Vegan Cream Of Spinach Soup
from The Blender Girl cookbookApril 26, 2010
This vegan cream of spinach soup from The Blender Girl cookbook is really creamy and has an incredible flavor. You’d never know it was dairy-free.
Vegan Cream Of Spinach Soup
This vegan cream of spinach soup from The Blender Girl cookbook is really creamy and has an incredible flavor. You'd never know it was dairy-free.
Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 4 to 6
Ingredients
- 1 head garlic
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup (20g) finely chopped green onions (mostly the white part)
- 1 cup (100g) sliced red onion
- 1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 cup (33g) diced celery (about 1 rib)
- 1 cup (135g) diced zucchini
- 1/4 cup (12g) finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 4 cups (960ml) vegetable broth
- 2 cups (86g) firmly packed baby spinach
- 1/4 cup (35g) blanched slivered almonds
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
-
Cut off the top of the head of garlic, wrap the bulb in aluminium foil, and roast it on a baking sheet for 30 to 40 minutes, until tender. Allow the bulb to cool and then squeeze the garlic pulp out of the husks. This should yield 2 tablespoons or more of roasted garlic. Set aside.
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Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large saucepan. Add the green onions, red onion, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and sauté for 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add the celery, zucchini, and parsley and sauté for 5 minutes more.
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Stir in the roasted garlic and the vegetable broth. Increase the heat to high and bring just to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the spinach and simmer for 5 minutes more, until the leaves are just tender.
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Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the soup to cool somewhat. Stir in the nuts.
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Pour the soup into your blender in batches, and puree on high for 30 to 60 seconds until smooth and creamy.
-
Return the soup to the saucepan and warm over medium-low heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.
Recipe Notes
Recipe from The Blender Girl cookbook
Comments 59
Ok so I’ve finally started cooking some of these recipes Tess…..and I gotto say – this one blows me away! So creamy!
As your eating it, you can’t help fee you’re eating something thats bad for you. It tastes that good.
The vegan roasted beetroot dip is brilliant too!
Cheers!
Gatesy
Gatesy
Glad you are enjoying! Give the roasted sweet potato and creamy cauliflower soups a go. They are absolutely to die for!
Cooked this three times already! The crowd can’t get enough 🙂 Everybody swears I’ve put cream in it….it’s that creamy!
Love it…..gotto get onto the other recipes.
Cheers!
LOL! I LOVE that!!!!
Aren’t I lucky to have been the recipient of this glorious soup/ I love it and it is so easy to make and so good to eat.
I love you Bethy!
I have never had such a revitalizing and tasty spinach soup. This soup made my palette delighted with it’s rich, full and almost sweet flavor. It was refreshing and yet filling and oh, so incredibly tasty! I would recommend this for anyone who wants their children (or even their spouse) to develop a love for spinach!! Truly the best!! Please keep up these amazing recipes!
Thanks beautiful Tara.
I am so glad you liked the soup!
Love you xxx
Wow! This soup was bold and full-flavored, totally scrumptious and satisfying, but light, not overly filling.
I CAN’T WAIT FOR ANOTHER BOWL!!!!
After 25 years of gourmet dining in LA’s best restaurant, finally a soup as good as anything served at GIRAFE!
Oh WOW!
That is high praise!
Thanks Mark.
I really appreciate the feedback.
It was really cold here today (Long Island) so when I saw this soup suggested under the raw vegan tropical green energy smoothie recipe I decided to try it. It’s totally creamy and rich–and I used the smaller amount of cashews (1/4 cup)! I’m thinking it would make a good chilled soup in the summer, too.
Thanks Lenore!
Yes, I have eaten this cold and it is delicious too.
Thanks for your lovely feedback and support.
I really appreciate it.
This soup is even better the next day! How would I know that this early in the day? I couldn’t resist having it for breakfast! It’s that good!!!
LOL! I love it!!!
You had some left over the next day?! LOL!
SO glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Thought I’d died and gone to piggy heaven!!!!! Ace!
LOL! I Know!
I LOVE THIS SOUP!!!!!
This soup was so delicious! I love how creamy the cashews made it. I only wish I had a Vitamix, as my crappy blender left some chunks. But those cashew-y chunks were soft and yummy so still no complaints!
Thanks Bronman.
I am so glad you enjoyed this soup..
I will sending the vibes for you to get a Vitamix.
Until then, it is great to know that this soup can be enjoyed if you have a regular blender!
Thanks for the feedback.
I really appreciate it.
am slightly skeptical, but will have to give it a try. although am not so sure i can get my guys to try it.
Alyssa!
Dive in and go for it.
You won’t be sorry.
This soup is TO DIE FOR!
Wow, this soup looks amazingly good!
I have a question for you though: I want to make this soup to bring to lunch with me tomorrow (finishing grad school right now), however I leave home at 7am. Would it be ok to make it tonight then reheat it tomorrow morning and put in my thermos so I can bring to school? Does it stays good after reheating?
I really want to try this, looks truly delicious!
Ana
Hey Ana
This soup reheats beautifully.
I even freeze it!
Enjoy 🙂 Can’t wait to hear what you think.
Thanks!! Can’t wait to make it tonight then!! Lunch tomorrow will be good!
Ana
Pleasure!
I look forward to hearing what you think 🙂
I had to come back here and say Thank You for sharing this recipe with us!!! Omg, this is incredible!! The soup is creamy and so flavorful, I love it!!
Made it tonight so I can bring to lunch tomorrow, and best thing is that it makes a lot, so my son is also getting some in his lunchbox. We both loved it, he is 9 and he really liked the creaminess of the soup! He cannot have dairy, so this is simply perfect for us.
