Nourishing Vegan Broccoli Soup with White Beans and Spinach
Made with white beans and spinach, this broccoli soup packs in loads of nutrients, protein, and flavor! Although it comes together quickly enough to whip up on a weeknight, it’s still super hearty and very nourishing. Serve it with lots of toppings and sourdough bread for an easy meal!
One of our farmer’s market vendors sells giant bags of spinach, and I can’t resist buying two of them at once - the spinach is so gorgeous that I want to pack into everything I’m eating! But one of my absolute favorite ways to boost my intake of leafy greens is to stir some into soups and stews. Inspired by the recent cooler temperatures, I paired the spinach with cannellini beans and broccoli to create this simple but nutrition-packed soup that will get you closer to that 5+/day veg intake goal!
Why You’ll Love this Soup
Plant-packed. A bowl of this soup packs in 9 different plants, and that’s before counting the spices, veg broth, and any toppings of your choice! Because of that, it’s extremely…
Nourishing! Unlike broccoli soups that rely solely on broccoli and potatoes, this soup also incorporates beans and greens! If you pair it with a big hunk of sourdough bread (as I highly recommend serving with any soup, really), it stands alone as a meal! It’s got veg (broccoli and potato), beans (protein), greens (a big healthy dose of spinach), healthy fats (cashews), and lots of extra protein and nutrients from the nutritional yeast.
Creamy. The combination of potato, broccoli stems, and white beans, gives this soup a rich, creamy texture. It’s creamy in texture even before adding in the cashew “cream,” but the silky cashews (or store bought vegan cream) helps balance the texture out perfectly.
Light, yet hearty. Have you ever had a cheese-packed heavy broccoli soup that immediately lulled you into a post-meal food coma or nap? This soup is the opposite of that. Although it’s substantial enough to fill you up (thanks to the beans and cashews!), the vegetables, beans, greens, and a bit of cashew-based cream are light and nutritious enough to prevent that sleepy post-meal feeling.
Weeknight-friendly. This soup comes together very quickly as it only takes about 30 minutes to cook (not counting any prep time). You can get away with making this on a weeknight for dinner even if you don’t have Food Network-level food prep skills! (And if you are slow, don’t let recipes with arbitrary suggested prep times trick you into feeling bad - everyone’s pace is different.)
Low waste. Ever wonder what to do with those very expensive and seemingly useless broccoli stems? Well, this soup actually uses them up! Not only do they eliminate food waste, they help create a creamy-textured soup.
Ingredient Overview
Onions & garlic. The essential soup fragrances! Sautéed into the aromatic base of this (or any, really!) soup.
Broccoli. Obviously a key ingredient in broccoli soup!
Potato. Potatoes are a staple in many broccoli soups! This soup incorporates one potato to add vegetable variety and a bit of creaminess.
Salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and cayenne pepper. For flavor!
Vegetable broth. The liquid base! I recommend using a no- or low-sodium broth since you’ll be salting the vegetables throughout the cooking process, but you can use less salt if you don’t have any.
Cannellini beans. Not only do the beans help make the soup creamier, they also boost the protein content of the soup! And because cannellini beans are so neutral in flavor, they just blend right in with the broccoli flavor.
Spinach. Who can’t stand to eat more leafy greens, am I right? And did you know spinach is loaded with iron, fiber, and calcium? There’s a reason Popeye ate all that spinach! 💪
Nutritional yeast. Adds depth of flavor and gives the soup some “cheesiness” that’s a staple in many broccoli soups. Plus it’s a nutritional powerhouse that adds protein, fiber, and tons of vitamins and minerals.
Cashews. For that final bit of silky smooth creaminess!
Lemon. A bit of lemon juice for brightness to balance out the soup!
Tips for Making and Serving this Soup
Separate the broccoli florets and stems. Broccoli florets cook a lot faster than the hard stems. For that reason, we cook the broccoli stems with the potato and add in the florets at the end to simmer for just 4-5 minutes. Adding in the florets later in the cooking process also helps retain more nutrients - win!
Make cashew cream with broth. Cashew cream is typically made with water, lemon juice, salt, and nutritional yeast. Because the soup already incorporates all those other ingredients, and because I didn’t want to introduce additional liquids that would thin out the final texture, this soup uses a shortcut of blending the cashews with cooked broth.
