Creamy Cauliflower Lentil Soup – Bites of Wellness

Cauliflower and lentil soup is thick, creamy and so comforting. This one pot curry lentil cauliflower soup is prepared in underneath half-hour and makes use of largely pantry staples. Good for weeknight meals, wholesome meal prep and even as a freezer meal.

The mix of cauliflower and crimson lentils makes the creamiest soup with out the necessity for any cream or dairy.

Why you’ll love this recipe

• Simple to make
• One pot meal
• May be made upfront
• Nice for meal prep
• Vegan, gluten free, dairy free
• Wealthy and creamy
• Consolation meals
• Filling (stuffed with fiber and protein)
• Price range pleasant

Components

• Onion – onions are at all times an incredible base for soup. I used a yellow onion however white or crimson onions would additionally work properly. Make sure you allow them to sweat a bit in order that they aren’t crunchy within the soup/
• Carrots – carrots present a pure sweetness that pairs properly with the smoky flavors from the spices. It helps to stability out all of the flavors and likewise offers the soup an attractive orange hue.
• Spices: Salt, curry powder, garlic powder, turmeric, floor cumin – these create a extremely wealthy deep taste that’s smoky, spicy and so fragrant. The curry powder and turmeric additionally give the soup a extremely distinct yellow/orange hue. Notice that there are lots of several types of curry powder, make sure to use one you’re keen on for one of the best taste.
• Cauliflower – use a head of cauliflower florets, bagged cauliflower florets and even frozen. cauliflower on this recipe. Simply make sure to reduce it down into small items so it cooks rapidly.
• Vegetable broth + water – the vegetable broth offers a lot depth to the soup. Vegetable broth is my go to manner of constructing a 20-30 minute soup style prefer it’s been on the range a lot longer. You could possibly additionally use hen broth.
• Tomato paste – the tomato paste provides only a little bit of that wealthy tomato taste, which provides umami and helps to stability out the spices completely.
• Crimson lentils – cut up crimson lentils cook dinner so rapidly and are good for soup. They get mushy and when blended assist create a brilliant thick soup. If wanted, you should use inexperienced (or brown) lentils, simply add 5-7 minutes to the cooking time.
• Dairy free milk – I used cashew milk (Elmherst model) however you would additionally use canned coconut milk or your favourite dairy free milk. Be certain it’s unsweetened and doesn’t have any added flavors.
• Frozen spinach – I really like so as to add as many greens as I can to a soup and I additionally love the pop of inexperienced in an in any other case yellow/orange soup. You could possibly additionally use recent child spinach or frozen kale or just omit it from the recipe.

make cauliflower lentil soup

Prep the veggies: Chop the onion, slice the carrot and reduce the cauliflower into small items. Tip: To avoid wasting time with this step, chop the onion and carrot within the meals processor.

Sauté the onion and carrot: Prepare dinner the onion and carrot in a preheated pot over medium warmth for five minutes. Make sure you spray the pot with avocado oil or olive oil or add a little bit of oil to the pot earlier than sweating the veggies. Stir frequently.

Add the spices and cauliflower to the pot, stir properly. You wish to get the veggies coated within the spices and provides the spices a minute to toast.

Add the vegetable broth, water, tomato paste to the pot and stir properly. Scrape the underside of the pot to make sure that the spices don’t burn.

Wash the lentils properly in a mesh strainer. Add lentils to the pot, flip the warmth as much as excessive and canopy. Set a timer for quarter-hour.

Stir the soup typically. As soon as the soup is boiling, crack the lid in order that the liquid doesn’t overflow within the pot. The lentils will wish to stick with the underside, so stir properly each couple of minutes.

As soon as the lentils are cooked and cauliflower is tender, mix the soup with an immersion blender (or fastidiously switch it to a blender and mix in batches).

After the soup has reached your required consistency, add the dairy free milk and frozen spinach. Stir properly to mix, then serve scorching.

