This creamy cauliflower soup is rich, comforting, and flavored with nutmeg for a holiday twist. Topped with pomegranates and pepitas, it looks festive, too! It's made from a flavorful blend of cauliflower, leeks, garlic, and white beans, spiced with warming red pepper flakes.
Serve this cozy cauliflower soup as a vegan starter this Thanksgiving, or enjoy a warm bowl next to a melty grilled cheese on a chilly day.
As soon as the weather gets cold, soup becomes one of my favorite foods. There’s just nothing like a warm, cozy bowl of hearty potato soup, classic minestrone, or flavorful butternut squash soup on a chilly day. This vegan cauliflower soup is another one of my favorite recipes, and it’s perfect for the holidays. It’s hearty and filling, but also rich and creamy. It tastes indulgent, but it’s vegan, gluten-free, and still light enough to serve as a starter with fluffy popovers this season.
What Makes This Creamy Cauliflower Soup So Good
- Rich and creamy, without dairy. As is, this soup is gluten-free and vegan, with extra richness from raw cashews and nutritional yeast.
- Warm flavors. Cauliflower adds heartiness as the base of the soup, while the flavors of the garlic, leeks, and chili flakes shine through. White beans and nutmeg make the soup feel wintry, and all the ingredients come together in a comforting, cozy bowlful.
- Enjoy it all season long. I’ll eat this as a first course at Thanksgiving or Christmas, or curled up on the couch on a cold winter evening.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are all the ingredients you need for this warm and cozy vegan cauliflower soup. Make sure to check out the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the exact ingredient amounts.
- Olive oil – Substitute another cooking oil, like avocado oil, if you'd like.
- Leeks – I love the mild, sweet flavor that leeks bring to potato leek soup, so I couldn't resist including them here. Be sure to clean your leeks well, as dirt gets in between the layers.
- Garlic – Freshly minced garlic has the best flavor. Otherwise, substitute one tablespoon of jarred garlic for each clove.
- Cauliflower – Choose a head of cauliflower that's creamy white, without any discoloring or soft spots. Chop the cauliflower into smaller pieces.
- Nutmeg – For best results, use freshly-grated nutmeg.
- Red pepper flakes – Feel free to leave these out if you're sensitive to spice.
- White beans – Try to find organic white beans for this recipe. If you're using canned beans, make sure they’re drained and rinsed before you add them to the soup.
- Vegetable broth – This can be store-bought or homemade.
- Cashews – The cashews should be raw and not toasted.
- Nutritional yeast – Nutritional yeast has a cheesy flavor that brings more depth and richness to cauliflower soup. Including it is optional, but recommended!
- Pomegranate seeds and pumpkin seeds – Optional, for garnishing the soup before serving.
How to Make Cauliflower Soup
Here’s how to make this decadent winter soup. It only takes 45 minutes from start to finish!
- Sauté the aromatics. Heat the olive oil in a pot or a Dutch oven, then add the leeks and garlic. Cook until they’re soft, about 1-2 minutes.
- Cook the cauliflower. Add the cauliflower to the pot along with the nutmeg, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the broth. Pour the vegetable broth into the pot, along with the water and the white beans. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat and put a lid on the pot. Simmer the soup for 30 minutes.
- Blend. Once the soup is done cooking, pour it into a blender with an open lid, and add the cashews. If the soup is too thick, add a little bit of water to thin it out.
- Season. Pour the soup back into the pot, and stir in the nutritional yeast if you’re using it. Taste the soup, and adjust the seasonings with salt, pepper, chili flakes, and nutmeg.
- Serve. Serve the soup while it’s still hot, and top with the garnishes of your choice.
Recipe Tips
- Use homemade broth. This hearty vegan soup will taste great with a store-bought vegetable broth, but you can bump it up a notch by using homemade stock. I recommend using my mushroom vegan bone broth, which is easy to make in the Instant Pot and makes this soup very rich.
- Use a blender with an open lid. Very important! NEVER blend hot soup in an airtight blender. It creates a vacuum, which can lead to a soup explosion. Make sure to blend the soup using a food processor or blender with an opening in the top for the hot air to escape. You could also use an immersion blender to blend the soup right in the pot.
- Blend in batches. The soup probably won’t all fit in a blender. To make life easier and to ensure that you get the smoothest soup, add it to the blender in batches. Taking a few extra minutes at this stage can make the soup a much nicer texture and save you some mess.
