beings were paid as a salary. It was very Soylent Green of me to think that way.

A few things to consider about salt when making this soup:

• You can lightly salt your broccoli when roasting it.
• Miso, lemon, unfortified nutritional yeast, and broth all contain salt or salt amplifying ingredients.
• Your can of chickpeas might have added salt
• When you garnish this soup with Garlic Shake, which is highly recommended, you’ll be adding a smack of garlic and salt.
• If you are using 1 cup of water instead of 2 to make thicker soup, wait to salt until you have tasted the soup.

Nooch

Every time I post a recipe containing nooch, a.k.a. nutritional yeast, I end up explaining that I prefer and recommend Unfortified Nutritional Yeast. The fortified stuff can taste very synthetic and vitamin-y. This is especially true when using a lot of nooch in a recipe. This recipe uses a good amount of nooch. If you are convinced that you dislike nutritional yeast there is a very good chance that you have had the fortified kind. For me, there is a world of difference in flavor between the two.

Let’s Make This Yummy Soup

Roast That Broccoli

First, preheat oven to 425° F and line a baking sheet with a sil-mat or parchment paper. You can use a naked pan if you don’t mind a little more clean up.

Next, chop the broccoli head into florets and slice the stem into thin coins, removing the leaves. If using extra broccoli as a garnish, do the same with this extra broccoli, leaving it separate from the broccoli for the soup.

Coat the broccoli for the soup with oil and place it on the pan, spreading it out. Then coat the rest of the broccoli for garnish (if using) with oil and put it off to the side of the pan or on another lined pan so that you will know that it doesn’t go in the blender later. Lightly salt and pepper the broccoli.

Then, place the broccoli in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Check and flip the broccoli at 8 minutes. The roasting time depends on the size of your florets and slices. Ideally, the broccoli will be browning and cooked through. Sometimes broccoli looks burnt when it is not burnt.

Gather garnishing broccoli (if using) and set aside, this broccoli will not be going in the blender.

Put The Water In The Pot

Add the 1 – 2 cups of water to your pot and set it aside on the stove.

Blender Time

In the blender combine chickpeas, unfortified nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt, pepper, tomato paste, miso, liquid smoke, garlic powder, paprika, turmeric, and broth. Blend until smooth. Then add the roasted broccoli, leaving out the extra roasted broccoli for garnish (if using). Blend until mostly smooth; small chunks of broccoli are nice.

Simmer & Serve

Pour the blended mixture into the pot with the 1 or 2 cups of water. Cook, stirring over medium heat, for about 2 minutes. Then reduce to a simmer and let cook for about 8 minutes, or longer if desired, stirring occasionally.

Taste and adjust salt, pepper to preference, if desired. Remove from heat and serve garnished with the extra roasted broccoli (if using), Garlic Shake or Coconut Bacon Flakes.  

Recipe adapted from But I Could Never Go Vegan by Kristy Turner.

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My favorite take-it-up-a-notch garnishes for this soup are:

• Homemade Garlic Nooch Croutons
• 5 Minute Garlic Hempseed Parm a.k.a Garlic Shake
• Addictive Coconut Bacon Flakes

Did you make this Cheesy Vegan Broccoli Soup? Any fun garnishes, alterations or serving suggestions? Would you make it again? Tell me about it in the comments section below.