Tahini Roasted Cauliflower Soup
on Mar 11, 2021, Updated Oct 26, 2023
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This vegan roasted cauliflower soup recipe has white beans that make it creamy and rich. I quickly toss the cauliflower in a tahini marinade with dried spices before it roasts in the oven. That gives the soup nutty and caramelized flavors in each cozy spoonful.
Table of Contents
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. You can substitute with great northern beans or navy beans.
- 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. Don’t use an immersion blender because it won’t be strong enough to puree it.
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.
Serving
You can keep it simple and serve the soup with good crusty bread for dipping or even pita. Also, pair it with a salad like this Moroccan carrot salad or kale sweet potato salad. It’s a very thick, satisfying soup that you can enjoy as a meal on its own.
Tahini Roasted Cauliflower Soup
Ingredients
For roasted cauliflower
- 1 head cauliflower, leaves removed, bottom stem trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
For soup
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 15-ounce cans cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- 4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley plus more for serving
- Juice of 1 lemon
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Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly grease a sheet pan with oil.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the tahini, olive oil, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Toss the cauliflower in the mixture.
- Arrange the cauliflower in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 20-25 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking, until browned.
- For the soup, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Then sauté the onions until they start to soften, about 4-5 minutes.
- Add the garlic, salt and pepper and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute until fragrant.
- Add the roasted cauliflower (saving 6-8 cauliflower florets for garnish), white beans, vegetable broth and parsley. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Carefully transfer the soup to a blender and puree until smooth.
- Return the soup to the saucepan and warm low heat. Stir in the lemon juice.
- Divide the soup into bowls. Top with the reserved roasted cauliflower and chopped parsley.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I substituted red kidney beans for the cannellini beans because that’s what I had in the pantry, omitted the red pepper flakes and lemon juice, and used just 1/2 tsp of cumin. I left the soup rustic and did not puree it. Quick, hearty and delicious. Will definitely be making this again. Thanks for a keeper recipe
Delicious and satisfying! My husband, an avowed cauliflower hater, even went back for seconds! Can’t wait to make this again.
I just made this recipe. It is strangely addictive!
The recipe sounds fabulous and yummy ? Will be making today as I have all the ingredients!
I loved this recipe. I didn’t change anything. Just as it was written.