Freezable Zucchini Soup

Ewwww. What IS this green stuff? 

This might be your kids' first reaction to seeing zucchini soup dished out at the dinner table. But if they are anything like my kids, or their many friends that we've fed around our table, they will be pleasantly surprised. In fact, my kids can't get enough of this deliciously mild soup. And since someday I'm guessing they will want to make it for themselves, I'm sticking the recipe some place they'll be sure to find it.

There's nothing worse than getting halfway through a recipe only to discover that you are missing an essential ingredient, so I like to set everything out before I get started. Ahem...here I see I am missing white flour and fresh parsley.

To begin, add the following ingredients to a large pan or pot:

9 cups chopped zucchini

1 1/2 cups water

1 large onion, chopped

1 1/2 tsp seasoned salt

1 1/2 TBSP fresh parsley

6 tsp chicken base

Cover and cook until zucchini and onions are soft. Then puree in batches and return to the pan. FYI, I found this soup to be even yummier after I bought a quality blender. It just gets things that much smoother.

In the meantime, start the white sauce by melting 6 TBSP of butter in a non-stick pan.
Then stir in 6 TBSP white flour and 1/2 tsp ground pepper. While stirring, allow the flour the cook in the butter for a minute or so.

Then add 4 1/2 cups almond milk all at once.
Whisk. Whisk. Whisk.
Cook until thickened, stirring frequently.

Once the white sauce is thickened, pour it into the zucchini base. Stir and and allow to heat through.

Personally, I think the bright green color is lovely.

And my kids think it tastes great.

Oh, and if you have more zucchini in your garden right now than you know what to do with, you can freeze the zucchini base!! When your taste buds are ready for zucchini again in say, October, simply whip up the white sauce and add the defrosted zucchini base. Super simple.

Garden Fresh Zucchini Soup

Zucchini Base
Combine the following in a large pot:

9 cups chopped zucchini (can include other summer squash such as yellow crookneck, patty pan, etc.)

1 1/2 cups water

1 large onion, chopped

1 1/2 tsp seasoned salt

1 1/2 TBSP fresh parsley

6 tsp chicken base

Cover and cook on medium heat until onions and zucchini are soft. Then, puree in batches and return to pan.

White Sauce

Melt 6 TBSP butter in a non-stick pan. Then add 6 TBSP flour and 1/2 tsp ground pepper. Stir and cook for about a minute.

Then add 4 1/2 cups almond milk (yes, you can use regular dairy milk, too*). Wisk and cook until thickened, stirring frequently.

Once white sauce has thickened, add it to the pureed zucchini base. Stir to combine and heat through.

* Honestly, we all like this soup a little better with 2% dairy milk, especially if we are planning on any leftovers for the next day (almond or soy milk really thickens it up by day two). BUT in an effort to have less animal products in our diet, we've been ditching more dairy in favor or almond or soy milk.