Cauliflower Leek Soup
This Low-Carb Cauliflower Leek Soup tastes just like potato leek soup – it’s incredibly flavorful and super creamy without ANY dairy needed! Made in just 30 minutes, this Paleo + Whole30-approved soup will definitely warm you up. It’s easily made vegan.
I’ve been promising you more savory recipes for a little while now, and I’m finally following through! With one of my all-time FAVORITES, no less.
We grew up eating potato leek soup all the time at our house. Always homemade by my mom, usually with some cauliflower snuck in there, and mopped up with crunchy homemade garlic bread. The memories could make me drool.
Over time, my mom eventually just replaced all the cauliflower with potatoes and neither I or my sister were any the wiser. I recently asked my mom for the potato leek soup recipe she always makes, and it was only then that I learned she didn’t use potato, just cauliflower. She was secretly serving us Cauliflower Leek Soup all the while!
News to me, but seriously, you don’t miss the potato AT ALL. This soup is luxuriously creamy, and there’s no need for cream or butter or potatoes to give it a boost. The cauliflower, when cooked until perfectly tender, does it all on its own.
My mom’s recipe was super simple – pretty much just leeks, maybe some onion, cauliflower, chicken stock, and salt and pepper. I kept it pretty similar to the classic, but I added a few nuggets of flavor-boosting goodness.
How to make this Cauliflower Leek Soup:
I caramelized the onions and leeks, which contributes to the darker color of the soup. It gives a richer, deeper flavor to the soup. I also added some dried thyme, which pairs wonderfully here, as well as some roasted garlic.
It was calling to me from the fridge and I knew it’d be a wonderful addition. If you don’t want to roast garlic just for this but still want some garlicky flavor, you can toss in a clove or two of raw garlic, depending on how strong you like it.
I opted for homemade chicken stock I had on hand. To keep this recipe vegan, you can use veggie stock and it’ll be just as good! I also added a squeeze of lemon juice at the end to add a little brightness.
To blend the cauliflower leek soup into luscious creamy goodness, you can put the soup in your blender (I used my Vitamix) or use an immersion blender and blend right in the pot! A sprinkle of crispy prosciutto and fresh green onions are the perfect garnish.
Let me know if you like seeing my savory recipes, and I’ll start sharing more of them in addition to my sweet goodies :) enjoy, my friends!
Want more healthy soup recipes?
- Vegan Chili
- The Best Keto Chili
- Creamy Broccoli Quinoa Soup
- Vegetable Miso Noodle Soup
- Vegan Red Lentil Soup
Cauliflower Leek Soup
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Cauliflower Leek Soup tastes just like potato leek soup – it’s incredibly flavorful and super creamy without ANY dairy needed! Made in just 30 minutes, this Paleo + Whole30-approved soup will definitely warm you up. It’s easily made vegan.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 2 leeks, sliced thin, only the white part
- 1 large head or 2 small heads cauliflower, about 1.5 lbs. (fresh recommended, but frozen will work)
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock, use vegetable stock to keep vegan
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 3–5 cloves roasted garlic, optional
- ½ of 1 fresh lemon
- Salt + pepper, to taste
To garnish
- Prosciutto or bacon, sautéed until crunchy + crumbled up, skip this to keep vegan
- Green onions, sliced
Instructions
- In a large saute pan, heat two tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the leeks and onion and saute until the onions are starting to caramelize and the leeks are starting to turn golden brown.
- Add the cauliflower and sauté until it starts to brown. Add the chicken or vegetable stock and dried thyme and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the cauliflower florets are tender and cooked through.
- Add the roasted garlic if using, and lemon juice and use an immersion blender to puree the soup until smooth. You can also ladle the soup into a blender to blend until smooth.
- Taste the soup for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. If it’s thicker than you’d like, thin it out with a bit of extra stock. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, crispy prosciutto, and green onions.
Moms know best don’t they? To this day I haven’t tried a cauliflower soup but it’s on my priority list. This looks perfect, Rachel, and I love leeks so much!
No way! You’ve got to give it a go, Marcie. It’ll be your new fave :) thanks!
I don’t think I’ve ever had cauliflower leek soup, but it sure looks good! perfect healthy comfort food! :)
It’s total comfort food – thanks so much Beth!
I’ve never had a cauliflower soup before, but this looks AMAZING! I’m sure it tastes just as good, if not better, than the potato version. And I love how creamy this is, too! Perfect comfort food for the winter!
It’s wonderful winter comfort food! Thanks so much for the love, Gayle.
Cauliflower can be used in so many recipes, isn’t it? Thanks for sharing yet another way of using cauliflower to make such a nutritious soup!
Thanks so much – cauliflower really is so versatile!
Hooray for savory, Rachel! You know I’m a fan of sweets, but I’m enjoying the savory your sharing! Keep em’ comin! I’d never heard of cauliflower soup until well into my 30s. Can you believe that?! I love how you caramelized the leeks.. such a delicious flavor builder and worth the extra time. Delicious my dear!
