Dairy Free Potato Soup with Broccoli & “Cheese”
This Dairy Free Potato Soup with Broccoli & “Cheese” is a lightened up version of two soups you grew up loving! It has all of the flavors of Broccoli Cheese Soup + Loaded Baked Potato Soup without any dairy or gluten.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
What Makes This Recipe Great
This Dairy Free Potato Soup with Broccoli and “Cheese” tastes like your favorite cheesy potato soup you loved growing up, except without the dairy and gluten! It’s a combination of broccoli cheese soup and creamy potato soup topped with bacon and green onions. Basically the stuff dreams are made of and one of my favorite comfort foods! Nothing better than a warm bowl of soup on a cold day. Hearty soups like this are also a great complete meal on their own served with some crusty bread – gluten free of course. This soup comes together in just 30 minutes and makes amazing leftovers, as well. It is also Whole30 friendly and packed with nutrient-dense, good-for-you ingredients.
Recipe Highlights
- Gluten free & dairy free
- Easy soup recipe
- Made with simple ingredients
- Great for lactose intolerance
- No heavy cream needed
- Whole30 & Paleo friendly
- Tastes like homemade cheesy potato soup without the cheese
- Nut free option included
- Perfect weeknight meal for the whole family
Ingredient Notes
Bacon: I like to use sugar free bacon from Butcher Box.
Ghee: This is clarified butter and you can find it at your local grocery store. Use olive oil or dairy-free butter for dairy allergies.
Onion: White or yellow onion both work!
Carrots: Baby carrots or full peeled and chopped carrots will work.
Potatoes: I’ve found that russet potatoes work best for this recipe and give it a nice smoothy & creamy texture. I have not tried it with red potatoes, but yukon gold potatoes could also work.
Chicken broth: Chicken stock also works. Veggie broth can be subbed for a vegetarian version of this dairy free potato soup. My favorite brand is Kettle and Fire – they make a great Whole30 compliant chicken broth.
Broccoli florets: Pre-chopped bagged, or fresh chopped from a head of broccoli will both work.
Cashews: These make an incredible dairy free cream sauce when pureed. Make sure to use raw and unsalted. See recipe card for a nut free option.
Nutritional yeast: This is deactivated yeast, and it gives dishes a “cheesy” flavor without the dairy! It’s also loaded with vitamins.
Lemon juice: You can also sub a splash of apple cider vinegar if you do not have lemons.
How To Make This Dairy-Free Potato Soup
Step 1
Place the cashews in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let them soak while you make the soup.
Step 2
Set your oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Lay the bacon pieces out flat on the baking sheet and cook until crispy, approximately 12-15 minutes. (No need to let the oven pre-heat first – just pop the pan in!) When the bacon is done, remove the pan from the oven and drain them on a paper towel-lined plate.
Step 3
While the bacon is cooking, chop your onions, carrots, and potatoes. Heat your cooking oil of choice in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add in onions, carrots, and garlic. Saute for 3-4 minutes until they begin to soften. Add in the potatoes, chicken broth, paprika, onion powder, 1 tsp of the sea salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.
Step 4
Stir in the broccoli and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
Step 5
Remove 1 cup of diced potatoes from the pot using a slotted spoon and place them into a high-powdered blender. Drain the cashews and add them to the blender along with the nutritional yeast, lemon juice, remaining 1 tsp of sea salt, and water. Blend on high for 1 minute or until it becomes very thick and creamy. Pour the mixture into the soup pot and stir well until combined. Taste test and add more salt and pepper if needed. I recommend using a high-speed blender and not an immersion blender for this.
Step 6
Break the bacon into pieces. Serve the soup topped with bacon bits and chopped green onion.
Tips, Tricks & Variations
Thickness: If it’s too thick for your liking, you can add additional chicken broth at the end to thin it out.
No oven version: To avoid using the oven, you can cook the bacon pieces first directly in the stock pot while you are chopping the vegetables. Remove the bacon pieces using a slotted spoon and set them aside to drain. Use the rendered bacon fat to sauce the onions, carrots, and garlic and omit the cooking oil. This will increase prep time by 5 minutes.
Nut free: To make this nut free, you can use 1 cup full-fat coconut milk or coconut cream in place of the cashews. Reduce water to 1 cup. I personally do not think it gives this soup a strong coconut flavor. You can also use light coconut milk, if preferred.
Vegetarian: To make this into a vegan potato soup recipe, use vegetable stock instead of chicken broth and omit the bacon. You could also use vegan bacon.
Storage: Store leftover dairy free potato soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Recipe FAQ’s
Yes, you can! Simply add the dairy free potato soup to an airtight freezer container and freeze for up to 6 months.
The cashew cream in this recipe is the perfect non-dairy mixture to make creamy soup without the dairy!
More Gluten Free Soup Recipes
Instant Pot Chicken Pot Pie Soup
Gluten Free Chicken Noodle Soup with Pastina
Copycat Chick Fil A Tortilla Soup
This Dairy Free Potato Soup with Broccoli & “Cheese”
Ingredients
- 8 strips sugar free bacon, omit for vegan
- 1 tbsp ghee or olive oil
- ½ medium onion, diced
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 lbs russett potatoes , (3 medium or 4 small), peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 4 cups chicken broth, + more to thin it out
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp sea salt, divided
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 cups chopped broccoli florets
- 1 cup raw, unsalted cashews*, see notes for sub!
