Vegan Zucchini Soup

Name: Vegan Zucchini Soup
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 medium yellow or sweet onion, diced; 3-4 cloves garlic, minced; 2 ½ pounds zucchini, diced (8 cups diced) (see note 1); ½ teaspoon dried thyme; ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary (I used ground, for a smoother soup texture); ¼ teaspoon celery seed or celery salt (see note 2); ¼ teaspoon salt, more or less depending on broth (add at the end if not sure); ¼ cup (4 tablespoons) nutritional yeast (see note 3); 3 cups vegetable broth (I used low sodium vegetable broth; ¼ cup tahini (see note 4); Juice of 1 medium lemon, about 3-4 tablespoons; 2-3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

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This bright and creamy Vegan Zucchini Soup is thick, healthy, and completely delicious. This soup comes together in less than 30 minutes and is the perfect easy meal or side.

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Why This Recipe Works
Ingredients and Substitutions
How to Make Vegan Zucchini Soup
Frequently Asked Questions
Pro Tips for Success
More Recipes Like This
Vegan Zucchini Soup

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Hey Internet, I love summer fruits and vegetables. Zucchini is such a versatile fruit (yes it’s technically a fruit!), and it really tastes great as soup.

Zucchini is a super mild-flavored supple summer squash. It is VERY creamy when blended. In fact, I’ve been using it in my green goddess salad dressing (coming soon!) and green smoothies all summer.

Although vegan zucchini soup is probably more of a summer soup and less of a winter soup (mostly because zucchini is so cheap in the summer, and more flavorful since it is in season), this is a soup I want to make all year long.

If you’re new here, you don’t know how obsessed I am with soup. My favorite soups and stews include vegan cream of mushroom soup (my most popular recipe on Instagram, vegan stew with dumplings, vegan beef stew, vegan gnocchi soup, vegan orzo soup, and just so many more.

Anyway, this zucchini soup is super flavorful and satisfying, especially with some of my easy vegan croutons on top. Or for some added protein, I highly recommend topping it with my everything tofu (seasoned like an everything bagel!), crispy tofu, or panko tofu.

I hope you’ll give this recipe a try. The only equipment you’ll need is a pot and a blender (either an immersion blender or a countertop blender).

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Why This Recipe Works

This beautiful yellow-green and silky soup comes together in under 30 minutes. A true beginner in the kitchen could easily make this soup.

Vegan zucchini soup begins by sautéing diced onions in a large nonstick pot. After those have started to soften, we’ll add the garlic, followed by the seasonings and then the zucchini.

After the zucchini cooks down a bit, we’ll add our vegetable broth and bring everything to a boil. It will simmer for a while until the zucchini is super soft. The smaller you chop your zucchini, the faster it will cook.

Finally, we’ll add the whole thing to a blender (I have a 64-ounce blender, if yours is smaller you may need to blend in batches, or you can use an immersion blender), along with some fresh parsley, creamy tahini to add a bit of richness, and some lemon juice to brighten up the flavors.

One piece of advice: before you add the whole thing to the blender, reserve some of the broth. Since I’m pouring my pot directly into the blender, I just hold back some of the broth at the end after I’ve transferred the vegetables.

Depending on how thick you want your vegan zucchini soup, you may not need all the broth. I’d say the amount I don’t use is about a half cup.

That’s it, you’re done! You can serve the soup immediately.

If your soup ends up too thin, simply return it to the pot and simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes.

This soup is great topped with vegan croutons, crispy tofu, air fried or roasted chickpeas, fresh herbs, or even some grated vegan parmesan cheese. We like to grate a block of Violife Vegan Parmesan with a microplane.

Ingredients and Substitutions

1 medium yellow or sweet onion
3 or 4 cloves garlic: Use less if you like, or omit if you cannot eat garlic.
2 ½ pounds zucchini (8 cups diced): Yellow summer squash or a mix of the two can also be used. Please note that if you are using jumbo zucchini, these can be thicker skinned and a bit bitter. Please cut a cube, microwave or steam it, and taste it to make sure it tastes good. Bitter zucchini will not make a good soup. You may want to peel jumbo zucchini for the soup as well.
½ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon dried rosemary: I like to use ground rosemary because sometimes the dried leaves can be missed by the blender and will keep your soup from being as smooth as it should be.
¼ teaspoon celery seed or celery salt: Either of these are a nice addition. Since I have a powerful blender, I used celery seed and it blended nicely, but if you’re using an immersion blender or you have a standard blender, you may want to use celery salt instead and reduce the regular salt in this recipe.
¼ teaspoon salt (more or less to taste): This also depends on the amount of salt in your vegetable broth. Mine is very low sodium so I added about a ¼ teaspoon of salt, and maybe a little more after blending.
¼ cup nutritional yeast: This adds a lot of flavor and ensures the soup will be thicker later. If you omit, I’d add a little less broth.
3 cups vegetable broth: I used low sodium vegetable broth so I did add a little salt to my soup. If your broth is salty, you may not want to add salt, so taste as you go and maybe add the salt at the end instead of when the rest of the spices are added. You can also use a vegan chicken broth (like Better Than Bouillon No Chicken Base) for a different flavor.
¼ cup tahini: This adds a great nutty flavor to our vegan zucchini soup and helps make it creamy and lush at the end. The soup is still very low in calories with the tahini but you can leave it out or blend in some cooked white beans instead. If you’re just looking to replace the tahini, you can do so with cashew butter or sunflower seed cream instead.
½ - 1 whole medium lemon’s worth of juice, about 4 tablespoons (more or less to taste)
2-3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley, optional

