You don’t need loads of cream to make a Creamy Zucchini Soup because the natural texture of cooked zucchini blends into a thick, silky soup. This is a bowl of goodness to warm your soul, it’s ultra tasty and yet only 220 calories for a big bowl, or 98 calories if you skip the cream!
Creamy Zucchini Soup
Let’s talk SOUP.
Specifically, Creamy Zucchini Soup. A HEALTHY one. I haven’t deliberately made this healthy, this is simply the way I make Cream of Zucchini Soup. And in fact, there’s a good glug of cream stirred into the soup at the end. Which you can afford to do because even with the cream, it’s only got 220 calories per serving – for a big generous bowl.
And without the cream, it’s only got 98 calories a serving. Crazy, huh? And you know, yes I’m an advocate for adding a splash of cream into the soup (or butter!), but even without, this is a really ultra tasty soup!
Let’s take a good look at the star of this recipe. Zucchini. LOTS of it. 1 kg / 2 lb to be exact. This is such a great recipe to use up zucchini – it’s pretty much available all year round, and often very good value!
Once cooked until soft, zucchinis whizz up into a silky, smooth, thick soup. No roux, no potato, no cornflour, no thickeners required. The cream stirred in at the end isn’t for thickening, it’s for flavour.
See how thick it is?
There I am going on and on about how healthy this soup is, then I show you a photo of me dunking a butter slathered piece of toast into the soup with my little Chipolata-Sausage-like-fingers. (Though speaking of Chipolatas, they would be terrific in the Sausage Pasta I shared on Monday! 😂)
Here are some of my favourite Soup Dunkers:
This recipe makes a pretty big pot of this soup. In fact, it will serve 5 comfortably, or 4 with big appetites. I always make a gigantic pot because a) it freezes well; and b) this is my “go to” recipe when I load up on bargain zucchinis. I picked up 1 kg / 2 lb for a mere $1.99 from Harris Farms last week and had basic homemade vegetable broth made from offcuts so in all honesty, this entire recipe probably cost me $4 to make.
Enjoy! – Nagi x
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Healthy Creamy Zucchini Soup recipe video. Dozer fans – don’t miss his cameo at the end of the video! I gasped out loud with disapproval…..
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Creamy Zucchini Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil or butter
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 large onion , chopped (brown, yellow or white)
- 1 kg / 2 lb zucchinis , cut into 1.5cm / 3/5” slices, larger ones halved (Note 1)
- 3 cups / 750 ml vegetable or chicken broth , preferably salt reduced
- 1 cup / 250 ml water
- 3/4 cup / 185 ml cream, heavy / thickened (or light or add a good knob of butter instead) (Note 2)
- 1 cup / 250 ml milk , any fat %, or more cream
Garnish:
- Cream , for swirling
- Finely shredded parmesan
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add garlic and onions, and cook for 3 – 4 minutes until they are light golden brown.
- Add zucchinis, broth and water. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to medium. Optional: Scoop brown foam (scum) off surface every now and then.
- Cook for 15 – 20 minutes or until zucchini is very soft.
- Use a stick blender to whizz until smooth. (Note 1 for blender)
- Stir through cream and milk. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Ladle into bowls, swirl over a touch of cream if desired, a pinch of shredded parmesan, and more pepper. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
PS Little tip for a basic “mash up” homemade vegetable broth – I don’t have a composter or chooks (that’s “chickens” in Aussie speak) so what I do is shove all veggie offcuts in large plastic bags and store them in the fridge. For a 4 litre/ 4 quart pot, I put in 6 cups of water then jam pack it (and I mean press it down good) with veggie scraps & sad floppy herbs, a quartered onion, 3 garlic cloves minced, big pinch of pepper and 2 bay leaves. Simmer away for 40 minutes – 1 hour lid off, reducing it right until I have 3 cups of liquid (strained, squeeze out liquid from veggies. Pretty much everything goes into the offcuts bag, even onion skins, dirty potato skin, the dirt coated roots of things, even corn cobs after I cut the corn off. If you have lots of dirt coated things in your stock, just let it settle then pour off the top, avoiding the bits at the bottom.
More zucchini recipes
Healthy Cream of Vegetable Soup (Zucchinis are the secret ingredient for ultra low cal creamy white soup!)
Zucchini Tian (French Rice Bake)
And more creamy soups!
Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup – bid Heinz goodbye!
