Creamy Potato Soup (Dairy-Free)
This Creamy Potato Soup cooks up flavorful, rich, and thick without any dairy! It takes less than 30 minutes to prepare, making it perfect for busy weeknights or lazy weekends. You can even add it to your weekly meal prep because it freezes and reheats spectacularly! You're going to love diving into a bowl of this hearty soup on cold winter or fall days to warm your heart and body!
Why This Dairy-Free Potato Soup Recipe Rocks!
Ingredients
- Soup Veggies and Aromatics: The base of the soup starts with sweet onion, fresh garlic, celery and carrots. The onion and garlic add aroma and enhance the soup with more depth of flavor while the celery and carrots add a bit of sweetness and bulks up the soup.
- Russet Potatoes: These all-purpose potatoes work well for soup but you can use another potato such as Yukon gold potatoes. Avoid red potatoes or other waxy potatoes which don't work as well for soup.
- Broth: You can use any type of broth you want. I usually use a homemade vegetable broth but chicken works well. If you use bouillon be careful adding salt as you may not need as much.
- Coconut Milk: Adds creaminess and fats to the soup in place of milk or heavy cream. Make sure you use full fat canned coconut milk for the creamiest soup.
- White Miso and Nutritional Yeast: Added to boost the flavors in the soup. Miso, fermented soybean paste, adds umami flavors. It has a long shelf-life in the fridge and can be added to a whole range of dishes to enhance the flavors. Nutritional yeast enriches the broth with a bit of cheesiness.
- Seasoning: Dried thyme, salt and black pepper make a simple seasoning for the soup.
- Garnish: Not necessary but I love to use chopped chives or green onions to add a splash of color on top.
Please see the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and the quantities of each one you will need.
How to Make Creamy Potato Soup
Step 1: Saute the veggies. Cook the onions, celery, garlic and carrots in a bit of olive oil until soft. Make sure you keep a close on them and stir frequently so they don't burn.
Step 2: Add ingredients and cook. Add the potatoes, broth, milk, miso, thyme, and nutritional yeast to the pot. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat and cover the pot with a lid. Simmer until the potatoes are tender.
Step 3: Blend. Transfer about two cups of the soup to a blender and puree.
Step 4: Season and serve. Add the blended soup back to the pot. Give it a taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve it up and garnish with chopped chives, green onions, or parsley. Enjoy!
Handy Tip: Soup Texture!
Since we only blend a portion of the soup, it's a nice combination of creamy soup with some chunks. Skip the blending if you prefer a much chunkier soup and if you want it smoother you can blend all the soup instead of just a portion of it!
Alternate Cooking Methods
- Slow Cooker: Saute the vegetables in a skillet on the stove as indicated in the recipe. Add the cooked vegetables along with all the other ingredients to a slow cooker. Cook for 5-6 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high. When the potatoes and vegetables are tender, blend the soup and season before serving it.
- Instant Pot: Use the saute setting on the Instant Pot to cook the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic until soft. Add the remaining ingredients to the pressure cooker and cook under high pressure for 8 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally. Blend the soup as directed in the recipe card, season, and then serve.
Dietary Modifications & Variations
- Using Dairy: If you prefer to use dairy you can replace the canned coconut milk with a scant 2 cups of whole milk or half and half. The soup will be creamier and richer using the half and half. You can also replace the nutritional yeast with a bit of cheese but I recommend stirring it in right before serving.
- Add Some Greens: Stir in chopped fresh spinach or kale after blending the soup.
- Vegan or Vegetarian: This soup is naturally vegan or vegetarian as long as you use vegetable broth!
- Loaded Potato Soup: Top the finished soup with chopped green onions, bacon, and dairy-free cheese!
Soup-er Toppings & Serving Suggestions
Enjoy this potato soup without dairy either as a side dish, starter, or main meal for lunch or dinner.
- Add Some Crunch: The creaminess of the soup screams to add a crispy topping! Croutons, crushed crackers, and crispy garlic are just a few ideas!
- Cheese: Sprinkle your favorite dairy-free (or regular if preferred) cheese on top for a cheesy finish.
- Main Dish: Enjoy it with your favorite crusty bread and a simple salad!
- Soup and Sandwich: This soup is one of my favorites to enjoy alongside a sandwich!
- Serving a Crowd: This soup works great to serve a crowd! I love to keep it warm in a crockpot and setup a variety of different toppings for everyone to add to their bowl of soup.
Storage Tips
- Store: Transfer your fully cooled leftovers to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to four days. To extend it's freshness, you can also freeze it for up to three months. Since it doesn't contain any dairy you don't have to worry about any strange consistency when it thaws.
- Reheat: Reheat the soup in a saucepan on the stove or you can also use the microwave to reheat individual servings. If the soup is too thick after storing you can add more broth or water to thin it out to the consistency you prefer. Be sure to thaw it out in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Expert Tips
- Be Careful and Don't Burn the Vegetables. Cook at a low enough temperature and stir frequently to prevent burning. Garlic and onion may be bitter if they burn and cause an off flavor in your soup.
- Don't Use Waxy Potatoes. While there is always a lot of flexibility in soups, waxy potatoes don't tend to work well for creamy soups. When blended I find them to take on a glue-like texture.
- Make It to Your Tastes. This creamy potato soup has a lot of versatility. Check out the variations and toppings sections above for some inspiration. Don't forget you can skip the blending or blend ALL the soup to make the consistency of the potato soup how you want it.
Recipe FAQs
All-purpose potatoes such as Yukon gold potatoes and Russet potatoes work best for soup. They are right in the middle of waxy and fluffy which means they hold their shape but soften well and blend great! Fluffy potatoes will fall apart in the soup and tend to have a grainy consistency while waxy potatoes don't blend well.
Sure! Especially this one without any dairy because it will freeze great. I love to put it into Souper Cubes and then transfer to containers after they're frozen. This way I can easily pull out just the number of soup servings I need.
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More Delicious Vegetarian Soup Recipes
Creamy Potato Soup (Dairy-Free)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 sweet onion medium diced, about 1 cup
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 stalks celery sliced thin, about ½ cup
- 1 large carrot diced small, about 1 cup
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 pounds Russet potatoes peeled and cut into half inch pieces
- 2 ½ cups broth chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 15-ounce can full-fat coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon white miso
- ⅓ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Chives or green onions for garnish
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. When hot, add the onions, celery, garlic and carrots and cook until soft, about 8-10 minutes. Stir frequently to avoid burning.
- Add potatoes, broth, milk, miso, thyme, and nutritional yeast to pot. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and cover with a lid. Simmer for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
- Transfer 2 cups of soup to a blender and puree. Add it back to pot. Taste adjust seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve and enjoy.
Recipe Tips
- Be Careful and Don't Burn the Vegetables. Cook at a low enough temperature and stir frequently to prevent burning. Garlic and onion may be bitter if they burn and cause an off flavor in your soup.
- Don't Use Waxy Potatoes. While there is always a lot of flexibility in soups, waxy potatoes don't tend to work well for creamy soups. When blended I find them to take on a glue-like texture.
- Make It to Your Tastes. This creamy potato soup has a lot of versatility. Check out the variations and toppings sections above for some inspiration. Don't forget you can skip the blending or blend ALL the soup to make the consistency of the potato soup how you want it.
Nutrition
