If you love creamy soups, but don’t care for all the butter and heavy cream… cauliflower is your new best friend! This is a dairy-free soup recipe that I re-engineered in a healthier way from a cookbook many years ago and it is still one of my favorites. When you blend cooked cauliflower with vegetable stock, it makes an amazing creamy base for virtually any soup without the traditional “cream” – and it’s extremely healthy and delicious…
To make this soup a bit richer and creamier, I also added some culinary coconut milk. There is so much flavor from the spices and coconut that you won’t believe this soup is dairy-free!
You just need a few basic ingredients, most of which you probably already have in your pantry. Start by dicing up a couple onions, a few cloves of garlic, and a large head of cauliflower. The soup will be blended later, so don’t worry too much about how pretty your chopping is!
Get out your favorite soup pot and get ready for your house to smell incredible…
Saute the onions and garlic in coconut oil for a few minutes. Stir in the spices and cook a few minutes longer… mmmm… smells so good! Then you just throw in the cauliflower and steam it in the pot for about 15 minutes. Pour in the coconut milk and vegetable stock and simmer until all the veggies are completely cooked.
It’s best if you have an immersion hand blender like this one to puree the soup. You just pop it in the pot and blend away, instead of pouring hot soup into a blender and making more dirty dishes.
After it’s well blended, carefully ladle the soup into bowls and top with toasted pine nuts. I recommend that you don’t leave out the pine nuts. They add a depth of flavor to die for!!!
This recipe is so versatile too. Feel free to add in some protein or diced veggies to make an even heartier soup. Here’s the printable version of the recipe…
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 2 medium onions, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3½ teaspoons ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 large cauliflower, chopped into small pieces
- 2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat.
- Add the onions and garlic and cook for about 2-3 minutes to soften.
- Add the cinnamon, cumin, paprika, and chili powder and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the cauliflower and let steam for 10-15 minutes by placing a top on the pot, stir occasionally.
- Once cauliflower has softened, mash coarsely with a potato masher.
- Add coconut milk and vegetable stock to pot, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes.
- While soup is simmering, toast the pine nuts on a dry pan over medium low heat (5-7 minutes), once slightly brown, set aside.
- Puree the soup using a hand blender and serve with toasted pine nuts on top – Enjoy!
Have you ever made “creamy” soup without dairy before? What ingredients did you use? Let me know in the comments! If you know anyone who would love a healthy soup recipe that’s full of flavor like this one, please share this post with them.
Xo,
Vani

What a tasty idea and beautiful combination. What made you think of this recipe? And what keeps your motivation going with food?
Hi,
Looks something new to try soon. Great combination for test and healthy recipe.
That is a great recipe! You have provided my two favorite meatless soups! (black bean pumpkin chili!) Every recipe I try turns out great first try so I never have to “test it once” as I do with some food blogs.
We have a meatless soup and bread meal Fridays at our church and the fare is usually some type of cheese soup or canned tomato (really, who eats that?) . I am so blessed to be able to bring a soup that is beautiful, tastes super and is souper nutritious! Needless to say I don’t have leftovers to bring home.
I am never disappointed when I stop by to look for a recipe idea from the Food Babe!
Blessings to you and your family! I was so happy for you when I saw that you were with child, and now a 1year old!!!
I made this and it is amazing! Didn’t have pine nuts it didn’t matter 🙂 easy and so good!
Delicious soup! Are the nutrition facts available?