Vegan Cauliflower Soup
Vegan Cauliflower Soup is creamy, without the cream, made with a handful of simple ingredients, and delicious as can be! Not to mention it’s quick, easy and healthy!
Cauliflower is a versatile veggie that can be dressed up in many ways. Roast it, mash it, make cauliflower rice, and so more!
Here we’ll be simmering the cauliflower until tender and pureeing it until creamy smooth (or to your desired texture), creating a perfectly luscious soup.
Why We Love This Recipe!
- No fuss recipe! This vegan cream of cauliflower soup requires no roasting and is a one-pot recipe for a quick and delicious soup recipe!
- Healthy! It’s creamy and delicious without any dairy cream making it 100% dairy free. The soup will thicken when pureeing the cauliflower and adding the vegan cream.
And if you’re a soup lover like myself, these other delicious soup recipes are worth checking out: Vegan Tomato Basil Soup, Vegan Minestrone Soup, Creamy Broccoli + Red Lentil Soup, or Very Good Split Pea Soup.
Ingredient Notes
In this simple cauliflower soup recipe, onion, garlic, thyme, and cauliflower are cooked until tender, then pureed into a creamy and delicious soup that’s a healthy whole food, plant-based lunch, or dinner.
Here is everything you will need:
- Cauliflower – use a large 2 1/2 to 3-pound head, or use pre-cut cauliflower for convenience.
- Onion – any color will do.
- Garlic – fresh garlic is best, but can be substituted with garlic powder.
- Thyme – use fresh or dried.
- Vegan butter – adds a wonderful richness to the final soup. My favorite is Miyokos. You substitute with olive oil or water if preferred.
- Vegetable broth – we recommend low-sodium or vegetable concentrate, such as Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Paste, that makes it easy to control the amount used.
- Vegan cream – use store-bought or homemade vegan cream (sub your almond milk, cashew milk, or favorite plant milk)
- Lemon – adds a light zestiness.
- Salt + pepper
How To Make Vegan Cauliflower Soup
- Prep: Start by prepping the onion and garlic. Cut the cauliflower into florets.
- Saute: In a heavy bottom pan, saute the onion with butter for 5 – 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
- Add remaining ingredients: Add the cauliflower, thyme, salt, pepper, and water.
- Simmer: Bring the chunky soup to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add cream: Stir in the vegan cream or plant milk and lemon juice.
- Puree: Let the soup rest for 10 minutes to cool. Using an immersion blender or cup blender, puree the soup until desired consistency. Reheat on the stove if needed to warm back up before serving.
And now you’re ready to enjoy!
Top Tips
- Reserve cauliflower pieces: Reserve a few pieces of cauliflower and toast in a toaster oven with a little oil to help it caramelize along the edges. It makes for a great soup topper with a lovely toasted flavor.
- Cutting cauliflower: When chopping the cauliflower, don’t worry about making the pieces small. You can always break it up as it cooks down and softens.
- Recommended equipment: I used my immersion blender (affiliate link) to puree the soup. A standing blender is great too, but may take two batches to puree.
- Toppings: Add a little heat with a pinch of red pepper flakes or crushed mustard seeds.
How To Store, Freeze + Reheat
- Refrigerator: Leftovers will keep for 5 – 6 days in the refrigerator, stored in a covered container.
- Freezer: Vegan cauliflower soup is freezer friendly and freezes well for up to 2 – 3 months. To freeze, let cool completely and store in multi-use, freezer safe containers (affiliate link), leaving 1/2 inch head space for expansion. You can also freeze larger portions in large freezer ziplock bags. Let thaw before reheating.
- Reheat: Simply re-warm on the stovetop over low heat until warmed through. Alternatively, reheat in the microwave using 30 – 60 second intervals, stirring after each, until warm.
- Meal Prep: It makes a great meal prep for the week with homemade Artisan Bread or Vegan Naan on the side for soaking up the juices.
Serving Suggestions
This cauliflower soup is great alone for a light meal but can be made even heartier with a little something extra on the side. Here are a few of my favorite serving suggestions:
- Topping: Top with crumbled Coconut Bacon, Baked Kale Chips, croutons, or Crispy Roasted Chickpeas for a crunchy texture.
- Sandwich: Serve with Grilled Hummus Sandwich + Sauteed Onions, Tomato & Arugula, Roasted Red Pepper Sandwich, or Vegan Egg Salad Sandwich for a fantastic filling meal!
- Salad: Serve with Green Salad + Tahini Dressing, French Lentil & Bitter Greens Salad, or simple leafy green salad with Vegan Ranch or Healthy Flax & Evo Balsamic Vinaigrette.
