Vitamix Soups

Dreamy and creamy are the words that describe Vitamix soups. Puréed soups are the culinary equivalent of a warm hug - cozy, comforting, and soothing. The best part? Making puréed soups is as easy as using a blender. Well, as easy as making soup and then using a blender.

Soup is a regular occurrence in our house all year round - cooling and refreshing in the summer; warming and nourishing in the winter. A few years ago, I got into the habit of making soup on a daily basis. My family learned to anticipate it, and we have been consistently bringing new soups into the rotation to stand alongside our favorites. 

The "favorites" are primarily puréed soups. I don't even have to ask my kids what type of soup they want because the answer is always the same - "the ones you make in your Vitamix!"

So, what is the trick to making the most mouth-watering creamy soups that even picky eaters love?

Vitamix Soups

A high-speed blender is your best best for the creamiest soup around. Sure, you can use a standard or an immersion blender, but high-speed blenders are simply more powerful. They can effortlessly blend tough, stringy, and fibrous ingredients, such as kale, parsley, or ginger, and deliver the texture you're looking for.

A lot of horsepower also means you can blend continuously for several minutes on high speed. The friction of Vitamix blades can make steaming-hot soup in under 10 minutes. If the ingredients are already hot, it takes just a minute or two to purée everything together. How does Vitamix heat soups? The blades are specially designed to spin at a rate of 500 times per second, which creates friction energy. With every passing minute, the temperature increases by 50°F/10°C. 

 Tips for Making Blended Soups

Ingredients

Puréed soups are a great way to use up any leftover vegetables you have. They’re also perfect for experimenting with new flavor combinations, colors, and garnishes. The four main components of puréed vegetable soups are:

• Vegetables: nearly any vegetable will make tasty soup. Starchy vegetables, such as butternut squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, or corn create an excellent base for puréed soups. Non-starchy vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, or zucchini are also wonderful ingredients; they just need a little help in the thickening department. This is why they are typically used in combination with legumes or nuts. In the end, almost any combination of vegetables will work well.
• Broth: homemade vegetable broth is almost always better than water (unless the soup is already bursting with bold flavors). In most cases, you want to build layers of flavors, and broth is just one of those layers. Don't have broth on hand? Make miso broth by stirring a little bit of miso paste into hot water.
• Acid: a splash of acid, such as lemon juice, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, or wine, makes flavors pop in any vegetable soup. Adding a little bit of acid is especially important if the soup doesn't have any built-in acid source, such as tomatoes.
• Seasoning: the fastest way add flavor to any soup is to use herbs and/or spices. Salt and pepper are non-negotiable. From there, pick the right seasoning to compliment the soup you are making. Almost any vegetable soup goes well with a bay leaf and parsley flakes. Tomato-based soups are great with Moroccan spices, such as cumin, coriander, and ginger. Soups with beans typically benefit from Italian seasoning. If you love spice, add red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper for some heat. The sky is the limit. Also, fresh herbs are great for serving. They lose their flavor quickly if simmered in hot soup, but add freshness and bright flavor when added right before serving.

How to Make Vitamix Soups

1. 1. Prepare the vegetables. Roast or sauté the vegetables. Vitamix doesn't have any cooking mechanism. It's not cooking the ingredients; it's just heating them by generating friction. So, unless you are making raw soup, cook the vegetables before blending. Roasting softens the vegetables as well adds a little bit of caramelized flavor you don’t get from cooking on the stovetop. If you prefer not to roast, dice the vegetables and do a quick sauté in a pot instead. 
   2. Load the Vitamix container correctly. Many blender users are not aware that there is a correct sequence to adding food and liquids to a blender. To properly layer items in a Vitamix container, start with liquids followed by soft items, and finally hard items.

1. Fill the Vitamix container only halfway when blending hot liquids. Depending on the size of your blender container, this may well mean working in batches. Hot food heats up the air above between the food and the blender lid, causing pressure to build up in the container. This pressure can force the lid to shoot off and the hot soup splatter everywhere. To prevent this, vent the top, and cover the lid with a folded kitchen towel while blending. Place one hand on top of the towel, firmly holding the lid tight onto the blender. 
2. Blend. Start the blender on its lowest speed, then increase to its highest speed. Blending on high not only reduces blend time, but it also activates a cooling mechanism and helps to keep the motor cool. Blend until heavy steam escapes the lid, anywhere from 1-10 minutes. Vitamix soups are hot straight out of the blender, no need to reheat in the pot. 

How to Serve Puréed Soups

A great way to get creative with puréed soups is to use toppings. Chopped fresh herbs, such as chives or scallions add not only flavor, but also texture. For even more texture, top the soup with homemade sourdough bread croutons, toasted seeds, chopped nuts, or even hard-roasted vegetables. For an extra kick, stir in hot sauce or sprinkle a little bit of cayenne pepper on top.

