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.
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I made this last night! I almost never make soups because, to me, they just don’t seem like the effort. But this recipe was so quick and easy, I had to give it a try – I’m so glad I did!
I doubled the recipe – and then doubled the garlic (what can I say, I’m Italian) – but next time I’d scale back a little. I also didn’t have any cashews, so I subbed almond milk and it turned out great! I’d love to try this again and play around with different ingredients – it’s a great, simple recipe that I feel I could have fun with.
I’m a very new reader (4 days) and I’ve already got a cache of your recipes I’m excited to try out. After the success with this one, I think I’ll get cooking sooner than later!
Thanks!
I’m glad you liked it! Welcome!
PS: how to soak cashews? (and what does that do)?
Hi Alison, sorry that wasn’t clear, I’ll go add some more explanation into the recipe. If you soak them ahead of time, they’ll be creamier when you go to blend them. Some say you need to soak for 2-6 hours, but I find I can get away with less time (or sometimes none) because I use a Vitamix blender. You’d benefit from more soaking time if you’re using a less powerful blender.
Thank you so much! Excited to learn a new technique/trick!
I’m trying this without the cashews because I have everything else BUT that, I can’t get to the store, and if I wait any longer my leaks are going to go bad… So I may substitute some soy milk or (horribly bad for you) vegan sour cream that I do have??? Haven’t decided, going to see what I’m working with first when the veggies are done roasting. Wish me luck! lol
ok let me know how it goes/went!
YUM! absolutely making this this week!!
Wonderful! I just taught my sister to make creamless potato-leek soup — big hit with her kids — but I’ve been looking for a version with more veggies and less starch. Will definitely be making and sharing this one!
Oh this came at the perfect time! I need a new soup to warm up my soul after this frigid week. I’ll have to make it when my carnivorous husband goes back to the firehouse to please the tween who wants to be a vegetarian.
This looks really good. Perfect for a chilly evening!
adorable blog!
love this soup, one of my favorites ever.. and love that white cocotte!! where did you get it?
thanks! I got it from West Elm (they’re even on sale now): http://tinyurl.com/aq5s9u7
I loved seeing your take on those ingredients…delicious! 🙂 and beautiful photos, as always.
Okay. I’m pretty positive that we are food twins. Cauliflower week? Sign me up! I’m hooked on it right now, much more so than in the past. Can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Yum! Love roasted cauliflower. So much flavour, yet so simple. This looks wonderful.
i love leeks and i love cauliflowers, this soup i most definitely will have to try soon! looks delish.
I am so making this over the weekend. A biiiig batch so I have plenty of leftovers!
Yay for cauliflower & leek! I just made a soup a lot like this right before christmas. I didn’t roast anything, though–that sounds like a perfect way to jazz it up!
I LOVE roast and blend soups, so easy, but so so good! I wonder if I could sneak this past my cauliflower hating mister : )
well you certainly can’t see any cauliflower in it… I won’t tell if you won’t 🙂
Do a mix of potatoes and cauliflower. Then he might not know.
It looks so delicious!!
This soup looks so lovely. What a great idea for lunch!
Lovely! Funky twist – adding the cashews. My first try going ‘nuts’ was inspired by your broccoli pistachio soup 🙂
oh so glad! I know it’s a weird concept at first – the whole nut/cheese thing… thanks so much for the recipe inspiration!
nom nom trying this tonight
What a fun idea with the idea contest. This soup looks and sounds just delightful — and I love the cashews for creaminess instead of regular cream (which is usually too heavy for my stomach)!
yummy! that looks delish. Will definitely give this a whirl!!
thanks! (btw, I’ll be trying your recipes out too – thanks so much for posting, I was so glad to be introduced to your blog!)