Creamy Homemade Vegetable Soup
This Creamy Homemade Vegetable Soup is thick, velvety, and made in one pot with a hand blender. No roux, no cream, no chopping marathon. Just broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery, and corn simmered in seasoned stock until everything falls apart, then blended smooth.
This one reminds me of home. In Ireland it’s known as funeral soup, and you’ll see it called Irish funeral soup over here. It makes 8 servings, freezes well, and reheats better than most soups since there are no noodles or potatoes to go mushy. Serve it the Irish way with a thick slice of my Irish Brown Bread and lots of butter.
What Is Irish Funeral Soup?
In Ireland, a smooth blended vegetable soup is on the menu in nearly every pub and café, and a lot of people call it funeral soup because it’s what you’re handed after a funeral. It’s easy to make in a big pot, it feeds a crowd, and it’s served with thick slices of buttered brown bread. The classic version is usually potatoes, leeks and carrots. Mine uses broccoli and cauliflower instead, which makes it creamy without any cream and helps it freeze better.
Why you’ll love this Creamy Homemade Vegetable Soup
Easy Creamy Homemade Vegetable Soup for Busy Weeknights and Meal Prep.
Over here it’s my Sunday soup. Twenty minutes of prep, 45 minutes of simmering while you do something else, then a quick blend and it’s done. Portion it into containers for lunches, or serve it on a busy night with grilled cheese or a warm Skillet Cornbread.
Ingredients Needed for Creamy Homemade Vegetable Soup
- Onion: One medium onion, diced. It goes straight into the pot raw and softens as the soup simmers, so there is no need to cook it first.
- Carrots: Four to five carrots, peeled and sliced. They add natural sweetness and give the finished soup its warm color.
- Celery: Three stalks, sliced. Celery is the background flavor here. You will not taste it on its own, but the soup tastes flat without it.
- Broccoli florets: Five to six cups, about two crowns. Use the stalks too if you like. Peel them and slice them thin and they blend down with everything else.
- Cauliflower florets: Seven to eight cups, about one large head. This is what makes the soup thick and creamy after blending, so do not cut back on it.
- Sweet corn: One can, drained. It adds little pops of sweetness that balance out the broccoli and cauliflower.
- Chicken stock: Eight cups. Use a good one because it is the base of the whole soup. Swap in vegetable stock to make it vegetarian.
- Chicken bouillon powder: One tablespoon. This is what takes the soup from fine to actually seasoned. It deepens the stock without extra work.
- Salt and black pepper: Half a teaspoon each to start. You will taste and adjust at the end once the soup is blended.
- Dried thyme and dried oregano: One teaspoon each. Both hold up well through a long simmer and give the soup a savory, herby base.
- Garlic powder: Two teaspoons. Sounds like a lot. It is not. Garlic powder distributes evenly through a blended soup in a way fresh garlic does not.
How to Make Creamy Homemade Vegetable Soup
**For more detailed instructions, please refer to the printable recipe card below.**
- Add the onion, carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower and corn to a large soup pot.
- Pour in the chicken stock and add the bouillon powder, salt, pepper, thyme, oregano and garlic powder. Bring it to a gentle boil over medium-high heat, then turn it down to medium-low and simmer for 35 to 45 minutes until the vegetables are very soft.
- Blend right in the pot with a hand blender until smooth and creamy.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning, then serve with a swirl of cream and some fresh parsley if you like.
Variations
- Make it vegetarian: Swap the chicken stock for vegetable stock and use vegetable bouillon powder. Everything else stays exactly the same.
- Add cheese: Stir a cup of shredded sharp cheddar into the hot soup after blending until it melts. It turns into something close to broccoli cheddar soup.
- Leave it chunky: Scoop out a couple of cups of vegetables before you blend, then stir them back in. You get a creamy base with bite.
- Stir in cream: A splash of heavy cream or half and half at the end makes it richer. The soup does not need it, but it is nice on a cold night.
- Add potato: One peeled and diced russet added at the start makes the soup even thicker. Just be aware it will not freeze as smoothly.
- Turn it into a meal: Stir in shredded rotisserie chicken or cooked sausage after blending. My Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup has a similar idea if you want something heartier from the start.
Serving Suggestions
- Serve with crusty bread: A slice of my Rustic Bread is made for dipping into this soup. If you want something heartier, my Irish Brown Bread works just as well with butter.