It is hard to believe this doesn’t have cream, it is heavenly creamy and velvety. “Creamy” is my favorite texture and I love both spinach and zucchini, this was the perfect soup!
Only thing I did different was to use leeks in place of the onion, just because I love leeks and that’s what I had at home 🙂
So good! Can’t wait for lunchtime tomorrow.
Thanks again!
Ana
SO glad you enjoyed it.
I really love this soup!!!
LOL! Thanks for your comments.
I am so glad you enjoyed the soup and look forward to hearing what you think of the other recipes 🙂
Oh thanks Claire.
I KNOW!
They are both so good it is hard to decide which on to make 🙂 He He He!
Glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks for your lovely feedback.
I really appreciate it.
Hey Ana,
I am so glad you enjoyed this soup.
Yes! Leeks are FANTastic in this soup.
It is unbelievably creamy isn’t it?
This soup is a staple in my house and it sounds like it will be in yours too 🙂
ENJOY!
This soup was wonderful! So creamy, nutritious and filling. Nice deep and rich tones. The parsley on top was a perfect match. Love fresh parsley! Loving your blended soups on these chilly nights. Another squealing winner!
Thanks Kibby.
I really love this soup.
It is one of my all-time favourites.
I don’t know if you have tried my cream of cauliflower soup yet. But if you liked this soup, you will LOVE that little gem!
Absolutely unbelievable!
Love having this as yet another great green soup in my rotation. A piggie can never seem to get enough spinach!
I agree! A healthy piggy can NEVER get enough spinach!!!!!
WOW! I just made this soup and I have to say it’s the best soup I’ve ever made. YUM!
Thank you so much. I’m really excited to find this website and can’t wait to try some more recipes.
Thankyou Rachel!
I LOVE this soup and I am so glad that you enjoyed it too 🙂
I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on other recipes. Great to have you here!
This looks so good. I cannot wait to try it.
Gina, this is SOOO good.
I can’t wait to hear what you think. Enjoy 🙂
How do I measure 2 cups of spinach. Is it 16 ounces? So basically 3 x 5 OZ bags?
It is about 2 huge handfuls. I place the handfuls in the cup firmly packed. But you cannot mess this soup up. Just place what you think is two cups and it will be delicious. I have even added 4 cups. Sorry for any confusion.
OH, I LOVE getting comments like this. Thankyou SO much Adina for taking the time to leave this lovely note. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this soup, and I am so glad you do too.
made this tonight… LOVE IT!!!! thank you
Great! So glad you enjoyed it. I LOVE this soup!
This was So. Ridiculously. Good.
LOL! LOVE it. So glad!!!
Okay, I made it and it was great! I do, however, need to get the ding-dang Vitamix already because about 20% of it exploded out of the regular blender and got hot soup all over me and everything on the counter even though I was pressing down on the lid at the time. I think I didn’t let it cool enough either. Kitchen mishaps aside, the soup is delicious! I did sneak in some heavy cream and I accidentally bought cilantro instead of parsley so that didn’t get put in, unfortunately. I’ll be making it again so next time.
Oh No! We have ALL done that!!!! LOL! I hope you didn’t burn yourself….
Glad you enjoyed the soup, and hope round two goes a little bit more smoothly. Yes, you need to cool the soup quite a bit before blending 🙂
How many servings does this recipe make?
Sorry Patti, I need to be better about posting the servings. This soup serves about 6 – 8 depending on how large the bowls are. 4 generous serves and seconds is the way we roll! Enjoy. This soup is SOOO good.
I thought this recipe looked familiar…Saw you write for CHOW. 🙂 Off to make mine on this cold dreary day. I’m gonna cheat and not roast the garlic….can’t wait that long.
Oh, I LOVE Chow! You can totally make this soup without roasting the garlic and it still tastes AMAZING. I can’t wait to hear what you think. Enjoy 🙂
Here is my rendition!
http://wp.me/pC9RV-4ay
Great! Your blend looks delicious! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much for posting such a lovely soup! My family and I all enjoyed it very much. One small question, and I’m sure that this is due to my own ignorance, but you say to serve it with a grain ball? What the heck is a grain ball?
Hey Evan, I am so glad you enjoyed this soup. You are not ignorant at all! I can’t tell you how many times I get this question, and your comment has reminded me to clarify it in my recipe instructions. A grain ball is simply a ball of your favourite cooked grain. I use day old grain and mix it with herbs, and then scoop it out with an ice cream scoop. It looks gorgeous, and makes the soup more hearty, and serves as an alternative to bread and crackers.
Happy New Year 🙂
To Lemurleap: This is a vegan soup for a reason! Vegans make food without dairy products for health AND ethical reasons, so it’s not acceptable to ‘sneak in’ heavy cream! If you eat dairy products and meats, you affect your health and contribute to the cruelty of animals abused in dairy and factory farms! Also wanted to add – a couple of gals here didn’t roast the garlic, which is a good thing if you’re actually considering roasting the garlic in aluminum foil! When foods like potatoes, garlic and anything else is roasted in aluminum foil, the aluminum can pass into the food and contribute to the formation of dementia!
Thanks for sharing your point of view.
Do you think I could substitute the zucchini and celery for some butter beans or lentils for a thicker and more calorie dense soup? Thanks!
The legumes will change the flavor profile of the soup. I would use cauliflower to thicken the soup and top with the legumes.
Thanks Tessah, I appreciate you including the recipe in your roundup.