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This Vegan Potato Kale Soup is a fabulous, comforting, warm-you-from-the-inside-out soup that is perfect for this time of year when we need something extra to keep us warm. It is super simple, colorful, nutritious and delicious. I love the multi-colored baby potatoes in this soup. It’s simply charming.

It’s a perfect choice when you need to get food on the table in a “jiffy” but have only a few ingredients in the fridge. A few potatoes and some kale, and you have the base for this beautiful soup.

Vegan potato kale soup recipe

How to Make Vegan Potato Kale Soup Extra Creamy:

In this potato kale soup, we get the creaminess from a can of full-fat coconut milk, using only the solid white coconut fat that usually sits at the top of a can of coconut milk. Using only the fat diminishes the coconut flavor of the soup but still gives that wonderfully creamy element to the soup. Sure, you can use other creamers too. We often use cashew creamer to add creaminess to dishes, and it works beautifully in this soup as well, but if you don’t have a blender or you want a quick option, a can of full-fat coconut milk may be just what you need. There are other commercial vegan creamers on the market, but be sure they are unflavored and unsweetened, or they may not bring the desired result.

Other Soup Recipes You May Like:

Potato soup served in a white bowl
Easy potato kale soup served with bread

What is Vegan Potato Kale Soup?

  • Vegan simply means this soup is made without animal or dairy products.  
  • It is a creamy, comforting soup made with baby potatoes, kale, onion, leek, and parsnip.
Sautéing chopped onion
Onion, garlic, leek, parsnip, and potato sautéing in a pot
Bacon potato kale soup circuit two white bowls

Why We Love this Soup Recipe:

Quick and Easy to make
Delicious & Beautiful
Requiring Few Ingredients
Healthy & Nutritious
Comforting
Made In One Pot

Vegan potato kale soup ingredients

Vegan Potato Kale Soup Ingredient List:

olive oil
onion, leek, parsnip
garlic cloves
vegetable stock & water
baby potatoes
fresh kale
vegan creamer
seasoning: Italian Seasoning, Salt, Better-Than-Bouillon, Crushed Red Pepper

Optional Garnishes:

How to Make Vegan Potato Kale Soup:

Chopping onion
Chopping leek for the potato kale soup
Chopping parsnip

Step one:

In a large saucepan, sauté onion and leek in olive oil until softened. Next, add the chopped parsnip and minced garlic. Sauté for a couple of minutes.

Adding olive oil to a pot
Sautéing chopped onion
Sautéing chopped leek
Sautéing onion and leek
Adding chopped parsnip
Adding minced garlic to the pot

Step two:

Add vegetable stock, water, sliced potatoes, Better-than-Bouillon, salt, crushed red pepper, and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover with a lid, and let simmer until the potatoes are fork-tender (20-30 minutes). Be sure not to overcook the potatoes; you want them to stay intact. When you can easily pierce the potatoes with a fork, you know they are ready to eat.

Adding the potatoes to the pot
Adding vegetable stock to the soup
Adding water to the soup
Adding better-than-bouillon to the soup
Italian seasoning
Adding salt to the soup
Adding crushed red pepper to the soup

Step three:

Add creamer, kale, and let simmer for 5 minutes.

Adding the chopped kale to the soup
Stirring the chopped kale into the soup
Adding coconut milk or plant-based creamer to the soup

Step four:

Add the optional margarine and salt to taste. If the soup seems thin, smash a few potatoes with a fork, and stir. Serve with French Bread, dinner rolls, or homemade croutons.

Serving the potato kale soup
Serving the potato kale soup

Recipe Variations/substitutions:

  • Make this soup with regular chopped potatoes instead of baby potatoes.
  • Peel the potatoes for a different look and slightly different taste.
  • To make this soup creamy, use an unflavored, unsweetened vegan store-bought creamer, or use a cashew creamer. See the recipe below.
  • You can blend the soup in a blender for an extra thick and creamy soup before adding the kale for some texture.
  • Kale can be substituted with Spinach.
  • For a cheesier taste, add some nutritional yeast to the soup.

How to Make Cashew Cream:

Soak 1/2 cup of cashew nuts overnight.
Rinse and add to a blender with 2/3 cup water.
Blend until smooth.
If you are short of time, you can do a quick soak: Add cashews to a cup of water and bring to a rapid boil. Let sit for 15 minutes. Rinse before adding them to the blender.