- Pair with grilled cheese: Cut it into strips for dunking. It is the combination everyone reaches for, and it turns a bowl of soup into a proper meal.
- Add a topping for texture: Since the soup is completely smooth, a little crunch on top goes a long way. Try croutons, toasted seeds, or crispy bacon bits.
- Finish with cheese or cream: A handful of shredded cheddar or a swirl of cream stirred in right before serving makes each bowl richer.
- Serve it as a starter: Ladle small cups before something bigger like my Slow Cooker Mississippi Pot Roast.
- Spoon it over a baked potato: Ladle the thick soup over a split baked potato for a filling lunch.
Storage and Freezing
How should I store Creamy Homemade Vegetable Soup?
Cool the soup, then store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. It thickens as it sits, so add a splash of stock or water when you reheat it. Reheat gently on the stove over medium-low heat, stirring now and then, or microwave in 1 minute bursts.
Can I freeze Creamy Homemade Vegetable Soup?
Yes, and it freezes really well. Because there are no noodles, potatoes, or dairy in it, the texture holds up. Cool the soup completely, then freeze in portions for up to 3 months. Leave an inch of space at the top of the container so it can expand. Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat on the stove. If it looks slightly separated, a quick whisk or another buzz with the hand blender brings it right back.
Can I make it ahead?
Yes. This is a good one to make on a Sunday for the week. You can also do the prep ahead and keep the chopped vegetables in the fridge for a day or two before cooking.
Don’t forget to pin this for later!
Tips & Tricks
- Cut everything roughly the same size: It all gets blended anyway, but evenly sized pieces cook at the same rate so nothing stays firm in the middle.
- Do not rush the simmer: The vegetables need to be very soft, not just tender. If the cauliflower still has bite, the soup will blend grainy instead of silky.
- Keep the blender head submerged: Tilt the pot slightly and move the hand blender around slowly. Lifting it above the surface splatters hot soup everywhere.
- Season at the end, not the start: The stock reduces slightly as it simmers, so the soup gets saltier. Taste after blending and adjust from there.
- Do not skip the bouillon powder: With no browning or sautéing in this recipe, the bouillon is doing a lot of the flavor work.
- Thin it to your liking: This soup is thick. If you want it looser, stir in extra stock a splash at a time until it looks right.
Recommended
More Easy Soup Recipes
Looking for More Soup Ideas?
If you like a smooth, blended soup, try my Slow Cooker Pumpkin Soup next. It uses the same trick of blending the vegetables until creamy.
Creamy Vegetable Soup (Irish Funeral Soup)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion diced
- 5 carrots peeled and sliced
- 4 celery stalks sliced
- 6 cups broccoli florets about 2 crowns
- 6 cups cauliflower florets about 1 large head
- 1 can sweet corn drained
- 8 cups chicken stock I make mine using Knorr bouillon powder
- 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
Optional Topping
- 1 tbsp cream
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley
Instructions
- Add the onion, carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, and corn to a large soup pot or Dutch oven.
- Pour over the chicken stock.
- Add the chicken bouillon powder, salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, and garlic powder.
- Bring the soup to a gentle boil over medium-high heat.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 35-45 minutes until the vegetables are very soft and tender.
- Use a hand blender to carefully blend the soup until smooth and creamy.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed before serving.
Notes
- Cut everything roughly the same size: It all gets blended anyway, but evenly sized pieces cook at the same rate so nothing stays firm in the middle.
- Do not rush the simmer: The vegetables need to be very soft, not just tender. If the cauliflower still has bite, the soup will blend grainy instead of silky.
- Keep the blender head submerged: Tilt the pot slightly and move the hand blender around slowly. Lifting it above the surface splatters hot soup everywhere.
- Season at the end, not the start: The stock reduces slightly as it simmers, so the soup gets saltier. Taste after blending and adjust from there.
- Do not skip the bouillon powder: With no browning or sautéing in this recipe, the bouillon is doing a lot of the flavor work.
- Thin it to your liking: This soup is thick. If you want it looser, stir in extra stock a splash at a time until it looks right.
We’ve had a rainy week so I knew I wanted something cozy and comforting to eat. This fit the bill perfectly! Love how many veggies were packed in here. The only change I made was using some veggie stock. This was so perfect with a grilled cheese on a rainy evening!
So glad this hit the spot on a rainy night, Courtney! Veggie stock is a great swap, and soup with a grilled cheese is a perfect pairing. Thanks so much for making it!