This cauliflower leek soup is easy to make, but you'd never guess it from the taste - roasting & blending the veggies makes it flavorful & satisfying.
Thank you all SO much for your ideas & suggestions of what to make with my giant cauliflower. You had so many creative ideas, and I just loved reading through them all.
Last night, we curled up on the sofa with this creamy roasted cauliflower & leek soup. (Note: I used cashews for the cream part – if you’re nut-free, check out this creamy vegan cauliflower soup recipe.) This process might look subtle, but roasting the cauliflower, leeks & garlic brings out some pretty big flavors… and in a surprisingly little amount of time. The short version of this recipe is this: Roast. Blend.
(But I promise, it tastes fancier than that).
Thanks to so many of you for commenting with the leek & cauliflower soup idea… I went with this cashew cream idea suggested by Alisa. With the “toss it all in the oven” method (and paprika addition) as suggested by Anouk.
Roasted Cauliflower & Leek Soup
- About 2 cups chopped cauliflower
- 2-3 leeks, white and very light green parts, chopped (about 1 to 1½ cups)
- 2 garlic cloves
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- ½ cup raw, unsalted, un-roasted cashews, soaked overnight* (see note)
- 1½ teaspoons miso paste (or just salt if you don't have any)
- Leaves from a few sprigs of marjoram or thyme
- 3 cups water
- 2 tablespoons more olive oil (to blend into the soup)
- ⅛ teaspoon smoked paprika (or more to taste)
- Squeeze of lemon
- Sea salt and fresh black pepper
- Red pepper flakes (optional)
- Splash of white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar, at the end (especially if you made yours too spicy like I did)
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spread the cauliflower, leeks, and garlic on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a few pinches of salt & pepper. Roast for 20-30 minutes, rotating halfway through. Remove when everything is starting to turn golden, but before the leeks are burning (if a few get too charred, it's ok, just pick them out later).
- Add to your blender the veggies you just roasted, drained cashews, marjoram leaves, miso paste, a squeeze of lemon and 1½ cups water. Blend until pureed. Add the 2 tablespoons olive oil, paprika, and the remaining 1½ cups water. Blend again. Taste and adjust seasonings.
- Pour into a medium saucepan and heat just until the soup is warm. Stir in a little more water if it's too thick. Serve with bread on the side.
I absolutely love this recipe and have made it twice in the last two weeks. I was wondering if you have the nutrional info for the soup? It would be really awesome if you started posting them with your recipes!
Hey!
I made this soup and it was the bomb diggity! Thanks so much for the awesome recipes!!! My husband is loving all the new food from your site.
Mandy
thanks Mandy, I’m so glad you liked this and the other recipes! – let me know some of your favorites?
Beautiful recipe! I’m all over it. Think it’s okay/better if I use Dutch Oven to roast in? Thanks so much! Dinner is solved for tonight! Thank you!
Can’t wait to try this recipe for dinner tomorrow! I couldn’t find unroasted cashews though so I bought roasted. Do I need to change anything before making?
Have you tried to freeze this soup? I bought all the ingredients, but am not going to have space in our week to eat it 😉
I haven’t… I think it would work but the texture might become less creamy after you thaw it (I’ve had that happen with similar soups). I’ll sometimes blend it again before I’m ready to eat so it’s super creamy again.
If you try freezing this, let me know how it works out!
I had my parents over for dinner and cooked for them for the first time. I made this soup and we all loved it! It tasted so creamy and decadent. I brought leftovers to work today and am about to enjoy it again!
I cant get to the store and I’m missing the Magorame, Thyme & white wine vinegar. Any substitudes? I really want to make this since I’m lil under the weather. Thanks
Yum! I love mixing up a variety of roasted vegetables for soup. So creamy with such depth of flavor! I’m so glad I found this soup, completely delicious! I added a little bit of brown butter and seared scallops to the top and it was so rich and wonderful!
oh I bet scallops would be so delicious, glad you liked it!
This is a great recipe. I like how you combined roasted leeks with the cauliflower and also used miso for an Asian touch. This inspired me to make something similar–a roasted cauliflower and leek soup with a broth similar to what you get in Tom Kha Gai soup (coconut, ginger and lime). I topped it with bacon crumbles, chopped peanuts and cilantro.
I happened to have all the ingredients on hand (including cashews soaking in the fridge!) so I made this tonight. It was terrific and even our 2 year old loved it. I’m glad I doubled the quantity! You have a beautiful site.
So excited to have recently discovered your site! We made this soup last night and it is so delicious. Thanks for sharing!
Theresa
Cauliflower is one of my favorite veggies; seriously. This soup looks so silky and I love the use of cashews .
Hi Jeanine, I just discovered your lovely blog and it’s fantastic! I really like adding raw nuts to soups to make them creamy without the use of dairy. I just posted a broccoli basil soup made with walnuts that is really yummy. Thanks for all the goodness you share!
Made this soup tonight and it was absolutely delicious! Soups like this have always intimidated me, but it was so easy and took no time to make. My boyfriend feel in love with it and my mom loved that I used cashews to make the creamy texture (she’s been telling to me for months that I should go gluten & dairy free for the health benefits). Anyways, thank you for the amazing recipe! Like you, I got a HUGEmongous cauliflower from Whole Foods. I’ve been thinking about giving FarmHouse a try though, seeing that we live in Austin as well!!
sounds delicious 🙂
looks amazing – making an inspired version tonight!
Good gracious your soups are amazing. Inspiring. After the roaring success of your sundried tomato soup, I am definitely making this tonight. And thank you for helping my resolution of going vegan for the month of January be delicious, warming and comforting.
Darn it! I almost bought cauliflower and leeks at the fruit shop today, but opted out – silly me!
This looks like what I wish I was having for dinner tonight!
MMM, fantastic. I’d almost forgotten about cashew cream – so good. Can’t wait to try this.
This looks great. I love cashews instead of the cream making it vegan. Also seems like such a good pairing with the cauliflower. Really would bring out the nuttiness.