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cream cheese potato soup

Three years ago today, I posted not only my very first potato soup recipe, but it was also my very first Vegan MoFo post ever ever ever. I had only been blogging for merely a few weeks at that time, so I was not only a newbie MoFoer, I was also a newbie blogger. Ah, how time does fly. Now, I am all old and weathered and some would even argue —more mature–but I’m still kickin’!

Vegan MoFo has begun once again and here I am back in the saddle and ready to ride the MoFo horse again. I may be a little more experienced, yes, but I am every bit as excited (if not more) than I was back in the day. Now that my second book is mostly wrapped up (and available for pre-sale now on Amazon!), I have the whole month to dedicate to creating and sharing new recipes… and I am pumped.

Since this is my third Vegan MoFo, I figured it would be a fun nod to the past by posting another recipe for potato soup. This is a slightly more refined version of the one that launched my MoFo’ing off 3 years ago: Cream Cheese Potato Soup. It’s modeled off of a potato soup from the fast food joint Panera Bread– which I used to enjoy in my pre-vegan days of youth.

This soup is creamy and cheesey and extremely easy to pull together–providing you have a couple cups of raw cashews already soaked and ready to go. If not, just toss ’em in a bowl, top with enough water to cover, and then wait a couple hours. After that, it’s just some boiling, smashing, a little pureeing and voila! Instant comfort food.

Cream Cheese Potato Soup – Vegan & Gluten-Free

  • 8 cups salted vegetable broth
  • 5 Yukon gold potatoes, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 onion, minced
  • 1 sprig rosemary (in cheesecloth sachet)
  • 2 cups raw cashews, soaked at least 2 hours in water and then drained
  • 3/4 cups water
  • 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
  • 3 to 4 scallions, chopped for garnish
  • Black pepper to taste

In a large stock pot, combine the broth with the potatoes, garlic, onion, and rosemary sprig and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce to medium heat and let simmer for 30 minutes, or until potatoes and onions are extremely well cooked.

In the meantime, combine the soaked cashews and the 3/4 cup water in a food processor and blend for about 8 minutes, or until very creamy, scraping down the sides as needed.

Remove the rosemary sprig from the cooked potato mixture and then using a potato masher, carefully mash up about 1/2 of the cooked potatoes inside the pot. Whisk in the nutritional yeast and the cashew cream until blended and add in the sea salt. Garnish with chopped scallions and black pepper before serving.

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25 Responses to cream cheese potato soup

  1. Kayla says:

    I just made this and I absolutely love it! So does the hubby!!

  2. Emily says:

    Your food styling and photography is simply superb. And since I have all the ingredients for this, I might just have to give it a whirl tonight.

  3. Livvie says:

    OOh! :) I pre-ordered :)
    (is there going to be extras like the last time?) :)

    And this soup looks nommy yummy indeed :)

  4. Can’t wait to make this. It looks amazing!

  5. Mands says:

    Gosh that looks beautiful and I love the cover of your new book :)

  6. Eileen says:

    Using soaked cashews to encreamify a soup is such a great plan. Plus, who doesn’t want some extra protein in their soup?

  7. JENNA says:

    Oh this looks really good! I’m so happy it doesn’t call for store bought vegan cream cheese!

  8. Angela says:

    YUM! I added it to my “to try” Vegan MoFo Pinterest Board: http://pinterest.com/vegangela/vegan-mofo-2012/ :)

  9. shannon says:

    I use to love that soup too! This probably has twice the nutritional value of that junk though. Now I just need to make a bread bowl!

  10. Jes says:

    MMMmm, that looks delicious! Delicate, yet hearty all at once :D

  11. This soup sounds so tasty!! Awesome idea!

  12. Laura says:

    Ooh, this sounds rich & delicious. It’s going on my menu for next week.

  13. kittee says:

    Pretty pretty!

  14. This looks amazing! I’m going to have to add it to my “to make” list. :)

  15. KellyC says:

    Beautiful! I love the photo, it’s absolutely stunning!

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