Vegan Broccoli Potato Soup Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the best thickening agent for potato soup? ›

Cornstarch. Cornstarch is a very effective thickener, and a little bit can go a long way.

Perhaps the simplest approach is to flavor your soup with salt throughout the cooking process. Instead of waiting until the end of cooking to realize your soup lacks taste, you can add a bit of salt during each phase of cooking. Doing so will help bring out the flavors of each of the ingredients.

Add Flour Or Cornstarch

You can thicken soup by adding flour, cornstarch, or another starchy substitute. For the best results, never add flour or cornstarch directly to your soup. If you do, it will clump up on top. Instead, ladle a small amount of broth into a separate bowl and let it cool.

Another option for thickening soup is by using dairy like sour cream or yogurt. Start with a small dollop and stir before checking the consistency and adding more. We recommend using plain yogurt so you don't alter the taste of the soup. You can also use cream if you prefer.

Cream cheese can be a delicious and tangy thickener for mashed potatoes so it stands to reason that it can also be used to add body to your favorite silky potato soup recipes — right? The answer is yes. It only works well if you do it carefully, though.

pureeing cooked vegetables and stock — this is the method I use most often. I like to take a cup of vegetables and stock (leave any pieces of animal protein in the pot) from the cooked soup and blend them in a blender or mini food processor and then add it back to the pot.

Once the potatoes are nice and soft, stir in the cheddar cheese and Greek yogurt (or sour cream), salt, pepper and cooked bacon bits. Taste and season with extra salt and pepper, if needed.

You can also add some grated cheese. I would use a hard cheese like Parmigiano or Romano. Now just season to taste. With a simple soup like potato, I would stick to salt and pepper only.

Incorporate potatoes.

Try adding instant potato flakes, mashed potatoes, or additional diced potatoes to a potato soup to thicken it at any point in the cooking process.

Can you use instant potatoes to thicken potato soup? ›

Honestly, if you just stir in a little instant mash, like Smash, your soup will thicken up in no time at all. Now, you may end up needing more than a spoonful, but it's best to add a little at a time, because remember, you can always add more of it, but you can't take it away.

Swap in nut milk, either almond or cashew, in place of the cow's milk or cream. If the soup still seems too thin, cook it a little longer than normal to reduce some of the liquid. Make sure to do this uncovered so the liquid evaporates.

To replace 1 cup (237 mL) of heavy cream in your recipe, add 2 tablespoons (19 grams) of cornstarch to 1 cup (237 mL) of milk and stir, allowing the mixture to thicken. You can use whole milk or opt for skim milk to help slash the calories and fat content of your recipe.

Yogurt. Yogurt is your best substitute for sour cream. Whether you're baking or making a dip or sauce, yogurt is a 1:1 sub. That means if your recipe calls for 1 cup of sour cream, you can replace it with 1 cup of yogurt.

Full-fat Greek yogurt will offer the closest approximation of sour cream's flavor and texture, and can be used as a one-to-one replacement for sour cream. If you'd like, you can stir some heavy cream into any percentage of Greek yogurt to give it a somewhat richer body and higher fat content.

Add flour or cornflour

Put a tablespoon of either into a small bowl and stir in 2-3 tbsp of the soup until you have a smooth mixture. Stir this back into the soup and bring it to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes to allow the starch granules to burst to thicken, and to cook out any flour flavour.

It's important to note that cornstarch has twice the thickening power of flour. If you need to substitute cornstarch to thicken liquid in a recipe that calls for ¼ cup (four tablespoons) flour, you only need two tablespoons cornstarch.

cooking sauce or soup. Arrowroot starch thickens very quickly and it is unnecessary to bring the mixture to a boil for it to work. Cornstarch, on the other hand, requires heating the mix- ture to a boil to fully thicken the mixture and to avoid any “starchy” taste or texture in the fin- ished product.

Potato starch has a lower gelatinization temperature than cornstarch, meaning it can thicken liquids faster when exposed to heat. If not fully cooked, cornstarch tends to leave behind residual, well, starchiness, whereas potato starch gives sauces a glossier, silkier texture.