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This Vegan Broccoli Cheddar Soup is the BEST copycat weโve ever had. Itโs super creamy, decadent, flavor-packed, and made with 10 healthy, simple ingredients. Have this cheesy classic ready in 40 minutes or less! Try it for meal prep or an easy weeknight dinner.
A Copycat Panera Broccoli Cheddar Soup
After visiting Panera Bread for our Fast Food Video and not being able to order their popular Broccoli Cheddar Soup, we knew it was time to get in the kitchen and make our own veganized version of this creamy soup. To our surprise, it was ridiculously easy to make!
We made this vegan version healthier than the restaurant and store-bought versions so it could be enjoyed by all. This Creamy Vegan Broccoli Cheddar soup is not only rich and delicious but oil-free, gluten-free, and made without processed vegan cheese shreds. Trust us when we tell you this soup is next-level and will quickly become one of your familyโs favorite soups.
Ingredients Youโll Need
- Cashews: The secret to making this soup naturally cheesy and creamy. For best results and flavor, use raw, unsalted cashews. If you are looking to make this soup nut-free, substitute the raw cashews 1:1 with raw sunflower seeds.
- Nutritional yeast: Adds additional cheesy flavor and B vitamins. Make sure to purchase nutritional yeast flakes, not Brewerโs yeast. The two are often confused but very different products. Nutritional yeast should be stocked near the spices in the grocery store or purchased online. Our favorite brand is Braggโs.
- Lemon juice: Adds an acidity that helps brighten up the flavors and balance the richness. Please use freshly squeezed lemon juice – pre-bottled lemon juice is watered down and has a different flavor profile.
- Vegan chicken broth: Classic Panera broccoli cheddar is made with chicken broth, so we used Better than Bouillon vegan chicken broth to make it as close in flavor as possible. If needed, feel free to use vegetable broth instead!
- Aromatics: A blend of onion, celery, and garlic makes the base of this soup. Donโt skip the sautรฉ – it adds an essential foundation of flavor.
- Broccoli and carrots: We recommend using fresh broccoli florets and carrots. Frozen will work, but it will add additional water to the soup, making it thinner and slightly less flavorful.
- Spices: A simple mix of nutmeg, salt, and black pepper is all you need! If desired, add ยผ teaspoon of turmeric powder for a bit of color.
Equipment Needed
How to Make Vegan Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Soak the cashews. We typically like to soak the cashews overnight in the refrigerator, but if you donโt have time, do a quick soak in hot water. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, remove the pot from the heat and add in the cashews. Soak for 20 minutes or until softened and drain.
- Make the cashew cream base. Drain the cashews and transfer them to a high speed blender along with 2 cups of filtered water, nutritional yeast, and lemon juice. Blend on high until smooth and set aside while you prepare the rest of the soup.
- Sautรฉ the aromatics. In a large pot over medium heat, add in 2 tablespoons of vegetable broth (or olive oil or vegan butter if not oil-free) along with the diced onion and celery. Cook until softened, then add in the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more. Add additional vegetable broth as needed to prevent burning.
- Add liquids. Add in the remaining vegetable broth along with all of the blended cashew mixture. Mix until uniform.
- Add in broccoli, carrots, and nutmeg. Mix again until combined.
- Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower to a simmer. Cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring often, until the soup has thickened.
- Season with salt and pepper. Once thickened, remove the broccoli cheddar soup from the heat and season to taste.
- Serve. Serve warm and garnished as desired. Enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
This easy Vegan Broccoli Cheddar Soup is hearty enough to serve on itโs own with a sprinkle of vegan cheddar cheese shreds and fresh parsley. If youโd like to make it more hearty, serve it in a bread bowl or serve with our homemade croutons, Garlic Herb Dinner Rolls or a crusty slice of No Knead Bread.
You could also serve this cheesy broccoli soup like a Panera โPick Two,โ and serve with a side dish, like our Homemade TTLA sandwich, Oyster Mushroom Sandwiches, or a Baked Tofu and Pesto Sandwich.
Storage Instructions
Leftover vegan broccoli cheddar soup can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat any leftovers in the microwave or in a small pot on the stovetop until warmed through.
If frozen, allow to thaw for 1-2 days in the refrigerator, then reheat as normal.