What to Serve With Cauliflower Soup
When it's time to serve your cauliflower soup, have fun with the toppings! I love to top this soup with a nice glug of olive oil, with pomegranate seeds and pumpkin seeds for garnish. But you can add whatever you like. This soup is great topped with croutons, crumbled tempeh bacon, fresh herbs, vegan creme fraiche, or even a drizzle of vinegar reduction.
Customizing the toppings is a great way to make this soup really stand out, especially if you’re serving it for a holiday meal. Follow it up with cornbread stuffing and mushroom and quinoa stuffed acorn squash, with herb-crusted baked tofu as a vegan alternative to turkey.
Any other day of the year, serve creamy cauliflower soup with an open-faced chickpea salad sandwich or a vegan chickpea tuna melt for a bistro-style lunch.
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
- Refrigerate. This soup will last in the fridge for 5 days. Just make sure to store it in an airtight container.
- Reheat. To reheat, heat the soup on the stove over low heat until warm, or microwave on medium heat in 30-second increments until heated. If the soup is too thick, add a little bit of water before or during the reheating.
- Freeze. This is one of my favorite recipes to freeze, because it makes such an easy weekday dinner. Freeze the soup in an airtight container or ziploc bag for up to 4 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, or defrost in the microwave before heating.
More Vegan Soup Recipes
Cauliflower Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 medium leeks , sliced (about 2 cups)
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 medium head cauliflower , chopped (about 6 cups)
- 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg + more as needed
- 1/2 teapsoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon sea salt + more as needed
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 15 oz can organic white beans, drained and rinsed
- 4 cups organic vegetable broth
- 2 cups water + more as needed
- 1/4 cup cashews
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast (optional)
to garnish:
- pomegranate seeds
- pumpkin seeds
- a drizzle of olive oil
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pot or dutch oven. When hot, add the leeks and garlic, and saute until softened, about 1 – 2 minutes. Add the cauliflower and spices and saute again for another 5 minutes or so.
- Add the beans, broth, and water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and let soup simmer on the stove for at least 30 minutes, longer if you have the time.
- When done, transfer half the soup to a high powered blender. Add the cashews and puree until smooth. If too thick, add a little bit of water until desired consistency has been reached. Repeat with the other half of soup.
- Transfer all soup back to the pot. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper. Sprinkle in more nutmeg/pepper flakes if desired. If using nutritional yeast, stir in here as well.
- Serve immediately, garnish with your desired toppings and enjoy the healing vibes this soup will bring!
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Nutrition
This is the BEST soup! I love serving for holiday parties. Or any time! So good!
Absolutely delicious! Highly recommend.
it helps to add some lemons, to get some clean acidity. Not making this one again
Good. Be sure your pomegranates are sweet! 😳
Made this last night and it was absolutely delicious! I should have bought two cauliflowers to make it to 6 cups, we were a little short and that thinned the soup a bit – a really lovely, filling recipe that feels comforting but is also really healthy – perfect in the midst of holiday indulging! Thank you!
Just make the cauliflower leek soup It’s delicious. The leeks give soup a bit of a green tinge so if you don’t want that, simply use just the white part or use white onion. I think nutritional yeast is a must (but confess I did not try it without). I was skeptical of the nutmeg because it’s not my favorite spice, but it worked out just great. Later I’ll try recipe with gram masala as I think that profile would be delicious too.
Love this soup! It freezes well too! I add two carrots to it. Did it by mistake the last time and it was great.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!!
I Love love love everything about this soup!
YAY!!! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Can you use roasted cashews if you don’t have raw?
I would suggest raw because they get creamier, but roasted should also work!
I’m going to make 12servings of this, so I know I have to double the amount of the ingredients. Is there any in particular I should be caution about when doubling? Like the red pepper flakes? The people I’m serving too can’t handle chilli very well, they’re sensitive and can only handle a little to none. Personally though I can handle a lot chilly (but I can always add that in separately when I serve for myself). How much red pepper flakes should I add? And can chilli powder work instead as a replacement?
Also, my leeks are quite small, how much small should I add or 3 is still fine?
Lastly, I only gave Pre-minced garlic, how many tbsps should I use?
