Creamy Cauliflower Soup Mediterranean Inspired Recipe

The recipe is easy to make with a few ingredients. You can have it as a delightful appetizer or as a nourishing main course with crispy pita bread, olives, and a side of choice. Dietary Note: this recipe is suitable for a vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free diet.Don’t have time to read the full blog post? JUMP TO RECIPE HERE!

What is Roasted Cauliflower Soup?

Cauliflower soup video

Ingredients & Substitutions for Cauliflower Soup

While that’s a delicious way of making cauliflower soup, as we tested and tried the recipe, the soup wasn’t a “hell yes” for us. We weren’t excited to share it with you! We were tired of the usual butter-nutmeg-cauliflower combination and reliance on not-so-healthy ingredients like butter and cream. So we developed an entirely new recipe with delicious and wholesome Eastern Mediterranean staples like creamy tahini, fragrant cumin, garlic, fresh lemon juice, and heart-healthy extra virgin olive oil. Recipes like our whole roasted cauliflower, roasted cauliflower salad, and lentil cauliflower salad were a massive inspiration because you guys seem to love them and because they are nutritious and flavorful. If you like the very mild cumin aroma, nutty flavor, and irresistible creaminess of hummus, stuffed eggplant, and tahini salad, you will love this naturally vegan cauliflower soup. Also, like most of our velvety-smooth soup recipes – think of our Turkish lentil soup, butternut squash soup, sweet potato soup, and carrot ginger soup – this recipe is ridiculously easy to make in 3 simple steps.

Cauliflower

Use a large head of fresh cauliflower if you can. It has a richer flavor than frozen cauliflower, producing a denser and creamier soup. If you use frozen cauliflower, we recommend reducing the amount of vegetable broth by half a cup (so from 3 cups down to 2 1/2).

Extra virgin olive oil

We recommend extra virgin olive oil because it has a richer and fruitier flavor than regular olive oil. Also, its heart is healthy and stable at high temperatures thanks to its high polyphenol content that protects it from oxidation.

Onion

Use white or yellow onion. Substitute a large shallot for the onion.

Garlic

We use fresh garlic. You can grate, mince, or press the garlic.

Cumin

Ground cumin has a fragrant, earthy, and slightly citrusy aroma that goes wonderfully with cauliflower. The soup won’t taste too much of cumin and we are sure you’ll love it combined with the other ingredients.

Vegetable broth

That’s our liquid of choice for blending the cauliflower.

Tahini

Tahini or tahina (طحينة in Arabic) is an Eastern Mediterranean, Levantine, and Middle-Eastern sesame seed paste with a rich, nutty flavor and a creamy texture. It’s naturally vegan, gluten-free, and packed with healthy fats and minerals. In this recipe, tahini is the perfect substitute for butter, cheese, and cream. We recommend choosing a tahini made with 100% hulled sesame seeds, a runny consistency, and light color for best results. Try to avoid dark and dense tahini because it can be bitter.

Lemon juice

Freshly squeezed lemon juice adds brightness and freshness and elevates the other flavors.

Parsley

We recommend flat-leaf parsley, the variety that is commonly used in Mediterranean recipes, with cauliflower. Other fresh herbs you can use are fresh cilantro and curly parsley.

Salt & Pepper

Go for sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. You can add a pinch of red pepper flakes for a spicy kick.

Olives

It’s hard to describe how delicious olives are with this roasted cauliflower soup. They are the perfect topping. We recommend Greek Kalamata Olives, Italian Taggiasche, or Gaeta Olives.

Serves well with

Warm pita bread or toasted pita chips. Homemade croutons or air fryer croutons. Crostini or homemade no-knead focaccia. Flatbread with garlic and oil. Crispy roasted chickpeas or air-fried chickpeas.

How to Make Creamy Cauliflower Soup

Serving Suggestions

Variations

Storage & Make Ahead

Questions

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Roast the cauliflower

Preheat the oven to 400°F or 200°C. Remove the outer leaves of the cauliflower, rinse the head, pat it dry, and chop it into pieces. Add it to a baking sheet and toss it with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and black pepper. Roast for 30 minutes or until golden and fork tender.

Make the flavor base

While the cauliflower bakes, make the flavor base. This step is essential as it will add delicious flavor to your roasted cauliflower soup. Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add chopped onion and sauté on medium heat for 5 minutes or until translucent. Stir occasionally. Add grated garlic and ground cumin, and sauté for one more minute or until fragrant. Now pour in the vegetable broth and simmer for 5 minutes, then turn the heat off and wait for the cauliflower to finish cooking.

Blend the soup

Add most of the roasted cauliflower to the pot with the broth, but set aside a few florets to use as topping. Blend the soup with an immersion blender until smooth. Note: If you use a standing blender, we recommend waiting a few minutes for the cauliflower to cool down slightly before blending it in batches that fit your blender. Add the tahini and blend for one more minute until it’s fully incorporated. Now stir in freshly squeezed lemon juice, then taste and adjust for salt and acidity, adding more lemon juice if necessary. You can warm the soup by letting it simmer for two to three minutes if necessary. To make the flavored oil, heat the extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan. Add thinly sliced garlic and the olives (optionally, add red pepper flakes for some heat) and fry for about a minute. Don’t let the garlic brown. You can serve this roasted cauliflower soup as a starter or as a main course with bread and side dishes. It can even be part of a mezze platter with other Mediterranean-tasting recipes.

Serve it with bread

Nothing beats the comfort and cozy vibes of a warm piece of crusty bread dipped in a delicious creamy soup. We recommend trying with:

Warm pita bread or chips that you can make by toasting pieces of pita bread in the oven or air fryer. Homemade No-Knead focaccia. Naan flatbread with garlic, olive oil, and parsley. Homemade croutons or air fryer croutons. Crunchy crostini.

Serve it with a side

Fresh and crunchy chickpea salad. Mediterranean orzo salad. Bulgur tabouli or lentil tabouli Mediterranean farro salad or barley salad. Creamy tahini salad with crispy chickpeas.

Serve it with a spread

Classic hummus or red pepper hummus. Eggplant dips like baba ganoush or mutabal. Muhammara. Fatteh (crunchy pita, hummus, and yogurt).

Pita Bread

Crostini Recipe

Focaccia

Homemade Croutons

Chickpea Salad

Orzo Salad

Tabouli (Tabbouleh)

Mediterranean Farro Salad

Hummus

Baba Ganoush Recipe

Muhammara

Fatteh (Pita, Hummus, and Yogurt)

To make it, roast one large cauliflower tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper. While it roasts, sauté one chopped onion in olive oil for 5 minutes. Then add 2 cloves of grated garlic, a teaspoon of thyme or rosemary, and a sauté for one more minute. Add 3 cups of vegetable broth or chicken broth and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the roasted cauliflower, some grated nutmeg, and a couple of tablespoons of butter or a boiled potato. Blend until creamy, then serve with grated parmesan or gremolata (2 tbsp grated parmesan mixed with 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley and ½ teaspoon lemon zest) Refrigerator: Let the soup cool down at room temperature, then transfer it into an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to 4 days. It’s best to store it without topping. Freezer: Let it cool down completely, transfer it to a freezer-friendly container, and freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw & Reheat: Defrost over several hours in the fridge. Warm it in a saucepan on the stovetop for 5 minutes or in the microwave for 2 minutes.

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