High ideas

• Use recent or frozen cauliflower. Simply make sure to reduce down any massive cauliflower florets (recent or frozen) in order that the cauliflower cooks evenly on the range. You could possibly even use frozen cauliflower rice (about 2 baggage)
• Function is or add some rice or quinoa to serve extra like cauliflower lentil curry.
• To make prep as fast as potential, you may chop the onion and carrots in a meals processor and use bagged recent or frozen cauliflower florets (chop them down into small chew dimension items in order that they cook dinner rapidly).
• Use recent spices: For one of the best taste, guarantee your spices are lower than 1 12 months outdated and hold them in a properly sealed container. Additionally make sure to test the substances in your spices, you need a lot of the substances to be spices, not maltodextrin or different fillers that don’t’ add to the style.
• Curry powder and turmeric can stain issues like linens, wooden spoons and a few counter tops so watch out when mixing and stirring the soup.
• Don’t love pureed soup? Solely mix 1/4 to 1/2 of the soup for a thick, chunky soup as a substitute of a very blended soup.

Extra substances

• Veggies: Add in chopped celery, crimson bell peppers, zucchini with carrots and onions
• Contemporary grated ginger
• Contemporary chopped garlic
• Chili flakes or cayenne pepper for spice
• Lime juice on the finish for a pop of freshness

Cauliflower crimson lentil soup toppings

• Contemporary cilantro
• Sliced avocado
• Crispy air fryer chickpeas
• Do-it-yourself gluten free croutons (made within the air fryer)
• Pumpkin seeds
• Yogurt
• Coconut milk or cashew cream for topping

Widespread questions

Are you able to make this soup within the immediate pot?

Sure, making crimson lentil cauliflower soup within the immediate pot is a good way to organize this if you wish to be extra palms off throughout the cooking time. Listed below are the steps:

• Saute the onions and carrots as written (4-5 minutes). Flip off saute and add spices, stir properly. Add 1/2 cup of broth and scrape down the underside of the pot (or you’ll get a burn discover).
• Add the cauliflower, lentils, the remainder of the broth, water and tomato paste and stir properly.
• Prepare dinner for 3 minutes excessive stress. After cooking, let the soup naturally launch stress for 10 minutes earlier than manually releasing stress (or you may let it naturally launch on it’s personal).
• Mix the soup, add dairy free milk and frozen spinach and serve scorching.

What’s the finest type of curry powder to make use of?

I’ve examined this recipe with 3 totally different curry powders, all of them turned out scrumptious. I used a generic “curry powder” from Dealer Joe’s, Mochi Curry (my absolute favourite) and Madras curry powder. No matter you’ve gotten readily available will work nice on this recipe. Some are extra spicy than others.

Are you able to substitute inexperienced lentils?

Inexperienced lentils take longer to cook dinner than crimson lentils, so the soup would wish to boil on the range for a couple of additional minutes (5-7 minutes or so).

Are you able to make this with different beans?

When you don’t have lentils or can’t tolerate lentils, you may make this recipe with canned beans (cannellini or nice northern white beans could be very best). Use 2 cans of beans, rinsed and drained and omit the water from this recipe.

Storing leftovers

• Fridge: This curry lentil cauliflower soup is simply pretty much as good the following day and is nice as a make forward meal. Merely retailer in a hermetic container for as much as 5 days within the fridge.
• Freezer: This soup freezes properly and could be nice for freezer prep. Permit the soup to chill earlier than transferring to a freezer protected bag or container for as much as 3 months. I personally use Souper Cubes to portion out single serving parts of soup. As soon as frozen within the silicone molds, I come out the frozen dice of soup and switch it to a freezer protected bag for long run storage.
  • Defrost earlier than reheating or add frozen soup to a pot, cowl with a lid and reheat over low to medium low warmth till the soup is warmed by way of.

When you love lentil soup, it’s best to attempt