Vegan Potato Soup

A soupy and brothy, not creamy or cheesy, flavorful vegan potato soup. It’s so good you’ll want to make a double batch so that you have lots of leftovers.

 

Sometimes I want a soup with a bit of chew to it, instead of a creamy, smooth soup.

Fall is coming and I don’t know about you, but I am a big fan of soups for cool fall evenings. To be honest, I am a fan of soups for just about any meal. The possibility of flavors are endless and they generally require only one pot. Who isn’t a fan of only one dirty pot to wash?

If you follow Dr. McDougall, you have probably heard of his “Mary’s Mini” 10-day “re-set” diet. He is reluctant to call it a diet…it’s really more of a 10 day time period where you end up paying attention to your body’s natural signal to indicate that it is full. This is achieved by choosing only one starch to center your meals around. One starch for 10 days…each and every meal. Non-starchy veggies are added as sides, but the main part of your plate is filled with your chosen starch. If you’re curious about the Mary’s Mini, Chuck over at Brand New Vegan explains it thoroughly.

I chose potatoes as my starch because I love(d) potatoes.

I’ve fallen out of love the last few days. I only like them now and don’t mind if we don’t see each other again for a week or so.

During this last 10 days, I had to really think of ways to eat those potatoes. I ate hash browns, Potato Sauerkraut Bake, potato salad  and mashed potatoes and gravy. The gravy was controversial for the followers of Dr. McDougall, but making it without any flour seemed to make it compliant to me…hmmmm….

All of this was good, but I really needed something else to add to my meal rotation.

My mom came to the rescue with this recipe. She had made a similar recipe while I was growing up, but it generally had some sort of sausage in it. Now we make it with just plant-based ingredients and no oil is used to sauté the onions. If you want to learn how to sauté without using oil, read this Helpful Tips for a Successful Plant-Based Diet.

Gather your ingredients and let’s make soup!

We used Yukon Gold potatoes for this recipe, but I think just about any type of potato would work. Peeling is optional. Cube the potatoes into 1/2′ cubes

Dice your onions and chop or slice your celery. Dice or slice your carrots.

Start by sautéing the onions in a dry soup pot. Splash in some broth, water or wine to deglaze the pot if the onion begins to stick. This only takes a tablespoon at a time.

Once your onion begins to soften and become translucent. Press a few cloves of garlic through your garlic press or mince finely. Add to the pot and cook for about 30 seconds.

Add the celery and carrots and cook for a minute or so.

Once you’ve got a nice, aromatic thing going, add the broth and then the potatoes. Heat to an almost boil and then reduce heat to simmer. Add seasoning if using. Spike is excellent in this.

Simmer until the potatoes and carrots are fork tender.

During this cooking time, I sometimes add in various things. A couple tablespoons of tomato paste…leftover mashed potatoes and gravy…

During the last 10 minutes or so, add chopped spinach or chard and parsley.

You can serve it just like it is or do like I do….smash some of the potatoes a bit. Use a potato masher or a stick blender and just do it enough to break up some of the potatoes a bit.

I add a splash of my favorite hot sauce on my own serving…yeah!…as Emeril says…”Kick it up a notch”!