Dairy-free Broccoli Soup with Bacon

Who gets excited about vegetable soups!? I do!! Being the meat lover that I am, I never would have guessed how much I love my vegetable soups. Of all the cooks in my family, I am usually the one who wants to try a new vegetable soup recipe for dinner. This dairy-free broccoli soup with bacon is fantastic! It’s creamy, flavorful, and healthy for you! Not to mention it’s loaded with dairy-free cheese and topped with bacon! If having broccoli in a soup throws you off, hold on a second. I seriously think you are going to love this soup and it will be a hit with modern pioneers of all ages!

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Modern Pioneer Recipe

This soup is wholesome, simple, and definitely made with pioneer ingredients, however, I still consider it a modern pioneer recipe. I’m not sure how many vegetable soups the early pioneers made since a lot of their diet consisted of high-protein meat to sustain their laborious lifestyle.

But broccoli does make for an absolutely amazing soup! And I’m sure once the pioneers settled down to homesteading, they may have experimented with creamy, cheesy, vegetable soups. When I first started making vegetable soups, my mom and sister were very skeptical. How can butternut squash or cauliflower make a delicious soup? Don’t ask me how, but they are some of my favorite soups to make and eat. My mom and sister love them too and are always asking me to make them again!

Dairy-free broccoli bacon soup is the same way. In some ways it doesn’t seem like you are eating broccoli. For those of you who don’t care for broccoli, I encourage you to give this soup a try, you may find that this is the only way you will eat broccoli. Maybe it’s the bacon, or the creamy cheese and milk, or maybe it’s just all those flavors and textures combined, but this soup is one you have to try in order to believe how good it is!

After you try this broccoli soup, you will definitely want to give this dairy-free butternut squash soup or this dairy-free cauliflower soup a try!

Simple Modern Pioneer Recipe

Not only is this broccoli soup delicious, but it is healthy for you and simple to make. Sometimes recipes that contain fruits and vegetables are immediately pegged as healthy (I’m especially thinking of desserts). However, sometimes those fruit and vegetable recipes contain lots of sugar or dairy, which really outweigh any of the benefits you might get from the fruit or vegetable.

Not so with this soup! It contains all the benefits of the vegetables it contains without any ‘bad’ ingredients to cover them up! This broccoli soup is…

• gluten-free
• grain-free
• dairy-free
• corn free
• egg free
• nut free
• anti-inflammatory

It’s also super easy to make! The hardest part is washing and cutting up all the vegetables that it contains. Then you just throw everything in the crockpot and wait for dinner to be ready! It can easily be started in the morning so that you have dinner all ready for the evening. You can also whip it up super quick in the Instant Pot!

Need another quick soup recipe to add to the homestead menu? Make sure you check out this simple grain-free chicken noodle soup or this amazing venison stew soup!

Benefits of Broccoli

Since this soup really does contain wholesome, beneficial ingredients, I can rant and rave about all the health benefits you are receiving from the broccoli in this soup!

Another nice thing about this soup is that the key ingredient is, well…. broccoli! That means in one serving of soup, you are still getting enough broccoli to provide you with health benefits! The other vegetables are just tagging along, but you still get nutrition from them as well.

Here are a few healthy highlights you will receive from the broccoli in this soup:

• Vitamins & Minerals– Broccoli is a vitamin and mineral storehouse! It contains significant amounts of vitamins C, A, K, and B9 as well as potassium and phosphorus!
• Fiber & Protein– Compared to other vegetables, broccoli is a great source of plant-based protein and fiber.
• Antioxidant Rich– Broccoli is full of antioxidants which help with eye health, boosting the immune system, and reducing oxidative stress!
• Reduces Inflammation– It is naturally anti-inflammatory and actual contains compounds that may help reduce inflammation.
• Fights Cancer– Being a cruciferous vegetables, broccoli is a great cancer fighter!
• Good Gut Health– Broccoli helps keep your gut healthy and encourages the growth of good gut bacteria.
• Skin & Joint Benefits– Contains benefits that help your skin, bones, joints, and teeth healthy! Plus, the bone broth in this soup is excellent for maintaining healthy bones and joints too.

