A little dab of peanut butter gives this vegan soup a rich flavor. Pressure cooking instructions are included so you can make it in an Instant Pot if you like.
When daytime temperatures dip into the 40’s, I want soup. Every day. For every meal. Suddenly, eating a lunchtime salad has all the appeal of chewing ice, so at the beginning of each week, I make a big pot of vegetable-filled soup and portion it out into glass containers to be reheated for lunches throughout the week. At night, I tend to favor soups that “get it all in”–veggies, starch, and beans–because when I’m in hibernation mode, I don’t want to worry about main dishes and side dishes and all that nonsense. I want my whole meal in a nice, steaming bowl of soup.
Of course, I still make sure my family eats their fresh, leafy greens. Somehow, a salad’s more palatable when it’s on a plate next to a bowl of soup and we can alternate bites of homegrown spinach and oak-leaf lettuce salad with spoonfuls of hot soup. I’d guess about 75% of the dinners I serve my family in the colder months consist of soup, salad, and often some kind of bread. The kind of soup depends on what vegetables we have in the refrigerator and what flavors we’re craving.
For reasons I’m not entirely sure of, cauliflower reminds me of curry, so when my husband came home from the grocery store with a huge head of cauliflower, I immediately envisioned it dyed bright yellow by turmeric and fragrant with cardamom and cumin. I’m comfortable with creating my own spice blends, but for time’s sake I decided to use a family-favorite short cut: Maharajah blend curry powder. I’ve been using this style of curry powder for years, and I truly believe I could use it to season an old shoe (non-leather, of course) and my family would devour it.
I won’t be performing that experiment just yet (shoes are expensive), but I have tried it on vegetables my daughter usually dislikes, such as eggplant, and had her coming back for seconds. This fragrant soup was no exception. Though she doesn’t usually like sweet potatoes in savory dishes, E pronounced this soup a winner. I made it on the mild side, but you can make it as spicy as you like by using hotter peppers or more ground red pepper.
Curried Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 1 large onion peeled and chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon ginger paste or minced ginger root
- 1 small chile pepper such as jalapeño or serrano, seeded and minced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 4 cups vegetable broth or water plus bouillon cubes
- 1 pound sweet potatoes about 1 large, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
- 1 tablespoon mild curry powder divided
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 large head cauliflower separated into bite-sized flowerets
- 1 15-ounce can chickpeas rinsed and drained or 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
- 1 15- ounce can diced tomatoes
- 2-4 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or to taste
- 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter
Instructions
- Heat a large non-stick pot (4 quarts or larger). Add the onion and cook, stirring, until it begins to soften, about 3-4 minutes. Add the cumin seeds, ginger, chile pepper, and garlic, and cook, stirring constantly, for another 30 seconds.
- Stir in the broth, sweet potatoes, 1 teaspoon of the curry powder, and cinnamon. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook over low heat until sweet potato softens, about 20 minutes.
- Add the cauliflower, chickpeas, and tomatoes to the pot. Add just enough water to almost cover the cauliflower, probably about 3 cups. Stir in the remaining 2 teaspoons of curry powder, and add salt and cayenne pepper (more if you like things hot, less or none at all if you prefer it not spicy). Cover and simmer until cauliflower is tender, about 15-20 minutes. Stir in the peanut butter and serve hot.
Notes
Follow the instructions in Step 1 using the Saute or Brown setting on your electric pressure cooker. In Step 2, instead of bringing to a boil, close the lid, lock it and make sure the release valve is set to pressure. Use the manual or high pressure setting and set the time for 4 minutes. After the time is up, turn the cooker off and carefully turn the release valve to quick release the pressure. Follow Step 3 using the saute setting on low or medium heat. (You may also try returning the cooker to high pressure for 1 minute and then turning it off and letting the pressure come down naturally.) Stir in peanut butter just before serving. Nutrition Note: The peanut butter adds a gram of fat per serving but gives the soup a richness you won’t want to miss. If necessary, you can leave it out or substitute with cashew butter or another nut butter. One serving of this soup counts as zero Weight Watchers Freestyle points. Additional servings may contain points.
Nutritional info is approximate.
Cauliflower Loves Curry in These Recipes, Too:
- Cauliflower Dal with Panch Phoran on this blog
- Chickpeas, Potatoes, and Green Beans in Cauliflower Sauce on this blog
- Curried Split Pea Soup with Cauliflower on this blog
- Vegan Mulligatawny Detox Soup by Karina at Gluten-Free Goddess
- Roasted Curried Cauliflower with Lemon and Cumin by Kalyn at Kalyn’s Kitchen
- Curried Quinoa with Cauliflower by Cathy at What Would Cathy Eat
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Mary (What's Cookin' with Mary)
I caught a bug over the weekend and have made a different soup pretty much every night. Something about being sick… the weather being cold… and wanting mourishment in the form of hot liquid.
I also associate cauliflower with curry. Seems like a match made in heavan. Great recipe Susan. Thank you!!
