Creamy Chicken Soup (No Dairy)

As a kid, I remember my grandma using "cream of ______" (chicken, mushroom, celery etc.) soup for all kinds of recipes. I think she would even make a homemade soup and then add in a "cream of ______" to the homemade soup for flavor and creaminess. Well, because we don't eat cream or milk or that same "cream of ______" anymore, I decided to make my own creamy chicken soup that has no dairy in it and that doesn't hold back on flavor or that comforting feeling of creamy soup!

You can do this with any soup recipe, honestly. If you want to make a soup creamy, just take about 1/4 of the soup and blend it with some raw cashews until it's smooth. Then, just pour it back into the rest of the soup, stir until combined and enjoy! It's really THAT easy!

The amount of ingredients below can be altered to your tastebuds.

You can make this vegetarian, too! Simply don't add chicken and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. If you want to add more veggies instead of chicken, that would be a great idea: zucchini, yellow squash and some quinoa, too!

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INGREDIENTS

EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

1 - 2 yellow onions, diced

2 - 3 medium carrots, diced

2 - 3 stalks celery with leaves, diced

4 medium zucchini, sliced/quartered

1 shallot, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1.5 cups shredded chicken (you can add more or less)

1 hand full of spinach (ribboned, see here)

2 - 3 cups chicken broth, vegetable broth or water

salt and pepper to taste

For the creamy part:

1/3 cup raw cashews

1/4 of your soup mixture

Directions:

Dice your onions, carrots and celery and put in a medium soup pot on medium heat (I use this one for every soup that I make) with some extra virgin olive oil. Sauté until onions are translucent. Add in zucchini, minced garlic, diced shallots and stir.

Pour your liquid of choice (chicken broth, vegetable broth or water) and stir.

Take about 3 cups of your soup and carefully put into your blender. Add in 1/3 cup of raw unsalted cashews and blend on high until smooth and creamy.

Pour that creamy soup mixture back into your soup pot with the rest of your soup and mix well.

Add in your shredded chicken and ribboned spinach and stir.

Add a pinch of sea salt and white or black pepper if you like, serve and enjoy! YUM