Creamy, classic potato soup goes dairy-free! This vegan potato soup is easy to make, totally meal-worthy, and super comforting. Perfect for dinner on a chilly night!
My mom's potato soup was one of my favorite things when I was growing up! I went vegetarian pretty young and it was one of those meals that could be pretty easily tweaked to suit my diet: just replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth.
I recently got a craving for that soup and decided it was time to veganize it. Fortunately, that's pretty easily done with just a few simple swaps!
My vegan potato soup turned out just as delicious as Mom's original version. This soup was cozy, comforting, and you'd never know it was dairy-free!
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Ingredients You'll Need
- Vegan butter. This ingredient is normally sold near the regular butter at the supermarket. Look for brands like Earth Balance and Miyoko's.
- Veggies. Potato soup isn't just about potatoes. This version is made with onions, celery and carrots.
- Garlic.
- Flour. This helps thicken up the soup. I've only tested the recipe myself with all-purpose wheat flour, but I've heard from readers that it works with gluten-free blends as well.
- Vegetable broth.
- Non-dairy milk. We're using this instead of dairy milk, for a rich and creamy base. I used Silk cashew milk for this batch. Oat or almond milk would also work well. Be careful with using soy milk, as the vinegar could cause some separation. For an extra rich and creamy batch of vegan potato soup, use a cup or so of full-fat coconut milk (the kind in a can) combined with another non-dairy milk. Check out my guide to dairy-free milk if you need help choosing a variety!
- Russet potatoes. Feel free to substitute with red or gold potatoes if you prefer.
- Herbs. Thyme and bay leaves add depth of flavor to our potato soup.
- White wine vinegar. For just a touch of tartness to balance out the flavors. Trust me, this makes the soup! Regular white vinegar can be substituted if that's what you have on hand.
- Salt & pepper.
How It's Made
- Melt your vegan butter in a large pot, then add your veggies and cook them up for about 10 minutes, until they begin to soften. Add the garlic and let it cook for just another minute, until very fragrant.
- Sprinkle in the flour, just a bit at a time. Stir the veggies to coat them with the flour, and continue cooking and stirring everything for about a minute.
- Pour in your broth, just a bit at a time, whisking frequently to break up any lumps that form from the flour.
- Add the milk, herbs, and potatoes. Bring everything up to a simmer and let it cook until the potatoes and veggies are tender, about 30 minutes.
Tip: Test your potatoes for doneness by checking to see if you can easily pierce them with a fork. If you can, the soup is ready.
Grab a bowl and dig in!
Tip: Vegan potato soup is excellent on it's own, but it's also great with toppings! Try shredded vegan cheese, vegan sour cream or cashew cream, hot sauce, tempeh bacon, chopped fresh parsley, scallions or chives.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftovers of this soup keep great! Store them in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days. The soup may thicken up over time — add a bit more non-dairy milk when you reheat it if needed.
I don't recommend freezing your vegan potato soup, as freezing can alter the texture of potatoes.
More Vegan Soup Recipes
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
📖 Recipe
Classic Vegan Potato Soup
Ingredients
- ¼ cup vegan butter
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 cup diced celery (about 3 stalks)
- 1 cup chopped carrots (about 3 carrots)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ cup vegetable broth
- 2 ½ cups unflavored non-dairy milk
- 1 ¾ pounds Russet potatoes (about 4 medium potatoes), scrubbed, peeled, and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 ½ teaspoons white wine vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat.
- Add the onion, celery, and carrot. Sweat the veggies until softened, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add the garlic to the pot and cook it for about 1 minute, until very fragrant.
- Begin sprinkling the flour into the pot, a bit at a time, stirring between additions so the flour coats the veggies. Cook the veggies and flour for about a minute, stirring frequently.
- Begin adding broth to the pot, a bit at a time, whisking each addition in to eliminate any lumps formed by the flour.
- Once all the broth has been added, stir in the milk, potatoes, bay leaf and thyme.
- Raise the heat and bring the liquid to a boil.
- Lower the heat and allow the soup to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the base thickens a bit and the potatoes are tender, about 25 to 30 minutes.
- Remove the pot from heat. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Stir in the vinegar and season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.
- Ladle into bowls and serve.
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Hello Alissa!
