Oh no! One of your neighbors left a basket on your porch, rang the doorbell, and ran away. There's a note pinned to the blanket: "Please take care of my babies!" Is it puppies? Kittens? You pull the blanket away... and it's zucchinis! What are you going to do?
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Is Zucchini an Invasive Species?
You might think so because of how it can take over a garden and produce So. Much. Fruit. (Yes, zucchini, and all squashes, are technically fruits, but we treat them like vegetables because they don't have a high sugar content.)
I'll admit that I'm not a big fan of zucchini. I find its flavor to be bland, and I usually use it as a filler to get some fiber into a casserole or other dish. But this soup made me love zucchini! It's one of my favorite fall soups. It's wonderfully creamy, with layers of flavor from the herbs and spices, and just a touch of heat for those cool autumn days.
Vegetables: To Peel, or Not to Peel?
I don't usually peel vegetables. There are too many good things in vegetable skins. So when you look at the photos you'll see that I didn't peel the potatoes. But I did peel the zucchini this time.
A friend gave us some zucchini from his garden, and some of them were monsters! I've found that when zucchini get really big the skin can get tough and bitter. So I'll leave the skins on if they're small to large, but I'll peel them if they're Squashzilla size.
Adjusting Herb Amounts
When a recipe calls for herbs, my preference is fresh first, then dried, then ground. This recipe calls for dried herbs, but I used fresh and ground too. Debbie has thyme and oregano growing in her greenhouse, so we used those. And I found that I don't have dried rosemary in my spice collection—I have no idea how that happened!—so I used ground.
Knowing how to adjust the measurements is very useful. Here's what I did for this recipe.
One teaspoon of dried herbs equals one tablespoon (3 teaspoons) of fresh herbs. So for ¼ teaspoon of dried thyme and oregano, I substituted ¾ of fresh herbs.
1 teaspoon dried herbs equals ½ teaspoon of ground herbs. So for the ¼ teaspoon of rosemary, I substituted ⅛ teaspoon of ground.
Ingredients You'll Need
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 5 cups zucchini cubed
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon dried marjoram
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 pound russet potatoes diced
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup Cheddar cheese or your favorite shredded cheese
How to Make This Creamy Zucchini Soup
Here's the ingredients group portrait: zucchini, potatoes, seasonings, cheese, onions, cream, garlic, and soy sauce. You'll also need butter and chicken or vegetable stock.
Sauté the onions in the butter until they turn transparent, 3 to 5 minutes.
Add the sliced garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Recipes usually call for garlic to be minced or grated so you don't get a big chunk of garlic in your mouth. But since this soup is pureed, slicing the garlic thinly gets all the flavor, and it's a lot faster!
Add the zucchini and seasonings to the pot and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to mix the seasonings in.
Add the potatoes, soy sauce, and stock. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. The potatoes should be soft enough to blend, but check them and cook a while longer if necessary.
Puree the soup in a counter-top blender, or use an immersion blender in the pot. A counter-top blender will usually give you a smoother blend in a lot less time. I used our Vitamix blender, and the soup came out with a texture that I can only describe as silky!
Add the cream and cheese to the soup and stir until the cheese is melted. This soup is absolutely delicious! Serve with bread and a salad and you've got a complete meal.
This soup is good hot or cold, and it tastes even better the next day!
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📖 Recipe Card
Creamy Zucchini Soup
Special Equipment Needed
- 1 Large stock pot
- 1 Blender counter top or immersion
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 5 cups zucchini cubed
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon dried marjoram
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 pound russet potatoes diced
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup Cheddar cheese or your favorite shredded cheese
Instructions
- Add the butter to a large saucepan over medium-high heat. When it starts to bubble, add the onion and sauté until the onions have softened, 3 to 5 minutes.2 tablespoons butter, 1 small yellow onion
- Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute.2 cloves garlic
- Add the zucchini and seasonings and sauté for 5 minutes.5 cups zucchini, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary, ¼ teaspoon dried thyme, ¼ teaspoon dried marjoram, ¼ teaspoon dried oregano, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon white pepper, ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Add the chicken broth, soy sauce, and potatoes. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft.3 cups chicken or vegetable stock, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 pound russet potatoes
- Puree in a blender and return to the pot, or use an immersion blender. Add the cream and cheese and stir until the cheese is melted.½ cup heavy cream, 1 cup Cheddar cheese
Nutrition Estimate
Adapted From
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Elaine says
Easy to make and absolutely delicious! Even better the next day, with greater depth of flavor. If you grow your own zucchini, this is a great way to use up your inventory.
Grey says
I'm glad you liked it. I think I'll be making it again soon, someone just gave us another bag of zucchini! We're also trying out some stuffed zucchini recipes, I should have a few on the site next autumn.