Hearty Cauliflower and White Bean Soup with Pesto

This hearty white bean soup is loaded with cauliflower, leeks, and adds a little kick from jalapeño pepper. An optional topping that's perfect with this soup is pesto.

Make this soup ahead, as the flavors only get better overnight! If you have cooked white beans on hand, this soup comes together quickly. It's perfect for lunch, and filling enough for a vegetarian dinner with a hunk of crusty bread.

Jump to Recipe

Want to make this recipe perfectly the first time? I want to help with that. So, check out this Table of Contents to see which sections of this post will help you the most.

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
• 🧅 Ingredients + Notes
• 🔪 Recommended Equipment
• 📝 Instructions Overview
• ⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time
• 👩‍🍳 Preparation Tips
• 💡Ideas for Possible Variations
• 🥬 Make it Vegan
• 🧊 What's the best way to store this soup?
• 🍽 Side Dish Ideas
• 📇 More White Bean Soups
• Cauliflower and White Bean Soup

Is it soup season where you live? Soups are all the rage when the weather turns, with overnight temperatures that dip below freezing. And especially soups hearty enough to be a main dish for dinner like this award winning Vegetable Soup with Beans, this Moroccan Chickpea Stew with Charred Eggplant and Tomatoes that I modified from an Ottolenghi cookbook, or a Vegetable Rice Soup.

And if you're interested in another cauliflower soup, here's a puréed cheesy cauliflower soup that's fabulous. Especially with a little rosemary olive oil. And for more of my favorite fall soups, and readers' favorites too, check out these 10 Cozy Vegetarian Soups for Fall.

Or if you're looking for a simple homemade vegetable soup that has a great broth and not as much veggie prep, this is a great one.

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe

• No fancy ingredients requiring a scavenger hunt to all your local stores and beyond.
• Satisfying vegetarian main dish.
• Make it ahead, if that works better for your schedule.
• Delicious comfort food.
• Great way to get kids to eat more veggies!
• Easily made vegan.

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📝 Instructions Overview

Detailed instructions for making this cauliflower soup recipe are in the recipe card below, but here's an overview!

Step 1

Cook the white beans. If you prefer to cook your beans from dried (like me), it's best to get them going first. If you're using canned beans, skip to the next step.

Step 2

Prep. There's a little prepping involved, and it's best to do it all at once so that you're not furiously chopping and mincing trying to keep up with the soup cooking on the stove. Just sayin'....

The meal prep work includes chopping the celery, leek, jalapeño, cauliflower and garlic.

Step 3

Sauté. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or other heavy bottomed pot, and add the diced celery, sliced leeks, jalapeño and cauliflower. Once the celery and leeks begin to soften, add the garlic, thyme, salt and pepper.

Step 4

Add the liquids. Pour in the wine, and toss the vegetable to coat. Cook until the wine is completely absorbed or cooked off. Add the vegetable broth, white beans and a knob of Parmesan cheese rind. (The knob of rind adds some nice umami to the soup.)

Simmer until cauliflower is tender.

Step 5

Serve. Serve with some grated Parmesan cheese, chopped parsley and crusty bread.

⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time

• Your market may sell celery that's already diced.
• Cook the beans ahead of time, if using dried beans, or use canned beans.
• Buy cauliflower florets already separated instead of purchasing a head of cauliflower and chopping it.
• Use a couple pinches of red pepper flakes in place of the jalapeño.
• Use Gourmet Garden garlic paste in a tube instead of mincing your own garlic.
• Do all the prepping in advance, and store the prepped veggies in the refrigerator.
• Make the soup ahead, refrigerate it in sealed containers, and heat it back up when you're ready to eat it.

👩‍🍳 Preparation Tips

• This is a rustic chunky soup, so there's no need to go all Thomas-Keller-perfection on prepping the veggies.
• When you chop up the cauliflower, don't just use the florets. Also chop up the stem. Only the bottom leaves and the tough bottom of the stalk should be discarded.

💡Ideas for Possible Variations

• Roasting the cauliflower adds more flavor to this soup versus just simmering it. Follow these steps for roasting the cauliflower before adding it to the soup:
  • Oven method: Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and toss the cauliflower pieces in a little olive oil. Roast in the a 400˚F oven for 15 - 20 minutes (depending on the size of the florets) until tender and a golden brown.
  • Air fryer method: Preheat the air fryer to 400˚F and toss the pieces of cauliflower in a very small amount of olive oil - just enough to coat them. Arrange in the air fryer basket and cook for 7 - 10 minutes or until golden brown. The edges might be a little crispy.
• For a creamy cauliflower white bean soup, blend it in a food processor, regular blender, or with a stick blender (hand-held immersion blender). Or strike a balance, and blend either a cup of soup, or as much as half of the soup until smooth. Stir into the rest of the soup.

🥬 Make it Vegan

• Eliminate the knob of Parmesan rind.
• Substitute a vegan Parmesan-style cheese just before serving, or serve on the side.
• Use Nutritional Yeast to the soup. It adds nutrition to the soup, and a slight umami cheesy flavor.
• As a note, if you eliminate the cheese, this soup will end up being spicier. I recommend cutting the jalapeño amount in half.

🧊 What's the best way to store this soup?

• Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 - 5 days.
• Freeze in a freezer safe container for up to 2 - 3 months.

🍽 Side Dish Ideas

Freshly baked bread is always a hit. This Aglio e Olio Pizza Bread is a nice partner to this soup, or just pick up a baguette of freshly baked crusty French bread.

📇 More White Bean Soups

White Bean and Kale Soup

Award-Winning Vegetable Soup with White Beans

Instant Pot White Bean Soup Recipe with Tomatoes

Tuscan Bean Soup