Just a short note to say thank you for this recipe! I made it tonight and it was delicious! My daughter is vegan and I am part vegan/vegetarian. I come to your site for your recipes. Last night I made your vegetable soup and oh my gosh so delicious. My daughter has a problem with bloating and I forgot that with the potatoes tonight, so it was a bit difficult for her but she really liked it. Me, well I am a soup lover and it doesn't matter what time of year it is. I could eat it every night. So again, thank you for your wonderful recipes! Delicious!!
My thoughts: it's tasty, although I wouldn't make this again as a main, it was quite rich.
I didn't have any celery (or celery salt), otherwise I followed instructions (vinegar, not white wine vinegar). At the end I blended everything together.
I’ve made this recipe many times since discovering it some years ago. I love the recipe as is but I add additional carrots because my husband and I love carrots. Like others have said it’s a soup you can add left over veggies to. We love it.
Perfect for warming you up on a snowy day. I loved the flavors just as written. Only change I made was I used white wine instead of vinegar, and stirred in a little nutritional yeast. Delish!
Delicious recipe! Made this when I was snowed in and wanted a hearty soup. Needed to use a bunch of leftover veggies and stock from another recipe so I had most ingredients on hand.. I didn’t have bay leaves and reduced the thyme by 1/3. And I used celery salt instead of celery. Added green onions on top. Would definitely make it again! Thank you!
Made this for the third time tonight. I'm 28 and only started learning how to cook actual meals on the last year. This was the first thing I made !
This recipe perfect as is, though I do take some liberties here and there now that I am more comfortable in the kitchen. I wish I had a candle that smelled the way this soup smells while cooking.
This will definitely stay in our regular dinner rotation !
Thanks so much for sharing !!
Delicious! Defintely a do-over! I added about half cup of leftover cooked/mashed cauliflower to pot while cooking just because I had it. Added chopped baby spinach at end and cooked till spinach wilted. Served with chopped green onions on top and slices of baguette with Miyokos oat tub butter. Yep, making this again!
I followed this recipe perfectly and I was so disappointed. We love potato soup but we found this to be so bland. I saw that so many people loved it so I'm really wondering what in the world happened! I don't want to say anything bad about the recipe. Maybe the flavors didn't work for us! I actually felt like there wasn't enough thyme in the soup! Oh well!
Delicious soup! I wish I had read the comments first, but I didn’t want to be swayed in any direction. I wish now I had, because I agree with most, half the amount of thyme would have been plenty. It’s a little overpowering in the thyme department. Otherwise, perfect!
Will definitely be making again, thank you!
Made the recipe as stated initially, except for using a little less vegan butter than recommended and substituting apple cider vinegar (as I didn't have any white wine vinegar handy.) After tasting, I also added some ginger water mixed with lemon (I keep a jar of this in the fridge as a flavor add). We like thyme, and I have fresh growing in the backyard. I also have rosemary, so looking forward to adding that as another flavor point. Overall, a hardy, satisfying soup that left my husband and myself feeling satisfied. Reheated well the next day.
Just made this for my family and it was delicious! Made some tweaks.. didn't have celery so I put some zucchini in for green and added red chili flakes as my family loves spice. It was really tasty! We will be makin again.
Forgot my rating! 5 stars
Saw this recipe this morning on FB and had to make it. It was so delicious.
DELICIOUS! I had to make a few modifications--didn't have garlic or the vinegar and it was still very flavorful. I also used coconut flour because it's what I had and it worked just fine. I already plan on making it again because I have most of the ingredients and it's so easy and tasty. Thank you so much for sharing!
Delicious!!! Thank you for such a quick hearty recipe. Made for my husband and I.
Looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow.
This was really great, even my non-vegan husband gave it high praises! It smells amazing while cooking. I added a few spices because we're all about that flavor: 1 TSP celery seed, sprinkle cayenne pepper, smoked salt, garlic salt + garlic powder (we love garlic), onion powder, and paprika. My husband said to make it again ... next time add kale. Woah.
(edit: forgot to give it 5 stars. DUH)
Made it for us and another non vegan family. Very little left and finished off the rest tonight. I made my own tweaks. I added Natured Seasoning throughout and also a little less Seasonall. I also used Better than Boullion, no chicken base. I did salt and pepper throughout the cooking. Delicious, thanks for the recipe!
