This creamy cauliflower potato leek soup is so hearty, cozy and perfect for a winter lunch or light dinner! With all easy recipe steps, we combine fresh veggies, herbs and coconut milk to make a flavorful dairy free cauliflower soup on the stovetop in about 30 minutes.
Warming and comforting, this cauliflower potato leek soup without cream joins my zucchini leek soup and celery leek soup in having the delicious onion flavor of the sometimes neglected veggie of leeks!
The trio of veggies we use in this vegan and gluten free soup are so good! Cauliflower makes it nice and creamy, leek gives so much flavor and the potato makes it hearty enough for a filling lunch or dinner.
For more cozy soups, do check out my broccoli zucchini soup and asparagus broccoli soup! And if cauliflower is your favorite veggie, have a peek at my guide on how to cook frozen cauliflower rice and my air fryer broccoli and cauliflower.
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⭐ Why this recipe is so good
Thick and creamy. This is a dairy free cauliflower potato leek soup without heavy cream, and we don't use soaked cashews or bacon either. It's still so creamy from the cauliflower and plant milk though!
Affordable ingredients. No tricky items to hunt down, these are all easy to find in the store.
Simple recipe. All you need is a large soup pot and your cauliflower potato soup comes together so easily on the stovetop.
🥔 Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
Some notes on a few of them:
- Potatoes - I like to use russet potatoes, but Yukon Gold potatoes also work really well in soups. It's down to preference whether to peel or not. You'll get a smoother soup if you do.
- Cauliflower - choose an unbruised cauliflower that has the 'heads' tightly closed rather than looser and apart, as this indicates it is fresh.
- Leeks - make sure to wash between the leaves to remove any dirt, and use the white and light green parts at the ends of the leeks (remove the root first). Discard the tough dark green leaves (or use to make stock!).
- Milk - you can use either coconut milk from a can, or I've used oat milk to give a creamy taste and texture.
📖 Swaps and variations
Leave out the plant milk. You can simply add a little more vegetable broth and blend the soup without milk.
Add more garlic. If you're a garlic lover this soup can easily take another clove or two as the cauliflower potato flavors are quite mild.
🔪 Step by step instructions
Making this cauliflower leek potato soup is very simple, with affordable and easy to find ingredients and just a few recipe steps on the stovetop. Grab your soup pot and I'll show you how to make this flavorful rich and comforting soup!
All the instructions are in the recipe card below, but these photos should help guide you.
Step 1: Saute leeks and celery
Drizzle olive oil in a large soup pot (make sure it's a big one as we are using quite a lot of veggies!), and saute diced leeks and celery. Sprinkle in the minced garlic, dried thyme and rosemary (image 1).
Step 2: Add cauliflower and potatoes
Add the diced (and peeled if you wish) potatoes and cauliflower florets to the pot. Cook for a few minutes to help bring out their flavor (image 2).
Step 3: Pour in vegetable broth
Pour in the vegetable broth and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat so you have a very light simmer, then pour in the coconut milk (or plant milk) (image 3). Cook for 18-20 minutes, or until the potato is very soft and fork tender.
Step 4: Blend the soup
Either use an immersion blender to puree the soup, or transfer batches to a food processor and blend that way (image 4). Season with salt and ground black pepper (if using), ladle into your serving bowls and add any toppings you like!
💭 Recipe tips and notes
- Dice the veggies to similar size pieces. This helps with an even cook time of the potato and cauliflower florets.
- Add more broth. This recipe makes quite a thick potato cauliflower leek soup, but you can easily add more vegetable broth to thin it out to preference.
- Peel the potatoes. For a smoother soup you can peel the potatoes, but it's not necessary if you don't mind it a bit more thick!
- Adjust the amount of herbs and garlic. As cauliflower and potato have fairly mild flavors, you can easily add more herbs and garlic for more of a kick of flavor if you like.
📋 Frequently asked questions
I suggest to use either russet potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes to make soup.
