This Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Soup takes simple ingredients and transforms them into a thick, rich and mouthwateringly delicious bowl of soup. Roast the garlic and cauliflower together to unlock their full flavor potential then blend with sautéed leeks and veggie stock into a luscious, velvety soup. | Gluten Free + Paleo + Vegan
⭐Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Soup⭐
A few things to love about this recipe:
- Low Waste: Fresh cauliflower stalks and leaves are just as edible and nutritious as the florets! Put a whole head of cauliflower to use by slicing up the hardy stalks and leaves then roasting along with the rest of the cauliflower.
- Easy to Make: It’s made with barely more than a handful of simple ingredients without too much effort needed. Roast the cauliflower and garlic, sauté the leeks until soft then blend until smooth.
- Healthy & Nutritious: Both garlic and cauliflower are nutrient dense and health promoting – full of many important vitamins, minerals and antioxidants like Vitamin C, Vitamin K and folate.
Ingredients
- Cauliflower – Break up the florets into bite sized pieces then roughly chop the thick stem and leaves
- Garlic – Roast the whole bulb! Simply remove the outer skin, but leave the cloves in tact. Cover with foil or parchment paper while roasting to keep it from burning. A whole head of roasted garlic cloves may sound like a lot, but roasting it first but roasting it first brings out it sweeter, more nutty flavors.
- Leek (or Onion) – Slice up the firm, white bottom and leafy green top.
- Oil – I like to use avocado oil for roasting and olive oil for sautéing. If you can work with dairy, I recommend using half butter + half olive oil to sauté the leeks.
- Salt & Pepper – Needed to season the soup at different stages of the process.
- Thyme & Rosemary – Use fresh or dried herbs. If using fresh thyme and rosemary, make sure to remove the woody stems before blending.
- Stock/Broth – Use vegetable stock to keep this vegetarian/vegan friendly. Chicken stock is another great option as is bone broth for a more nutrient dense soup.
Steps
A quick overview:
- Prep cauliflower – florets, stalks and leaves
- Prep garlic – peel outer layer, cut off top & season
- Roast garlic & cauliflower
- Sauté leeks
- Combine everything in a large pot
- Blend, taste, season & enjoy
More Ways to Enjoy Cauliflower
Cauliflower Prep
- Separate the florets from the stem then chop up into bite-sized pieces.
- Slice up the stem and tear the leaves into small pieces
- FYI: I find it easier to wash my cauliflower after chopping it all up so I can get all the dirt hidden between leaves and florets.
- Spread the cauliflower florets across one baking sheet and the stems/leaves on another. For easy cleanup, line the baking sheet with baking paper or foil.
Garlic Prep
- Peel the papery outside layers of the garlic head until you get to the inner cloves. Leave the skin on the individual cloves and the bulb intact with the rooted bottom.
- Cut off the top end of the garlic head. Cut enough to expose the top parts of the garlic cloves, about 1/4-inch.
- Place the garlic bulb in the middle of a piece of parchment paper or foil. Make sure the paper/foil is large enough to cover the garlic completely when wrapped.
- Add a good pinch of salt, pepper and drizzle of olive oil to the garlic. Use your fingers to rub it all in to the cloves.
- Pull up the sides of the paper/foil and wrap the garlic tightly.
- Place the wrapped garlic on to one of your baking sheets to roast with the cauliflower.
Why roast the garlic in paper or aluminum foil? Cooking the garlic in an enclosed container will hold on to the moisture in the garlic and allow you to roast the garlic at high temps until caramelized with it burning or drying out.
How to remove the roasted cloves? Unwrap the garlic and give it a few minutes to cool down. When you’re ready, squeeze each clove from the bottom and move up. The garlic should pop right out with little effort.
Sauté Leeks & Combine
- Sauté Leeks: While the cauliflower and garlic roasts, start working on the leeks. Sauté in butter and/or oil on a medium-low temperature to soften the leaves. Stir the pot every so often.
- Add Roasted Bits & Stock: Tip the roasted cauliflower and garlic cloves into the pot along with the vegetable broth or chicken broth.
- Blend: If you want to thin out your soup a bit, add more water until you get the right consistency. Make sure to add small amounts of water and a time and blend in between each addition so you don’t over do it.
How to Blend this Soup?
A few options:
- Stand Blender or Food Processor: For a super smooth and velvety texture, use a stand/ regular blender. I recommend you wait a bit for the soup contents to cool down.
- Immersion Blender: This is definitely the easiest option for blended soups. You can blend right in the pot without any cooling or transferring needed. Just keep in mind the texture won’t be quite as smooth compared to using a blender.
