Description
This delectable, rich and creamy vegan “no clam” chowder will warm you up and blow you away with its wholesome deliciousness. With its dreamy texture and amazing flavor; it is the ultimate Whole Food Plant Based soup remix.
*This Vegan Clam Chowder recipe was adapted from Vegan Huggs.
Ingredients
Cashew Cream Ingredients:
- ½ cup raw cashews
- ¾ cup unsweetened plain plant milk
Ingredients:
- 8 oz. white button mushrooms, sliced
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon reduced-sodium tamari *
- 1 Tablespoon low-sodium vegetable broth *
- 1 medium yellow onion, fine diced
- 2 celery ribs, finely diced
- 1 carrot, sliced into penny rounds
- 1 heaping teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ cup dry white wine *
- 1 Tablespoon flour (of choice)
- 3 cups water (or broth)
- 2 ½ cups vegetable broth *
- 6 – 7 small all-purpose potatoes, peeled, cut into small diced cubes
- ¾ cup frozen corn
Spice/Herb Ingredients:
- ¼ teaspoon dried crushed thyme leaves *
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 Tablespoon freeze-dried shallots (optional) *
- 1 to 2 teaspoons sea salt (+/- more to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dulse flakes * (kelp flakes) optional
Optional Topping Ingredients:
- Chives, chopped
Instructions
- Place cashews in a heat prove bowl and cover with boiling water. (just to cover the cashews; this water will be discarded later). Let sit for 20 minutes.
- Drain the water from the cashews, then placed cashews and unsweetened plain plant milk in a high-speed blender until very smooth and creamy. Set aside.
- In a large ceramic/enamel lined Dutch oven or similarly large stock pot, add mushrooms and sauté over medium heat until the liquid has started to evaporate about 3-5 minutes. If needed, add 1 Tablespoon of vegetable broth to prevent sticking.
- Add the minced garlic and tamari to the mushrooms. Continue to sauté until the mushrooms for a couple of minutes. Then remove mushrooms and place in a bowl for later in the recipe.
- In the same large ceramic/enamel lined Dutch oven (or large stock pot), add the onions, carrots, and celery, and sauté until tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the heaping teaspoon garlic (second time garlic is added) to the pot and sauté another minute. (If needed to prevent sticking, add 1 Tablespoon of vegetable broth).
- Next add the white wine and cook about 3 minutes.
- Add the flour over the cooked vegetables, and stir to prevent burning. You want to cook the flour for about 1 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Pour in the vegetable broth and water, stir scraping the bottom of the pot to bring up anything that stuck to the bottom.
- Then add the diced potatoes, corn, thyme, bay leaf, dulse flakes (or kelp flakes), sweet paprika, freeze dried shallots (optional), black pepper and sea salt. Stir well. Bring the soup to a boil. Once boiling turn down to low heat and simmer for about 12-17 minutes. Cook until potatoes are tender.
- Then remove the bay leaf, and pour in the cashew cream, stir, and simmer for a few minutes.
- Taste the soup and adjust seasoning to taste, add more seasoning if needed.
- Add in the sautéed mushrooms that were set aside.
- Continue to cook for and additional 5 minutes. Check the flavors once more, add additional seasonings based upon personal preferences, then remove from heat.
- Allow to sit undisturbed for 5-7 minutes to allow the flavors to marry.
- Serve: Top with chopped chives. (Optional)
Notes
*Cashews: To speed up the soaking time for cashews: Place the cashews in a small bowl and cover with boiling water, cover for 20 minutes until softened. Use a high-speed blender or food processor to ensure a creamy, smooth texture.
*Tamari: We used San J Tamari Soy Sauce, Gluten Free, Reduced Sodium. You can substitute the tamari with reduced sodium soy sauce, Braggs Liquid Aminos, or Braggs Coconut Liquid Aminos.
*Thyme Leaves: We use Penzeys French Thyme. It has amazing flavor. Please note that dried crushed thyme leaves is not the same as ground thyme. You can use either in this recipe. We used dried crushed thyme leaves, so if you are using ground thyme, scale back a little more than half of the amount used, and check for flavor. Adjust as preferred.
*Wine: Chose a vegan white wine that you would choose to drink. Not all wine is vegan and may contain eggs whites or other ingredients.
*Wine Substitutions: We have not tried any substitutions for the wine, but we would recommend replacing the wine with vegetable broth (if needed.) Substituting the wine will change the depth of flavor and you may need to adjust the seasoning/spices to make up for it.
*Vegetable Stock: We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients.
*Freeze dried shallots: I can’t help but plug Penzeys freeze dried shallots, they always add a nice element to a lot of Vegan WFPB recipes.
*Dulse flakes: These add a nice “oceany” flavor to the soup.