Slow Cooker Cream of Broccoli Soup

This slow-cooker cream of broccoli soup is super easy to make with frozen vegetables. It's vegan, gluten-free, and features a lovely blend of flavors.

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 8

Total Time 8 15

Servings

Ingredients

Sesame Seasoning

¼ cup sesame seeds preferably unhulled
¼ tsp. fine sea salt
1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast flakes

Soup

1 potato medium, chopped into 1” cubes (don’t bother to peel)
2 cups frozen white pearl onions
1 cup frozen sweet corn
6 cups frozen broccoli florets
3 cups water
2 cups rice milk
1½ tsp. dried basil
½ tsp. dried tarragon
1 tsp. fine sea salt
¼ tsp. ground black pepper

Instructions

Sesame Seasoning*

Toast sesame seeds in a small dry skillet over medium heat – stirring constantly until seeds begin to pop and brown slightly. (About 5 minutes)
Add toasted seeds, ¼ tsp. salt and 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast to a high-speed blender and grind into a fine powder. (About 30 seconds)
Set aside to add to soup at the end of cooking.

Soup

Add potato, onions, corn, broccoli, and 3 cups of water to a 4-quart slow cooker. (The water won’t cover the veggies—that’s okay.)
Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. (Veggies should be soft but not mushy.)**
Turn off slow cooker and add rice milk, basil, tarragon, salt, pepper and the sesame seasoning you prepared earlier.
Blend 1-2 minutes with an immersion blender until soup reaches desired consistency.***

Notes

*You may wish to double the sesame seasoning recipe and save half of it in a sealed container for later use.

**I make this soup in my 25-year-old Crock-Pot. A newer slow cooker may require less cooking time.

***If you do not have an immersion blender, carefully ladle 1/3 of the soup into a blender and mix until smooth. Pour mixture into a warm holding pot and repeat until all of the soup is blended, then return mixture to slow cooker to keep warm.

Note: Nutrition information is a rough estimate for special dietary needs. I subscribe to the theories presented in the book Whole and believe we should focus on eating a variety of whole foods instead of counting calories or keeping track of individual nutrients.

Nutrition