Tip! Blend the soup in batches only filling the blender halfway full at most.
You must be careful not to overfill the blender or the heat and pressure force the lid off. Also make sure to open the lid away from your face so the steam doesn’t hit you.
Serving Suggestions
Crunchy Toppings:
More Vegetable Soups to Try
- Roasted Acorn Squash Soup (Dairy Free)
- Leek And Potato Soup (Vegan/No Cream)
- Bacon & Chipotle Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
- Leek And Sweet Potato Soup With Sweet & Spicy Roasted Pepitas
- Arabic Lentil Soup (Shorbet Adas)
- Broccoli Leek Soup
- Peanut Carrot & Sweet Potato Soup
Enjoy!
Let me know if you try this Roasted Cauliflower & Garlic Soup recipe! I’d love to hear what you made with it and how it turned out! Please leave a comment and review with your thoughts and suggestions for me and future readers.
Recipe
Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Soup
Yield:
6 servings
Prep Time:
15 minutes
Cook Time:
45 minutes
Total Time:
1 hour
Roast the garlic and cauliflower together to unlock their full flavor potential then blend with sautéed leeks and veggie stock into a luscious, velvety soup.
Ingredients
- 1 large cauliflower head, cut into florets - hard stems sliced and leaves torn (2lbs)
- 1 whole head of garlic - leave the head intact with the cloves attached
- 6 tbsp olive oil (90ml)
- 1 tsp dried thyme or 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tsp dried rosemary or 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1/2 tsp black pepper + more to taste
- 1 large leek or onion
- 4 cups vegetable stock (950ml)
- 1/2 to salt or to taste
Need help converting to weights? Check out my cups to grams Conversion Guide.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F (205°C). Grease 2 large baking sheets or line with parchment paper for easy cleanup.
- Remove the cauliflower florets and cut into bite-sized pieces. Spread across one baking sheet in a single layer. Slice up the thick stalk and leaves then spread over to the second baking sheet. Drizzle 1 tbsp oil and a good punch of salt and pepper over each tray.
- Without removing the individual cloves from the head, peel off the outer-most, papery skin on the garlic head. Use a sharp-knife to cut off about 1/4-inch off the top of the garlic head to expose the cloves.
- Place the garlic head in a small piece of parchment paper and/or foil and drizzle with oil (about 1 tbsp). Season with salt and pepper. Use your fingers to spread the oil and spice all over the garlic. Wrap the garlic up in the paper/foil so it's completely covered. Place the garlic bundle, seem side down on to the baking sheet with the cauliflower.
- Roast garlic and cauliflower for about 30-35 minutes until the cauliflower is tender and the edges have started caramelized and golden. When done roasting, remove from the oven and set aside until needed. Unwrap the garlic and let it cool for about 5-10 minutes until cool enough to handle. To easily remove the peel, pinch from the bottom of the clove and pull up - the garlic should pop right out.
- About halfway through roasting the cauliflower, start on the leeks. Heat a large soup pot over a medium heat. Add olive oil to the pot. Once hot, add the sliced leeks, thyme and rosemary. Cook, stirring every so often to soften the leeks.
- Add the peeled cloves to the pot along with cauliflower and broth/stock. Stir everything together.
- Use an immersion blender to puree the soup until it smooth and creamy. Alternatively, you can transfer the soup to a regular blender or food processor if you don't own an immersion blender. If the soup is too thick, add water and blend. Repeat until it's your preferred consistency.
- Taste and season as needed and serve.
- Store leftover soup in an airtight container in the fridge for about 5 days.
Notes
- Salt: How much salt you need will depend on how salty your stock or broth is.
- A Note on Blending: If you blend this in a blender or food processor - blend the soup in batches only filling the blender halfway full at most. You must be careful not to overfill the blender or the heat and pressure force the lid off. Also make sure to open the lid away from your face so the steam doesn't hit you
- Freeze: Cool soup completely then store in a freezer-safe, airtight container or bag. Leave room in the bag/container for the soup to expand as it freezes. Let defrost over night in the fridge then reheat fully before serving. If the soup separates after thawing, re-blend to mix it back up.
- Butter: Feel free to use butter (or vegan butter) in place of olive oil to sauté the leeks. You'll need about 3 tbsp.
- Stock: You can also use chicken stock instead of vegetable stock if you don't need this soup to be vegan or vegetarian.
Nutrition Information
Yield: 6
Serving Size:
1 bowl Calories: 234Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 3gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 10gSugar: 4§gProtein: 5gThis website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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