This Vegan Potato Soup is ultra creamy, comforting and ready in 30 minutes! It’s best loaded with all the toppings: vegan sour cream, green onions, vegan cheese and vegan bacon bits.

close up of a bowl of soup with cheese, sour cream and bacon bits on top

You know those rainy days where the only thing you feel like doing is curling up with a blanket and a hot bowl of comforting soup? Well, I just so happen to have the perfect recipe for the cold and blustery days ahead!

Easy Vegan Potato Soup is so easy to make and comes together in under 1 hour. Naturally gluten and nut free, all you need are a handful of simple ingredients. You can whip up a batch either on the stovetop, in your Instant Pot, or in a slow cooker.

What’s the secret to creamy vegan soup? Coconut milk! Just 1 can of this secret ingredient will give this soup a velvety smooth finish and epic levels of creaminess without the coconut flavor.

Enjoy my vegan potato soup recipe for family dinners, or reheat the leftovers when you’re craving a bowl of comfort. Don’t forget to top each bowl with crumbly vegan bacon bits (you make your own, or these bacon bits are already vegan), roasted potato chunks, or a scoop of homemade vegan sour cream. A little shredded vegan cheese would be good as well, as well as chopped green onions.

looking down on two bowls of soup, light orange in color with sour cream and cheese, chives on top

Ingredients Needed (with substitutions)

  • Olive oil 
  • Onion and garlic 
  • Carrots 
  • Russet potatoes – Or any type of white, yellow, or red potatoes if that’s what you have at home.
  • Dried thyme – You can add in a bay leaf, oregano, or parsley if you wish.
  • Vegetable broth – Or water if needed, but broth will add more flavor.
  • Full fat coconut milk – This is the secret to this soup’s awesome creaminess! It doesn’t make the soup taste like coconut at all. If you don’t have any, use 1 cup of raw cashews and blend with a few cups of the soup instead.
  • Salt

How to Make it

You will love how easy this family-friendly soup is to make!

  1. Sauté the onion and garlic with the oil in a large soup pot on the stovetop over medium heat.
  2. Add the rest of your vegetables, thyme, and broth. Increase the heat and bring the soup to a boil. 
  3. As soon as it boils, lower the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. It’s ready when the potatoes are fork tender. Pour in the coconut milk and add the pepper.
  4. Use a potato masher or even an immersion blender to smooth out the soup to your desired consistency. 

Season with salt to taste and serve with all the toppings!

collage of how to make the soup

Instant Pot Instructions

Begin by using Sauté mode on the Instant Pot to cook the onion and garlic in the oil for 2 to 3 minutes. Briefly turn off the Instant Pot and in add the carrots, potatoes, thyme, and vegetable broth. Stir, then secure the lid and cook on High Pressure for 9 minutes.

Release the pressure manually once it’s done, using a towel to prevent any burning. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup until it’s as smooth as you wish, and stir in the coconut milk. Season with salt and add your desired toppings! 

Crock Pot Instructions

Let your slow cooker do all the work by adding all of the ingredients (except the coconut milk and salt) into the bowl. Cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours. Once the potatoes are fork tender, go ahead and blend the soup with an immersion blender to your desired smoothness, and stir in the coconut milk. Season with salt and serve.

Tips for Success

  • When preparing the potatoes, chop them into small pieces rather than large. They’ll be easier to eat and will cook faster.
  • You don’t have to use a full can of coconut milk. You could just add a little, or half the can until the soup is as creamy as you like! It’s very customizable.
  • Pureeing the soup is optional. If you like your soup to have more texture, don’t bother blending or mashing the cooked potatoes. Personally, I like it more chunky!
  • If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can add the soup in batches to a regular blender. Alternatively, use a potato masher to mash some of the potatoes and vegetables in the pot. I prefer the potato masher!
  • Serving a crowd? Leave out small bowls with tons of toppings so your guests can customize their flavors.
  • Is the soup not thick enough? Stir in a tablespoon of all-purpose or gluten-free flour.

How to store leftovers

Leftover potato soup will stay fresh in the fridge for up to 3 days. Store the leftovers in a sealed container or in individual portions for an easy grab-and-go meal.

