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This healthy, dairy-free zucchini soup recipe gets its silky, creamy texture from the addition of a few potatoes and just a dash of unsweetened almond milk. A surprisingly delicious soup to help you stock your freezer for cozy winter meals.
One of the things that I love about this time of year when we’re embracing all the flavors of the late-summer harvest season is that in indulging, you’re actually almost automatically making really healthy food choices at the same time. Of course, you don’t feel like you’re making healthy food choices because everything is at the absolute peak of flavor and is absolutely delicious. This zucchini soup might sound like an unusual choice, but if you love to eat zucchini and summer squash in other preparations, whether it’s fried, grilled, or in zucchini noodles, you absolutely have to try this zucchini soup. The first time I made it many years ago, I was amazed at how fresh and flavorful it was, and now it’s something I look forward to every year. The best part is that it freezes beautifully, so you can make a big batch and enjoy all the benefits of the summer harvest season all winter long.
Ingredients Needed for the Dairy-Free Zucchini Soup
You’ll need:
- Fresh zucchini from the garden or farmer’s market
- Potatoes
- Onion (White, yellow, or red will all do just fine)
- Vegetable broth or vegetable stock
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Ground sage
- Salt and pepper
- Unsweetened non-dairy milk (almond, oat, soy, etc.)
- Optional: garnish with crispy sage leaves
In this soup, like in all the best harvest-season recipes, simple ingredients lead to the best flavor. Try making your own veggie broth in the crock pot using scraps from other recipes to really make the most of the seasonal bounty.
When you’re cooking the soup, if it seems at first like there isn’t quite enough liquid, keep in mind that the zucchini will release a lot of liquid as it cooks, so don’t add any extra liquid until the cooking process is done.
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How to Make Zucchini Soup
This soup recipe is a great way to get an early jump on soup season and break out your favorite big dutch oven, which may have been sitting dormant all summer long. I have a big oval Le Creuset that I bought for myself for a 40th birthday present and I look for any excuse I can find to use it. It really is the most enjoyable and satisfying pot to cook in.
To prepare the soup, start by roughly chopping the zucchini, onions, and potatoes. Peel the potatoes if you like, or leave the skins on. Sautee the onions over medium heat in a little olive oil until they soften and start to become translucent, then add in the zucchini and potatoes and sautee everything together for another five to seven minutes longer, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon.
Pour in the broth, then sprinkle in the sage, salt, and pepper. Stir and bring the soup to a boil. Continue to cook at a low boil for another 15-20 minutes. When the potatoes are fully cooked, and the zucchini is beginning to break up slightly, add the non-dairy milk, then blend the soup using an immersion blender until you have a silky, blended consistency and a nice, fresh green color.
Taste the soup and adjust the seasonings as necessary, then serve immediately or allow it to cool before freezing.
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Ideas for Serving
This soup makes a savory vegetarian lunch when it’s served just as pictured with a drizzle of olive oil and a few crispy sage leaves for garnish. Pair your bowl of soup with a chunk of crusty bread or a handful of croutons, and you have the perfect mid-deal meal for a taste of summer on a chilly winter day.
For an easy-to-make, hearty comfort-food meal to serve for dinner on a weeknight, reheat the soup on the stove and add canned white kidney beans along with grated carrots and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Swirl the resulting spiced white bean soup with a tablespoon of fragrant homemade sunflower seed pesto and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.
This healthy, dairy-free zucchini soup recipe gets its silky, creamy texture from the addition of a few potatoes and just a dash of unsweetened almond milk. A surprisingly delicious soup to help you stock your freezer for cozy winter meals.
- 3 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Potatoes chopped
- 1/2 Onion chopped
- 3-4 Medium zucchini chopped
- 4 cups Vegetable stock
- 1/2 tsp Ground sage
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup Unsweetened non-dairy milk almond, oat, soy, etc.
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Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Add in the onion and sauté until it starts to soften and become translucent. Add in the potatoes and zucchini and saute, stirring continuously for about few minutes.
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Add the vegetable broth and bring the soup to a boil. Add the salt, pepper, and sage. Cook at a low boil for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes have softened and the zucchini breaks up.
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Remove the soup pot from heat and add the non-dairy milk. Puree the soup with an immersion blender until it's well blended and smooth. Taste the soup and adjust the seasonings according to taste.
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Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.