I definitely would cut back on the chili, but I think otherwise you should be fine. For leeks, I’d do 4 if yours are small. And for the garlic, I’d say start with 1 tablespoon. You can always add more, but can’t take it away 😉
Allergic to cashews what can I use instead
You can leave them out and just reduce the liquid slightly.
Wonderful texture. I little too spicy for me. I should have gone with my gut and reduced the red pepper flakes and black pepper. I will definitely make again, though.
Glad you still enjoyed it! xx
Can you freeze this soup??
I am the only one in my house that likes soup. But I dont think I can eat this in one sitting by myself lol
Definitely! It will also last in the fridge for at least 4 – 5 days!
I’m getting ready to start making this soup and am wondering if the cashews have to soak before adding? And do you think an immersion blender will work as opposed to transferring to a blender or food processor? Thanks! It looks delish and I can’t wait to try it.
I don’t think you’ll be able to use an immersion blender and have the cashews! If you don’t have time to soak the cashews, I usually add them into the cooking process for about 30 minutes so they soften up a little bit 🙂
I loved this soup so much! I like that it’s spicy, it makes it more satisfying. However, I didn’t really get “holiday” vibes from it (maybe because I omitted the pomegranate seeds). I only used 2 garlic cloves (because mine were massive) and only two leeks (I’ve never cooked with leeks before so I thought they were also pretty big) and I liked the way it turned out a lot. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
So glad you enjoyed! xx
I love everything about this recipe! However, next time I will omit the red pepper flakes, as I feel it doesn’t “go” with the rest of the ingredients and adds a strange taste to an otherwise delicious soup. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly and enjoyed the result!
Totally! I think I just LOVE spice, so I add them to everything 🙂
This looks great but it says it had quinoa in it as you read your blog part but the recipe had no listing for it in ingredients. Am I missing something?
I removed the quinoa from the original recipe because I didn’t feel like it added much (and forgot to update that part of the text). It’s all set now!
In the introduction to the recipe, you mention it contains quinoa but quinoa is not listed in the ingredients. Was this an oversight? I want to try the recipe. It sounds delicious but I don’t want to miss an ingredient.
I removed the quinoa from the original recipe because I didn’t feel like it added much (and forgot to update that part of the text). It’s all set now!
Sorry, but I don’t see any quinoa in the recipe above. What am I missing?
I removed the quinoa from the original recipe because I didn’t feel like it added much (and forgot to update that part of the text). It’s all set now!
Ummm delicious. Made it tonight and it was super easy (minus my stupid mistake of over filling the blender and having to clean up that mess) and really good. I made it just the way it was written and it turned out perfect. Enjoying it right now with a glass of red wine. Perfect end to a beautiful day. Thanks for the recipe. I will be looking through your website to find more wonderful recipes.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!!
This was so delicious!!! Do you know the calorie intake per serving by chance?
I don’t have that calculated, but you can use this tool: https://www.caloriecount.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php
This soup is amazing!! I used 1 large onion instead of leeks, soaked the cashews for about 1 hr. before blending into soup & seasoned with 1 tspn. pink salt, a bit of freshly ground black pepper and topped with a dash or 2 of nutmeg! Served with really good bread. Highly recommend!!
yum!! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂 xo
Sounds amazing! I´ve been looking some quinoa recipes for sometime..and also wheat free meals and some without meat. Thank you, I allready love what Ihave seen.:)
Thank you for all the great recipes this past year!
Hi Alyssa,
I make cauliflower soup, and love it, haven’t tried it with cashews, I think they might be a bit too much for diabetics
Good luck with your new business venture, and have a very Happy, Peaceful, and Blessed Christmas.
Cheers, Pauline (Down Under)
oh congrats on the big next step!! Love your blog and everything quinoa! The leeks and cauliflower paired with cashews sounds like the perfect start to any meal! What a great soup recipe to add have during the holidays
OMG this soup looks so creamy and what a great idea to sneak in some quinoa! I love having soups during the winter time!
And congratulations on your new chapter, I’m so excited for you girl! Best of luck – You will do great! 🙂
Alyssa, This soup looks so delicious and soooo pleasing to the eye! I just can’t wait to try it–YUM!!! Thanks for sharing this! Happy Holidays to you 🙂
Does this recipe call for raw or toasted cashews?
Congratulations and thanks for providing easy, great tasting, nutritional information — happy holidays. Stay in touch.!