Creamy Summer Zucchini Soup (dairy-free)
This creamy, refreshing soup is a great way to use up all of that zucchini growing in your garden! Or, perhaps you bought too much from the Farmer's Market and need more ideas on how to use it. This dairy-free zucchini soup doesn't use any type of cream, coconut milk, or nuts to make it creamy. Just a few tablespoons of white rice does the trick!
My girls, who normally pick out zucchini in their meals, love this soup and asked for seconds this evening. Puréeing vegetables into a creamy soup usually doesn't cause the same food aversions in children as does eating the vegetable in its whole form!
I got the recipe idea for this soup during my appointment with my midwife today. She actually gave me a few ideas of how to use zucchini that I had not thought of. The verbal recipe she gave me uses white rice, which is what I used. I believe cooked brown rice would work as well. I would add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of cooked brown rice. Don't use uncooked brown rice as it will not cook fully in the 15 to 20 minutes needed to simmer the soup. You could also use uncooked quinoa, or even 1/2 cup of almond flour if you are grain-free.
Creamy Summer Zucchini Soup
This beautiful dairy-free summer soup is made with summer squash! Use either green zucchini, yellow zucchini, or patty pan squash in this recipe. I usually use either yellow zucchini or patty pan, or a mix of the two. The soup turns a bright, beautiful yellow hue, which is very appetizing! I also prefer to use a very flavorful homemade herbed chicken stock in this soup which gives it a deep, rich flavor. You could also use vegetable stock if you are vegan. Our family goes through an entire pot of this soup during one meal! If you are cooking for one or two people, you may want to freeze half of it for later.
To ensure a perfectly creamy soup that is not too thick, nor too thin, I would suggest starting with 6 to 7 cups of chicken stock or vegetable stock. You can always add more stock after you have puréed the soup to thin it down! I usually use the full 8 cups of stock; however, I also use a heaping 10 cups of zucchini because my gardens are usually overflowing with summer squash needing to be used!
- Heat a 6- or 8-quart pot over medium heat. Add the olive oil, then the onion, and sauté for 5 to 10 minutes or until onion softens and is beginning to change color.
- Add garlic and cumin and sauté a minute more.
- Then add chopped zucchini, white rice, and chicken stock.
- Cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until zucchini is tender and rice is cooked.
- Add cilantro and lemon juice to the pot. Use your Immersion Blender to puree the soup right in the pot (less dishes to clean this way), OR remove pot from heat and puree in your blender or Vitamix in batches. I like to toss in the whole bunch of cilantro to one of the batches after I have already puréed it some. This way the cilantro doesn't totally break down while you are puréeing the soup.
- Pour soup into another clean pot or bowl, stir batches together, and taste. If it needs a flavor boost, add Herbamare or sea salt to taste.
- The soup should last in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Use this recipe in our Meal Planner
About the Author
Ali Segersten
Alissa Segersten holds a Bachelor's of Science in Nutrition from Bastyr University and a Master’s of Science in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine from the University of Western States. She is a Functional Nutritionist, the mother of five children, a whole foods cooking instructor, professional recipe developer, and cookbook author. She is passionate about helping others find a diet that will truly nourish them. Alissa is the author of two very popular gluten-free, whole foods cookbooks and guidebooks: The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook and Nourishing Meals. She is also the co-author of The Elimination Diet book. Alissa is the founder and owner of Nourishing Meals®.Nourishing Meals Newsletter
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I made this a few days ago and it turned out delicious. Used almond flour instead of rice, and didn't have any cilantro, so added some ground coriander seeds to the cumin instead. My husband loved it and requested it again today. Thank you!
Must be zuke season. Last comments were in Aug.'11 and here we are, Aug.'12... ha! I can't wait to make this soup this weekend. looks to be just what I need.
Thanks also to comment from Joelle as I am not fond of cilantro, like the current trend is. A little goes a long way, and I was wondering about that! I would probably use a quarter of the amount called for and personally would not miss it if not there at all ;-)
I made this last night and topped it with fresh avocado slices. Delicious. A wonderful leftover lunch on this rainy day. Thanks for sharing.
Yummy! Excellent the day after too. We used quinoa and it turned out great! We also added a fair bit of pepper.
I love this soup so much I have already made a couple batches, and I enjoy it immensely just as it's written, which is unusual for me. Thank you.
My mom made this recipe and it turned out great.
I can't wait to try this! What a perfect way to end summer, thanks for sharing.
http://cleanlivingidirtyworld.blogspot.com/
This soup looks absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing! I can't wait to make it... in fact, I have the urge to go grocery shopping ASAP. ;)
Given the date on this posting, I'm wondering if you've had some wonderful stuff happen in the meantime! Wishing all kinds of health and blessings on the whole family!
--Ninufar
Mary
Wow, I love this recipe. Can't wait to cook it up! Great idea will try on the family.
May have to try this out. Wonder if my little one will like it.
Thank you for yet another wonderful recipe! We received a lot of zucchini from our weekly CSA, and I was struggling as to how I would make use of it all. It was delicious, and so easy to make. Thank you, again!
First, let me say that I love your blog, and your recipes look fantastic!
I made the Zucchini soup following your recipe, and it was great, but at the end I wanted a bit of flavor boost, so I added about a teaspoon of white pepper and 1/2 teaspoon of celery seeds. My husband loved it - and he has no idea how healthy it is!
Thank you so much for sharing your work!
Yum!!! This looks like the perfect thing to make with the extra zucchini that I have! :)
We love zucchini and soup. Since this is both will definitely have to try it.
Made this last night and it was delicious! My girls (7 and 4) loved it as well! I did not have any rice so I used 1/2 cup cashews and 2 tbls. white rice flour. I got this from your mushroom soup recipe. I loved the fresh flavors and that I no longer have a fridge full of squash!!
Does patty pan squash work in this?
We enjoyed this. We have used potatoes for the creamy texture before, but I have never thought of using rice...which is awesome because one of my older children can't eat potatoes...and well, they just not that good for you - at least with rice, you can go brown. My husband likes to chew on stuff when he eats soups so after I blended everything up, I added a little more rice, asparagus, green beans and squash, and just let them sit/cook with the soup on very low. Added red peppers on top afterward.
I sure would like to know how much a bunch of cilantro is though. I put some in, and it came out pretty strong. We didn't even need to add any on top.
Thanks for the recipe to use up some of the zucchini...I made the bread too with chocolate chips. = )
That looks so delicious! I'm going to have to make this.
Yum! Perfect idea for this weekend ~ I actually have all the ingredients :)
Thanks!!
This looks SO good, and I love that it's freezable! Any reason that brown rice wouldn't work in place of white?
Thanks! :)
Ali,
I've been thinking of you and praying all is going well with you. I imagine it's getting really exciting at your home preparing and anticipating the new baby!
This recipe looks wonderful and I will definitely try this with my zucchini picky eaters, too. Thanks,
dear for nourishing us all!
Wow! This sounds fantastic! Can't wait to try this on the family!
I love your recipes!! This sounds delicious and so easy to make! Thank you! Hope your pregnancy is going well!!
ooh this looks so good! I have hoards of zucchini and patty pans that need to be used up. Did you know you can also freeze zucchini? Chop it, blanch it for 2 minutes, stick it in ice water, then freeze. I use this all year round in soups and stews. I've also grated it and frozen it for zucchini bread. Thanks so much Ali for all of your seasonal recipes! Looking forward to hearing about the new baby, -Jenny.