How to Store Puréed Soups

Since soups are one of the easiest meals to freeze, it pays off to make a large batch and freeze some for later. Many of the rules for freezing soup come down to holding back the ingredients that won’t freeze well (pretty much anything except for dairy) and then adding them back in when you reheat the soup later. 

Vitamix Soup Recipes

After sharing all these soup blending tips with you, all that remains are Vitamix soup recipes. Here are some of my favorite Vitamix soup recipes that rely on a wide range of seasonal produce, including broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, tomatoes, and squash.

Broccoli Soup

You would never know this broccoli soup is entirely plant-based. It has a rich taste and the most luxurious creamy texture. In this Vitamix soup recipe, broccoli is puréed together with flat-leaf parsley to not only boost the nutritional profile, but also further accentuate the green color.

Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup

This 5-ingredient soup is full of incredible flavors – roasted garlic and onions, sweet charred tomatoes and red bell peppers, fresh basil... This Vitamix soup is similar to classic tomato soup with the addition of sweet bell pepper. It's the perfect side dish to salads and sandwiches or even a lighter stand-alone meal. (This recipe is in my cookbook with dinner recipes, so unfortunately, you won't be able to find it on my blog).

Butternut Squash Soup

This butternut squash soup is everything you expect from a traditional butternut squash soup – rich, creamy, and full of roasted butternut squash flavor. It undoubtedly falls into the comfort food category. It's one of our favorite Vitamix soup recipes.

Cauliflower Soup

This soup is lusciously creamy, a bit garlicy, and slightly nutty. What makes this cauliflower soup shine is roasted cauliflower and caramelized aromatics. It’s one of those soups you can eat as an appetizer or a main course.

Roasted Bell Pepper Soup

This light roasted red pepper soup is a twist on the classic cream of tomato soup. The sweetness of roasted bell peppers blends beautifully with the distinctive tartness of sun-dried tomatoes. The result is a comforting, delicious soup.

Mushroom Soup

If you love cream of mushroom soup and want to skip the canned stuff, this soup is your new favorite soup. It’s so creamy, rich, and satisfying that you would never guess it’s dairy-free. It has an enticing texture of fresh mushrooms and a layer of flavor from the humble cauliflower. I could use a thousand words to describe it, but one thing for sure is: you must try it! It’s unbelievable the flavors that can come from so few ingredients.

Vitamix Soups - Troubleshooting

Is there a way to make Vitamix soups creamier with adding dairy?

Yes, there are many ways to replicate the silky richness of cream without drizzling in dairy. Blend in cooked beans, steamed cauliflower, a big spoonful of nut or seed butter, or a boiled potato. If it compliments the soup, you can also stir in full-fat coconut milk or cashew cream.

Why did my soup turn out grainy?

Assuming you used a Vitamix blender to blend the soup, some of the culprits include:

• Overcooking vegetables prior to pureeing them.
• Using starchy (as opposed to waxy) potatoes.
• Curdling dairy products by adding them in over excessively high heat.

Why did my soup turn out watery/too thin?

You most likely added to much liquid. When making any puréed soup, don’t blend all the liquids and solids together at once. Hold back some liquid at first and use it to thin the soup as needed. There are many ways to thicken soup, but some of my favorite ingredients to add are:

• Legumes: blend some cooked lentils or beans with liquid from the soup. 
• Cauliflower: blend cooked cauliflower with liquid from the soup. 
• Potato: blend cooked potatoes with liquid from the soup. 
• Masa: whisk masa into simmering soup. Add in batches and wait until it comes to a simmer to determine whether you need to add more.
• Cashews: blend a few cashews with liquid from the soup.

Which Vitamix blender can make hot soup?

Honestly, any full-size Vitamix blender can make hot soup. It all comes down to the friction of the blade. The Vitamix blade spins at over 500 times per second, which creates an intense amount of friction energy. So much energy can boil cold water in only 8 minutes. So, in this regard, any powerful blender is able to make hot soup. 

How long does it take to heat soup in a Vitamix blender?

If the ingredients are already hot, it takes just one to two minutes. If you're starting with room-temperature ingredients (that don't need to be cooked or are already cooked), it can take up to 10 minutes. As previously mentioned, Vitamix heats ingredients by roughly 50°F/10°C every 60 seconds.

Which Vitamix container is best for making hot soup?

Any Vitamix container with a vented lid can make hot soup. The only two containers that cannot make soup are the 20-oz blending cup and the 8-oz bowl because they don't have vented lids to release steam like the full-size containers do.

Can I make raw soup in the Vitamix?

Yes! The Vitamix blender will not cook the soup. Since Vitamix heats food only by about 50°F/10°C every minute, you can blend your soup for 3-4 minutes without destroying any enzymes. It may be helpful to keep a kitchen thermometer with you if you want to get the temperature exactly right. 

If you have any questions about making soups in a Vitamix (or any other questions), let me know in the comments below. I respond to all comments within 24 hours.

This post was created in partnership with Vitamix (a brand I’ve loved and used for years) and contains affiliate links. All thoughts and opinions are my own.