No high-powered blender? You need a high-powered blender like a Vitamix to fully process the cashews into a cream. If you don’t have one, I recommend subbing a store bought vegan cream to finish the soup off (and using 4.5 cups of broth in the soup instead of 5 to keep it on the thicker side). There are a lot of options available nowadays - just make sure to choose one that’s unsweetened (check the ingredients!).
Don’t overblend the soup. Have you ever tasted an overblended soup? It’s slimy and absolutely disgusting. Luckily, that’s easily avoided by blending the soup just until the ingredients are mostly creamy/broken up while still having some texture. If I’ve now scarred you with the mental image of slimy textured soup, just err on the side of under blending - you can always blend it more if needed!
Serve with lots of toppings! Not only do toppings make the soup look pretty, they also add texture and additional nutrients! I’m partial to serving this soup with some toasted pepitas and microgreens, but a sprinkling of vegan cheese would echo that traditional broccoli cheese soup vibe. If you’re feeling ambitious, you could even roast some extra broccoli for a crunchy/lightly charred flavor. 🤤 Options are endless - just don’t forget the big hunk of rustic sourdough for dipping!
Nourishing Vegan Broccoli Soup with White Beans and Spinach
Serves 4-5
Vegan, gluten-free
Ingredients
1/4 cup raw cashews*
1 tablespoon neutral oil like avocado
1 large yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 lbs broccoli, stems and florets divided and chopped (about 2 medium to large broccoli crowns)
1 medium russet potato, chopped
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1.5 cups cooked cannellini beans (or 1 15-ounce can, drained and rinsed)
5 cups no- or low-sodium vegetable broth
5.5 ounces spinach, thickest/woodsy ends trimmed (about 1 large bunch)
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For serving (optional): sourdough bread, toasted pepitas, microgreens or broccoli sprouts, hemp seeds, red pepper flakes, freshly ground pepper, vegan cheese, chives, roasted broccoli, crispy chickpeas, etc.
Directions
In a small bowl, cover the cashews with boiling hot water and set aside to soak while you prep the ingredients and cook most of the soup.
Heat a large Dutch oven or other soup pot over medium heat and add oil. Once hot, add the onion and some Kosher salt and stir to combine. Cook the onion until softened, about 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and and cook until fragrant, about 1 more minute.
Add the chopped broccoli stems (not florets), potato, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, a generous sprinkling of Kosher salt and some ground black pepper and give everything a good stir to coat. Add the vegetable stock and cooked beans to the pot and bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Let the soup simmer until the potato and stems are fork-tender, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Transfer about ¾ cup of broth (just enough to blend) from the soup to a high-powered blender, trying to avoid adding any chunky parts (it’s okay if a couple of small pieces of onion slip in), and set aside briefly. Add the broccoli florets to the pot, cover, and continue simmering until softened, about 3-5 more minutes. Add the spinach and gently stir it in until wilted, then turn off the stove.
While the broccoli florets are cooking, drain the cashews and add them to the blender with the reserved broth. Blend on high until completely creamy, about 1-2 minutes. After the spinach has wilted and you’ve turned off the heat (step 4 above), add the blended cashew cream back in with the rest of the soup (reserving a couple teaspoons for decorative topping, if desired).
Working in about 3 batches, transfer the soup to the blender and puree until mostly smooth but the soup still has some texture, being careful not to overblend (see photos for texture reference).
Return the pureed soup to the pot, add the nutritional yeast and lemon juice, and stir to combine. Taste and adjust any seasonings.
Serve with sourdough bread (or GF bread, if gluten-free) and any desired toppings!
*If you don’t have a high-powered blender like a Vitamix, skip the cashews (steps 1 and 5) and sub with about ½ cup of store bought vegan cream, stirring it in at the very end with the nutritional yeast and lemon juice. Because you’ll be introducing additional liquid, I recommend using 4.5 cups of broth (instead of 5) to keep the soup on the thicker side.
I hope this soup helps gives you a veg and legume boost! Don’t forget to leave a comment below or tag me on Instagram (@teostinykitchen) with your favorite ways to serve it!