Creamy vegan cauliflower soup is infused with fragrant Indian spices, coconut milk, ginger and lime. A healthy, easy, and comforting soup recipe, ready in 35 minutes! Video.
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With over fifty 5-star reviews, we think you’ll love this cauliflower soup! It is one of our most popular cauliflower recipes on the blog- and no wonder! It’s fast, flavorful, and super healthy!
Like sunshine in a bowl, it’s infused with fragrant Indian spices, coconut milk, and a hint of lime, it’s incredibly comforting and nourishing!
Why You’ll Love This
- Whole foods, plant-based! This vegan soup is made with healthy, wholesome ingredients.
- Unique, bold flavor. Fragrant Indian spices, rich coconut, zesty ginger, and tangy lime!
- Easy to make! A 30-minute recipe that can be made in the Instant Pot or on the stovetop.
Cauliflower Soup Recipe Ingredients
- Cauliflower: A medium head of cauliflower chopped into small pieces. It’s easiest to slice the cauliflower into 1/2-inch slices before chopping into small florets. Look for a firm cauliflower head with a smooth, white surface.
- Onion, garlic cloves, and fresh ginger: For savory, aromatic flavor!
- Apple: Essential for adding sweet, tart taste that really brings the soup together. Don’t skip this! Look for a medium-large Gala, Honeycrisp, or something similar.
- Vegetable broth: You can sub water and 2 bouillon cubes. Feel free to use chicken broth if desired.
- Spices: Yellow curry powder, coriander, and turmeric. These savory Indian spices give the soup so much depth!
- Coconut milk: Use a can, adding equal parts liquid and solid. You can sub plain yogurt, but then you may want to skip the lime juice. Or try cashew cream and add extra lime juice. Taste as you go! See notes.
- Lime juice: A fresh squeeze adds delicious tanginess! Orange juice makes a nice substitute.
- Garnishes: Toasted coconut flakes, toasted nigella seeds, fresh cilantro, scallions, or sprouts.
How to Make Curried Cauliflower Soup
*For Instant Pot instructions, please see recipe card notes!
Step 1: Sauté veggies. Heat oil in a large heavy bottom pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions, sautéing 2-3 minutes, then add garlic, ginger, and apple. Continue to sauté 4-5 minutes, reducing heat as needed. Add cauliflower florets, veggie broth, spices, and salt. Stir.
Step 2: Simmer. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes, until cauliflower is very tender.
Step 3: Purée. Use an immersion blender in the pot or transfer the soup in batches to a blender to purée until smooth.
Step 4: Add lime juice and coconut milk. Adjust the coconut milk to your personal preference, adding more if you prefer a thicker, heartier soup. If you do add more, you may need more salt. Half of a 14-ounce can (solids and liquids) was just the right texture for me!
Step 5: Garnish. Serve the glowing soup in wide bowls. Add a little swirl of coconut milk (or cashew cream or plain yogurt), toasted coconut flakes, nigella seeds, cilantro leaves, scallions, or micro greens! The coconut flakes add such great texture! Or feel free to use pumpkin seeds!
Serving Suggestions
Serve this creamy cauliflower soup with any of the following:
- Easy Homemade Naan Bread!
- Indian Spinach Salad with Lentils & Cauliflower
- Carrot Raisin Salad
- Indian Lamb Meatballs
- Lentil Curry
- Rajasthani Butternut Squash Curry
FAQs
When exposed to too much heat, cauliflower can become bitter. Keep the soup on low heat when simmering. If it tastes bitter, you can add a little salt or more lime juice or even lemon juice.
Let cool, then store soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. Reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Yes! Once cooled, store in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Storage
Cauliflower soup will keep up to 4 days in an airtight container in the fridgerator, or can be placed in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating gently on the stovetop.
This Creamy Vegan Curried Cauliflower Soup recipe is so simple, healthy and flavorful. I can’t wait to hear what you think of this one!!!
xoxo
More Favorite Cauliflower Soups
- Spring Pea Soup
- Carrot Ginger Soup
- Creamy Spinach Soup with Mint
- Roasted Kuri Squash Soup with Harissa & Crispy Chickpeas
Watch How to make Cauliflower Soup!
