Dairy Free,  Gluten Free,  Main Course,  Recipe,  Sides,  Vegan,  Vegetarian

Irish “Cheddar” Potato Soup (Vegan+GF)

Are you feeling lucky today?

I’m feeling pretty lucky but it has more to do with deliciousness than leprechauns and clovers. I have to say that I’ve never really gotten the whole St. Patrick’s day thing but it is fun to have a theme to go with.

So what exactly makes this soup Irish? Um, actually I don’t know. I mean, it’s got potatoes so doesn’t that automatically make it count. Hmmm, that sounds kind of discriminating. I bet the Irish get annoyed by everyone thinking they live on potatoes. I’ve live in Idaho for years now and I can’t tell you how many people have asked me if we ate a lot of potatoes. It’s very annoying, let me tell you.

It is almost shamrock day though, and I don’t want you to feel like I’m a party pooper so we’re sticking with the name. Even though it is basically just a really good loaded potato soup.

This is one of my new go-tos for dinner. In fact, it was such a hit the first time that I went through the effort of remaking it and taking a second set of pictures because remember how I said my SD card died? Well I lost the first set.

I love how easy it is, well compared to most of the meals that I make. You see, I do so much from scratch, like everything. When I make soups like this I always start by making the stock, which adds an hour, and then there are no short-cuts here as far as ingredients. Every veggie is fresh and needs to be washed and peeled and chopped and what not. Add to these things the fact that I do the cooking for 12 people now and you’ll understand why I enjoy making things in one pot.

Anyway, this soup is simple, easy, and a winner every time and I really hope you make it and enjoy it.

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Irish Cheddar Potato Soup (Vegan)

Satisfy your cravings for comfort food with this creamy, savory, loaded potato soup!

Ingredients

  • 5 large or 10 small red skin potatoes (peeled if desired), cut into cubes
  • 1 quart vegetable broth
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 4 stalks celery finely chopped
  • 1 medium onion finely chopped
  • 1 cup broccoli florets roughly chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/4 cup almond meal/flour
  • 1 teaspoon fresh dill or 1/2 dried
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme or 1/2 dried
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1/2 cup sweet potato puree or pumpkin puree
  • 2 cups unflavored plant-based milk I used almond
  • 2 tablespoons worchestershire *see note
  • 1 teaspoon liquid smoke optional
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 3/4 cup vegan cream cheese
  • 1/3 cup nutritional yeast or more to taste
  • salt and black pepper to taste

Optional Toppings

  • chopped green onions
  • shredded non-dairy cheese
  • "bacon bits"

Instructions

  1. Combine potatoes, celery, onion, broccoli, garlic, and oil in a medium or large pot or dutch oven and saute, stirring often, for about 10 minutes until browned. Add the almond meal to pot along with dill, thyme, and garlic powder and stir over heat to toast the almond for about 2 minutes.

  2. Add the broth, pumpkin (or sweet potato), worchestershire, smoke, and lemon then reduce heat to medium. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

  3. Reduce heat to low and measure out about 3 cups of the soup in a glass measuring cup. Pour into a blender or food processor and pulse until smooth then return to pot to add creaminess. (Alternatively, you can use an immersion blender and simply puree part of the soup as desired.)

  4. Stir in milk, "cream cheese", nutritional yeast, and season to taste with salt and pepper then turn off heat.

  5. Serve hot topped with crumbled "bacon", cheese, and green onions.

Recipe Notes

Be sure to use a brand of worchestershire sauce that you've checked the ingredients because most worchestershires contain anchovy. Annie's makes a good one.

For the "bacon" bits I used the bacon bits from this taco salad recipe.


15 Comments

  • Jessica | A Happy Food Dance

    March 5, 2015 at 3:45 pm Reply

    Happy Blog-versary! I’m so glad you decided to say something, it’s a huge accomplishment and you should celebrate! Mean commenters are the worst – I had a girl write the meanest comment under a frosting recipe. Who knew frosting could get you so angry?! Another guy said my recipe was so common, why would I even bother. At the time they upset me, but now I find them funny. Anyway, soup looks amazing (pinned) and congrats!

    • Tori

      March 5, 2015 at 4:27 pm Reply

      That’s such a lame thing to say! That guy should have realized that if it’s common then that means it’s a good one and needs to be shared as many times as possible. Besides, I’m sure you put your own spin on it.
      Thank you so much, Jessica!

  • CakePants

    March 5, 2015 at 3:56 pm Reply

    This soup looks fantastic, just what I’ve been needing while I’m waiting eagerly for warmer weather to arrive! Happy first blogiversary! I actually thought you’d been doing this much longer – your photos are always so gorgeous and your recipes are downright mouthwatering 🙂

  • Beebah

    March 5, 2015 at 5:02 pm Reply

    Oh, Happy Blogiversary! It’s an amazing Blog! And even your early pictures are better than many I’ve seen! It’s my favorite thing to read with my morning coffee!! And your make it fun with your humor and personality! I look forward to your second year!!

  • Kathi

    March 6, 2015 at 12:13 am Reply

    I’m so glad I ran into your mom the last time you were up in Idaho, and that she told me about your blog. You are a delightful writer and a gifted photographer, and my kids and I enjoy it every day. We have made many of the recipes. The cheesy polenta tamale is a dinner favorite! Keep it up.

    • Tori

      March 6, 2015 at 9:37 am Reply

      Wow, I remember her telling me about you and your family and I’m so surprised that you have followed the blog! Thank you so much for your support!

  • Lynn | The Road to Honey

    March 6, 2015 at 12:26 am Reply

    Happy 1 year blog-iversary. You should feel really proud that you have stuck with your blog and continued to grow. I started my blog a couple of months ago. . .so not been around quite as long as you have. . . but i totally get the feelings of looking back and being embarrassed by older posts (I look back 2 posts ago and am embarrassed). But it’s all part of the growing process. It has been really helpful for me to look back at where my favorite bloggers started because I realize that I’m not doing so bad after all and it gets me excited as to where I could potentially go in the future as I build my skills. BTW. . . I’m still baffled by people stopping by to make negative comments. If they don’t like what you are doing. . .why stop by the blog in the first place? Anyhow, I think you are doing a nice job.

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