This Creamy Vegan Tomato and Zucchini Soup packs a nutritious punch without sacrificing flavor! Cashews and zucchini make this soup super creamy and flavorful without all the dairy!
We love soup at our house. Soup is so warming, comforting AND you can easily sneak in lots of veggies! Even when it's summer time, we love a good bowl of soup. Some of our favorites vegan soups are Red Lentil Pumpkin Soup, Vegan Pizza Soup and this Creamy Tomato Zucchini Soup of course!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe!
- You'll never know you're eating tons of zucchini when you enjoy this tomato zucchini soup. The zucchini blends right in and makes this soup super creamy.
- If you can't do dairy, then this soup is perfect for you. While this soup is a creamy tomato soup, the "cream" aspect comes from cashews instead of dairy milk or cream. Eat up!
- This soup freezes beautifully. Make a double batch and enjoy it in future weeks and months.
- You'll feel like a vegan chef making homemade cashew cream. There really is nothing more satisfying than making something incredibly rich and creamy with cashews for the first time.
Ingredients
This tomato soup is loaded with veggies, many of which you can find all year round. Apart from the veggies, this recipe mainly calls for pantry staples, making it an easy meal for any night of the week!
- Crushed tomatoes - Obviously, tomatoes make up a large portion of this tomato zucchini soup. I love to have a bunch of canned tomatoes on hand, not only for this soup, but simply as a classic pantry staple.
- Vegetable broth - Using veggie stock cubes instead of vegetable broth from a carton will save you money and space in your pantry.
- Cashews - Use raw cashews in this recipe. Whether you have a high speed blender or not, you'll want to soak your cashews before making cashew cream.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions & Variations
- Tomatoes - If you can't find crushed tomatoes, simply use canned whole or chopped tomatoes. They'll cook down and in the end will be blended until smooth.
- Vegetables - I love when I have all of the vegetable listed in this soup, but if you're missing one then this soup will still be delicious. Don't get hung up on exact amounts and ingredients.
- Vegetable Broth - I like to use veggie stock cubes, but you can also use homemade vegetable broth or broth from a carton.
How to Make Creamy Vegan Tomato Zucchini Soup
Step 1: Start by soaking some raw cashews in boiling water. Set them aside.
Step 2: Heat some olive oil or water in a large saucepan or pot over medium heat. Add in the carrots, celery, zucchini and onion and sauté until soft. Stir in the garlic, thyme, bay leaves, and a pinch of salt and red pepper flakes and stir well. Let cook 1-2 more minutes.
Step 3: Once the veggies are tender, add in the tomatoes and vegetable broth and stir everything well. Bring everything to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and allow the soup to cook for about 30 minutes. You want all of the vegetables to be very soft and tender.
Step 4: Remove the bay leaves and then with an immersion blender, or in batches in a regular blender, puree the soup until smooth. Pour the pureed soup back into the large saucepan.
Step 5: Rinse out your blender and drain and rinse your cashews. Place the cashews and 1 cup of water into your blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Pour the cashew cream into the pureed soup and stir well.
Step 6: Heat this tomato zucchini soup until warm and serve with crusty grilled cheese croutons, Whole Wheat Artisan Bread or slices of soft, Easy Italian Bread!
Expert Tips
- I like to buy my cashews in bulk and store them in the freezer. This not only saves me money, but it also ensures that I always have cashews on hand for things such as cashew cream.
- Save the scraps and ends of your veggies and use them to make homemade veggie broth for your next batch of soup!
- To make this soup one-pot, add your raw cashews into the soup when you add in the vegetable broth and allow them to simmer for a while. Then use an immersion blender to blend the soup until smooth. Using an immersion blender might not give you the smoothest consistency, but it saves you from having to wash a blender!
Recipe FAQs
There are a number of ways to achieve a creamy soup without adding actual dairy cream. Cashews blended with water make a rich and creamy cashew cream. Other options are coconut milk, white beans, zucchini, cauliflower or vegan cheese. You can also use a fat and flour to make a roux and then whisk in non-dairy milk to a creamy, dairy-free sauce.
Soup is the perfect meal prep food because it stores beautifully in both the fridge and the freezer. To store leftover soup in the fridge, simply place it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. To freeze soup, you can pour the leftover soup into a freezer safe container or zip-lock bag and freeze it for up to 3 months.
The next time you enjoy a bowl of tomato soup, pair it with some homemade bread, a grilled cheese sandwich, croutons or even crispy oven-roasted chickpeas and a salad.
More Vegan Soup Recipes!
📖 Recipe
Creamy Vegan Tomato Zucchini Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup diced celery
- 4 cups diced zucchini
- 1 large onion diced
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- 56 ounce crushed tomatoes 2 large cans
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- ¾ cup cashews soaked
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Before making this soup, cover your cashews with water in a bowl and let them soak for a few hours.
- In a large saucepan, sauté the carrots, celery, zucchini and onion for about 10 minutes, until the onion is translucent and the vegetables are soft. Stir in the garlic, thyme, bay leaves, and a pinch of salt and red pepper flakes and stir well. Let cook 1-2 more minutes.
- Add in the tomatoes and vegetable broth and stir everything well. Bring everything to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and allow the soup to cook for about 30 minutes. You want all of the vegetables to be very soft and tender.
- Remove the bay leaves and then with an immersion blender, or in batches in a regular blender, puree the soup until smooth. Pour the pureed soup back into the large saucepan.
- Rinse out your blender and drain and rinse your cashews. Place the cashews and 1 cup of water in your blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Pour the cashew cream into the pureed soup and stir well.
- Heat until warm and serve!
Notes
- Even though I have a high speed blender, I still soak my cashews in hot water before blending them into cashew cream.