Recipe FAQs
Panera makes their traditional version with chicken stock, making the soup neither vegetarian or vegan.ย
This can happen if you do not blend the cashews completely smooth or if you simmer the soup on too high of heat. If the soup gets too hot, the soup can separate and become grainy and curdled.ย
If you are hoping to order a vegan soup at Panera, you can now order the Ten Vegetable Soup. It is naturally vegan as is and can be enjoyed with a baguette on the side. This is the only option for now, but hopefully, they will add a few more soon!ย
If you used the correct liquid measurements, itโs possible it just needs a bit longer to simmer! The longer this soup simmers, the thicker it gets. It will continue to thicken as it cools, too. As a last resort, you can always stir in a cornstarch slurry (1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl) until it has thickened to your liking.ย
Tips for Success
- Use a high-speed blender. Blending the cashews until silky smooth is essential to making this broccoli cheddar soup the right creamy texture. For best results, use a high-speed blender or a single-serve blending cup. Please do not use a food processor or the Ninja Professional Plus Blender. It is incapable of blending cream sauces completely smooth and will leave a slight grittiness in your soup.
- Finely chop the broccoli and carrots. This allows the vegetables to be dispersed evenly throughout the soup and makes it thicker.
More Vegan Soup Recipes You May Enjoy:
- Vegan Broccoli Potato Soup
- Instant Pot Lentil Noodle Soup
- Easy Sweet Potato Lentil Soup
- Easy Split Pea Soup (Andersonโs Copycat)
- One-Pot Minestrone Soup
- One-Pot Vegetable Noodle Soup
If you make this recipe and share it, please tag us on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan so we don’t miss your photos!
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Vegan Broccoli Cheddar Soup Recipe
- Total Time: 38 minutes
- Yield: 5 servings
Description
This Vegan Broccoli Cheddar Soup is the BEST copycat we’ve ever had. It’s super creamy, decadent, flavor packed and made with healthy, simple ingredients. Have this cheesy classic ready in 40 minutes or less. Try it for meal prep or an easy weeknight dinner.
Ingredients
- 1ย cup raw cashews, soaked overnight* (see notes)
- 2ย cups filtered water
- 1/2ย cup nutritional yeast
- 1ย tablespoonย fresh lemon juice
- 3 cups + 4 tablespoons vegan chicken broth (we used this one) or vegetable broth of your choice
- 1/2 medium onion, finely diced
- 1 rib celery, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2 3/4ย cupsย finely chopped broccoli
- 1 cup carrot, julienned
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1ย teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
Garnishes (optional)
- Fresh parsley
- Croutons (these are a great vegan brand)
Instructions
- Drain the cashews and transfer them to a high speed blender along with 2 cups of water, nutritional yeast, and lemon juice. Blend on high until smooth and set aside.
- In a large pot over medium heat, add in 2 tablespoons of vegetable broth along with the diced onion and celery. Sautรฉ until softened, about 3 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more, adding 2 more tablespoons of vegetable broth as needed to prevent burning.
- Add the remaining vegetable broth to the pot along with all of the cashew mixture that you had blended. Mix until uniform. Add in the broccoli, carrot and nutmeg and mix again until combined. Bring the mixture to a boil and lower to a simmer. Cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring often, until the soup has thickened.
- Once the soup has thickened, remove it from the heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve warm with a garnish of fresh parsley and croutons. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you don’t have time to soak the cashews overnight, you can do a quick soak in hot water. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Once it is boiling, remove the pot from heat and add in the cashews. Soak for 20 minutes or until softened and drain.
- We used the Better than Bouillon vegan chicken broth for this recipe. To make the broth, we mixed 3 1/4 cups of water with 3 1/4 teaspoons of paste.
- If you’d like your soup to be a little more yellow and “cheddar” looking you can add 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric at end.
- Prep Time: 8 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Soup, Entree
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Vegan, Gluten-free
Nutrition facts label provided by Nutri Fox.
Disclaimer: The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional’s advice. This page may contain affiliate links, which simply means that we earn a commission if you purchase through those links, but your price remains the same. Thank you for supporting Sweet Simple Vegan!
This was absolutely delicious! I made it and then made another double batch the next day. I tested it in the freezer and it worked really well. I will be exploring your other recipes!
How many cashews am I using for this?
1 cup, as noted in the recipe card ๐
Wow, this is a great recipe โ so easy and really delicious. Itโs one that the whole family loved โ vegans and non-vegans alike. I made sourdough croutons with olive oil, Italian seasoning, garlic powder and flaky salt โ they really made it fabulous! I cooked it a little longer than the recipe to thicken it up a little more too. Thank you for sharing this!
