Here’s a holiday food idea for the winter months – melted snowman soup!
This fun & kid-friendly lunch or dinner is made with potatoes, onions, garlic, and warming spices.
Get the whole family involved to decorate their snowmen – with a carrot for a nose, black olive eyes, and sun-dried tomato mouths.
Mealtime just got a whole lot more festive. Vegan & gluten-free.
Whether you live in the snowy north or balmy south, you can celebrate this wintry season by making a snowman of your own…
Or rather a snowman that has melted into a puddle of deliciousness.
Melted snowman soup is actually potato soup.
(It’s the same recipe as my loaded vegan potato soup. However, the toppings are different!)
This full-bodied dish is packed with the flavors of rosemary and thyme.
Then after the soup is ladled, holiday guests complete their bowls by decorating them.
Great for families
This holiday food idea is an ideal way to get the kids involved in creating their own edible masterpieces.
And if they don’t like their first snowman face, it’s easy enough to start over. Just eat the toppings and begin again!
It would be fun to get the whole family together at the holidays with bowls of soup. Then put out the topping options.
See how creative your family can get with their snowman designs. Then get out the spoons and look at that Frosty go.
(Keep the snowman love going with a vegan snowman cheese ball!)
Step by step instructions
Here’s how to make this recipe at a glance. For complete ingredient amounts & instructions, keep scrolling to the recipe card below.
Make cashew cream.
In a high-speed blender, combine water + raw cashews.
Sauté onions and garlic in a soup pot with oil.
Then add the following:
- Water
- Vegetable bouillon
- Potatoes
- Rosemary
- Thyme
Blend the soup until smooth with an immersion blender.
Add cashew cream for a white bright soup with wonderful body.
Topping ideas
Now it’s time to add your choice of toppings!
- Make eyes or buttons for your snowman with sliced olives, peas, pistachios, sliced green onions, or capers.
- Give your snowman a nose by cutting a carrot or non-dairy cheese into a small triangle.
- Your snowman needs a mouth. Smash a sun-dried tomato into a smile, or cut a red bell pepper into a half-moon shape.
- Keep your snowman warm with a hat or scarf made of browned seitan bacon or thinly sliced non-dairy cheese.
- Carefully cut mittens for your snowman using a red bell pepper.
- Sprigs of fresh rosemary or thyme can be used for arms.
- Finish your snowman with a broom made of grated non-dairy cheese & a pretzel for the handle.
Make it your own
You can make this comforting soup your own by varying the ingredients.
- Instead of bouillon + water, use vegetable broth as the soup base.
- Replace dried herbs with fresh. Use ½ Tablespoon each of fresh rosemary & thyme.
- If you peeled potatoes for this soup, make crispy air fried potato peels.
Can you freeze this soup?
Yes!
This potato soup freezes beautifully.
(Would you expect anything else with a snowman soup?)
Simply store the soup in freezer-proof glass containers or freezer bags.
Then when you’re ready to enjoy it, thaw it in the refrigerator or microwave.
Finally, warm the soup in the microwave or on the stove. Finish it with your preferred toppings.
More cozy soup ideas
Here are even more hearty soups to keep you warm when the weather outside is frightful.
- Sweet potato peanut stew
- Vegan split pea soup
- Creamy vegan mushroom soup with lentils
- Vegan wild rice soup
- Creamy gnocchi soup with sausage & kale
- Vegan tortilla soup
📖 Recipe
Melted snowman soup
Ingredients
For the soup
- 4 ½ cups water divided
- ¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons raw cashews*
- 1 teaspoon avocado oil or other neutral-flavored oil
- 1 ½ cups chopped yellow onions
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 vegetable bouillon cube
- 2 pounds russet potatoes cut in 1-inch pieces (About 4 medium-sized potatoes. Peeled or unpeeled – your choice)
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt divided**
- Black pepper to taste
For the toppings
- 4 black olives sliced (eyes and eyebrows)
- 4 small pieces of a carrot sliced into triangular shape (nose)
- 4 tiny slices of sun-dried tomato mouth
- 12 to 16 green peas steamed (buttons)
Instructions
- In a high speed blender, blend ½ cup water and raw cashews. (Don't have a high speed blender? See the notes below.) Set the liquid aside for later use.