- Don't worry too much about getting the cup measurements exact for the diced veggies. This soup will taste good even if you have a little bit more or less of a vegetables than the recipe states.
Jackie says
I made it last night...It is delicious. Having it for lunch today.
Packed with all the healthy stuff.
Thanks for sharing.
Faith VanderMolen says
So glad to hear that Jackie! Thanks so much for sharing. Enjoy the leftovers:)
Paula says
I made this last night with tomatoes, zucchini, onions, garlic and fresh Thyme from our garden...DELICIOUS! Super easy too!! A winner!
Faith VanderMolen says
Yay! So so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for sharing!
Jose says
My whole family loved this. I love that it's packed with vegetables and so tasty. I will definitely be making this again. I think the only change I made was to add black pepper and a little more garlic. Wonderful soup. Thank you!
Faith VanderMolen says
Oh black pepper is a must! I add it to everything, so I'm surprised I didn't write it in the recipe card. Thanks Jose! So glad you all enjoyed it!
Sara says
This looks so delicious! I wanted to know if full-fat coconut milk can replace the cashew cream and if I can omit the celery? Thank you!
Faith VanderMolen says
Hi Sara! I'm sure omitting the celery would be fine. It just may affect the flavor/cause you to add a little more salt. As for coconut milk, I haven't tried it. I love using coconut milk in creamy soups, but I don't know how it would taste in a tomato soup as it has a stronger flavor than cashews. If you try it out, let us know how it goes! You can also just omit it for a lighter tomato soup.
Helen says
I was doing a post holiday cleanse/reset and didn't have the usual ingredients for a zucchini fennel soup I make (missing the fennel). So....I stumbled across your recipe and absolutely loved it! I made it without the cashews as I was trying to stick to vegetables only, and honestly, it was still incredibly rich and creamy in my mind. Definitely a keeper for a homemade tomato soup - thank you so much, and Happy New year! (Helen, Canada)
Faith VanderMolen says
Oh that's so great to hear! I love this soup without the cashew cream as well! Thanks for sharing Helen!
Th says
This was such a warming & delicioys soup. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Faith says
So glad you enjoyed it! I'm having it for lunch today!
Pat says
I made this tonight and it is FABULOUS! I like a little more tomato flavor so I pureed two additional cans of diced tomatoes and added a teaspoon of basil. Wonderfully healthy and soooo delicious! I shared this link on my FB page as well. Thank you for this great recipe.
Faith says
Pat, that's music to my ears! Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed this recipe and found little tweaks to make it even better. I've actually been meaning to make this recipe as it's so delicious and full of nutrients. That's for sharing the recipe on your FB page too. And that's for letting me know that you had a good experience with this recipe. Enjoy!
Aline Charbonneau says
Getting ready to make this soup for supper. I have everything fresh from my garden, except the cashews of course. Can't wait to taste.
Faith says
Oh yum! I love this soup and have been wanting to make it for a while! Let me know how you like it!
josephine bourke-cockerill says
Thank you so much for this recipe. I'm just about to give it a try. I have one question, do you know if it will freeze OK? I'm hoping to save some in the freezer. Many thanks
Faith says
You're so welcome Josephine! I hope you enjoy it as it's one of my favorite recipes on the blog. I've never frozen it before so I can't say for sure. I would recommend freezing it without the cashew cream and then adding that in after you defrost it. Let me know how it works out!
Ashlae says
Made this for dinner tonight and it was SO DANG good. I served it with homemade garlic bread and I'm pretty sure it's officially my new favorite dinner ever.
Faith says
That's great news Ashlae!! I'm honored you made one of my recipes...I love your blog! Thanks so much for letting me know you enjoyed it! It's one of my favorites...I've been eating it the past two weeks straight:)
Leigha @ The Yooper Girl says
The cashews look just like cream in the picture! I had a creamy tomato basil soup tonight for dinner but this sounds even better with all the other veggies. Not to mention it's vegan, which the one that I ate was definitely not, haha 🙂 but it was already made for me so I'm not complaining!
Faith says
Doesn't it? Thanks Leigha! And you can never go wrong with free food! I'm sure that tomato basil soup was amazing...it sounds like it!
Tina Muir says
You know whats funny Faith, today I HAD oatmeal for the first time in a while, it sounded better than cereal.....maybe we have switched haha. This sounds wooonndderrffuulll! Perfect for a cold day like today! Thanks for linking up 🙂
Faith says
Haha no way! Maybe there's something in the air;) Thanks Tina!
Liv @ Healthy Liv says
I love smoothies, but being in a college dorm room, oatmeal is the easiest thing to make every day, so I don't let myself get tired of it 😉 Love creamy tomato soup and grilled cheese! And I love that you snuck zucchini into it, too. I just pinned the recipe!
Faith says
You gotta do what you gotta do in college:) And I'll always love oatmeal! Nothing beats a warm panini and a big bowl o' soup. I hope you can make it soon! It's my favorite soup recipe I've made so far!
Sarah says
This sounds so warm and comforting right now! I think I even have everything to make it!
Faith says
Do it Sarah! It's my favorite soup I've made so far:)
Deborah @ Confessions of a Mother Runner says
ooh I love the addition of cashews! Thanks for linking up with us today-there is nothing better than tomato soup!
Faith says
Thanks Deborah! I know this soup is so similar to my last one, but their just so easy, nutritious and comforting! I can't seem to stop making them;)
Pragati // Simple Medicine says
Your pictures are beautiful! And this soup is right up my ally. I love soup. Filling, warming, easy to pack in a lot of nutrients. It's basically perfect.
Faith says
Thanks so much Pragati! And I totally agree with you. Soup is just the way to go when you want something comforting, but nutritious!