Janel
I’m with you! I could eat soup for every meal all winter and love having a complete meal in a bowl. Hearty minestrone is my favorite, but this looks amazing (I love curry, cauliflower and sweet potato – perfect!) Thanks for another great recipe.
Jeanette
I love curry, and the idea of an “all in one” soup. Interesting touch of peanut butter at the end.
one rad mama
I don’t have cumin seeds, just ground cumin. Would I use the same amount?
I also associate cauliflower with curry and am totally down with all in one soups! One pot meals are easier to clean up…
I can’t wait to try this out! It sounds delicious :).
SusanV
Sure, just add the ground cumin when you add the teaspoon of curry powder. Hope you enjoy!
pb
If I may, One Rad Mama, the main flavour in curry powder is generally that of dried coriander, so a mixture of cumin and coriander will also work great..as will just the cumin.
Thanks!
Erika @ Health and Happiness in LA
This soup sounds great. I love chickpeas and sweet potatoes in soup. I’d like to try that curry powder, I feel like the generic stuff I bought isn’t very good.
Rachel
Soup sounds really good right about now, especially this one! I’ve been putting curry powder in everything lately (even Thanksgiving dressing) and your soup’s two main ingredients put me in fall vegetable heaven!
I have to say, I love your cauliflower dal with panch phoran so much. My mom and I found the spice mix and made the recipe a while back and we’ve both made it repeatedly since then. We divided the container of panch phoran so we could both have some and I’ll be so sad when mine runs out!
katy
I’ve recently developed an allergy to tomatoes, which is agonizing because half the foods I love contain tomatoes. Curry! Salsa! Pasta sauce! It breaks my heart. I know nothing can really replace the flavor of tomatoes, but since this soup only contains one can, I thought I’d give it a shot: can you think of any possible substitute?
While I’m here, I wanted to say that I make your impossible pumpkin pie every year at Thanksgiving, and everyone loves it. Thank you!!
SusanV
I’m glad to hear you like the pumpkin pie! For this recipe, I would probably either leave out the tomatoes or add another vegetable. I’ve seen tomato-less pasta sauces made of carrots, so maybe you could try adding some to this.
Dawn
Looks delicious! I love cauliflower with Indian spices too. Can’t wait to try it. I want soup when it’s cold too. Made an easy white bean soup last night and the whole time I was thinking–why don’t I have a pressure cooker like Susan at FFV?!
Kalynskitchen
I agree that soup is the perfect dinner when it’s winter and you really just want to tuck a fuzzy blanket around your knees and read a book! My meals are much more interesting when the weather is warmer. This looks like a healthful but delicious dinner.
Simona
I just made it and it’s delicious!!
Alessandra
Yum, I think that Cauliflower goes perfectly with curry!
Thank you for sharing
A.
olivia
hi, susan. i had this recipe saved on my desktop to make soon. i wasn’t sure when because today i had a day long conference. well, i JUST now got in and the soup was waiting for me on the table along with some warm french bread. the husband came through. it was super delicious. what a good recipe. thanks! blessings.
Kulsum at JourneyKitchen
I agree to that somehow when I see cauliflower I when to go Indian, ofcourse thts also because I’m an Indian but even otherwise, some vegetables are at there best Indian style! I have not really paired cauliflower with sweet potato, I’m sure its lovely! I certainly posted a cauliflower curry with dried fenugreek leaves you should try it if you like cauliflower 😀
jodye @ 'scend food
My two favorite vegetables, plus curry powder and all kinds of wonderful warming spices in one dish, this is a winner for sure!
Kaitlin
Sounds like aloo gobi soup! Yum! I always want soup at this time of year, too 🙂
Stanislav
Hi, good to hear you enjoyed some fine weather. I want this soup without 40’s 🙂
Kelly
Looks wonderful, Susan! My new blog– http://poorgirlsvegandiet.blogspot.com/ — focuses on eating vegan and losing weight on a budget. I will refer to your website often for recipes.
Thanks! 🙂
Mr. J
This recipe looks great. I can’t wait to try it. My wife and I have been eating lots of soups as well. When the temp starts getting low nothing beats a hot bowl of soup. Yum.
pb
Hi Susan,
Apart from the chickpeas, this is very like the ‘alu gobhi’ or potato cauliflower subji thats popular in Indian homes.. But adding the chickpeas and making this stew like is a great way to make it more wholesome w/o adding too much rice/bread as we are wont to, and definitely more satiating w/o adding too many calories..
Sweet potato + peanut butter combination will make this really comforting ( definitely to me)..
thanks for one more great recipe!
-pb
CarrieAnn
This soup was absolutely fantastic! It was the first recipe that I have made from this site, and now I am addicted. I will add more veggies next time; I think I put in too much water. I can’t wait to make this again. 🙂
AJ
Effortlessly easy to make! I’ve loved every recipe I’ve tried from this site (and my picky carniverous husband has been enjoying my experiments) and this one came together so well. Perfect for the 32F weather – it’s a soup that says “I’m ready for snow”.
