Avocado in a soup is not a garnish, it is the creaminess maker. But only if we blend it in hot. Stirred in cold, the flesh stays chunky and tastes flat. Blended hot with kohlrabi and broccoli, it gives a texture that other soups need a cup of double cream to achieve.
We have been making this soup for years whenever the fridge calls for a reset. It is vegan, lactose-free and still has the mouthfeel of a cream soup. The trick is in the order: first cook 400 g broccoli and 200 g kohlrabi in the mixing bowl for 20 minutes until soft, then spoon the avocado into the hot broth and blend immediately. The heat breaks down the avocado flesh and emulsifies the healthy fat with the vegetable stock. That one step is what turns a thin vegetable broth into a satisfying main meal.
Kohlrabi Broccoli Soup with Avocado, Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 15 ✓
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 piece ginger 2 x 2 cm
- 1 shallot
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 200 g kohlrabi
- 400 g broccoli
- 900 g vegetable stock
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 1 pinch coriander
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 1 bunch chives
- 1 avocado
- 1/2 lemon
Instructions 0 / 6
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1
Chop garlic and ginger.
Peel the garlic clove, peel the ginger, place both in the mixing bowl and chop for 3 sec / speed 8.
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2
Sweat the shallot.
Peel the shallot, add to the mixing bowl and chop for 3 sec / speed 5. Add the coconut oil and steam for 3 min / 120°C (TM31 Varoma) / speed 1.
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3
Cook the kohlrabi and broccoli.
Peel the kohlrabi, cut into pieces and add to the mixing bowl. Wash the broccoli, remove the stalk and add the florets to the mixing bowl. Set a few florets aside for garnishing. Pour in the vegetable stock, add the salt, turmeric, pepper, coriander and cayenne pepper and cook for 20 min / 100°C / reverse direction / speed 1.
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4
Prepare the chives.
Meanwhile, wash and cut the chives.
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5
Add avocado and blend the soup.
Halve the avocado, remove the stone and scoop the flesh into the mixing bowl. Squeeze the lemon and add the juice to the mixing bowl, then blend for 20 sec, gradually increasing to speed 7.
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6
Garnish.
Serve topped with broccoli florets and chives.
Tip: This soup is a great way to use up leftovers. You can also add other vegetables you have to hand.
Nutrition per serving
Why avocado works instead of cream
A ripe avocado provides around 15 g of unsaturated fats per 100 g. In the soup these fats take on the role that double cream or creme fraiche would normally play: they bind the starch from the kohlrabi, smooth out the fibrous structure of the broccoli and coat the tongue with a fine layer of fat. The result is a soup with 154 kcal per serving that still tastes creamy. Cream would add 100 kcal more and bring a milky flavour that would mask the delicate broccoli notes.
The second advantage is that the soup turns a vivid green automatically. Avocado flesh does oxidise in the air, but in the hot mixing bowl the opposite happens. The heat stops the enzyme responsible for browning. Add to that the juice of half a lemon, which we add to the mixing bowl with the avocado. The acidity stabilises the colour further and clearly lifts the broccoli flavour.
Why you must blend while it is hot
Anyone who has made guacamole knows what cold avocado looks like: chunky, lumpy, never truly smooth. In the soup we want exactly the opposite. As soon as the broth is still steaming after 20 min / 100°C / reverse direction / speed 1, we add the flesh and blend for 20 sec, gradually increasing to speed 7. At that temperature the cell walls of the avocado break down completely. The fat distributes evenly through the broth and forms a stable emulsion. If you let the soup cool to plate temperature first and then blend, you get a grainy mass that no sieve can smooth out.
This is the point at which the Thermomix® makes a real difference. The heat stays in the mixing bowl, the blades reach high speeds immediately and the blending happens in the same bowl the soup was cooked in. No transferring to a stand blender, no interim cooling, no second pot to wash up. The soup goes in one go from broth to finished cream soup. As well as saving time, this avoids the critical window in which the avocado would cool down.
