If you have made my beer-battered cauliflower tacos, you might be left with half a head of cauliflower. Don’t throw it away. Instead, make this beautifully simple vegan soup made with just a few staple ingredients.
Once I finished my cauliflower tacos, I was still left with over half a head of cauliflower and it just sat there for a few days while I worked out what on earth I was going to do with it.
And then it started to get colder here, and it began to feel like autumn, and I had the perfect and easiest ideas. Soup!
Now, I don’t always like soup, but this one was so easy I just had to make it. And as long as you have a way to blend all the ingredients together, you can too. Because this soup is made up of just 5 ingredients: cauliflower, onions, garlic, veg stock and seasoning. That’s it! There are a few added extras you can add for a really rich soup, but it’s entirely optional.
I also chose to serve this with crispy, crunchy garlic croutons, (which are the BOMB) and chive oil (the green stuff on top) which adds a fresh taste to the rich soup.
If you want to taste a hug in a bowl for those cold autumn nights, this recipe is the perfect one for you. Better yet, it is a really cheap recipe that will keep a few days in your fridge.
Vegan cauliflower soup recipe
Servings: 4
Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 30-40 mins
Ingredients
- 1/2 head of cauliflower.
- 2 onions, sliced.
- 3 garlic cloved, finely chopped.
- 500ml stock.
- Salt and pepper.
- Oil for cooking.
Optional ingredients:
- Plant-based milk (or regular milk if you prefer).
- Plant-based cream (or regular milk if you prefer)
For the croutons:
- 2 slices of bread
- 1/2 tsp garlic granules.
- 1tbsp oil.
For the chive oil:
- 1 small bunch of chives.
- 2 tbsp oil.
- Begin by heating the oven to 180 degrees C. Chop up the cauliflower into florets and place onto a baking tray. Drizzle with a little oil and season well. Once the oven has heated, put the cauliflower into the oven and bake until they are roasted, golden and starting to brown. Thiis can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 30, so just keep checking. If you want a faster option you can choose to boil the cauliflower, but you won’t get as tasty a soup.
- While the cauliflower roasts, finely slice the onions. Heat a medium or large pot to a medium temperature with a little oil in, then add the onions. Cook these slowly for around 20 minutes so that they become translucent and soft.
- Once the onions are almost cooked, add the garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the garlic is fragrant and cooked. Leave to one side until the cauliflower is roasted.
- Once the cauliflower is browned and soft, pop each floret into the pot with the onions in. Add the vegetable stock to cover (if you want a thinner soup, add more stock. If you want a thicker stock add less). Bring this to boil and simmer on a medium heat for 10 minutes. If you want a more decadent soup, you can choose to use half stock and half milk alternative.
- After 10 minutes, season the soup and take it off the heat. Using your blender or stick blender, mix the ingredients together until the soup is smooth. Taste, season and add any other ingredients you like. For an extra rich soup, add a splash of coconut cream (or normal cream if you prefer).
- Serve with croutons or crusty bread!
How to make garlic croutons
- Take two pieces of bread chop them into cubes. Place on a baking tray and drizzle with oil. Cover with a generous serving of salt, pepper and garlic granules. You can also choose to chop up a clove or two of garlic and mix with the bread.
- Put the baking tray in the oven for 5-10 minutes, or until the bread has turned golden and crispy. These can burn fast, so keep an eye on them.
How to make a chive oil
- Finely chop a handful of chives and put into a blender. Add 2tbsp of oil or enough the cover the chives. Blend until the oil turns green and the chives are finely chopped. Season with salt and pepper.
Tips: this soup will make more than enough for two people, and it can stay in the fridge for up to 3 days.