No modifications used. just awesome results 🙂
GayathriB
Just made this soup and it was fabulous! Cauliflower is my fav veggie, maybe that’s cause I am Indian! :). I made the soup spicier by adding some smoked paprika! It was just delicious!! Can’t wait to have it again for lunch tmrw! Thank you!
Amber Shea @Almost Vegan
GORGEOUS…exactly the kind of warm, spicy meal I crave in the winter.
Mary Pomerantz
This has nothing to do with the recent post. I just wanted to say, congratulations on being named Veg News Favorite Blog of the Year! I like to spread the word to everyone that I talk “vegan” to about your blog. It has continued to be my favorite go-to place for a recipe. Thanks, Susan, for continuing to inspire all of your readers, including me!
SusanV
Thanks so much, Mary!
JEssica
Love the beautiful turmeric cauliflower!
mindy
this was delicious :). i subbed kidney beans (just made hummus), added extra garlic, & added kale (my weakness in stew-y soups).
the peanut butter is a great touch.
thank you!
Sam
I just wanted to tell you how much I loved this recipe! This is the first recipe of yours that I tried and although I’m not a vegan (only a vegetarian) I visit your site often for inspiration and such for my own creations. I really liked this soup and to be quite honest, even though I generally love indian food have yet to find a recipe (thats not made by a person of indian decent) that doesn’t make the curry I’m using taste bitter. Yours was fantasic! Keep up the good work and I’m looking forward to trying many more.
Thanks for your time,
Sam
Grandpa Ron
The soup was delicious, and yes, better the next day. Since I like a little fire to my soups with an Indian or Mexican overtone, I left the seeds in the jalapeño and did away with the cayenne. Tonight will be what’s left over with some rice from last night’s supper some cabbage or chopped spinach in it.
Ian
Bless you for this idea from a Brit currently suffering from temperatures of 28 degrees F (-2 C). Exactly what was needed! (And the peanut butter is a particularly nice touch.)
Bridget
Hi!!
This sounds like a fabulous recipe!! I can’t wait to try it, I’ve been on a soup-craze lately too! The only problem is I’m allergic to both chickpeas and peanut butter. 🙁 Would it completely alter the soup to leave these out? Might I be able to substitute the chickpeas for some other sort of bean?? Thanks again for your invaluable website!!
SusanV
I think you could safely substitute another bean for the chickpeas and leave the peanut butter out. I hope you enjoy it!
Anne
Excellent recipe– Thanks! I love the addition of the peanut butter; it really balances the heat of the spices, ginger and pepper (I used Serrano). I also added peanuts at the end.
Heather
This soup was absolutely delicious. I added fresh coriander leaves and used only about a teaspoon of peanut butter, because I wanted a little richness but I find it often dulls the flavour of the spices. I used a fresh Indian spice mix I bought at the farmer’s market – I never realised what a difference a really good quality spice mix makes. I only had an 8oz can of tomatoes on hand, so I used about 2 cups less water, and it was fine. I am looking forward to enjoying the leftovers tonight, with a little baby spinach and perhaps some diced tofu. This soup will be going on my regular rotation 🙂
Marie-Pier Farmer
Hello Susan,
I am thinking about creating a website with Vegan and Vegetarian recipes easy to make… My site would be in french. I was wondering if you would be comfortable with me posting french version of some of your recipes while adding the link to your recipe in english.
Thank you for your answer.
MP (I am a Facebook friend of yours, you can find me under Marie-Pier)
SusanV
Hi Marie,
I don’t usually mind if people post translations of a few of my recipes. Please let me know if you plan to post more than 3 or 4. If it is less than 4, you have my permission.
Thanks for asking!
N.Root
I love soup and stew! Especially when it gets cold and I really love curry. So when I saw this recipe I was estatic! I cooked it over the weekend and let me tell you rhis soup was absolutely delicious and I have been recommending it to my friends. Infact I think I might have leftovers tonight. 🙂
Laura
Wow! I made this tonight after work, with my toddler twins running around and somehow I still managed to pull this off. So delicious, and my non-vegan husband ate at least seconds. This recipe will be a regular around here!
Megan
Dear Susan,
I have made so many of your recipes and have never once been disappointed! This soup was filling and had so much depth to the flavor. For some reason, I’ve never been a big soup eater, but we were all going back for seconds on this dish. A new favorite. My entire Christmas menu is planned from this site. Thank you for helping me expand my knowledge of vegan cooking — my family are happy to have more than grilled tofu on their plates!
Trina
Hi there! This soup is amazing! I made it yesterday with this romanesco (brocco-cauli mix) and added carrots …it was great! Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
Rod Weston
Your blog is incredible! The layout is clean and precise, the images are beautiful, your writing style complements your blog beautifully… and the recipes I’ve tried so far are great! I’m not a vegan, but I need to lose a lot of weight and I’ve never met a fat vegetarian, so I thought I’d jump on board. But I never expected to find food I actually enjoy! Thank you!