Veggie-Loaded Broccoli “Cheese” Soup

Your family will never know this soup is nutrient-rich, with a base of butternut squash, broth, and broccoli you’ll also enjoy that it’s dairy-free, grain-free, and flavor-full!

Since Stacy has been called the “Queen of Soups” and the “Broth Lady”, it won’t be a surprise that she’s always looking for new and exciting ways to consume mass-quantities of soup in our house. And now that it’s autumn, we’re eating more and more soup to warm our bellies on cool nights. So when Stacy excitedly declared that we needed a classic broccoli cheddar soup without dairy, we decided it was time to share once perfected.

The result is a delicious, sweet and savory soup that is thick and warming for everyone. The secret ingredient, (vegan favorite) nutritional yeast*, gives just enough of that cheesiness that you won’t miss the missing milk. Not familiar with this popular cheese-substitute? High quality brands are rich in fiber, B vitamins, and even contains zinc, magnesium, manganese, and copper. Plus, the cheese and cream is replaced by roasted veggies, making this soup loaded with healthy veggie power!

Good news: this is a relatively quick soup, taking only about 45 minutes or so to prepare, and leaving you plenty of time in between steps to grill some cheese or cook some steaks.

Broccoli "Cheese" Soup

Ingredients

  • 4 C butternut squash, cubed half the size of the florets
  • 4 C broccoli florets
  • 1/4 C nutritional yeast*
  • 1/4 C avocado oil (or fat of choice)
  • pinches of salt to taste (we recommend about a tablespoon of kosher salt)
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 quart chicken stock
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 4 slices of bacon

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400
  2. Toss broccoli and squash with avocado oil, yeast, salt and pepper on baking tray. Distribute evenly in one layer on the try; you may need two baking trays to fit all the veggies. Roast for 25 minutes or until squash is soft and broccoli beginning to brown
  3. In a large stock pot, saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until translucent.
  4. Add stock and bring to a simmer.
  5. When vegetables finished roasting, place squash and half the broccoli in a blender with 1 C warm stock. Puree until smooth. Pour into stock with remaining broccoli and bay leaves, and simmer on low, covered for 15 minutes.
  6. While the soup is simmering, fry bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crispy, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool for five minutes on a towel lined plate.
  7. To serve, ladle soup into a bowl and sprinkle crumbled bacon on top.

Notes

*look for yeast grown on sugar cane or beets if you're gluten-sensitive

If you or a loved one is vegan or vegetarian, use vegetable broth and skip the bacon to make your vegan brother happy!

http://realeverything.com/broccoli-cheese-soup/

Side note: our blog boss extraordinaire Crystal of Whole-fed Homestead tested our recipe and took these photos. I’m pretty proud to share (*cough* brag *cough*) that she said, “This was really good. I went to a fancy restaurant last week and ordered the butternut squash soup and this recipe was better.”

If you love this soup, we think you’ll also love our Creamy Butternut Bisque or our Baked (Not) Potato Soup from Real Life Paleo

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