Creamy roasted cauliflower soup requires just a few simple ingredients and a few easy steps. The result is a thick and creamy vegetarian soup with deep flavor from roasted cauliflower, shallots, and garlic. Lemon juice adds brightness and rosemary adds wonderful aromatics. It's the perfect winter meal and/or a beautiful addition to your holiday table.
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I've talked endlessly about why I love roasting vegetables, especially this time of year. When you roast vegetables, it caramelizes the sugars and creates a richer, earthier, and sweeter flavor, like in my roasted cauliflower salad and roasted squash salad.
In this creamy roasted cauliflower soup recipe, I keep things very easy: throw your cauliflower, shallots, and garlic into the oven and let them do their thing for 30 minutes. Blend it with your vegetable broth, lemon juice, and rosemary, and warm it for a few minutes on the stovetop.
The result is a thick and creamy vegetarian soup that has real depth of flavor and is nutritious to boot. And if you want to be extra kind to yourself, make a double batch and put half in the freezer.
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⭐️ Why This Soup is the Best
- Simple ingredients - This blended cauliflower soup recipe uses whole foods like cauliflower, shallots, and garlic that are easily available.
- Creamy and delicious - Thick and creamy, with deep flavor from caramelized cauliflower, garlic, and shallots. The lemon juice adds brightness and subtle aromatics are provided by rosemary.
- Healthy and nutritious - Cauliflower is high in vitamin C and a good source of folate. Shallots are high in antioxidants, and garlic is an excellent source of vitamin C, zinc, and calcium. This (naturally gluten-free) vegetarian soup is an excellent option when you want a healthy meal but still want to be satisfied.
- Easy - Could this recipe BE any easier?? (said in my best Chandler Bing impression) Roast your vegetables and garlic in the oven, blend it to your desired level of consistency, and your soup is ready.
- Excellent meal-prep recipe to enjoy throughout the week
- Freezer-friendly - This soup can be stored in the freezer for a busy weeknight when you are short on time and need something quick, delicious, and nutritious.
🍋 Ingredient Notes
- Garlic - I recommend using fresh garlic for optimal flavor.
- Low-sodium vegetable broth - I like using low-sodium broth so that I can control the amount of salt in my recipes. If you use regular broth, you might not need as much salt.
- Unsalted butter - Ups the creaminess factor
- Fresh lemon juice - I recommend using fresh lemon juice to get as much fresh citrus flavor as possible.
- Fresh rosemary - One of my favorite herbs, it's woodsy, piney, and earthy, and complements the roasted cauliflower beautifully.
📝 Variations & Substitutions
- Make vegan/dairy-free: Substitute vegan butter, coconut oil, or use additional olive oil in place of the butter.
- Shallots. Replace them with ½ of a yellow onion or red onion for a similar flavor.
- Spicy. Although this soup is robust from fresh rosemary, you can add a touch of heat by adding a pinch of cayenne pepper or a splash of hot sauce.
- Fresh herbs: Depending on the season, swapping rosemary for fresh herbs like dill, thyme, or basil would all be delicious.
- Extra creamy: Add ½ cup of yogurt or sour cream to make your soup extra thick and creamy.
🔪 How to Make Roasted Cauliflower Soup
*See recipe card below for printable instructions.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, toss cauliflower florets, shallots, and garlic with olive oil until evenly coated in oil.Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the cauliflower is tender and lightly browned, around 30 minutes, tossing halfway.
Reserve ½ cup of the roasted cauliflower florets for garnish. Working in batches, combine the cauliflower/shallots/garlic mixture, warm broth, melted butter, dried rosemary, salt, and pepper in a blender or food processor.
Process until smooth, about 45 seconds. Transfer the mixture to a large saucepan. Bring the soup to a simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.
Divide among 4 bowls and garnish with the reserved cauliflower florets and fresh rosemary.
👩🏼🍳 Expert Tips
- Warm up your broth. The soup mixture blends much easier if you warm up your broth before adding it to your blender or food processor. Room temperature (unopened) broth is fine, but if your broth is cold it should be warmed up before adding it in.
- For a chunkier texture, only blend half of the cauliflower mixture. Similarly, you could just blend for 15-20 seconds for a thicker consistency.
- Storage: Place in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- How to reheat: Place on stovetop over medium low heat for 10-15 minutes, until heated through.
- How to freeze: After completely cooled, transfer to a freezer-safe container and store for up to 3 months. To thaw, place in refrigerator overnight and follow reheating instructions.
💬 Frequently Asked Questions
You can thicken your cauliflower soup by adding ½ cup of yogurt or sour cream. Alternatively, add 2-3 tablespoons of warm broth into a small bowl and mix in 1 tablespoon of flour or cornstarch. Stir until well combined and add then stir into soup.
If stored in an airtight container, cauliflower soup will last up to 4 days in the fridge.
Yes, milk (either dairy or plant-based) can be used in place of cream in soup recipes. However, milk contains more water than cream, so it won't be as thick.
🥣 More Soup Recipes
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Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Soup Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Food processor or blender
Ingredients
- 1 large head of cauliflower, cut into florets
- 2 large shallots, halved lengthwise
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed
- 3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, warmed
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- fresh rosemary, chopped (for garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl, toss cauliflower florets, shallots, and garlic with olive oil until evenly coated in oil.
- Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the cauliflower is tender and lightly browned, around 30 minutes, tossing halfway.
- Reserve ½ cup of the roasted cauliflower florets for garnish. Working in batches, combine the cauliflower/shallots/garlic mixture, warm broth, melted butter, dried rosemary, salt, and pepper in a blender or food processor.
- Process until smooth, about 45 seconds. Transfer the mixture to a large saucepan. Bring the soup to a simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.
- Divide among 4 bowls and garnish with the reserved cauliflower florets and fresh rosemary.
Notes
- Warm up your broth. The soup mixture blends much easier if you warm up your broth before adding it to your blender or food processor. Room temperature (unopened) broth is fine, but if your broth is cold it should be warmed up before adding it in.
- For a chunkier texture, only blend half of the cauliflower mixture. Similarly, you could just blend for 15-20 seconds for a thicker consistency.
- Storage: Place in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- How to reheat: Place on stovetop over medium low heat for 10-15 minutes, until heated through.
- How to freeze: After completely cooled, transfer to a freezer-safe container and store for up to 3 months. To thaw, place in refrigerator overnight and follow reheating instructions.
- Serve soup with vegetarian no boil lasagna, garlic grilled cheese, or fluffy sourdough cornbread.
Barbara Haner
This soup will be on my menu next week! We are supposed to have a few chilly days next week, so this soup will be perfect. Also, the photos are so good!
Gastronotherapy
Yay! It's a very simple and satisfying soup with lots of deep flavor from the caramelized cauliflower, shallots, and garlic. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!