Yes, you can definitely use roasted cauliflower and it will give a lovely deep flavor. It will of course add some cook time to the recipe.
A good drizzle of high quality extra virgin olive oil is delicious, and fresh herbs such as thyme or chives, toasted pumpkin seeds or home-made croutons if wheat works for you are fun and flavorful!
Yes, it's a vegan soup as we don't use butter, cheese or any other dairy and leave out bacon which is sometimes used in versions of this soup.
🍽 How to serve
While this leek cauliflower potato soup is quite hearty as it is, you can of course make an even more filling meal by adding some fun sides! Why not try:
- Pair with my turkey cranberry sandwich or my cottage cheese toast ideas for a hearty lunch!
- A salad is always delicious and adds extra goodness, so have a look at my fennel and cucumber salad, broccoli and beetroot salad and my cucumber apple salad as they are all are so fresh and flavorful!
❄️ Freezing advice
It's very easy to freeze this cauliflower potato leek soup and it works so well! Simply allow to cool and portion into freezer-safe containers or bags, then freeze. You may need to add a splash of vegetable broth or water when reheating the soup.
The USDA recommends to freeze soup for up to 2-3 months, but my low histamine readers may wish to see the SIGHI advice on freezing food, which recommends not to freeze food for 'an unnecessarily long time'.
🥣 More cozy soups
Find so many fun soup recipes here to try including my fragrant paprika chicken soup and my vegetarian gnocchi soup, as well as these recent recipes:
I'm always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes! And I love to hear from you - so please do leave a star rating ⭐⭐⭐ if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Cauliflower Potato Leek Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 leeks white and light green parts, diced
- 1 celery stick diced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 4 cups cauliflower diced
- 4 cups Yukon Gold potatoes or russet potatoes peeled, diced
- 3.5 cups vegetable broth more, as needed
- ½ cup coconut milk or non-dairy milk
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper optional
Instructions
- Drizzle olive oil in a large pot, and cook the diced leeks and celery on a low heat for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the garlic, dried thyme and rosemary and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
- Tip in the diced cauliflower and potato and pour in the vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a very low simmer. Pour in the coconut milk and cook the soup for 18-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the potato is very soft and fork tender.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the soup, or transfer in batches to a food processor. Season with salt and black pepper (if using), and ladle into your serving bowls.
Notes
- This is quite a thick cauliflower potato soup so if you prefer a thinner consistency, add a little more vegetable broth.
- If you prefer not to use coconut milk, swap for a non-dairy milk that works for you or omit and use extra vegetable broth.
- For a more fragrant soup, add a sprinkle more of the thyme or rosemary.
- Nutritional information is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- garlic, which scores 1.
- leeks, which score 1 with a ? as a liberator. There is a note, 'In small amounts, usually well tolerated'.
- vegetable broth is not rated, and will depend on ingredients used and cooking method.
- black pepper, which scores 2. It is optional.
Amy says
This is creamy and delicious. Tastes like a Thanksgiving dinner. Stuffing but with mashed potato consistency. It was the ultimate comfort food. I omitted the coconut milk because it's the only cream I can have right now and everything I make tastes like it. Texture is amazing. Taste is amazing. Thank you!!
Claire says
Lovely to hear that you enjoyed it Amy, and that it had all the comfort food vibes too!
Hilary says
This soup was fantastic. I doubled the celery because I like it
Claire says
So glad you enjoyed it Hilary!
Anonymous says
Audrey says
This turned out really well! I topped the soup with sautéed leek greens to prevent them from going to waste.
Claire says
So glad you enjoyed it Audrey! And love the idea of topping with leeks, I'll have to try it.
Ellie says
Loved it!! So creamy and delicious. It’s been so difficult to find recipes that are low in histamine and don’t trigger my allergies that actually taste good. This was wonderful and hit the spot 🙂
Claire says
Aww so glad you enjoyed it Ellie! Lovely to hear that it worked well for you - perfect for a winter lunch or dinner I think!