What this creamy kale and potato soup lacks in raw aesthetic appeal, it makes up for in flavor – an unctuous, velvety bowl of creamy goodness that is healthy and yet also indulgent.
So what if this soup may be on the uglier side, it sure is delicious.
Kale and Potato and Cashew Trio
The main body of this creamy kale and potato soup is… well, pretty obviously kale and potato. The two combine together to create a beautiful marriage of ingredients: the kale has a fresh taste and chewy texture, while the potato lends the soup its earthiness and thickens the soup when blended and broken down. And when introduced to and immersed with the tart and impossibly creamy cashew sour cream, every aspect of the two is highlighted and amplified and made even better.
An Ode To Raw Cashews
I’ve already praised raw cashews and the vegan magic these little c-shaped nuts can conjure up in My Vegan Pantry, but I don’t mind prosthelytizing on behalf of cashews wherever, whenever, and for whomever. Everyone should know how great and incredible they are and start using them asap.
Cashews, raw cashews that is, are a quintessential ingredient in plant-based cooking because they are just about the creamiest thing on the face of the Earth, and also thicken and become silky when reduced or cooked (post-blending, of course).
The most important thing is to make sure that the nuts you’re using in a recipe are indeed raw, as roasted cashews don’t have the same transformative qualities that raw cashews do.
Regarding the Cashew Sour Cream In This Cream Kale and Potato Soup Specifically
For this creamy kale and potato soup, soak the raw cashews first in hot water (as in boil it first) for about 30 minutes. This helps soften them before blending, so that you can achieve a creamier cashew cream. If you have a high-powered blender like a Vitamix, then you probably don’t need to heed this advice.
Side note: You can also make just this cashew sour cream, store it in the fridge, and use it other recipes, like tacos for example. A big dollop goes a long way, and can be a very refreshing, creamy contrast to any meal.
No Immersion Blender? No Problem!
If you don’t happen to have an immersion blender, which is just an upright blending stick that you can drop directly into the soup pot, you can also pour some of the soup into a regular blender, blend, and then pour it back into the overall pot. If you do this, make sure cant the lid of the blender, so that the hot soup steam can vent, otherwise blenders can explode on you.
Parallel to that, you can choose not to blend the soup, in which case you’ll just have strands of kale and cubes of potatoes. Nothing wrong with that, but it’ll just be less integrated into this creamy kale and potato soup as a whole.
Kale, Two Ways?!
In an attempt to show the versatility of kale and also to beautify this ugly duckling of a soup, I made kale chips as a kind of mock crouton – something that could adorn the top of the soup and contrast with the white cashew sour cream.
Great idea, in theory.
While the idea itself was well meaning, and the chips delicious, it didn’t pan out in praxis. When the kale chips sank into the hot soup, they rehydrated and became chewy strands of baked kale – still delicious, but not texturally as satisfying as a crunchy, crispy kale chip would have been.
For this reason, this element is completely optional and wouldn’t detract from this creamy kale and potato soup overall if you were to leave it out. Alternately, you can simply just make the kale chips by themselves as a healthy and delicious snack, too.
Up to you, of course!
Creamy Kale and Potato Soup
I encourage everyone to give this soup a try, especially if you’re new to using raw cashews. This really exemplifies the impact the blended up nuts can have on a dish in terms of how creamy they can make something.
Understandably, this dish might not be easy for everyone to make right now, as the supplies of certain foods – common pantry items like broth for example – is in short demand.
That being said, this is a wonderful soup to cheer up the spirits, and also really good leftover.
I encourage everyone to give it a try.
Also, I hope that everyone is well, and taking this very bizarre world day by day. Please be kind to one another, and be there for others, if only by lending an ear or some canned food or something.
I hope that you enjoyed this creamy kale and potato soup recipe. If you did, please leave a comment and recipe rating down below.
Creamy Kale and Potato Soup
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Sheet
- Immersion Blender
- Soup Pot
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon of ginger, minced
- 1 medium shallot, minced
- 1 yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 bunches of lacinato kale, de-ribbed and divided (1 ½ for soup, ½ for kale chips)
- 1 russet potato, peeled and cut into 1’’ cubes
- 5 – 6 cups vegetable broth or stock
- ½ of the cashew sour cream, (recipe below)
- 1 teaspoon – ½ tablespoon white wine vinegar
- Salt and pepper
For the Kale Chips:
- Handful of kale, de-ribbed
- Olive oil
- Salt and Pepper
For the cashew sour cream
- ½ cup raw cashews, soaked for 30 minutes in hot water
- Juice from 1 lemon, about 1/4 cup
- 1 – 2 tablespoons water, or until desired thinness and consistency
- Some salt
Instructions
For the Kale Chips
- De-rib the kale, tear into bite-sized chunks, toss with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and bake on 250°F for 15 – 20 minutes, until crispy.
For the Cashew Cream
- After soaking the raw cashews, blend them with the lemon juice, water and salt until smooth. Store in fridge for later use.
For the Soup
- In a soup pot on medium heat, sauté the garlic, ginger and shallot for 2 – 3 minutes in olive oil. Then add the onion, and sauté for another 5 minutes or so.
- After that, add the kale, potato, broth or stock, and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for about 15 – 20 minutes, until the potato is tender.
- While this is happening, make the cashew sour cream and finish up the kale chips.
- Remove the soup from the oven, and using an immersion blender, blend all the ingredients together well. Add ½ of the cashew sour cream to the soup and save the other ½ for garnish, and then return the soup to the stove to heat through, about 5 minutes.
- Serve the kale soup with a dollop of cashew cream and crispy kale chips on top.
Video
Nutrition
Check out this other delicious Kale and White Bean Soup, too!
May you have good food in good company,
That Vegan Nephew
This was a really good soup with a hearty flavor and texture. I could taste all the components and found the crispy kale chips delightful, I think a piece of garlic toast would be a perfect addition to this lovely soup which was even better reheated two days later. YUM!