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Holiday food idea: Melted snowman soup

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Holiday food idea for the winter months – melted snowman soup! This fun & kid-friendly soup 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. Dinner just got a whole lot more festive. Vegan & gluten-free.

Potato soup with snowman face and buttons on table.

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: Holiday food idea

Overhead potato soup with snowman faces, napkin, and spoons.

Melted snowman soup is actually potato soup. (It’s the same recipe as my loaded vegan baked potato soup. However, the toppings are different!)

This full-bodied soup is packed with the flavors of rosemary and thyme.

Then, after the soup is ladled, holiday guests get to complete their soups by decorating them.

How to make melted snowman soup

Potato soup on stove.

Start by sautéing onions and garlic. Then add water, vegetable bouillon, potatoes, rosemary, and thyme.

Next, add velvety cashew cream. It makes the snowman soup bright white. And it adds wonderful body.

Finally, blend the soup until smooth with an immersion blender.

Now comes the fun part – decorating the soup!

Finish your soup with any of these topping ideas.

Toppings for melted snowman soup - carrot pieces, olives, peas, and non-dairy cheese. Holiday food idea.

Melted snowman soup topping ideas

  • 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.

This holiday food idea is an ideal way to get the kids involved in creating their own soup-y 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 soup designs. Then get out the spoons and look at that Frosty go.

Holiday food idea. Melted snowman soup in bowl with spoons and napkin.

Potato soup with snowman face and buttons on table.

Melted Snowman Soup

Potato soup just got a whole lot more fun. Filled with onions, garlic, rosemary, and thyme, it's already a flavor-packed bowl of coziness. But once you add a sad sun-dried tomato mouth, kalamata olive eyes, and a carrot nose, it leans into the cuteness. Get the whole family involved by decorating their own melted snowmen. And once everyone has finished their masterpieces, it's time to eat!
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Course: Soup
Cuisine: American, Vegan
Keyword: christmas food idea, holiday party food, winter food idea
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 268kcal
Author: Cadry Nelson

Ingredients

For the soup

  • 4 1/2 cups water divided
  • 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons raw cashews*
  • 1 teaspoon organic canola oil or other neutral-flavored oil
  • 1 1/2 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)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 1 1/2 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 1/2 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

*If not using a high speed blender, you'll need to soak the raw cashews ahead of time for at least 4 hours and drain them before making the recipe. No time to wait? Grind the dry raw cashews in a clean coffee grinder until they become like flour. Then add them to the blender with water.
**The vegetable bouillon I use has no added salt. If your bouillon is on the saltier side, you may need to add less salt than listed here.

Nutrition

Calories: 268kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 5g | Sodium: 1133mg | Potassium: 1086mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 15IU | Vitamin C: 17.8mg | Calcium: 57mg | Iron: 2.8mg
Tried this recipe?Tag @cadryskitchen on Instagram and hashtag it #cadryskitchen!

Can you freeze potato 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, and finish it with your preferred toppings.

Here are more cozy vegan soup ideas I know you’ll like:

Content, recipe, and photos updated December 2019. Originally posted December 2011.

Comments

  1. Suburban Snow White says

    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.

    Reply

    • cadryskitchen says

      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!

      Reply

    • cadryskitchen says

      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!)

      Reply

  6. Rose says

    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!

    Reply

    • cadryskitchen says

      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!

      Reply

    • cadryskitchen says

      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. 🙂

      Reply

  10. Nichole Kraft says

    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!

    Reply

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