This vegan zucchini soup is ready in less than 30 minutes and requires less than 10 ingredients. It’s delicious served hot or cold and a great way to use up summer’s abundance of fresh garden zucchini!
If you’ve planted zucchini in your garden then you’ll know what I mean. There are only so many zoodles and vegan zucchini bread you can eat in a week.
So I’ve started making this vegan zucchini soup recipe not only for eating freshly made but also freezing some for the fall and winter.
Even if you don’t have a zucchini garden and you just love zucchini then you’ll surely enjoy this cheap and easy vegan soup!
The odd thing about zucchini is that it’s naturally creamy. You wouldn’t think so but when it’s cooked until tender with just a bit of stock and then blended it turns into a deliciously thick and creamy soup!
You don’t even need to add any cashews or vegan cream substitute to it if you don’t want to but I find a touch of coconut milk helps to elevate it just a bit more.
The key is to add just a touch, less than a cup, so that you can’t detect the taste of coconut at all and the flavour of the zucchini still shines through.
So to make this vegan zucchini soup simply sautee a diced onion and a couple cloves of garlic.
Once they’re tender and fragrant, add in an obscene amount of chopped zucchini. I had more than a kilo, which was just two monster zucchini from my garden, but probably more like 3 - 4 large supermarket zucchini.
You don’t need to peel the zucchini, I’m certainly too lazy to do so, but you can if you want the soup to have a consistent light green colour.
Let the zucchini sweat down for about 5 minutes to begin to soften then add just enough vegetable stock to cover, for me that was just two cups.
Since zucchini has a lot of water, it will release some as it cooks so you don’t really need to add a lot of stock, which would just dilute it.
You can also add your favourite dried herb at this point. This vegan zucchini soup works with any herb, really. I like either tarragon or thyme but you can use basil or anything else.
I only add one herb so that the flavour doesn’t become muddy with a mix of different herbs and just a teaspoon is enough to add a bit of background flavour without covering the flavour of the zucchini.
Simmer the zucchini until it’s tender - about 15 minutes - then blend it up either with an immersion blender or transfer it to a regular blender.
Add salt and a touch of coconut milk for extra creaminess and it’s ready!
This vegan zucchini soup is delicious served with crusty bread for dipping. You can store leftovers in the fridge for 4 - 5 days or in the freezer for 3 - 4 months.
Vegan Zucchini Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- About 2 ½ pounds (1.13 kilos) zucchini quartered and chopped into pieces about ½ inch (1.25 cm) thick
- 2 cups (240 ml) vegetable stock
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme or tarragon can sub your favourite herb
- ¾ cup (175 ml) coconut milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt or to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sautee until soft and transparent - about 3 - 4 minutes, then add the garlic and sautee until fragrant - about 30 seconds more.
- Add the zucchini and allow to sweat, stirring occasionally, until beginning to soften - about 5 minutes.
- Add the vegetable stock and herb of your choice. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the zucchini is totally softened - about 15 minutes.
- Remove the pot from the heat and blend the soup either with an immersion blender or by transferring it to an upright blender, taking care to leave the lid ajar to allow steam to escape.
- Add the coconut milk and salt and blend. Serve.
Notes
Hannah says
I LOVE this recipe. Seriously one of the best tasting zucchini recipes I’ve ever tried. Not only is it so delicious, it’s FAST, simple, and knocks out more than two pounds of zucchini from the garden. Thanks for helping me clear some fridge space! I can’t wait to make this again:)
Melissa says
Yay! Thanks for the feedback and so happy you enjoyed the recipe!
Ron says
It's not just a "touch" of coconut milk you add like she describes in the recipe but enough that you taste it prominently, especially if you use a rich coconut milk. I wonder if you can cut back on it and still have a good soup. I like the fennel/anise taste of adding tarragon at the end.
rachel says
Add a little potato instead of the coconut milk to thicken it a bit
Carolyn says
Can I use cashew or almond milk instead of coconut milk?
Tonja says
This is very good and it is quick & easy to make 😊
Laura J Cunningham says
This recipe is so good!! I added tofu for protein, and shitaki mushrooms for some extra oomph, and blended everything. Thanks so much for this delicious soup!
Laura Segro says
Outstanding flavor and super easy to prepare! I only had 2 zucchini's so I subbed some broccoli. I used dried sage as my herb, because it's what smelled good to me today, and black pepper, pepitas and slivered almonds to garnish. The coconut milk was a nice touch. This is definitely going into the rotation! Thank you!