Easy Plant-Based Creamy Potato Soup [Vegan, Instant Pot Option]
Potato soup is comfort food for the soul. This soup is so simple and yet such a hearty meal. I usually make at least triple this recipe–it’s great when we are feeding a crowd and the leftovers are also delicious.
Add a hearty salad and steamed broccoli, maybe some delicious bread on the side and you have yourself the perfect fall meal.
Are potatoes healthy?
Potatoes tend to have a bad rap, but more recent research is showing that it’s more about the fact that the majority of potatoes are eaten as fries, potato chips or are smothered in butter and sour cream. Some populations center their diets around potatoes and have much lower rates of heart-disease and diabetes.
One study found that people who ate 5-7 servings of potatoes in healthy recipes per week lost weight. White potatoes do carry a higher glycemic load than sweet potatoes or many other fruits and vegetables, so if you’ve got diabetes or are struggling to lose weight you might want to keep your potato intake on the low side. But if you’re like me with hungry kiddos to feed, potatoes are a nutritious and satisfying option. Check out this article for more about these studies and everything you ever wanted to know about potatoes.
Make it Creamy
The majority of vegan potato soup recipes call for coconut milk. I prefer to make my own cashew cream–it’s a healthy protein source, contains unsaturated fat instead of the saturated fat in coconut milk and is also a great source of calcium and iron. While still technically plant-based, one study showed coconut milk to be just as hard on your arteries as an Egg McMuffin.
I’ve also experimented quite a bit with cooked millet as a way to add more nutrition to the soup. Sometimes it’s worked perfectly, other times not so much. Millet and I are still getting acquainted as to the best way to get along, so if you have any millet expertise, let me know in the comments!
The cashews lend a gentle sweetness that makes everyone excited when this soup is being served.
Instant Pot Option
Generally I make this soup on the stove top because I like to make as much as my pot will hold. But if you are just making one recipe, the Instant Pot is a dream. I cannot tell you how much I love to dump things in my Instant Pot and let it do all the thinking for me. Anything I can do to free up brain space is a plus!
To make this in the Instant Pot, simply saute your onion, celery and carrot first on the saute setting. Add broth and chopped potatoes, secure lid and cook for 8 minutes on high pressure. Puree your cashews while it cooks and proceed according to recipe.
Choose Your Consistency
Plant-Based potato soup is great in that you can choose to leave all of your veggies bite-size and just stir in the cashew cream to create a creamy broth. You can puree all of it for a smooth consistency, or my personal favorite is to puree just a cup or two of potatoes and broth to make a thick base. You still get to dig your teeth into those perfectly soft potatoes–I love the texture! But do whatever works for you!
I hope you love this creamy plant-based potato soup as much as we do!
| Prep Time | 10 mintues |
| Cook Time | 25 minutes |
| Passive Time | 20 minutes |
| Servings |
servings
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- 1 TBSP avocado oil or vegetable broth
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 3 stalks celery diced
- 2 large carrots peeled and diced
- 3 large russet potatoes peeled and diced
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup cashews
- 1 cup water
- salt and pepper to taste
Ingredients
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- Saute onion, celery and carrots in broth or oil about 5 minutes or until onion is translucent.
- Add broth and potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until potatoes are soft, roughly 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, blend cashews and water in a high-powered blender until smooth.
- When potatoes are soft, add some potatoes and broth to the blender, depending on desired thickness. Entire soup can be pureed or cashew cream can be added without pureeing any potatoes for a creamy broth. Add salt and pepper (salt content really depends on your broth and taste, but I started with about 1/2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper).
- Puree potatoes, broth and cashew mixture about 15 seconds or until just smooth (potatoes will get gummy if over blended) and return to pot. Combine and add additional salt and pepper to taste.
To keep this soup allergy friendly, use coconut milk or other non-dairy milk in place of the cashew cream.
To make this in the Instant Pot, simply saute your onion, celery and carrot first on the saute setting. Add broth and chopped potatoes, secure lid and cook for 8 minutes on high pressure. Puree your cashews while it cooks. Allow pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, release remaining pressure and puree soup with cashew mixture as desired. Cook time may vary slightly depending on the size of your potatoes.