Curried Cauliflower Soup Recipe
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 5 ½ cups ( serves 3-4) 1x
- Category: soup, vegan,
- Method: stove top, instant pot
- Cuisine: Indian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Creamy Vegan Curried Cauliflower Soup with coconut milk, Indian spices, ginger and lime is simple and easy to make, and can be made in an Instant Pot (or on the stovetop! Healthy and delicious!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, coconut oil or ghee
- 1 onion, rough chopped
- 1 medium-large apple, (gala, honey crisp) rough chopped (and please don’t leave this out!)
- 4–5 garlic cloves, rough chopped
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh ginger, rough chopped
- 1 medium head cauliflower, chopped small (slice into 1/2 inch slices, then chop)
- 2 1/2 cups veggie broth (or use water and 2 bullion cubes)
- 2 teaspoon yellow curry powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup canned coconut milk (equal parts liquid and solid) See notes for substitutions.
- a squeeze of lime (tablespoon) or orange juice is nice too.
Garnish: Toasted coconut flakes, toasted nigella seeds, cilantro or scallions or sprouts.
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large heavy bottom pot or dutch oven, over medium-high heat. Add onions, saute 2-3 minutes. Add garlic, ginger and apple and keep sauteing, turning heat down if need be, until golden and fragrant, about 4-5 minutes. Add cauliflower, veggie broth, curry powder, coriander, turmeric and salt. Stir.
- Bring to a boil, cover and simmer on low heat until cauliflower is very very tender, about 15 minutes.
- Puree until very smooth- either using an immersion blender or blender (in batches).
- Add the lime juice, and stir in the coconut milk. (I used about 1/2 of a 14-ounce can, both solids and liquid- feel free to add more coconut milk to taste- personally, it felt too heavy using it all-but up to you! If you do add more, you may need more salt.)
- Garnish with a little swirl of coconut milk, toasted coconut flakes, nigella seeds, cilantro leaves (or scallions or micro greens).
Notes
You can substitute 1/2 -3/4 cup plain yogurt for the coconut milk, but then you may not need the lime juice. Or only a little. Yogurt is quite tangy. Taste as you go. 🙂
You could also try subbing a cashew cream. You would for sure need the lime or orange. 🙂
To toast coconut flakesplace them in a dry skillet on the stove, over medium heat, stirring until they turn golden and smell amazing. Throw the nigella seeds into the skillet at the very end, toast 30-60 seconds.
To make in an INSTANT POT:
- Set it to Saute function and saute onion, apple, garlic and ginger in 2 tablespoons oil, until fragrant and golden, about 5 minutues.
- Add broth, all the spices, salt and cauliflower. Stir.
- Set Instant Pot to high pressure for 7 minutes. Manually release. Blend the soup until very very smooth.
- Place back in Instant Pot, and set to warm. Stir in the coconut milk and lime juice. Taste, and serve.
- Garnish with a little swirl of coconut milk, toasted coconut flakes, nigella seeds, cilantro leaves (or scallions or micro greens).
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 3/4 cups
- Calories: 329
- Sugar: 14.7 g
- Sodium: 654.3 mg
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated Fat: 18.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 32.4 g
- Fiber: 8.1 g
- Protein: 6.8 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
toat or
Thanks for the recipe Sylvia, I really didn’t enjoy it much, I might have done something wrong, I didn’t like the sandy, grainy texture, I like more silky, smooth textures on a soup/cream. I added half a potato and it worked pretty good. I did the coconut flakes from scratch, I air fried them, I also baked them and tried putting them on a pan and none of the options left them crispy or toasty 🙁 The 3 stars go to me, I’m sure yours is 5 stars!.
Sorry about that Usha- soup is usually luscious and smooth-not “sandy”. I’m not really sure what could have caused that? Was the cauliflower soft enough when you blended it?
