Vegan Cheeseburger Soup

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years! Warren slept til 9 on Christmas Day, which was the best present he could have given us! We just love this happy wittle guy.

This soup is so good! It's got unbelievable flavor and the coconut bacon puts it over the top.

Original recipe can be found here.

Ingredients:

For the soup:
1 medium onion, diced
2 medium celery stalks, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 14 oz. can full-fat coconut milk
2 cups unflavored and unsweetened non-dairy milk
1 cup water
1 medium russet potato, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 1/2 tbsp. Vegetable Better Than Bullion or 3-5 cubes vegetable bullion
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tbsp. vinegar-based hot sauce (such as Cholula)
1 tbsp. yellow mustard
1 tsp. dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

For the Lentil Walnut Cheeseburger Crumbles
1 small onion, diced
2 garlic gloves, minced
3/4 c. dry brown lentils, cooked to make 2 cups, prep before making soup
1/2 c. finely chopped walnuts
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. vegan Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. red wine vinegar

Optional Toppings

Fresh parsley
Fresh chives
Dill pickle slices
Coconut bacon, which is what I used and it is delicious!


Instructions:

1. Begin by making the soup. Coat the bottom of a large pot with vegetable broth and place it over medium heat.

2. When the pan is hot, add the onion, celery, and carrots. Saute for about 10 minutes, until the veggies begin to soften up.

3. Add the garlic and flour. Stir well to coat the veggies with flour and saute for about 1 minute, until the garlic becomes very fragrant.

4. Stir in the coconut milk, non-dairy milk, water, potato, bullion, nutritional yeast, hot sauce, mustard, and thyme. Raise the heat and bring the liquid to a simmer.

5. Lower the heat. Allow the soup to simmer for about 20 minutes, until the potato is tender.

6. While the soup simmers, prepare the cheeseburger crumbles. Coat the bottom of a medium skillet with vegetable broth and place it over medium-high heat.

7. When the pan is hot, add the onion and saute until the onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes.

8. Stir in the garlic and saute for about 30 seconds more, until very fragrant.

9. Stir in the lentils, walnuts, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, cumin, and red wine vinegar. Continue to cook for about 3 minutes, until most of the liquid has dried up.

10. When the soup has finished simmering, remove it from the heat and use an immersion blender to blend 1/3 to 1/2 of the soup (blend as much as you need to reach your desired thickness). I haven't done this though, and the soup was still excellent.

11. Add the lentil walnut burger crumbles and toppings of  your choice.

Enjoy!


I used coconut bacon. Original recipe found here.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. unsweetened flaked coconut
1 tbsp. soy sauce or tamari
2 tsp. liquid smoke
2 tsp. maple syrup
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
3. In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the soy sauce or tamari, liquid smoke, maple syrup, and apple cider vinegar.
4. Add the coconut to the bowl and gently stir to coat it with the soy sauce mixture, being careful not to crush the coconut flakes.
5. Spread the coconut in an even layer on parchment. Drizzle any excess liquid over the coconut.
6. Bake for about 15 minutes, tossing every 3-5 minutes during cooking, until crispy and browned. Watch the coconut closely during baking, because this stuff can go from crispy to char in a very short time.
7. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow to cool. The coconut bacon will continue to crisp up as it cools.

Enjoy!