Browse all Soups
LIFE OF DOZER
It’s really hard to concentrate on my computer when that face is shoved in front of me like that.
I’m pretty sure it’s not my tea he’s after, it’s the Shortbread. 😉
Thanks Nagi! This was easy, turned out perfect and the people I made it for loved it!
Hi Nagi, I’m just making the soup now. Can I freeze it? Is so sound I leave out the cream and add when thawed?
Hi Jill, yes you can, add the cream and then once you thaw, if you find the cream splits from the soup, just give it a quick blitz to bring it back together. Enjoy! N x
Thank you
This delicious soup is a regular at our place during zucchini season. I use Greek yoghurt instead of cream which adds a nice tang.
I have a question and i saw the video now twice and noticed that u only put in the cream but there was no milk. Do a have to put the milk in to or not ?
I’m a bit confused
Hi Nagi – I think you meant 15mm not cm- Apart from that a great soup and I used coconut cream instead of dairy.- lovely.
The recipe says 1.5cm but it may have been changed after your comment.
I just made this for the first time, after finding myself with too many zucchinis. It was a huge smash hit with my husband and parents in law. So delicious! It will definitely be part of our regular menu from now on.
Hi Nagi! Could I add some potatoes to thicken the soup a bit? Or would it alter the taste and texture too much? Thanks in advance (going to make it tomorrow) 🙂
Try adding some white cannelini beans. It will thicken the soup and add more protein and less carbs than potatoes. Although if you like potatoes I think that they would be good too, I don’t think they would change the flavor too much.
Another successful recipe! Just made this soup for dinner. Even my husband who doesn’t like zucchini AT ALL (he never touches them when they are on a plate), liked the soup! Miracles do happen.
Thank you, Nagi! ❤️
Such a great and easy recipe! I added a bit of rice to make it more filling and just roughly mashed the zucchini so there were chunks every so often and it was such a good dish. Will defs be making it again, thanks Nagi!
What kind of spices or herbs can we add to it? I havent tried it yet but im wondering about the spices.
I added some mild curry powder and a little tumeric
Hi Sue – you can pimp it up with some spices or herbs if you like, a little cayenne if you like spice or some fresh tarragon, chives or even basil would be lovely! N x
I’ve been tossing up making this for a while!! Cause you know.. zucchini in soup form…but…. Yum! I didn’t put the cream in but still added a cup of full cream milk and it’s just like a big pot of guilt free comfort. Especially with this cold weather, it’s warm and yummy but still light so you don’t feel all sluggish after gorging yourself bowl after bowl after bowl.
You’re converted now Tash!! N x
For you Creamy Zucchini Soup, do you peel the zucchini or just cut them up and add them.
Hi Neal, I leave the skin on – you can see this in the video of the recipe being made 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi
I made this last night. I told my 7 year old son that it was creamy veg soup. He loved it. He had 2 bowls! I did find that the soup was bitter. What could I add if that happens again? I had some leftover mash which I added and that helped, but if I don’t have mash on hand the next time, what would you suggest?
Hi Kim, the soup shouldn’t be bitter at all. Did you make any modifications to the ingredients by any chance? N x
Hi there. No modifications. Perhaps it was the zucchini? All in all, it went down a treat.
sometimes zucchini will be bitter, its best to dispose of it. This is a sign of high concentration of cucurbitacins, which may be harmful.
http://www.healthline.com
I made this last week and forgot to comment. I made one change and that was to cook 3 slices of bacon and use the bacon grease to cook the onions and go on from there. OMG – the soup is delicious. Thanks so much for sharing. Love your recipes Nagi.
YUM!!! Bacon makes everything great Kathi! N x
Sorry, deserves 5.
Thanks Nagi for such a great recepie. I make it very often.
Thanks Ana!! N x
Great recipe, super quick and tasty. good use of all our extra zucchinis
Nagi, is there anything you can’t come up with? This is another AMAZING recipe!! I’ve been averaging 2 of your recipes a week and everyone loves everything I make!! Ty, ty, ty!!!
Made this yesterday and it is so tasty. Will definitely be making again.
Thanks Nagi.
Hi Nagi! Would the soup taste the same if I took off the skin of the zucchini prior to cooking? Zucchini always has a heavy layer of wax and I can never get it fully off, so I always take the outside layer off. Ty in advance!!
Nope not at all! Peel away! N x
Thank you so much!! I just stumbled upon your website last week and LOVE IT!