Potato soup served in a white bowl
Quick and easy vegan potato kale soup

Allergy-friendly Options:

Gluten-Free: Use a gluten-free vegan bouillon
Nut-free: Use a nut-free creamer
Soy-free: Naturally soy-free
Oil-free: Omit the oil and sauté onion in a few tablespoons of water

Serving Suggestions:

How to Store Vegan Potato Kale Soup:

  • Fridge: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. This vegan potato soup is generally better when eaten fresh. The consistency and flavor of the potatoes can change when stored.
  • Should you need to make this soup ahead of time, it may be wise to blend the soup in a blender. If you want to preserve the white color, add the kale after blending the soup. It will now store and freeze beautifully.
  • Freezer: Store the blended soup in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Vegan potato kale soup served in a white bowl with bread

Special Equipment or Tools:

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Large saucepan
Cutting Board & Chef’s knife
Potato peeler (optional)

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions:

What Types of Potatoes are the Best in this Soup?

  • Any type of potato will work in this soup. If you use large potatoes, be sure to cut the potato into bite-size pieces. You can also peel the potatoes if they are old or not so pretty.
  • The Baby potatoes are really cute in this soup, and if they happen to be multi-colored, they present a very attractive finished soup.
  • Yukon potatoes, baby potatoes, and even sweet potatoes should you prefer (hey, what can I say, I love sweet potatoes), are all good in this soup.
Petite potatoes
Potatoes
Slicing potatoes
Potatoes are ready to be added to the soup

What Other Vegan Creamers Can I Use?

  • Cashew cream: see the recipe above
  • Vegan Milk: keep in mind the soup will not be as creamy
  • Commercial unsweetened unflavored creamers like Oatly, Silk, etc.

Can I Make This Soup without a Creamer?

Absolutely, you can either skip the creamer altogether or blend some of the soup in a high-powered blender which will also make the soup creamier.

Kale on a cutting board
Chopping kale
Chopped kale

Can I Use Spinach instead of Kale?

Absolutely. Add Spinach at the very end of the cooking process. Spinach wilts quickly and will retain more of its nutritional value.

Vegan potato kale soup ingredients
Bacon potato kale soup circuit two white bowls
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Vegan Potato kale soup

Vegan Potato Kale Soup

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 5 reviews
  • Author: Chef Ani
  • Yield: Serves 4
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Description

This Vegan Potato Kale Soup is a fabulous, comforting, warm-you-from-the-inside-out soup. It is super simple, colorful, nutritious and delicious. I love the multi-colored baby potatoes in this soup. It’s simply charming.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1/2 cup finely sliced leek (optional)
  • 3 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 4 cups vegetable stock
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 pound baby potatoes, sliced into 1 in. slices
  • 1 small parsnip, diced (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
  • 1/8–1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons Better-Than-Bouillon (vegetable base) (use a GF bouillon for a GF option)
  • 1 cup finely minced fresh kale
  • 1 can full-fat coconut milk, solid part (See note below)
  • 1 tablespoon vegan margarine (Earth Balance – optional)

Garnish:

Instructions

  1. In a large saucepan, sauté onion and leek in olive oil until softened. Next, add the chopped parsnip and minced garlic, and sauté for a couple of minutes.  
  2. Add vegetable stock, water, sliced potatoes, salt, crushed red pepper, and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover with a lid, and let simmer until potatoes are fork-tender (20-30 minutes)
  3. Add creamer, kale, and Better-than-Bouillon, and let simmer for 5 minutes.
  4. Add the optional margarine and salt to taste. If the soup seems thin, smash a few potatoes with a fork, and stir. Serve with French Bread, dinner rolls, or homemade croutons.

Notes

Coconut Creamer: Most of the time a can of full-fat coconut milk will separate into a solid white part and liquid coconut water. We like to use the solid white part in this soup. Scoop it out of the can with a spoon. When you get close to the coconut water, preserve this part for a different recipe, like a smoothie. The reason for this is to diminish the coconut flavor in the soup. Should you have a can of coconut milk that has not separated, add about 1/2 cup to the soup. Taste and increase creamer according to taste.  

Another option for a plant-based creamer is Cashew Cream:

Presoak cashews for several hours before making the cream. If you do not have time to presoak the cashews, boil them in water and let them sit for 15 minutes. Drain & rinse. Add cashews to a blender with 3/4 cup water. Blend until smooth.  

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