I guess I could have cooked it more but it was tender when I put it in the blender… I have experienced that when you overcook the cauliflower it get mushy and crumbly (which I wanted to avoid) plus excessive cooking I feel reduces the nutritional benefit of the vegetable, which I try to avoid. So, it might have been that I had to cook it even more 🙁 Oh well, not all recipes are for everyone right? But I always like to try different things.
Hi there
Could i use apple sauce if i dont have an apple??
Sure! That’s a great idea.
Thak you!
This was simple to make and great tasting! We loved the flavors that came through. I garnished with roasted garbanzo beans, a dollop of sour cream, and cilantro. Will make again!
Love the garnishes, so glad you enjoyed Linda!
Great to hear Linda!
This is really delicious. My husband is cooking it again tonight and the aromas in the kitchen are amazing! thanks for sharing
thanks Emma!
delicious, too much soup left over, can you freeze it without loosing the flavor and consistency?
It should freeze fine. You may need to add a little more broth when reheating from frozen.
What do you think about adding spice to the recipe? What would you suggest and add it where? WF like a little kick (in almost everything!)
Yes Lauren, absolutly- just add to taste at the end!
Divine!!!!
Brilliant
Thanks Peter!
I can see why this soup has gotten such great reviews. It’s an “omg, this is so delicious I can’t stop eating it.” I added extra sweet yellow curry and juice of a whole lime. This one is a do over very soon as there wasn’t anything left to eat the next day. Thanks for your amazing recipes! 🤤
I’m so glad you liked this Daria!
So good! I used frozen cauliflower and just simmered it for a shorter amount of time. Loved the coconut milk and the lime flavors. A pretty affordable recipe overall for a college student looking to burn through a giant thing of curry powder.
Glad you liked this Julia!
Should the apple be peeled or unpeeled?
I don’t peel the apples, so many nutrients in the peeling, but up to you Michele!
Is this recipe gluten free?
Yes it is!
Excellent, complex flavors! I made this in the Instant Pot (because I knew I could leave the cauliflower in large chunks and it would be soft). I like a little heat, so I used Madras Curry Powder. I REALLY wish I had had an apple to include – I subbed apple sauce, which was certainly better than subbing with apple cider vinegar, but……. I am looking forward to leftovers tomorrow, at which time I expect the soup to be even more fantastic than it was tonight Thanks for the recipe!
I’m glad you enjoyed the soup, Jane!
Love this idea! Can you please post the instructions. I debated this dish because of all the chopping.
Superb!!! Thank you for your recipe!
(I doubled the ingredients, with good intentions to share with my neighbor but now I’m having second thoughts. I want to eat the whole pot! I had to restrain myself from licking my immersion blender … )
haha! Glad you liked it!
How much does the type of apple matter? I only have ambrosía. Google tells me they are similar in sweetness, so I think I will give it a go!
Those are fine!
Ok this recipe is a keeper!
Halved the spices for my family, but it was just wonderful!
Exelente
Me gustaría recibir muchas recetas
Enviado
I loved the recipe. I did cook down the cauliflower separate from the other ingredients. I used my vitamix and it was too thick for me, so I added the remaining water from cooking down the cauliflower to make it to my preferred consistency. I also added a little more curry. Thank you.
I made the instapot variety it’s wonderful I mistakenly put in one teaspoon of turmeric instead of a quarter Teaspoon and we think it’s great . I don’t think it was a problem at all if anything better
Absolutely delicious
Delicious!! I added some peas at the end (I needed to use them) and garnished with scallions and crispy onions. Served with crusty bread. This recipe is so nourishing and filling – love it!
Just made a batch of this soup! Followed recipe to the letter and turned out simply delicious. Smooth and not too creamy! Lime juice give it just a little kick! Thanks Sylvia 🙏🏻
Very tasty! As an Indian, I love when other people try cooking with curry powder. I get bored of the traditional Indian dishes and am always on the lookout for new recipes. I made this exactly according to the recipe and it was delicious. Much more flavorful than my other cauliflower-potato bisque soup which I might never make again, thanks to this one.
Love it- thanks!
I can not wait to get your recipes every week.
Like a kids waiting for Santa.
Thank you!!
haha! love it!