Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Potatoes create a perfectly creamy roasted red pepper soup without using any heavy cream or dairy. This easy-to-make soup prepared with simple ingredients comes out so heavenly and flavorful! Even better, skipping the cream makes this soup vegan and inexpensive to prepare.

This soup works great all year around! The light flavors make it great for the summer while it's still warming during the colder months.

Keep things simple and serve it up with your favorite crusty bread or make your own! I love it with a square of vegan jalapeno cornbread, vegan focaccia, or homemade dinner rolls.

If you love the flavors of this simple soup, you might also enjoy this Turkish red pepper and tomato soup or this vegan tomato bisque.

Why This Recipe Works

• Side Dish or Main Course. Just adjust the serving size depending on how you plan to use it! It’s light enough for a side dish but also satisfying as a main course.
• Budget-friendly. A simple short ingredient list makes this recipe a great way to save money at the grocery store. You can even make it less expensive by making your own roasted red peppers.
• Quick and easy. This soup is ready in less than 45 minutes and most of that time is cooking on the stove pretty much unattended. 

What Goes Into This Recipe

Simple, healthy ingredients go into this delicious creamy roasted red pepper soup!

• Russet potatoes: An inexpensive and easy-to-find option but you can also use Yukon gold potatoes.
• Unsweetened plant-based milk: Since the plant-based milk isn’t cooked at high heat for an extended amount of time in this recipe, you can use any type of plant milk. Just be sure that it doesn’t contain any sweeteners or flavors that may affect the taste of the soup. 
• Basil: Use fresh basil for the best flavor.
• Roasted red bell peppers: Storebought roasted red peppers are an easy solution especially if time is tight or you can use roasted red peppers you’ve made at home.

How To Make This Recipe 

• 1) First, boil the water in a large pot. Then add potatoes and salt and cook for about 30 to 35 minutes. The potatoes should be tender.

• 2) When ready, drain the water and rinse the potatoes. Transfer them to a food processor or blender. Add the plant-based milk and blend for 1 minute. The potatoes will have a creamy consistency.

• 3) Add the rest of the ingredients and blend again until smooth. If desired you can thin out the soup with additional plant-based milk and pulse to combine the ingredients. Stop when you reach the desired consistency. Reheat in a soup pot over low heat and serve.

Expert Tips and FAQs

• Avoid red potatoes. Use any all-purpose or fluffy potatoes to make soup. Waxy potatoes, such as the red ones, will result in a stickier, glue-like consistency.
• Cook with salt. Potatoes are one of those ingredients that need salt. Cooking them in salted water helps develop the flavors early on.
• Blending the soup. Use a high-speed blender for best results. If you don't have one, you may need to blend in batches with more liquid in the first batch and then add the thicker ingredients more slowly.

What to Serve With Creamy Red Pepper Soup

This soup is great just as it is but adding on some toppings can take it to the next level! Here are some of my faves!

• Chopped herbs
• Croutons
• Vegan cheese
• Sunflower or pumpkin seeds
• Crush up some crackers such as these vegan rosemary crackers or some homemade vegan cheese crackers
• Drizzle of vegan sour cream

And as a yummy add-on these sweet potato biscuits make a delicious side to serve!

More Easy Soup Recipes

• Vegan Tomato Basil Soup
• Mushroom Soup
• Coconut Curry Soup
• Hearty Kale and Bean Soup
• Kale and Quinoa Soup

Photos by Alfonso Revilla

My friend, Laura, at healthylivinglaura.com, created this recipe that my family just absolutely loved!!