This creamy vegetable soup is a quick and easy one-pot meal that’s perfect for a busy weeknight. It’s made with simple ingredients that you probably already have on hand, and it comes together in under 35 minutes. Jump to the Creamy Vegetable Soup Recipe
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How to Make Creamy Vegetable Soup
We have been making this soup for years. It’s simple to make, healthy, and comforting. Throw lots of vegetables into a big pot, add stock and herbs, and then simmer until done. Blend with a little cream or coconut milk, and you are done.
More: For a more brothy vegetable soup, try our Easy Homemade Vegetable Soup (it’s made with lots of veggies and a light tomato broth).
This creamy veggie soup comes together quickly and it’s easy to adapt for different diets. Make it gluten-free, vegetarian, or vegan. I’ve shared how below.
The real trick to making this soup is cutting all the vegetables a similar size. We start by cooking onions, carrots, and celery in a big pot until softened. Then we add potatoes, garlic, stock, and herbs.
After simmering for 15 minutes, the vegetables will be soft. Remove the herbs (I cannot even count how many times I’ve forgotten a bay leaf!). Then blend the soup until smooth.
At this point, we like to add a splash of cream or half-and-half. You can skip it or use a dairy-free option like coconut milk.
More: If you love creamy soups, take a look at our broccoli cheddar soup. We use a similar method to make it!
Substitutions for Gluten-Free, Vegetarian, and Vegan Diets
This creamy vegetable soup recipe is easy to adapt. Here’s how to substitute for different diets:
- Gluten-free Vegetable Soup: Some store-bought stocks contain gluten. Look for stock or broth that mentions it is gluten-free on the packaging. You could also consider using homemade stock.
- Vegetarian and Vegan Vegetable Soup: Replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock. For the best flavor, we recommend one that’s heavy on mushrooms. Instead of the cream, use coconut milk. You could also add some drained and rinsed white beans to the soup while it simmers. Once blended, they will add to the soup’s creamy texture.
Make Ahead Tips
Refrigerate the soup for up to 3 days. Or, freeze up to 3 months. The soup will become very thick after freezing. When reheating, add more stock or water to thin it out until your desired consistency.
More Easy Soup Recipes
- Easy Sausage and Potato Soup — You will love this easy potato soup recipe with Italian sausage, potatoes, garlic, and kale.
- Simple Ham and Cabbage Soup — This soup with cabbage and ham is hearty, healthy, easy to make, and tastes fantastic.
- Three Ingredient Tomato Soup — You wouldn’t think that three ingredients — butter, onion, and tomato — can come together to make such a velvety and delicious tomato soup, but let me tell you. They can.
- Creamy Homemade Potato Soup — You will love this easy soup with potatoes, veggies, garlic, and a luscious creamy broth.
- Lentil Soup with Lemon and Turmeric — Meet my go-to lentil soup recipe! I make this soup with lentils, carrots, turmeric, and fresh lemon whenever I’m in need of some healthy comfort food.
- Lemony Chicken Vegetable Soup — This lemon chicken and vegetable soup checks all the boxes. It’s hearty, healthy, satisfying, and tastes incredible.
- Roasted Butternut Squash Soup — Butternut squash is roasted on top of garlic cloves and fresh thyme then blended with stock into a silky smooth butternut squash soup.
Recipe updated, originally posted December 2011. Since posting this in 2011, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear. – Adam and Joanne
Quick and Easy Creamy Vegetable Soup
- PREP
This creamy vegetable soup can be refrigerated up to 3 days and kept in the freezer for up to 3 months. For a vegetarian or vegan version of this soup, replace chicken stock with vegetable stock. For the best flavor, we recommend one that’s heavy on mushrooms. Instead of the cream, use coconut milk.
Makes 4 to 5 Servings
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
1 large onion
1 pound carrots, peeled (4 to 5 medium)
4 celery sticks
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 pound thin-skinned potatoes (3 medium or 6 small potatoes)
3 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock, see how to make chicken stock
2 bay leaves
3 sprigs fresh thyme (substitute 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)
1/4 cup half-and-half, cream, or coconut milk
Directions
- Prepare Soup
- To Finish
Chop the onion, carrots, and celery into 1/2-inch chunks. Chop the potatoes into 1/2-inch chunks, but set aside from other vegetables.
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Toss the onion, carrots, and the celery around in the oil. Sprinkle with a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and add the red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables sweat, soften, and smell sweet; 5 to 10 minutes.
Stir in the potatoes, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme. Cook for 5 minutes. (Add more oil if the pot seems dry).
Pour in the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until you can easily pierce the potatoes with a fork; about 15 minutes.
Remove the soup from the heat. Take out the bay leaves and thyme sprigs and discard. Use an immersion blender, stand blender, or food mill to puree the soup until smooth.
Stir in the half-and-half. Taste for seasoning and adjust with more salt and pepper if necessary.
Adam and Joanne’s Tips
- Nutrition Facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA Supertracker recipe calculator to calculate approximate values. We did include 1/4 cup of half and half in the calculations and assumed 4 servings. We omitted salt from the calculations since you will need to add to your tastes.
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste
Nutrition Per Serving: Calories 234 / Protein 6 g / Carbohydrate 41 g / Dietary Fiber 7 g / Total Sugars 8 g / Total Fat 6 g / Saturated Fat 2 g / Cholesterol 6 mg