- Bring a soup pot to a medium heat with oil. Saute onions and garlic until they become translucent and fragrant.
- Add remaining 4 cups of water to the pot, along with vegetable bouillon cube, potatoes, thyme, rosemary, one teaspoon of salt, and a few shakes or grinds of black pepper.
- Bring the water to a simmer. Once it is simmering, lower the heat, and cook for about 10 minutes, until the potatoes can easily be pierced with a fork.
- Once the potatoes are soft, use an immersion blender to blend the soup. It should be mostly smooth, but an occasional chunk of potato is just fine. (Don't have an immersion blender? Carefully move the soup to a regular blender, in batches if necessary, to blend until smooth. Then transfer it back to the soup pot.)
- Add the cashew cream from the blender to the pot. Stir to combine.
- If the soup is at your desired creaminess, it’s ready to serve. If it’s too thin, allow it to cook a little longer. If it’s too thick, add a splash of water. Taste for salt and add remaining half teaspoon, if needed.
- Ladle the soup into four bowls.
- Decorate soup with olives, carrot, sun-dried tomato, and peas. (For more snowman soup topping ideas, check out the blog post.)
Notes
Nutrition
Post updated January 14, 2023. Originally published December 21, 2011.
Jen
Thinking about tweeting this to use cauliflower vs potatoes! BEAUTIFUL presentation!!! Can’t wait to try!
Cadry
What a good idea! I love cauliflower soup. Let me know how it goes. Thank you for the kind words!
Nichole Kraft
What a perfect recipe for today! This is the first day it’s been really chilly (unseasonably early here in Kansas), and when I stepped outside this morning I instantly wanted potato soup. Thankfully, I have everything I need to make this tonight. I’ll pair it up with some homemade biscuits and enjoy the first taste of fall. Thanks for sharing!
Cadry
Oh, homemade biscuits! Sign me up!
sarahappifanie
that is adorable and genius.
Cadry
How sweet of you to say! Thank you!
Andrea
This post was so much fun to read, and I love the clever presentation for the delicious-sounding soup.
cadryskitchen
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Andrea! I had a lot of fun making it. Although, since we’re not getting much indoor light these days, I’m sure my neighbors wondered what that crazy lady was doing standing outside taking pictures of a little snowman made of potatoes. 🙂
That girl
Your soup picture is pretty much the best thing ever. I love it!
cadryskitchen
So sweet of you to say! Thank you!
Rose
This is too cute!!! You are so creative…cilantro scarf! I kind of feel sorry for the melted version, but does it sound delicious! Thanks for the recipe; I’m definitely making this. The gift wrap idea is great too; those packages are charming.
Merry Christmas Cadry!
cadryskitchen
Thanks, Rose! Maybe your version of the soup can have a little sun-dried tomato smile, so that you don’t feel quite so sorry for the snowman! 🙂 Merry Christmas to you too! I hope it’s a happy one!
Kristen Maier
That is adorable. I LOVE it!
Bobbie {thevegancrew}
This is so cute! Such a great idea 🙂
veganlisa
A hilarious post and an awesome idea!
cadryskitchen
Thanks, Lisa! I wish there was a way to trade a bowl of this soup for some of that amazing fruit you’re enjoying in Bali! 🙂 (Your post actually had me checking out the price of plane tickets on Kayak today!)
Suburban Snow White
Love the wrapping paper! I’m actually wrapping gifts this year in the pages of an old road atlas and in the pages of an oversized seed catalog that is in black-and-white and all done up to look old fashioned. But I LOVE what you’ve done. That looks amazing.
And the soup? Adorable.
cadryskitchen
An old road atlas is a great idea! At Paper Source I’m always drawn to the gift wrap that looks like old school maps of Paris and the like. Why not go for the real deal? It’d be a fun idea for birthdays too, and gear the place on the map to the recipient (i.e. had a honeymoon in Las Vegas, got married in Orange County, etc.). I can tell from your blog that you’re really enjoying the holidays! I hope you have a happy one!
Cara
Oh my goodness, this soup makes me the happiest girl ever. EVER. EAAAAHHHHVEEEEERRR!!!!