- Bread: Serve with homemade Artisan Bread, soft and chewy Vegan Naan, or gluten-free Socca flatbread to soak up the juices.
- Pizza: Serve with a slice of Cannellini Bean + Fennel Flatbread or Zucchini Flatbread-White Pizza.
- Veggies: Serve with warm veggies like this Savory Sauteed Kale, Skillet Asparagus + Tomato Medley, Curry & Sriracha Roasted Cauliflower, or this delicious Vegan Collard Greens.
If you try this cauliflower soup recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment and rate it below. I love to hear what you think, or any changes you make.
PrintVEGAN CAULIFLOWER SOUP
This creamy Vegan Cauliflower soup is full of flavor and uses simple ingredients for a healthy soup that’s quick and easy to make! Gluten free recipe.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 25 min
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4 – 6 1x
- Category: Entree, Soup
- Method: simmer
- Cuisine: Vegan, American
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup vegan butter – Miyokos is the best (see notes for subs)
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large head cauliflower (about 2 1/2 – 3 lbs.), cut into florets
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme or 2 sprigs
- 3 – 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (sub with water or combo)
- 1 cup vegan cream (or plant milk of choice)
- 1 small lemon, juice of
- Salt + pepper, to taste
Instructions
Prep: Start by prepping the onion and garlic. Cut the cauliflower into florets, they can be on the large side as you can break it down as it cooks.
Saute: In a heavy bottom pan, heat the butter over medium heat, add the onion and saute for 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Add remaining ingredients: Add the cauliflower, thyme, salt and pepper, and water/broth.
Simmer: Bring the chunky soup to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes, or until cauliflower is fork tender.
Add cream + lemon: Stir in the vegan cream or plant milk and lemon juice.
Puree: Once soup is done, let rest for 10 minutes to cool. Using an immersion blender or cup blender, puree the soup until desired consistency. Season with more salt & pepper as needed. Heat over low until warmed through as needed.
Serve: Serve with a few reserved toasted cauliflower pieces, drizzle of vegan cream and/or fresh cracked pepper. For a little heat, add a pinch of red pepper flakes or crushed mustard seeds. Pair with homemade Artisan Bread or soft and chewy Vegan Naan for soaking up the juices.
Store: Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 6 days in a covered container. To store longer, freeze for up to 2 – 3 months.
Notes
To substitute the vegan butter, use 2 tablespoons olive oil or 1/4 cup of water for a water saute.
For the most flavor, vegetable broth is recommended. Just note that it may change the color slightly.
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This was amazing! The flavor was mellow but fine tuned making it a great soup to accompany a number of main dishes. In my case, vegan crab cakes with spicy lemon aioli sauce and lemon sautéed asparagus. Will make it again and again. I replaced the vegan cream with coconut milk only because I was running low on oatmilk and needed that for my coffee. Haha! I also browned the cauliflower prior to adding it to the pot. This, of course, shrinks them quite a bit- which was perfect as I like a thinner soup. Will certainly be checking into your other recipes. Thank you so much.
This soup is delicious! I subbed Herbs de Provence for the thyme, and went with about 4 cups of broth and water; I made your cashew cream and it’s better than I imagined it would be. This soup tastes a lot like the potato soup my mom made, but with cauliflower, I would assume the nutritional benefits are greater. Thank you!
Good soup but the directions do not say what to use the 1/4 cup of vegan butter for. I assumed it was for sauteing the onion and garlic (which in the directions says to use oil or water), so that is what I did.
I’ve fixed it, Nancy! Thanks for pointing that out, not sure how we missed that one. :)
Yum! Good recipe! Reminds me of the cauliflower soup I had in Ecuador—we’d sprinkle popcorn over the top of the soup bowl as a treat.
This soup was delicious! I used a homemade veggie broth and that vegan cream is divine. Thanks for the terrific recipe!
This was really good!!
I’m wondering if I can add everything to the instant pot and then blend it after the fact…
Great question, Natalie! Yes, you can absolutely do that. Will be so easy! Enjoy :)
I have an overabundance of frozen cauliflower rice – I don’t know how that happened!! I’m going to use that instead of fresh cauliflower and a cup of Nutpods for the vegan cream. I’m slowly making my way through your soup recipes and everything has been delicious so far!
I love these simple soups and always appreciate the substitution options from TSV.
I added a bit of rosemary and coriander to the last batch I took out of the freezer and it made it even better. Thank you!
I tried this recipe. It’s amazing. Used it as sauce for pasta alfredo too thank you!
Oh that’s a great idea – alfredo for pasta!