The Best Healthy Cauliflower White Bean Soup (Vegan) 

This healthy cauliflower and white bean soup is one of those dishes that is so much more special than it seems from the ingredients list! Creamy, dreamy, and simple to make, it’s like a warm hug in a bowl. Think comfort food, but healthy. 

To say that cauliflower has had its moment over the past few years would be an understatement. Anything you want can be found in cauliflower form: We’re making gnocchi out of it, pizza crust, throwing it in smoothies, using it as a rice replacement… but there’s one use for cauliflower that we think deserves a lot more attention. Soup!

And we know . . . soup doesn't sound that glamorous, but please, stick with us for a minute and allow yourself to be surprised by what we're about to say. 

This. Soup. Is. So. Flavourful. Despite its simple ingredients, this creamy cauliflower white bean soup is packed with flavour and is sure to become a new favourite recipe in your soup season rotation. 

Sure, cauliflower doesn’t seem like the most flavourful veggie, we can agree with that. But by blending it up with up some cannellini beans, you're left with a creamy soup, sans the cream. 

The secret to this soup’s creamy goodness comes from two factors: 

1. Roasting the cauliflower
2. Creating a butter bean paste to mix through the soup while you blend it

These steps may seem a little “extra” compared to just throwing things into a pot, but trust us, the final product is so worth it. With very little effort, you'll be left with a creamy vegan cauliflower soup that the whole family will enjoy! 

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Cauliflower
• Extra virgin olive oil: high quality recommended
• Sea salt: a high quality salt like Maldon flaky sea salt recommended
• White beans: Cannellini, Navy beans, or Butter beans all work well
• Nutritional yeast: can use parmesan if not vegan
• Dried onion flakes
• Red onion: can also use brown or white onion instead
• Garlic
• Vegetable broth: can use chicken broth if not vegan/vegetarian
• Lemon juice: can use red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar instead
• Allspice
• Parsley: optional, for garnish

Roasting the Cauliflower

Before being added to the soup, we roast the cauliflower until the florets begin turning golden brown on the tips. This creates a depth of flavour you couldn’t otherwise get from the more traditional method of simply boiling it in veggie stock. 

While it is an extra step, never fear. It’s very straightforward. You simply chop your cauliflower, chuck it onto a baking tray with some olive oil, and let it get nice and roasted. It’s not time wasted, either, as allowing the cauliflower to roast gives you ample time to make the white bean paste which you’ll stir into the soup later to thicken it. 

Making the White Bean Paste

Instead of using cream or butter like a traditional “cream of cauliflower” soup would, we instead created this white bean paste to add thickness and richness, while still keeping things healthy. 

Not only does it make for a delicious soup, but the beans also provide a few extra health benefits. Swapping cream for beans, is a great way to keep the silky smooth consistency, without the addition of sour cream or heavy cream. Plus, it means this creamy vegetarian soup is also vegan-friendly and high in protein. 

The white bean paste is best made in a food processor, but if you’re desperate you can try mashing everything together with a fork. 

To add some extra umami flavour, we also use nutritional yeast, a common vegan swap for parmesan cheese which is super high in B vitamins. If you’re not vegan, feel free to use parmesan — but if you’re feeling open-minded, we highly recommend giving the nutritional yeast a try!

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