Three pitfalls we see often
An unripe avocado in the mixing bowl
A firm avocado brings neither creaminess nor flavour. It will turn the soup green, but the flesh does not break down into fat, it breaks into fibrous crumbs. We check the fruit at the stem: if the small brown stem end can be pressed in gently with a thumb and reveals bright green underneath, it is perfect. If the stem stays firm or the flesh underneath is dark brown, leave it for two days in the fruit bowl next to an apple to ripen.
Broccoli stalk in the mixing bowl
The stalk is woody and brings a slightly bitter note to the soup. We remove it generously and use only the 400 g of florets for the mixing bowl. If you want to use the stalk, peel off the outer fibrous layer and add only the tender inner core. A second tip: snap off a few small florets before cooking and set them aside. These go on top of the blended soup at the end and add a pleasant bite.
Forgetting the turmeric or using too little
The one teaspoon of turmeric in the recipe is not a colouring agent, it is a flavour contributor. Turmeric adds a warm earthiness that rounds out the fresh green notes. Without it, the soup tastes flat. If you leave turmeric out, you need a generous amount of fresh ginger instead, otherwise that depth of flavour is missing. The combination of turmeric plus 2 x 2 cm ginger is, in our experience, the gold standard for this soup.
Variations we make ourselves
With spinach instead of kohlrabi. If you have no kohlrabi in the house, replace it with 200 g of young leaf spinach. We add this only in the last 5 minutes of the cooking time, otherwise it loses colour and vitamins. The result is a more intense green with an earthier flavour.
With lime instead of lemon. In summer we swap the half lemon for a whole lime. This gives the soup a sharper edge that moves towards a Mexican-style avocado soup. A handful of toasted pumpkin seeds on top works very well.
With coconut milk for extra creaminess. For an even richer result, replace 200 g of the vegetable stock with 200 g of coconut milk. The soup becomes noticeably more substantial and takes on a mildly sweet undertone. This works well when seasoning with an Asian twist, using a little soy sauce in place of salt.
With peas for a spring version. 200 g of frozen peas in place of some of the broccoli gives the soup a sweeter note and an even more vivid green. The peas go in during the last 8 minutes of the cooking time.
More green soups and vegan blends
If this soup gets you hooked, our classic broccoli cream soup is the version made with double cream, and the pea and mint soup is the lighter spring alternative. The Thermomix® pumpkin soup works on the same principle of vegetables and natural creaminess, only in orange. For the stock base we use our home-made vegetable paste or the spice paste for meat broth, depending on the dish. A full overview of all light recipes is in our low-calorie collection. If you enjoy vegetable-based Thermomix® cooking, the goulash soup and the potato soup are also worth a look.
Preparing and storing the soup
Stored in an airtight container in the fridge, the soup keeps for 2 days. We do not recommend longer, because the avocado gradually loses its fresh flavour and develops a slightly metallic aftertaste. When reheating, use a saucepan rather than a microwave. Over a medium heat with occasional stirring it becomes creamy again. If the consistency seems too thick after reheating, simply stir in 50 g of hot vegetable stock.
Freezing is possible, but we recommend doing so without the avocado. That means blending and freezing the broccoli and kohlrabi broth, then blending in a fresh avocado with lemon on the day of serving. A fresh avocado blending step takes under 2 minutes and always delivers the full flavour. Frozen avocado soup loses its fine emulsion on thawing and develops a watery layer on top.
How other recipes approach this
Other kohlrabi broccoli soup recipes typically reach for double cream, Cremefine or coconut milk to achieve the binding. We do it differently: a ripe avocado gives us a creamy texture that is entirely plant-based, adds healthy fats and a hint of nutty depth, without making the soup heavy. Classic Cookidoo versions often cook for 35 minutes with extra potatoes as a binder. Our Thermomix® approach is quicker and lighter, because the avocado is folded in at the end at speed 7 and keeps its fresh character. We deliberately skip toppings such as pumpkin seeds or croutons so that the delicate kohlrabi flavour stays in the foreground.
For more inspiration on vegan soups and light main courses, have a look at our low-calorie recipe collection.
