Zucchini Soup Recipe
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
This zucchini soup recipe is what you want to make while your garden is overflowing with summer squashes and tall bunches of fragrant dill. Like tomatoes and basil, zucchini and dill is just a love story, they belong together and one without the other just isn’t quite right. Made without heavy cream and finished with a good for you cashew sour cream instead, healthy, dairy-free and lovely served hot or cold like a gazpacho, the best!
Zucchini Soup
The perfect fusion between cream of zucchini soup and the classic rustic summer squash soup grandma’s used to make before the Vitamix and food processors replaced the nostalgic box grater. I love using both here, mixing the old with the new, dishing out healthy comforting flavor that is really nourishing to the body while tantalizing the taste buds.
About the Zucchini
No peeling the zucchini required, the skins are tender and packed with nutrients! You can use the green variety most commonly found at all markets during the summer months but also other varieties you might be growing in your own garden. I grew up with the striped Italian ones / Zucchini Striato d’Italia, Costata Romanesco and the yellow crookneck squash which has a thinner neck and fat bottom with a sweet buttery flavor profile. Choose a favorite or mix them up, it’s going to be delicious either way.
You’ll want to bring out your box grater for this one to achieve that old school rustic texture. I like to puree only a portion of the soup then mix it back in with the textured zucchini and carrot because that just feeds my soul on so many levels, starting with the grating process itself and ending with wiping my bowl clean with a pieces of homemade bread or tomato bruschetta. If you want to achieve a perfectly creamy soup then by all means puree the entire pot until silky smooth.
Fresh Dill
I’m so in love with the combination of dill and summer squashes that I wouldn’t even dream of making this soup without the dill. It’s one of those nostalgic flavor combinations like tomato basil soup where one without the other simply isn’t complete. Je ne sais quoi, must have it!
Cashew Sour Cream
Because this is a European version of the soup it’s simply not ready without the sour cream. It’s just how things are and once you taste it you’ll understand why. I make a good for you version in my Vitamix blender, stir a portion of it into the soup at the very end and serve the rest on the side. You can use a store-bought vegan sour cream if you don’t want to make it, but homemade is better especially for this soup. I save the store bought container for my cabbage stew where I just like a dollop on top.
Add Ins Suggestions
Besides tons of dill and vegan sour cream this soup is traditionally served with thinly sliced spicy peppers from the garden or fresh chopped up garden tomatoes. I like to add nutritional yeast in the broth both because it’s super delicious and packed with good for you B vitamins. You can expand on the classic recipe by adding a can of cannellini beans, broccoli florets and even potatoes into the mix.
On Storage
Like most soups this one keeps well in the fridge up to 5 days and can be frozen up to 5 months. Reheats beautifully on the stovetop or microwave oven. If your garden is overflowing with summer squashes that need using up, it’s a great idea to grate and freeze them alongside carrots for a great soup base ready to be made straight from the freezer late into fall and winter when the garden stops producing the beautiful produce.
Vegetable Soups
- Vegan Potato Soup
- Green Split Pea Soup
- Vegan Sweet Potato Soup
- Best Vegan Lentil Soup
- Amazing Garden Vegetable Soup
- White Bean Soup
- Dill Pickle Soup
- Creamy Vegetable Soup
- Chunky Potato Dill Soup.
How To Make the Best Zucchini Soup
Zucchini Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 3 garlic minced
- 1 carrot peeled + grated
- 5 small zucchini or yellow squash grated
- 4-5 cups water
- 2 bay leaf
- 2-3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp sea salt + more to taste
- 1/2 bunch fresh dill roughly chopped
- Black pepper freshly cracked
- Cashew Sour Cream
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Make Ahead Sour Cream: Soak the cashews in hot water for 20 minutes. Drain then add them to the Vitamix blender together with the water and lemon juice. Puree on the smoothie setting until silky and creamy smooth. Add another splash of water if you feel it needs it for the blender to run properly. Transfer to a container and refrigerate until needed.1 cup raw cashews, 1/3 cup lemon juice, 1/2 cup water
- Grate the zucchini through the larger side of a box grater and set aside. Grate the carrot.5 small zucchini or yellow squash
- Preheat a heavy bottom large soup pot over medium hight heat and sauté the onion and carrot with a pinch of salt until softened and the onion starts to get a little color. Push the veggies to the side, drizzle a little bit of olive oil in the center and add the garlic, cook just until fragrant and give everything a mix. (You can sautee In a light drizzle of olive oil or a splash of water for oil-free WFPB).1 yellow onion, 1 carrot, 3 garlic
- Add the grated zucchini, bay leaf and sea salt and turn up the heat. Stir and let everything cook together until the zucchini starts releasing its moisture. Stir in the nutritional yeast if using then add the water. (Use only 4 cups of water for a thicker soup and add more for desired consistency).5 small zucchini or yellow squash, 2 bay leaf, 2-3 Tbsp nutritional yeast, 1 tsp sea salt, 4-5 cups water
- Bring the soup to a simmer and partially cover with a lid. Cook for 20 minutes for the flavors to mingle then remove from heat. Discard bay.
- Carefully transfer about 1/3 of the soup to a powerful blender and puree on the hot liquid setting until silky smooth. Mix it back into the soup pot. Adjust seasonings to taste with more sea salt and freshly crackled black pepper.Black pepper
- Stir in about a 1/3 of the cashew sour cream and half of the dill. Taste and add more of each as desired or serve on the side alongside bread, fresh garden chili peppers or diced garden tomatoes with lots of black pepper.1/2 bunch fresh dill, Cashew Sour Cream
Notes
- Should I peel zucchini? - Absolutely NOT! The skins are tender, delicious and packed with vitamins so keep them on!
- On Storage - Like most soups this one keeps well in the fridge up to 5 days and can be frozen up to 5 months. Reheats beautifully on the stovetop or microwave oven. If your garden is overflowing with summer squashes that need using up, it’s a great idea to grate and freeze them alongside carrots for a great soup base ready to be made straight from the freezer late into fall and winter when the garden stops producing the beautiful produce.
I loved this soup so much, I made mine with yellow squashes because that’s what I have in my garden and it was absolutely delicious with fresh sliced up tomatoes and scallions mixed in. The cashew cream is so nice too, I’m definitely going to keep making this sour cream for tons of other uses.