The soup will thicken as it cools, so go ahead and thin with a little more broth or water upon reheating. You can heat to soup in the microwave for a few minutes or over medium heat on the stovetop.

ladle holding vegan potato soup from a pot

More vegan recipes featuring potatoes

close up of a bowl of potato soup with lots of cheese, sour cream and bacon bits
4.82 stars (66 ratings)

Easy Vegan Potato Soup

This Vegan Potato Soup is ultra creamy, comforting and ready in 30 minutes! It's best loaded with all the toppings: vegan sour cream, green onions, vegan cheese and vegan bacon bits.
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 30 minutes
Servings: 8 servings

Ingredients 
 

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into small chunks
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 13.5 ounce can full fat coconut milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • salt, to taste (1/2-1 teaspoon depending on your broth)

Recommend toppings

Instructions 

Stovetop

  • Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Now add the carrots, potatoes, thyme and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender. 
  • Once the potatoes are tender, pour in the coconut milk and add the pepper. Use a potato masher to mash some of the soup, or blend some of the soup with an immersion blender until somewhat smooth. I prefer to leave a bit of chunky texture.
  • Taste, and add more salt as desired. Serve with toppings of choice and enjoy!

To make in an Instant Pot

  • Push the sauté feature on the Instant Pot. Add the olive oil, chopped onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion in translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
  • Briefly turn off the Instant Pot, and add the carrots, potatoes, thyme and vegetable broth. Give it a little stir, then place the lid on, seal and cook on high pressure for 9 minutes. Release pressure manually, using a towel to prevent any burning. Blend or mash as desired and add coconut milk, pepper and salt to taste.

To make in a Crock Pot

  • Add all of the ingredients except the coconut milk to the crock pot and cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours. Once the potatoes are fork tender, blend the soup with an immersion blender to desired smoothness, then stir in the coconut milk. Season with salt and serve.

Video

Notes

  1. Try serving with crumbled tofu bacon or tempeh bacon.
  2. If you don't want to use coconut milk, you can blend a few cups of the soup with a cup of raw cashews instead for creaminess. Or omit completely for a lighter soup.
  3. Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for about 3 days and freezes quite well if needed.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 279kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Sodium: 503mg | Potassium: 921mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 4072IU | Vitamin C: 37mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 3mg
Course: Soup
Cuisine: American
Author: Nora Taylor
Did you make this recipe?Mention @nora_cooks_vegan_ or tag #noracooks!

*This recipe was first published in October 2018 and has been updated to make it even more delicious!

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Read my full disclosure here.

Posted In: , , , , , , , , ,

you may also like:

Comments

  1. This was so tasty, easy, and comforting on a cold and rainy day. I threw in 1 cup of red lentils in place of some of the potato just for a bit of protein. And cooked it on high for 5 min in my instant pot! I also added to the spices 1 tsp paprika, 2 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 turmeric powder, and 1/2 tsp coriander powder for a lil curry flavor. As well as some nutritional yeast. It was delicious. Thx for this recipe amongst many others love your site!

    1. I like the idea of adding lentils for protein. Did you cook them first or did they cook in the instant pot? Did the potatoes cook after 5 minutes?

  2. Made this for the family tonight. Sooooo yummy. Can’t even tell it’s dairy free. Plenty for the leftovers too. Crushed it with this one Norah.

  3. This is the best soup ever! So delicious, filling and easy to make.

    Quick question: what is “a serving” for your nutrition calculator? Just curious.

    1. Thanks! Well, it’s 1/8th of the entire recipe, so you’d have to divide it to know the exact amount. I think about a cup of soup.

  4. While making this soup, it seemed way too simple to be what I wanted it to be. But then I tasted it and it is AMAZING!! Like super duper yummy and creamy and everything you want in a potato soup! Paired it with some homemade bread….oh I was in heaven! 

  5. I made this tonight by blending the cashews with a few cups of the soup like you suggested instead of using coconut milk and it was good! It turned out nice and creamy. Hard to believe there was no dairy in it!

  6. I WISH I could have given this soup more stars!!! Be warned: my whole family agreed that you could DEFINITELY taste the coconut milk. It was way too sweet. I used a can of Trader Joe’s brand full fat coconut milk. It was super disappointing. I am a HUGE fan of Nora’s recipes and I think this soup would have been much better had I used the blended cashew option instead.