All these benefits in a bowl of delicious soup! Can dinner get any better!? Sure it can, it just depends on what you serve with it….

What to Serve with Broccoli Soup

Don’t get me wrong, this soup is delicious all by itself and can easily be a satisfactory dinner. Its got your protein and vegetables already in it and it is filling. However, in my family, we like to serve a little extra to go alongside our soup. Doesn’t matter what kind of soup it is, we always like making a little side to accompany the soup. Plus, serving a side makes the soup go further so that we can have some leftovers for freezing or eating the next day.

Typically the soup side is a bread product, a healthy bread product. Depending on what type of soup is being served may influence what side is served. Chili soups and stew soups pair nicely with a grain-free baguette or grain-free cheese rolls. Chicken soup is sometimes paired with a grain-free muffin or gluten-free coffee cake. If we are really lucky, grain-free donuts or cinnamon rolls get served with the soup!

With vegetables soups, there is a wide range of bread products that would pair nicely with the soup. Here are some of my favorites that would go great with this dairy-free broccoli bacon soup!

• grain-free chocolate chip banana bread
• grain-free soft-baked pretzels (recipe coming soon!)
• gluten-free chocolate chip muffins
• grain-free bread rolls
• gluten-free scones
• grain-free pumpkin coffee cake
• Sami’s millet hamburger buns (for bread soup bowls!)

What’s your favorite side to serve with soup?

Broccoli Soup Recipe Tips

Like I mentioned earlier, this soup is really easy to make! There’s not much that could go wrong. However, if it is your first time making a broccoli soup, you may be a little nervous about how it is going to turn out.

Here are some recipe tips to ensure that your soup turns out a success!

• Homemade Broth– Use homemade bone broth! Homemade broth tastes the best and contains more health benefits. I recommend chicken broth, but venison, beef, or turkey broth would work fine too.
• Dairy-free Milk– Any kind of dairy-free milk will work in this soup. I recommend coconut milk beverage, but oat milk, almond milk, or canned coconut milk will also work.
• Wash Well– Thoroughly wash your broccoli! Organic broccoli has not been treated with chemicals, which means you may get the full experience of what nature has to offer (aka. aphids or bugs).
• Chop or Slice- Everything will get blended in the end, so you can choose to either thin slice your veggies or chop them.
• Smooth or Chunky– Speaking of blending, pureeing the soup is actually optional. The soup will be just fine if you don’t blend it, but the texture is smooth and creamy if you do blend it prior to serving.
• Dairy-free Cheese– Any dairy-free cheese alternative will work in this soup. I like to use Daiya or SoDelicious cheese shreds.
• Fresh or Frozen– I used fresh broccoli in my soup but you can make it with frozen broccoli. Since frozen broccoli has already been blanched, you don’t have to add it until and hour or two before blending and serving the soup.

Now I hope you are super excited to try this dairy-free broccoli soup! I know I can’t wait to make it again! The flavor is amazing, and it’s the best way to eat broccoli ever! The texture is smooth and creamy, just what you would expect in a creamy vegetable soup. Go ahead, give this healthy, simple soup a try!

Where to Find the Ingredients

• Noble Made organic all purpose seasoning
• Pacific coconut milk
• Pacific oat milk
• Native Forest coconut milk
• Pompeian olive oil
• Supplies: 6 qt. crock-pot, Vitamix, Instant Pot Max

Dairy-free broccoli soup is healthy, delicious, and simple. It retains all the health benefits that broccoli has to offer plus some extra benefits from the other vegetables and bone broth that is in the soup. Don’t forget that you can serve this soup up with your favorite gluten-free or grain-free side dish! Top it off with some dairy-free cheese, steamed broccoli florets, and crumbled bacon to really turn this into a fancy but simple homestead meal. Taste and texture is everything with a vegetable soup, and this broccoli bacon soup nails both! Creamy and flavorful, you are going to love this soup!

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by Alexa