Super tasty- I liked the thicker consistency and not just being a broth - but I do wish there were some other flavors, so I added some paprika & red crushed pepper with fresh dill. Otherwise, I will make this again!
What kind of non dairy milk should I use?
Anything unsweetened and unflavored will work. I like soy or almond - Westsoy brand is my favorite!
How about canned organic coconut cream from Trader Joe’s?
I’m a nanny and Oro food on Sunday for the week, so I’m hoping this reheats well! It tastes amazing now!! I added some organic frozen corn the last 10
Minutes and substituted rosemary for the thyme and it tastes amazing! The corn gives the palate a nice sweet surprise!!
I’ll let you know how it reheats!🤞
Really good. Next time I'd like to try it without the vegan butter (i.e. no oil) and mash some of the potatoes instead of using flour.
Newly vegan and was craving some hearty soup. This was easy and most importantly...delicious. Minor change was adding a little extra veggie broth for a thinner consistency. Can’t wait for another cold day! Thanks!!!!
You can use potatoes (think starch) for a thickening agent instead of flour. Just boil up some potatoes and send them thru a blender or food processor until they become smooth. Not only will this thicken the soup but it also adds more potato flavor.
Made this tonight and my overly picky husband had a bowl full! It was delicious but I have to agree with another reviewer; next time I will only add half the thyme, a bit too strong for us. Otherwise this recipe is a keeper. Thank you!
This was the best potato soup ever. I normally go to Panera to buy their potato soup, but after making this one I won't be doing that again. My who family loved it. This one is one for the books.
Oh and I did not have white wine vinegar so I substituted it with rice vinegar and it was still great!
Looks amazing and I’m excited to try it! Can I substitute the white wine vinegar for regular white vinegar?
You can, but you might need to use a little bit less. Add a splash at a time and stop when you like the flavor. Enjoy!
Thanks so much for this recipe! I made it tonight and forgot the vinegar, but it still tastes great! What does the vinegar do??
Glad you enjoyed it! The vinegar adds a little tartness to balance out the flavor.
Can we make this without flour?
Sure, it just won't be as thick.
Or just use extra mashed potatoes to thicken as someone stated above.
YUM!!! I suck at following recipes to a T, I used red skin potatoes, added crushed red pepper and smoked paprika, and a bit of nutritional yeast (and extra veggie broth/cashew milk) and woooooow this is my new favorite soup!! So easy and SO good. Thanks for the recipe!!
Hi Emily - I went looking at the comments because I wanted to know if using other than russets would work. (I just bought a Costco-sized bag of Classic Baby Creamers and I need to use them!)Thanks for posting and for the recipe tweaks. Going to start on it now. And thanks to Alissa for sharing!
Easy to make and a big hit with my granddaughters (5 and 7) and son. They LOVED it. They asked me to make it for them again.
I made this in the Crock-Pot today with small pieces because I just had surgery on my tongue. I simply threw everything in the crock pot and let it run all day, took my immersion blender and Blended some of it up to thicken it at the end. I did add a fresh green pepper from my garden. Super yummy! Thank you.
This soup is absolutely amazing, I love making it and its very versatile. I love adding different things to it to see how it comes out. Personally I love adding some smoked paprika it gives it a really good flavor.
I just mash some potato to thicken. Flour isn't necessary at all.
Thank you
5 stars for sure. Delicious!
Potato soup is one of my favorite comfort foods. I made this today and it looked and tasted so good! I couldn’t find any flour in my house so I substituted gluten free pancake mix which worked great. I think it would work great w any gluten free flour and that’s on my grocery list. Next time I make this I think I’ll half the Thyme...it’s a little strong but this is a great recipe. I’ve only started cooking since I can’t go out much due to the Pandemic. I appreciate that vegan recipes are available! Thank you!
Made this twice now….my family loves it. I used coconut milk and it was great! Thank you for sharing this recipe!!!
Canned coconut milk?
You can use coconut cream or coconut milk, but I'd recommend only using a cup or cup and a half, and using water or broth for the rest. Coconut cream and milk are so rich that I'd be afraid of the soup coming out too heavy if you used a full 2 1/2 cups!
So I made this recipe tonight.....wow!! We absolutely LOVED IT!!! It turned out perfectly and tasted like soup from a nice restaurant. This will stay in a normal rotation for us.