This vegan cauliflower soup is rich, creamy, and absolutely scrumptious! Easy to make and full of flavor, it's the perfect secretly healthy soup to satisfy your comfort food cravings.
I've always been a vegetable lover, so I'm not super big on the whole concept of sneaky vegetable recipes. You know what I mean? I love my veggies as they are, so why be sneaky about things!
Okay, so have a few of them on this site, like my butternut squash mac and cheese and mushroom Bolognese. I'm okay with those dishes because I don't think of them as vegetables pretending to be other stuff! They obviously are what they are — the veggies just happen to do a good job of replacing other ingredients like meat and cheese.
So, what's that got to do with this cauliflower soup? Well, even though the soup is obviously made from cauliflower, it does a great job of satisfying my cravings for heavier, carbier-based soups, like potato soup!
The cauliflower isn't exactly sneaky. It's just kind of surprising how rich and comforting a veggie-based soup can be. Also, this soup is super creamy, so if you were ever a fan of dairy-based soups you might find this one really hits the spot for you!
Ingredients You'll Need
- Olive oil. Just about any high-heat oil can be substituted, such as coconut oil, corn oil, or canola oil.
- Onion.
- Garlic.
- White wine. This adds flavor but can be omitted if you prefer to cook without alcohol. If you do use it, make sure to check your brand with Barnivore to ensure it's vegan.
- Fresh cauliflower.
- Vegetable broth.
- Light coconut milk. Use the type in a can for the best flavor and texture. Prefer to go all out and use full-fat coconut milk? Go for it!
- Dried thyme. You can use fresh thyme if that's what you have on hand, just double the amount.
- White wine vinegar. While I like the flavor of white wine vinegar best in this soup, other vinegars could be substituted if needed. White vinegar, red wine vinegar, or malt vinegar should all be fine.
- Salt and pepper.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
- Heat your olive oil in a large pot, then add diced onion. Sweat the onion for a few minutes until it starts to soften up, then add minced garlic and sauté it with the onion for about a minute.
- Pour in the wine and bring it up to a simmer. Let it cook for a few minutes until it reduces by about half. Obviously you can skip this and move right to the next step if you're omitting the wine!
Note: Don't be alarmed if your garlic and/or onions turn blue after you add the wine. This can sometimes occur due to pH changes, and wine is quite acidic.
- Stir in cauliflower, coconut milk, broth, and thyme. Raise the heat and bring the liquid to a boil.
- Lower the heat and let the soup simmer until the cauliflower is tender. You'll need it to be soft enough for blending.
Tip: Keep some hot water nearby so you can add it if the liquid reduces too much while your soup simmers.
- Take the pot off of the burner and blend your soup until it's smooth and creamy. I like to use an immersion blender for this, since there's no need to transfer it to another vessel, but a blender or food processor will work just fine. Always be super careful when blending hot liquids.
- Thin the soup with some extra liquid if needed. You can also place the pot back on the stove if it's cooled down too much.
- Stir in the vinegar and season the soup with salt and pepper to taste. The amount of salt you need to use (if any) will depend on how salty your broth is.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and serve! I like to top mine with some fresh chives and a couple of roasted cauliflower florets.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover vegan cauliflower soup will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days, or in the freezer for about 3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is!
You can! The cook time may need to be reduced a bit since frozen cauliflower is partially cooked. Thaw the cauliflower before adding it to the soup so that it doesn't cool everything down.
I can't taste the coconut at all in this soup, but if you really can't stand the flavor of coconut you may want to substitute another non-dairy milk, such as almond milk, oat milk or cashew milk.
More Vegan Soup Recipes
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
📖 Recipe
Creamy Vegan Cauliflower Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ cup dry white wine (Note 1)
- 1 medium cauliflower head, broken into florets (Note 2)
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup light coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Coat the bottom of a large pot with the oil and place it over medium heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add the onion. Sweat the onion for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until it begins to soften.
- Add the garlic and cook it with the onion for about 1 minute, until it becomes very fragrant.
- Stir in the wine and bring it to a simmer. Let the wine simmer until it reduces in volume by about half, about 4 minutes.
- Stir in the cauliflower, broth, coconut milk, and thyme. Raise the heat and bring the liquid to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer the soup until the cauliflower is tender. (Note 3) Add water to a the pot if the liquid reduces too much.
- Remove the pot from heat and blend the soup until smooth, either by using an immersion blender or transferring it to a blender or food processor in batches. Always use caution when blending hot liquids.
- Return the soup to the pot (if you removed it) and thin it with water or broth, if desired. You can also reheat it on the stove at this point if it cooled down.
- Stir in the vinegar and season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.
- Ladle into bowls and serve.
Notes
- The wine can be omitted if you prefer to cook without alcohol. Just skip step 4 of the instructions.
- You'll need about a 2 to 2 ½ pound head of cauliflower.
- Test the cauliflower for doneness by piercing a piece with a fork. It should go in easily.
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
the soup looks delicious and i would love to try it but i don't have coconut milk. can i use another plant milk? thanks.
You can, it just might not be quite as rich and creamy. Cashew milk would probably be a good substitute!