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How to Make Vegan Zucchini Soup

Start by heating a large nonstick pot over medium high heat. If you cook with oil, add the oil when the pot is hot. If you are cooking oil-free, add the onions directly to the heated pot. Cook the onions for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the onions start to stick, add a tablespoon or two of broth to release and stir well.
Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds.
Add the seasonings, nutritional yeast, and zucchini now and stir well. Cook the zucchini for about 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Now add the vegetable broth, stir, and bring to a boil uncovered.
Cook uncovered for about 15-20 minutes until the zucchini is very tender.
I would remove a bit of the broth for now, maybe about half a cup. This isn’t a necessary step, however, it keeps the soup from getting too thin.
Blend the soup until smooth and creamy. I pour the whole thing (saving a bit of broth in the pot) into my 64 ounce countertop blender but you can also use an immersion blender. If you’d like your soup thinner, blend in a little bit of the reserved broth. If your soup is too thin, return it to the pot and simmer over medium heat for 10 more minutes, or a bit longer until the soup has thickened to your liking.
Serve immediately, preferably with delicious vegan croutons or maybe some cubed crispy tofu on top.
Refrigerate leftover soup for up to 5 days in an airtight container. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you peel zucchini for soup?

No, not unless you’re working with jumbo zucchini, which tend to have a thicker skin. This thicker skin can be bitter. If you want to make sure, cut a single cube of your zucchini and microwave it for a minute or two. Take a bite. Is it sweet/neutral? No need to peel. Taste kinda bitter? Peel that sucker with a good vegetable peeler.

What can I use instead of tahini?

If you don’t like the idea of tahini in your soup or if you have a sesame allergy, you can use cashew butter, cashew cream, sunflower seed cream, or even a store-bought plant based heavy cream. Even canned coconut cream or milk would work well! If you’re looking for a low fat option, add a half or whole cup of cooked white beans (if canned, drain and rinse them first) before you blend. You could also add a cubed potato or two to the mix when you begin to cook the zucchini. Since zucchini cooks faster than potato, you’ll want to make sure the potato is soft before you blend.

What to serve with vegan zucchini soup?

I highly recommend topping this soup with either my vegan croutons OR this awesome everything tofu I designed specifically for this soup. Or my crispy tofu or panko tofu would be good. You could definitely also serve this soup with a side salad or something a bit more substantial like a vegan grilled cheese sandwich or even these vegan tuna melts.

How do you thicken zucchini soup?

Many folks will thicken zucchini soup with a roux or with other things added (like a chopped potato or a can of beans). That will work fine. I designed this vegan zucchini soup recipe specifically so it didn’t need a thickener. I really recommend reserving some of the broth before you blend. That will enable you to add more if needed since it is easier to make a soup thinner than thicker.

How do I blend the soup?

You can either pour or ladle the soup into a countertop blender or use an immersion blender. The better quality your blender in either case, the smoother your soup will be. If you prefer it chunky, I recommend using the immersion blender and just blend until the desired consistency is achieved.

How to store the soup?

Store this soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You may want to revive the flavor with a little more lemon juice or salt after a few days. You can also freeze the soup in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months. I love souper cubes for this!

Pro Tips for Success

As with all my recipes, I recommend measuring out all your ingredients and chopping all your veggies before beginning to cook. This may take a bit more time but it makes cooking much less stressful. I’m not a professional chef, but many chefs cook this way. And even after many years of making both complex and easy recipes, I still cook this way.
Use a ladle to remove about a half cup of broth before blending your soup. This will allow you to control the consistency better. Too thick? Add a little broth and blend again. Too thin? Simmer on the stove for a bit but at least you didn’t add all the broth. This is what I experimented with while testing this recipe for you all and I’ve determined that this is the better method.
Of course, you can just use less broth in the first place, but if you don’t have enough broth to cover the zucchini while it simmers in the pot, it may cook unevenly.
If your broth is salty, don’t add the salt with the other spices and wait until the end. Taste the soup and add a pinch of salt if needed.

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