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. 😉
This was so good! (and so cheap to make!!) I added some thyme and ginger from reading the comments… also added some spinach as I had half a bag in the fridge that was going bad. Didn’t have cream or milk, so I just ended up putting about 1/2 a cup of half and half in it and it was plenty creamy.
I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed this Sam! Thanks for letting me know! N x ❤️
Great recipe! Didn’t have heavy cream, so I used a fourth cup of marscapone. Delicious!
I’m so happy you enjoyed this Eileen! Thank you for letting me know – N x ❤️
Another winner! I made this last night exactly as the recipes states. My husband and I really enjoyed it. Thank you so much for all your wonderful recipes and the GREAT way you explain them. Your stories are fun to read are your notes are always so helpful. Thank you so so so much for sharing your talents- we get to benefit from that!
Fantastic to hear Jenny! Thank you for leaving a review. N x ❤️
Nagi I think I’m making everything!! This was so nice. 😍😍
I LOVE hearing that! 😂
Another fabulous recipe!! I made a couple of changes based on my fridge :). I had some left over brown rice and roasted vegetables from last nights dinner (your recipe) so I added them in just after the zucchini and onion were cooked. I did not use the milk or heavy cream BUT I did add a 7oz container of Fage plain Greek yogurt at the end with just a splash of hot sauce!!!!!!!
Yum, fabulous,amazing……..did I say YUM!?!?!?!
I’m excited about your new Cookbook BUT we follow a low sodium diet and find that a lot of the ingredients in Asian Take Out are high in sodium. Do you have any substitution ideas???
Hi Linda! So pleased you enjoyed this! Regarding Asian and sodium levels, my tip is to always buy low sodium soy sauce, increase the cornstarch in sauce mixtures by 1/2 tsp and reduce the soy sauce by 1/3 or so. That way the sauce thickens more, intensifying flavour, compensating for reduced soy sauce and less salt. I will add tips like this into the cookbook! 🙂 N xx
Thank you!!!!
I made this today…it was delicious. I added some Ginger at end as someone suggested and it added extra depth. I also added a little creme fresh and parmesan cheese to my bowl…but as you said Nagi, without cream or milk, it was still delicious and HEALTHY. Definitely, a keeper…thanks
Whoot! So pleased to hear that Lyn, thanks for taking the time to leave a review! N xx
Lovely, delicious soup! Thank you Nagi 😋
Just added milk per recipe. As suggested, cream optional – I found it wasn’t needed, was rich enough without the cream.
Hi, Great we added spring onions when cooking, reasonable amount of thyme, butter, and about a teaspoon of fresh ginger just before the end.
We love it.
Thank you Ronald! So pleased to hear you enjoyed it! N xx
Thank you for the review Dee, it’s so terrific to hear you enjoyed this! N xx
Hi Nagi,
Am wondering if you will post some receipes for the weber q barbaque, we have just purchased one and having trouble adjusting to it, as your receipes are so easy to follow I suddenly thought, Nagi could solve this, 😊😊
Just love your receipes.
Gosh yes I have loads! have you checked out my BBQ collection in my Recipe Index???
YOU MUST BE A SAINT OR A MIND READER,
IVE BEEN PONDERING WHAT TYPE OF SOUP , OPEN MY EMAIL AND THERE WAS TIS HEAVEN SENT RECIPE. MY FRIG IS JUST STUFFED WITH ZUCCHINIS. NEVER THOUGHT THEY WOULD BE A GOOD CANDIDATE FOR A CREAM OF SOUP. THANKS AGAIN
It’s a SIGN! 😂
Creamy and beautiful and I can’t believe how low in calories it is. Outstanding recipe Nagi – and a must make in our house 🙂
Zucchinis whizz up so smooth, they are amazing! 🙂 N x
Nagi,
Have you ever considered roasting 1/2 the zucchini & onions, while boiling the other half of the veggies…adding in the roasted ones just before you are ready to blend? There is nothi g better than the flavor of roasted veg!
Just a thiught!
I haven’t thought of that – but YUM what an idea! 🙂 N x
This year I’ve played around with lots of new zuchinni recipes but you know what? Haven’t made a Zuk Soup, will have to fix that bad boy up soon.
They are SO CHEAP at the moment, you’ve gotta try this! 🙂 N xx
Wow this looks great! Seems like Asian at home is gonna win but I voted “other” and I think that other should be a soup book! You have so many good ones and it’d be nice to have them all together Asian and western style. Any recommendations on zucchini because sometimes they have that bitter taste and I love soup but I dunno if I’d want a pot of bitter soup.
SOUP BOOK! Love it 🙂 I really don’t notice any trace of bitterness at all! Do you know if you sometimes use a special variety of zucchinis?? 🙂 N xx
I love zucchinis Nagi. I usually have a TON growing in my garden but this year I planted an heirloom variety and they don’t produce quite as much as the normal zucch’s. I wish I knew that or I would have planted more. I love your soup but I am pretty sure I love Dozer more. He is such a heart throb! It’s the eyes 🙂
Hear throb? No. He uses his cuteness like a lethal weapon! 😂
I am an old lady living on my own, but I love to cook. Would like some recipes for just one person. I do make the others and freeze them but sometimes it’s hard to reduce some ingredients. Love receiving your recipes every day. Thank you.
Recipes For One has been on my mind a lot lately Margaret, thanks for the suggestion! 🙂 N xx
Soup recipe looks yummy. Zukes are a gardeners best friend because they tend to grow so profusely, so we are always looking for ways to use zucchini.
A note on the blender warning: Some years back I read a great tip that said, when blending hot foods, simply remove the plastic center thingy from the lid and cover the hole it leaves with a folded kitchen towel while blending. It works like a dream for me, never once since using that method have I had any blender explosion events.
That is SUCH a great tip Faith, thank you! 🙂 N x
Love zucchini and eat them about 3-4 times a week – including in soups. Yours is moreish and easy . . and I’ll ‘forgive’ the little bit of cream . . . . Am at the moment unpacking a month’s on-line groceries and there is a big bag of zucchini tucked away somewhere . . . . guess what . . .
You buy a month of groceries at a time! I wish I was that organised! N xx
Easy-peasy! Wish time and geography limits had not led to that format of living, as products have to be used in order 🙂 !! No use wanting green salad in the fourth week unless able to do a ‘top-up’ – but, oh, the delight of looking at one’s fridge, freezer and pantry and ‘have’ most any recipe might require 🙂 !! For a crowd as well as self . . . and ‘the specials’ ‘found’ make it muchly worthwhile . . . ,
I tried to pick one of your ideas for the recipe book but I can’t decide…. my brain started hurting!! I want them all – except for pasta,pasta,pasta. Your healthy chicken and broccoli pasta bake has been on high rotation here and I should probably vary our carbs. Thank you for your recipes, sooooo good!!
You’re welcome for the recipes Melanie! So glad you like all the themes! (Except TOO MUCH PASTA! 🙂 ) N xx
Love this. So quick and easy. Because I follow a Paleo lifestyle for medical reasons, I use coconut cream instead of dairy cream. It worked well. Thanks.
Thank you for the review Claire, it’s so terrific to hear you enjoyed this! N xx
Hi again Nagi – I’ve just looked at the picture, and seen that the zucchini are unpeeled – doh!!!
No worries Sheryl! The skin is where most of the nutrition is and gives it the colour! 🙂 Nxx