This soup is amazing! My husband and kids abosutely devour it; a double batch barely survive one meal! Thank you so much for such a tasty and healthy recipe!
Made this tonight on a cold, snowy day in Wyoming. Lovely recipe with accessible ingredients! The only change I made was tweaking spices a little and adding two large russet potatoes to make it a little heartier. Amazing recipe again guys!
Make this all the time! Itโs so tasty and rich but the ingredients are clean. 10/10! Great family friendly dish. We have a family of 3 (and we all like to have seconds) so I double the recipe and usually get a bit left over for lunch the next day. A single serving serves us 3 with no leftovers at all! Itโs best to double it cause itโs too good not to eat again the next day!
I just made this tonight, it was delicious! I added a little vegan parmesan at the end for extra cheesiness but it wasn’t really needed. Thanks for the recipe!!
I made this for dinner tonight and WOW it was so good! It reminded me so much of what I remember of broccoli cheddar soup, but felt lighter and healthier while still being super creamy and delicious. It was also really easy to throw together. Definitely will make it again! ๐
Made this soup and topped it with vegan Parmesan. Simply amazing! Thanks for helping me find a delicious meal while Iโm stuck on a liquid diet!!
I love this recipe
This soup is my favorite! Iโve made it probably 20 times and shared the recipe with friends and family! 10/10 recommend! Honestly I havenโt tried one of their recipes that wasnโt amazing!
I honestly didn’t expect this to taste so amazing. I’ve never made a soup before because most of the recipes require a soup maker or putting the soup back in the blender half way through the recipe and I didn’t want all the extra steps. I used a non-fortified nutritional yeast and instead of celery I added cut up white potatoes and five minutes before it was ready I added just under a cup of vegan cheddar cheese. It was so easy for me to make for my first soup and I really want seconds but I’m going to save some for the rest of the week (and my husband), I also love that it has quite a good amount of protein. Do you know roughly how much fiber is in the soup? Thank you so much for this recipe, I can’t wait to make it again!
so glad you enjoyed it! Your additions are great as well. As far as the fiber goes, we just added it to the nutrition facts. We estimate there’s 5.8 g per serving!
I just made this, and as it was cooking the
Nooch smell was really strong, so I had misgivings I tasted for seasoning, and it just tastes like yummy, savory, creamy broccoli soup. I added bay leaves b/c Iโm superstitious, and a handilful of Follow Your Heart cheddar shreds. Itโs a gorgeous, delicious soup!
Made this tonight after saving it to my phone a while ago following a random FB post. OMG I think this soup is going to be a weekly occurrence now in my house! So delish! I ended up adding a bit more stock and a bit more nooch cos I had to put my kids to bed and it went a little too thick but damn it was just so great! Thankyou!
This was a great recipe! It is healthy but also very creamy with the cashews. Thanks for sharing!
First off I want to say I have a huge issue with non dairy recipes tasting, well, like non dairy lol. Iโve made so many recipes that are supposed to be like cheese but they always have that signature weird flavor. But this recipe, oh my god. This tastes literally just like Paneraโs broccoli cheddar. I added a tiny bit of arrowroot starch to thicken but I donโt think it needed it at all because it thickens on its own. This is seriously the best vegan recipe Iโve made in the past like 8 years. Seriously.
This has become a staple in our home! We make this about twice a month and can never get enough! My non vegan family even asks me to make a big match to drop off! Fabulous job you two!
This was TERRIFIC! So, I omitted the nutmeg because I couldn’t find it in my spice cabinet (although I KNOW it’s in there somewhere). So instead, I added about 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne and 1/4 teaspoon of ground mustard. I also added a teaspoon (or more probably) of extra lemon along with additional salt and pepper. I had some vegan cheese shreds on hand and tossed about a 1/4 cup in the pot while it was all still simmering, giving it adequate time to mix and melt. I’m not sure if it improved it or not, but the finished product was a well-bodied, full of flavor delight which was on par with Panera’s broccoli chees soup (but this just had more FLAVOR in my opinion). Great recipe!!! Thank you!!!
Made this for dinner tonight and was thoroughly impressed! I loved the Panera soup before I went vegan so I was naturally skeptical to try this but boy was I wrong! So creamy and flavorful!