    1. Bummer Alice! My family absolutely can’t taste the coconut, and they hate coconut. But please try again using cashews, it’s great just requires a bit more work and obviously a high powered blender, which is why I love the coconut milk option.

  7. Easy to make and had everything on hand already. I added a little bit of a couple seasonings I like just to add a little more flavor and also added nutritional yeast for some cheesiness. But it’s definitely still very good as written!

  8. Your potato soup is a winner! Love this recipe! I used for toppings coconut bacon chips and chives. My family really enjoy this soup! Thank you!

  9. I made this soup last night for my family and it was a huge hit. My husband and I both loved it. My husband said it was BANGING!!!!!!! Next time, I am going to make a double batch so I have leftovers.
    SOOOOOOO GOOD…

  10. Made this for dinner tonight and it was a HUGE hit! We topped it with vegan sour cream, violife cheddar shreds, green onions and bac’n bits. My 7 yr old loved it so much he ate 3 bowls! So delicious. Thanks for another great recipe!

  11. My husband and I loved this soup! It was easy and yummy. I added a package of cooked Sweet Earth Chickn after mashing the potatoes for some extra protein. Since the pandemic we aren’t as “vegan” as we were before. It’s a little harder to get the ingredients we love. But we thank you, Nora, for your wonderful recipes that help us stay better on track.

  12. Yummy soup recipe! I did not have enough russet potatoes on hand so I substituted a few sweet potatoes. I really liked the bit of sweetness it added. I was also able to add some chopped celery without my kids noticing. They loved it! Kid approved.
    Thank you!

  13. Yummy soup recipe! I did not have enough russet potatoes on hand so I substituted a few sweet potatoes. I really liked the bit of sweetness it added. I was also able to add some chopped celery without my kids noticing. They loved it! Kid approved.

  14. I just finally signed up to get email updates from you, Nora, after browsing your site for weeks and trying several recipes that were hits – and am so glad I did!

    This recipe was delivered to my inbox yesterday right when we needed a pantry meal to cover dinner last night. Our boys, aged 10 and 13, loved it, and so did the adults! It’s so customizable at the table, which was a big selling point for the notoriously picky 10 yr old, and for the adults who added hot sauce, pickled jalepenos and I’m sure we could come up with other things to add at the table… The 10 yr old always says he hates soup, but loved this!

    The kids (and all of us) want this to go in our regular soup recipe rotation – a high honor not often presented to a new recipe so THANKS! I’ll be saving your recipe in Plan to Eat and tagging it “Favorite”, 5 stars!

  15. Please, I am going to try this as I need recipes now after dental work. Requesting breakfast, lunch and dinner ideas, too please, including smoothies..Thanks again

  16. Really delicious. Hubby is on full liquid diet du e to stomach surgery and this was great. Delicious tasting. I did not have the coconut milk but used half and half and it was excellent. So easy. Thanks!

  17. Sounds yummy. Trying tomorrow. Hubby just got out of hospital after stomach surgery and has to be on full liquid diet for 2 weeks! I’m looking for recipes with no solid food chunks but flavor and nutrients. He’s getting tired of broth. ?

  18. I subbed the coconut milk with Silk Whipping Cream (because I had some open already) and used small gold/purple potatoes (because I had so many of those on hand). Turned out quite well!

  19. Excellent recipe. Everyone wanted seconds. Thank you for a great recipe that will be used many times

  20. My family and I LOVE your Easy Vegan Potato Soup! I doubled everything except the Coconut Milk, which I replaced with TJ’s Shelf Stable Soy Milk. I also sauteed the Onions and Garlic in veggie broth vs oil. YUM!!

  21. Can’t wait to try this recipe! I have a good slow cooker recipe for potato soup but we just got an instant pot and I’m excited to try this one out! Plus, 25 minutes sounds much better than 4.5 hours! I have an instant pot duo mini (3 quart). Will my measurements be different from yours?

    1. I hope you love it! A 3 quart IP should be fine, there should be enough room for the soup. Measurements will be the same, unless you want to cut it in half, which you could. Thanks!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.