Glad you finally found your way to cauliflower soup, Traci! Thanks so much lovely.
I love cauliflower cause you can turn it into so many things. And I’m diggin’ the caramelized leek you threw on top. Just a little extra lovin in the kitchen goes a long way!
I love cauliflower, too! So versatile. Thanks so much Annie!
Excellent timing! I just bought leeks and cauliflower this morning…guess what I will be making tomorrow ;)
Yes, I enjoy the savory recipes as well. This one seems easy and quick which is what I like about a recipe. I just made another cauliflower soup which was delicious. This one sound delicious too. Definitely keep the sweet recipes coming! :)
Glad to hear it, Melanie! I’ll definitely keep up the sweet, just with some savory options mixed in. Thanks so much!
Yes, please, more like this Rachel!
This was AMAZING! I made the vegan option. Will be making this again and again!
So thrilled you’re loving it – it’s been one of my faves for so many years! Enjoy :)
I made this tonight! WOW! It was INCREDIBLE! I used butter instead of oil and added the bacon. Did not take long to prepare. Will definitely be a staple in our house! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Kammi, so glad you’re loving it!! It’s one of my faves too. Thanks for your kind words!
Do you have the macros on this soup? It was yummy!!!
Hi Kelly, I just updated the recipe to include them! So glad you enjoyed it :)
I made this earlier this afternoon which is a miserable wet winters day…….WOW !!
This soup is amazing !! Family have given it 11/10
Thanks so much for sharing your recipe .
Definitely recommend this one
So thrilled you and your family are loving it! Thanks so much for your feedback, Sandy.
This soup is seriously good. I was given a large quantity of leeks by a relative and wanted to try something other than leek and potato soup. I do not care for cauliflower but I love the flavour of this soup. I highly recommend the olive oil to finish. Thanks for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed the soup, Jodi! Thanks so much for sharing your feedback.
Question – if I’m gonna throw this in the slow cooker after caramelizing can I add the lemon juice right away or wait til the end so it doesn’t get bitter?
Hi Jess, I’d recommend waiting until right before serving to add the lemon juice!
How is the cauliflower prepped before putting in the pan? Is it just the head or part of stalk also? Thanks and we are really looking forward to trying this.
Hi Mike! I usually use part of the stem as well, since it’s all getting blended anyways. Enjoy!! :)
Why only the white part of the leeks? I love the grren part too.
You’re absolutely welcome to use all of the leeks if you choose! The darker green parts just tend to be tougher and require a longer cooking time.
I really enjoyed this recipe, but I wouldn’t use the full amount of thyme again, probably half at most. I found it incredibly overpowering, unless you really love thyme.
I included the roasted garlic, and was happy with that suggestion!
Hi Kk, thanks for the feedback! Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Loved this, will make again! This was a delicious and easy recipe — made it vegetarian w Better than Bouillon and used my medium dutch over, so used an additional skillet to brown the cauliflower.
Fabulous, thanks so much for your feedback, Sabrina! So glad you’re enjoying it.
I’m eating this right now! Definitely book marking this.
I used the entire leek and cauliflower. I didn’t have thyme so used fresh rosemary – it’s all I had. Also half a bulb of garlic and ms. Dash.
YUM. Thank you!!
So glad you’re loving it, Nadia! Thanks for the feedback :)
Absolutely delicious and satisfying! Will definitely make it again
One of my favorites too – glad you enjoyed it!
Very good recipe! Made with vegetable broth – vegan. I’ll definitely make again!!!
So glad you loved it, Nancy!
This recipe looks like it would be very tasty. I am searching for a cream-of-something type of substitute for cream of mushroom soup because I think that mushrooms cause me some health problems, and I am allergic to chicken so cream of chicken as a substitute is not an option. Do you think that this soup would act similarly to a cream of mushroom soup in a casserole? (Yes, I know that it’s very rare to be allergic to chicken, but my allergy test was positive at my allergist’s office. I was in denial about my chicken allergy for a while because I did NOT want to give up chicken, but now that I have finally embraced my chicken allergy and avoid it, I must say that I feel better).
Hi Robin, unfortunately, it has been SO long since I’ve had a cream-of-chicken or mushroom soup I can’t say for sure, but this is a nice and creamy soup, so it could do the trick! IT’s definitely worth a shot :) I don’t think it would ruin the recipe, may just have a different taste than you’re looking for.
Thank you!!
This was good. I added a little tahini and that made it even better. Thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it, Lisa!
This soup is incredibly flavorful. The browning makes such a difference. I did use 3 onions instead of 1.
Thanks so much
Glad you’re loving it, Howard!
I used your recipe as a base since I had more cauliflower than leek and realized I was out of stock as well. Since I was slow cooking a roast, I used some of the broth from it. It has a delightful umami flavor.
Sounds great, so glad you enjoyed it!
I just finished making this soup and it is absolutely delicious. I used frozen cauliflower and left out the thyme because I didn’t have any. The lemon adds such a nice burst of acidic yumminess.
So glad you’re enjoying it, David! One of my favorites that my mom always made for us growing up :)