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 ½ cups water
- 2 green onions, diced, for garnish
Instructions
- Place the cashews in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let them soak while you make the soup.
- Set your oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Lay the bacon pieces out flat on the baking sheet and cook until crispy, approximately 12-15 minutes. (No need to let the oven pre-heat first – just pop the pan in!) When the bacon is done, remove the pan from the oven and drain them on a paper towel-lined plate.
- While the bacon is cooking, chop your onions, carrots, and potatoes. Heat your cooking oil of choice in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add in onions, carrots, and garlic. Saute for 3-4 minutes until they begin to soften. Add in the potatoes, chicken broth, paprika, onion powder, 1 tsp of the sea salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the broccoli and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
- Remove 1 cup of diced potatoes from the pot using a slotted spoon and place them into a high-powdered blender. Drain the cashews and add them to the blender along with the nutritional yeast, lemon juice, remaining 1 tsp of sea salt, and water. Blend on high for 1 minute or until it becomes very thick and creamy. Pour the mixture into the soup pot and stir well until combined. Taste test and add more salt and pepper if needed.
- Break the bacon into pieces. Serve the soup topped with bacon bits and chopped green onion.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on November 24, 2019 and updated with new content on January 18, 2024.
138 Comments on “Dairy Free Potato Soup with Broccoli & “Cheese””
This soup was amazing! Hard to believe it was dairy free! It was “cheesy” and comforting. Very good!
Awesome, thanks so much Katie!
This is my favorite soup. I miss it so much now that I am dairy free. Thanks for finding substitutes that make it an option again
Thank you Renea!
UNBELIEVABLE!!” ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!! Would never guess it did not have cheese and milk in it!! Thank you! I will share this recipe and make this again and again!!
Thank you so much, Vicky! I appreciate it and glad you liked it!
Whole family loved it! Kids did not detect the “fake” cheese. Has anyone tried freezing it? Starting my 4th Whole 30 next week- I would like to have some quick meals on hand for days I want to give up!
Wonderful soup! I used the coconut milk because I didn’t have any cashews, and it worked well. I also used a hand mixer instead of a blender and didn’t have any problems.
Hi Leisa! Glad to hear you liked it!
This was THE best whole30 soup I have ever made. Simply amazing!!
Wow thanks Kate! Best compliment ever!
This soup was delish! I’ve made it 3 times, and my non-W30 hubs loves it too! Do you have the nutritional info?
I’m glad you love it, Colleen! Unfortunately I don’t track nutritional info on my site, but I am hoping to change that soon!
This soup is AMAZING!! One of my favorites that the whole family loves. Thanks Mary!
I’m so glad you liked it! Thanks Charlotte!
Finally made this soup and it was so good! Thank you for turning me into a chef one recipe at a time!
Yay! So glad!!
Just made this for my Lunch, for my first week on whole 30!, can’t wait to eat it in this cold weather!! So perfect!!<
When and where do I add the water? I see that it says to reduce the 1.5 cups of water to just 1 cup if using coconut milk (which I plan to do), but I don’t see where it says to mix in water.
Might be the brain fog that’s causing me to miss it. Lol
Into the blender with the potatoes! 🙂
Comfort soup at its best. My family can’t get enough of this soup. Easy to make the cashew cream adds such flavor.
Thanks, Kim! So glad you enjoyed it!
This soup is sensational! Finally, a hearty comfort whole 30 food that doesn’t have a hint of coconut. I have made so many of Mary’s amazing recipes and so appreciate her time, knowledge, and dedication to helping the world be more wholesome 🙂
Thank you SO much, Amber! So glad you enjoyed this soup. I appreciate the kind words!
On day 3 of whole 30 and this soup hit the spot. Definitely tastes like traditional cheese broccoli soup! I am so excited to have this soup as my prepped lunch for the next couple of days 🤗 I love every recipe that I make from your blog.. thanks for sharing so many delicious, healthy recipes!
Yay! Thanks Erika! Glad you liked it 🙂
Hey, Mary! This soup was delicious! My bod definitely needed some real food.
Thank you Cara!
I don’t have a blender. Do you think I could use my immersion blender?
I’m not sure that it will create the same creamy texture, unfortunately. I would suggest omitting the cashews and just doing coconut milk with the potatoes!
If you use the coconut milk instead of cashews do you need the yeast and lemon also? Probably a silly question!
Yes! Those give it the cheesy flavor!!
How many people does this serve? I didn’t see serving size details in your recipe.
4-6 people!
This soup is simply amazing! My family couldn’t get enough!!! Thank You!!
This soup was so delicious! I brought a bowl to my neighbor and she said I was such a good soup maker, lol. Thanks
Ha, I love it!! Thanks for letting me know – glad you both enjoyed it!
This looks tasty! Is this freezable? Any instructions for the instant pot?
I haven’t tried it in the instant pot but will update when I have a chance to! And yes you could freeze it!
My family loved this soup! I substituted the cashews for the coconut milk because I had the milk on hand. It was very good and had a sweet coconut smell and taste. The toppings of green onion and bacon was the perfect finish. This recipe is going in my collection.