Creamy Vegetable Soup: A delicious and easy-to-make dish packed with veggies and wholesome ingredients.
Serve Creamy Vegetable Soup with this Pear Salad, these Roasted Brussels Sprouts, or a crusty loaf of bread!
Pure Comfort Food!
This Creamy Vegetable Soup is pure comfort food! I make it whenever the weather is chilly or when I have some leftover veggies that need to be used up. While I’m a huge fan of broth-based vegetable soups (like this Vegetable Soup or this Chicken-Vegetable Soup), my boys prefer creamy soups with lots of cheese in them. This is one of their favorites. I’ll also usually whip up a salad to serve alongside it (like this Crispy Chicken Salad), and if I’m feeling ambitious, these Dinner Rolls also make it to the table.
But if not, there is always some kind of bread served on the side for dunking—soup just isn’t the same without it!
Another one of our favorite ways to enjoy this creamy vegetable soup is in a crusty bread bowl—there are few things better than that!
How To Make Creamy Vegetable Soup
- Prepare the vegetables by sautéing the carrots, celery, and onion in butter and oil.
- Stir in the chopped potatoes, Italian seasoning, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and cook for 15-20 minutes.
- While the veggies are cooking, prepare the cream mixture by melting the remaining butter, stirring in the flour, milk, and cream.
- Once veggies are tender, stir in the frozen broccoli and corn and cook for 2-3 additional minutes, or until the broccoli and corn are warmed through.
- Remove the vegetable mixture from heat and add in the cream mixture. Season to taste, top with sharp Cheddar shredded cheese and enjoy this Creamy Vegetable Soup!
In this recipe, I have provided my favorite way to make a soup creamy – a good mix of butter, flour, milk, and cream. However, there are lots of other ways to make a soup creamy. Read on for alternate solutions.
How Do You Make The Soup Creamy?
- If you are vegan or lactose-intolerant, you can replace the butter with vegetable oil and use almond milk as well as dairy-free cheese.
- For a gluten intolerance, the flour can be replaced with cornstarch, using half the amount called for.
- If you are working to make this meal shelf-stable, replace the milk and cream with evaporated milk.
Shortcuts
Creamy Vegetable Soup admittedly has quite a bit of chopping required, but below I’ve got a few shortcut ideas to help save some time in the kitchen.
- To save yourself chopping time, pick up a mirepoix (also called soup starter at some stores). Lots of stores sell pre-chopped mirepoix (a French phrase for diced onion, carrot, and celery)in the produce section. If you’re in a hurry, get that fresh-chopped mirepoix or you can even use frozen mirepoix.
- To save yourself chopping time, use jarred garlic or a garlic press. Instead of mincing your own garlic, you can use jarred to save time. Alternatively, a garlic press gives you fresh minced garlic in a fraction of that time that hand mincing requires.
The secret to the great flavor of this soup and most vegetable soups in the stock it is cooked in. I used Kroger’s Simple Truth® Organic chicken stock in this recipe and it is delicious! There are a lot of spices you can also add to enhance the flavor of your vegetable soup.
Lets Talk Spices In Vegetable Soup
- Italian seasoning – Italian seasoning is a great addition to most savory dishes, and it is delicious in this soup. Creamy Vegetable Soup calls for 1 ½ teaspoons of Italian Seasoning, but feel free to add more if desired. (Kroger’s Private Selection Italian Seasoning blend is my favorite!)
- Paprika – If you like a little heat in your soup, you may want to add some paprika (up to 2 teaspoons).
- Black pepper – Freshly ground black pepper is a great addition to any vegetable soup.
- Other fresh herbs such as thyme or basil would taste great in this soup – add according to your personal preferences!
Storage
Leftovers?
- Allow the soup to cool completely before transferring it to an airtight container. Store it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- For longer storage, you can freeze the soup for up to 3 months. Just make sure to leave some space in the container for expansion.
- When reheating, thaw the frozen soup in the refrigerator overnight, then warm it on the stovetop over low heat, stirring occasionally.
More Delicious Soup Recipes
- White Chicken Chili made in the slow cooker
- Crockpot Chili winner of dozens of chili cook-offs!
- Tortilla Soup in 20 minutes!
- Creamy Tortellini Soup with Italian sausage
- Beef and Barley Soup made in the slow cooker
Creamy Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, separated
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cups mirepoix: (1 cup diced carrots, 1 cup diced celery, 1 cup diced yellow onion)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups baby red or baby gold potatoes, chopped into small bite-sized pieces
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 3 cups chicken stock (or chicken broth--or vegetable stock for vegetarian)
- 2 cups frozen broccoli florets, thawed and finely chopped
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons white all-purpose flour
- 3 cups milk (I use 1%; use 1%, 2% or whole)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 3/4 teaspoon EACH: salt and pepper
- 2 cups Freshly grated sharp Cheddar cheese
- Optional: fresh parsley or thyme, crusty loaf of bread
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the diced carrots, celery, and onion, and sautรฉ for 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and sautรฉ for 30 more seconds.
- Stir in the chopped potatoes, Italian seasoning, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to medium. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the veggies are crisp-tender. Add the frozen broccoli and corn, and cook for 2-3 more minutes, until all veggies are tender and warmed through.
- Meanwhile, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the flour and cook, whisking constantly, for 1 minute. While whisking vigorously, slowly pour in the milk (whisk until smooth).
- Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture gently boils and thickens. Stir in the heavy cream and remove from heat. Once the veggies are tender, pour the milk/cream mixture into the soup and stir. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low, stir in the shredded cheese, and cook until melted. Serve warm with chopped parsley or thyme and bread!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I dont have heavy cream can I make it without it?
Yes, it will be less creamy and thick though
Made this and it is delicious! Would it freeze well?
Because of the dairy in it, I don’t think it would freeze well, but haven’t personally tried on this recipe. Wish I could be of more help!
I used vegetable broth instead of chicken and it came out really good! Perfect for a cold day here in Virginia.
Yay!! I am soo happy to hear this! Thanks for your kind comment! ๐
Do you think this soup would look appealing if I pureed the veg. after cooking, then added cream.?
I personally don’t think it would taste quite right (or look super appealing) for this soup, but I’ve never tried it so really can’t say for sure what the results would be. Let me know what you end up trying and I hope you love it Eleanor! ๐
Can you add beans to this? If so what kind would you recommend?
If you do, I’d do white beans!
Can you add rice to this?
It’s not an addition I would make, but you can if you’d like! If you do, I’d recommend adding it already cooked and probably increasing the liquid a bit. Enjoy!
I these recipes with entire life stories before the recipe! Scrolling for hours is so much fun! The pop-ups is also a nice touch!
There is a “jump to recipe” button at the beginning of each post. The pop-ups are what allow me to give you FREE content.
Wow. You just can’t escape snarky comments like these that emerge from the saddest users of the internet. I say THANK YOU for this amazing recipe and subsequent inspiration, which I’m happy to have found.
Thank you so much Joni! It means so much to me to have your support on my site, I appreciate your kindness! ๐
can you add chicken to this?
Sure! ๐ I’d stir in some chopped rotisserie chicken at the end ๐
Made a great soup for a nice fall day.
Glad to hear it! Thanks Jimmy!
Delicious. I added a couple more veggies, okra, green beans, and assorted color small bell peppers. My family said it was a keeper.
Glad to hear it! Thanks Kathy!