Curry cauliflower soup is a spicy, warming, and healthy bowl of yum suitable for a chilly fall evening. Bonus for being super simple, quick to whip up, and unbelievably delicious.
This recipe was originally published on October 19, 2018. It has been updated with new content and photos. Enjoy!
Hello you beautifully crisp, fall Friday! I’m in a good mood today. The last few weeks have honestly been a bit of a struggle for me personally (nothing to worry about though) but recently I’ve collected my thoughts, picked the metaphorical shit up off the floor, and am ready to move forward with a little more emphasis on comfort, care, and balance.
What does that all mean exactly? Well for you, dear reader, it means that at a time when most food bloggers are ramping up for prime, holiday crunch time, I will be slowing things down for a hot second. Instead of an onslaught of new recipes, I’m going to focus on retesting and revamping some of my older content that could honestly use a little zhush.
A lot of these recipes are perfect for fall going into winter AND would be beautiful on any holiday table. But because I hope you’ll be as delighted, relaxed, and content with life as I’d like to be, I wanted to make sure that every holiday recipe on this site is absolutely, one hundred percent, dressed for success.
So be on the look out for perfectly fluffy mashed potatoes, rich and creamy make ahead (vegan) gravy, a turkey so golden, brown and delicious it’ll render even your most gregarious guests absolutely speechless, and of course there will be desserts – cakes and cookies and blondies – OH MY!
Curry Cauliflower Soup
For our first dive back into the archives we’ll start simple. This curry cauliflower soup is a beautifully spiced, warm and toasty, vegetarian delight that fits in to your weeknight dinner routine so seamlessly you’ll wonder why you haven’t been making it forever. Oh, and it would also be a lovely start to any holiday meal.
What You’ll Need to Make Curry Cauliflower Soup
This list is pretty simple, but a word to the wise – try to remember the last time you audited your spice cabinet. It may be worth a trip to the grocery store to make sure yours are fresh.
- Onions and garlic. These are instrumental to almost any good soup – especially when cooking vegetarian.
- Cauliflower. Duh. Always look for a specimen with bright, white florets and tight, light green leaves.
- Spices. Specifically curry powder, ground cumin, smoked paprika, and turmeric. Each one adds a particular element (savoriness, warmth, smokiness, and color).
- Water. Yup, sweet, simple h20 is all you need to make a beautiful soup. Of course if you want to sub in vegetable broth, go for it!
- Baking soda. This always seems like a weird ingredient for soup, but honestly I put a pinch of the stuff in all of my pureed, vegetable based soups. It helps break down the veggies quickly, which makes for a velvety texture in half the time.
- Finishing touches. I toss in a little soy for an umami punch, rice vinegar to brighten things up, just a tiny bit of honey to balance everything out, and some creamy, whole milk yogurt which is optional, but I wouldn’t sleep on it if I were you.
How to Make Curry Cauliflower Soup
Steps to success include chopping, sauteing, simmering, and blending. But here are the real deets.
- Start by sweating some onions and garlic in olive oil and salt. When they are soft, add the spices and cook them out in the oil for about a minute. Blooming the spices in the oil is an important part of releasing their flavor compounds – which makes everything taste better.
- Add your cauliflower, baking soda, and water. Bring it up to a boil and then back the heat off to maintain a simmer. Cover and let cook until the cauliflower is very tender – about 15 minutes.
- Blend using a stick or jar blender. Then off heat add the remaining ingredients, as well as any additional salt to taste.
- Serve it up with an extra drizzle of yogurt and some bread for dipping.
Tips for Making Curry Cauliflower Soup
As you can see this is a dead simple recipe. But tips never hurt nobody!
- The smaller you chop, the faster things will cook. I usually shoot for pieces of cauliflower no larger than two inches wide.
- Salt your onions and garlic at the beginning – it will help them break down and get soft a little faster, because the salt draws out their internal moisture.
- Use caution when pureeing hot liquids in a jar blender. Never fill the carafe more than halfway full, as hot soup will expand as it blends. Trust me, the time it takes to process this in two separate batches pales in comparison to the time it takes to clean hot, cauliflower soup off every conceivable surface in your kitchen.
- Stir in your yogurt off heat, especially if you’re using anything other than the whole milk stuff. Any extreme heat will cause the yogurt to break, which while still edible, isn’t so pretty.
Substitutions for Curry Cauliflower Soup
Blended vegetable soups are pretty interchangeable, so here are some easy swap outs to make your life a little easier.
- Veggies other than cauliflower: Carrots, squash, celery root, or even corn would all make fab foundations for this soup. Just keep in mind that the simmering time will change based on the heartiness of the vegetable.
- Aromatics: In this recipe these come in the form of onions and garlic. As long as you stay in the allium family you can really put whatever you want in here. Perhaps leeks, shallots, ginger, or even a little lemongrass!
- Spices: This is more preferential than anything else, just make sure that whatever you use you bloom them in the oil before adding any liquid. Also be prepared to taste A LOT to make adjustments as necessary.
- Yogurt: I like the yogurt for the hint of tang and creaminess it adds to the final soup. But you could also pop in a little sour cream, buttermilk, or even a splash or two of heavy cream instead.
What to Serve with Curry Cauliflower Soup
This soup makes a light meal alongside a simple salad and some crusty bread. But if you’re looking to round it a little more try swapping out a baguette for this spicy garlic naan and a standard green salad for this roasted root veggie situation.
And if you’re looking for more cozy soups to add to your fall/winter arsenal, check these out!
- Creamy Vegan Mushroom Wild Rice Soup
- Carrot Ginger Soup with Mint Chimichurri
- Quick Tomato Rice Soup
- Lightened Up Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Happy Friday!
PrintCurried Cauliflower Soup
This cauliflower soup is velvety smooth, warm with spices, good for you, and super easy. So basically it’s the best soup ever.
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 20 Minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 Servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
2 T olive oil
½ large yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 ½ tsp kosher salt
3 tsp curry powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp turmeric
1 medium head cauliflower, cut into bite sized pieces
¼ tsp baking soda
4 C water
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp honey
½ C whole milk yogurt, plus more for garnish
Instructions
In a pot over medium-low heat, add the olive oil, onions, garlic, and ½ teaspoon of kosher salt. Cook, stirring occasionally until onions soften but do not brown, about 7 minutes.
Add remaining salt, curry powder, cumin, smoked paprika, and turmeric to the onions and cook for one minute, stirring frequently.
Add cauliflower, baking soda, and water. Stir to combine.
Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the cauliflower is very tender.
Blend until smooth using an immersion blender, or in batches using a traditional blender (does this win an award for the most times someone has used “blend” in a sentence?).
With the heat off, add the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey, and yogurt to the soup. Stir to combine.
Season to taste and serve with a drizzle of yogurt on top.
Notes
The smaller you chop, the faster things will cook. I usually shoot for pieces of cauliflower no larger than two inches wide.
Salt your onions and garlic at the beginning – it will help them break down and get soft a little faster, because the salt draws out their internal moisture.
A pinch of baking soda helps the vegetables break down fast and makes getting a velvety smooth soup as easy as pie!
Use caution when pureeing hot liquids in a jar blender. Never fill the carafe more than halfway full, as hot soup will expand as it blends. Trust me, the time it takes to process this in two separate batches pales in comparison to the time it takes to clean hot, cauliflower soup off every conceivable surface in your kitchen.
Stir in your yogurt off heat, especially if you’re using anything other than the whole milk stuff. Any extreme heat will cause the yogurt to break, which while still edible, isn’t so pretty.
Keywords: fast flavorful soup, vegetarian soup, quick and easy soup recipe
