Tahini Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This cauliflower white bean soup is creamy and vegan. Pureeing cannellini beans in the broth thickens it and makes it filling.

With tahini, ground cumin and garlic, this soup has tons of flavor. Typically you think of cauliflower and white beans as being pretty plain on their own. But when you add different seasonings and aromatics, both dried and fresh, they really come alive.

Pureed veggie and bean soups freeze well. One of the best things about these types of soup recipes is that they are freezer friendly. You can make the soup and freeze the entire batch or just your leftovers.

The Ingredients

This is what you need:

• Cauliflower: Look for a fresh head of cauliflower that doesn’t have any dark spots on it. When you pick it up, it should feel heavy for its size. 
• Cannellini beans: You need 2 cans of these Italian white beans for the soup. After you open the cans, dump them into a colander or fine mesh strainer to rinse them.
• Tahini: This sesame seed paste is one of my favorite ingredients. I always keep a jar in my fridge. It’s made from ground sesame seeds, oil and salt and is considered a seed butter.
• Spices: I season the cauliflower with cumin, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper before it roasts.
• Garlic: I mince three garlic cloves and sauté them with the onions and dried seasonings.
• Onions: To start the base of the flavor for the soup, I sauté roughly chopped onions. You can use a white onion or yellow onion.
• Vegetable broth: For all my soup recipes, I prefer using low sodium vegetable broth, so I can control the seasonings. If you do not need the soup to be vegan, you can substitute with chicken broth.
• Parsley gives the soup something light and herby. I include in the broth and then sprinkle more on top as garnish. You can also use minced chives.
• Lemon: Squeezing in fresh lemon juice is a final finishing touch. It adds wonderful brightness.
• Olive oil: You need oil for both roasting the cauliflower and sautéing the aromatics for the soup.

How To Make This Roasted Cauliflower Soup Recipe

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and lightly grease a sheet pan with oil.

1. Make the tahini marinade for the cauliflower. In a large bowl, stir the tahini, olive oil, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Then toss the cauliflower in the marinade.

2. Spread the cauliflower across a baking sheet. It should be in a single layer, so all the florets are touching the metal of the pan.

3. Roast the cauliflower until it is browned on both sides and tender. This will take about 25 minutes. Flip the cauliflower to the other side halfway through roasting.

4. Warm oil over medium heat in a large soup pot and sauté the onions. Give them 4-5 minutes to start to soften and turn translucent.

5. Stir in the garlic, salt and pepper. The onions will become fragrant in 30 seconds to 1 minute.

6. Add the roasted cauliflower (saving 6-8 cauliflower florets for garnish), the white beans, veggie broth and parsley. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer for 10 minutes.

7. Transfer the soup to a high-powered blender to puree until smooth.

8. Pour the soup back in the pot to reheat and squeeze in fresh lemon juice. Divide the soup into bowls and top with the reserved roasted cauliflower and chopped parsley.

Leftovers & Storage

Let the soup cool to room temperature before you transfer it to an airtight container. You can store it in the refrigerator for 3 days. To keep it longer, freeze it up to 1 month. For easier thawing and reheating, I like to divide soups into individual portion sizes before I freeze them. You can warm the soup in a pot over medium heat or in the microwave.

Recipe Tips

Make sure to slice the cauliflower as noted in the recipe. Less cauliflower will go to waste than if you break it into florets with your hands. Also, those flat sides will make more contact with the hot metal of the pan, which maximizes browning. And you should arrange the cauliflower in a single layer without overlapping.

You need to grease the pan lightly with olive oil before you roast the cauliflower. This will prevent it from sticking.

Don’t bother freezing pieces of roasted cauliflower for garnish. If you’re planning to store some of the soup in the freezer, do not save cauliflower for topping the soup. Just puree it with the rest of the ingredients.

Use a high-powered blender and not an immersion blender to puree the soup. You will end up with a much smoother consistency if you transfer it from the pot to blend it. 

More Cauliflower Recipes

Roasted Cauliflower & Chickpeas with Herby Tahini
Cauliflower Kale Salad
Roasted Curried Cauliflower
Cauliflower Pizza Crust
Chipotle Roasted Cauliflower Tacos
Roasted Cauliflower Spinach Pesto Pasta