Vegan cauliflower cheese soup

Cheesy vegan cauliflower cheddar soup with carrots in bowl.

5 from 3 votes

Vegan cauliflower cheese soup

Warm up with a satisfying bowl of vegan cauliflower cheese soup. Brimming with veggies, it's so creamy and full-bodied, you'll be amazed that it's dairy-free! If you like, finish with a colorful garnish of scallions, parsley, or cilantro.

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Total Time35

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American, Vegan

Keyword: cold weather food, comfort food, dairy free

Servings: people

Calories: 169kcal

Author: Cadry Nelson

Ingredients

1 teaspoon avocado oil or your preferred oil
1 medium onion chopped (about 1.5 cups)
2 medium carrots chopped (heaping ½ cup)
3 small celery ribs chopped (heaping ½ cup)
2 cloves garlic minced
Pinch of salt plus more to taste
1 head cauliflower chopped in small pieces (about 5 cups)
3 cups water divided
1 Tablespoon Better Than Bouillon no chicken base
1 ½ teaspoons granulated onion
¼ cup raw cashews soaked if necessary*
⅓ cup shredded vegan cheese cheddar or Mexican-style blend
⅓ cup nutritional yeast flakes
2 teaspoons white miso paste
Dash of pepper
Pinch of cayenne optional

Instructions

Bring a soup pot to a medium heat. Add oil. Then add onion, carrots, celery, garlic, and a pinch of salt. Saute three to five minutes, until the onion is translucent and fragrant.
Add cauliflower and combine.
Stir in 2 ½ cups of water, bouillon, and granulated onion. Bring to a simmer and cook about 5 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender. Then lower heat.
Once the cauliflower is just tender, use a ladle to carefully portion out one cup of soup. (If you have larger cauliflower pieces, it may take slightly longer.)
Put the soup into a high speed blender along with ½ cup water, and raw cashews. Blend until smooth. (You'll know it's done when there are no crunching sounds from the cashews.)
Pour the blended cashew mixture back into the pot. Then add shredded vegan cheese, nutritional yeast flakes, white miso paste, pepper, and cayenne (optional). Taste for salt, and add more if you'd like.
(Many of the ingredients are salty, so I don't think more salt is necessary. However, everyone's palate is different.)
Cook about ten minutes more at a medium low heat, allowing the soup to get extra creamy.

Notes

Standard blender instructions

If you have a high-speed blender, you don't need to soak raw cashews before blending. However, if you have a standard blender, it may need a little help grinding raw cashews. You can either:

Soak the raw cashews in water for several hours. Then drain before adding them to the blender with ½ cup of fresh water, and a cup of soup.
Or you can grind the dry raw cashews in a clean coffee grinder until they're the texture of flour. Then add them to your standard blender with the other ingredients. (This is my preferred method!)

Storage and reheating

Store soup in an airtight container in the fridge. It will keep for 3 or 4 days. The soup will condense and get even creamier! (If you prefer a thinner soup, add a splash of water or broth while reheating.) Reheat in the microwave or in a pot on the stove.

This soup also freezes beautifully in a freezer-safe container. When you're ready to eat it, put it into the refrigerator to thaw, or use the thaw function on the microwave.

Nutrition