Cozy curried butternut squash cauliflower soup recipe! This warm vegetable curry soup with rice is always a hit with the whole family.
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Hello, Rhubarbarians! I'm so excited to share this vegan butternut squash cauliflower soup with you today.
This is a recipe that I make every time my family needs a comforting fall soup for dinner. (see all our soup recipes here)
It's hearty, it's easy, it makes a ton (hello freezer meal), and best of all my kid always goes back for seconds!
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Why you'll love this recipe
If you're like me, you want to make a dinner for your family that checks off all the boxes. This is soup is easy and delicious, nutritious and loaded with veggies, mild yet comforting, and super filling.
This is the soup that your 5 year old will ask you to make again and again.
It makes a massive amount, which makes it perfect for meal prep or freezer meals for busy weeknights down the road. YES.
Here's our guide to fresh and healthy fall recipes to try every week of fall!
Ingredients and equipment
Here's what you'll need to make this butternut squash cauliflower curry soup. Full ingredients and instructions are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Ingredients:
- Cooked basmati rice. You can swap for any type of your favorite rice, as long as it's cooked before added to the soup.
- Water.
- Coconut oil.
- Vegetables. Butternut squash, onion, garlic, and cauliflower. (Oh hey we wrote a guide to butternut squash if you need it!)
- Vegetable stock.
- Coconut milk.
- Curry powder.
- Sugar.
- Lime.
- Salt and pepper.
- Optional soup toppings. Fresh cilantro, lime wedges, and jalapeno slices.
Equipment:
- If you don't have cooked rice, you'll need the equipment that you use to cook rice.
- Stove top or cook top.
- Soup pot. You'll need a large one.
- Measuring cups.
- Measuring spoons.
- Cutting board for chopping veggies.
- Chef's knife for chopping veggies.
- Stirring utensil for stirring the soup and sauteeing the ingredients.
- Citrus juicer (optional).
- Bowls and spoons for serving.
Have you tried our vegan cauliflower and potato curry?
Step by step instructions
This soup is really quite easy, makes a TON of food, and takes less than an hour from start to finish. Full instructions are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of this article.
- First, make sure you have cooked rice. Get that cooking if you don't.
- Heat some coconut oil in a soup pot.
- Sautee the onions and squash.
- Add the garlic and cauliflower.
- Add the stock and coconut milk and simmer.
- Add lime juice.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve in a bowl over some rice and top with fresh cilantro, lime slices, and jalapeno slices.
Have you tried our roasted butternut squash with thyme honey butter?
Serving suggestions
This soup is a hearty meal on it's own! We recommend serving it as a main course along with your favorite toppings and a big piece of naan bread.
Recommended toppings:
- Fresh cilantro leaves.
- Lime slices.
- Jalapeno slices.
- Chopped scallions.
- A drizzle of coconut milk.
Recommend sides:
- Naan bread. Store bought or homemade!
- Indian chutneys to serve with naan. Here are 3 to try!
- Vegetarian pulao. Swap the basmati rice for this!
Recipe tips and substitutions
- Make sure that you have cooked rice! I've noted this at the beginning of the recipe, but don't finish the soup and realize you don't have any rice.
- If you don't have basmati rice, any rice of your choice will work.
- Make sure to serve the soup over rice and don't add rice to the soup. The rice will become soggy if left in the soup.
- If 12 servings is too many, you adjust the servings to suit your needs in the recipe card. It will adjust all of the ingredients to the servings you input.
- If sugar isn't your thing, just leave it out! No worries there. It sweetens the soup just a bit.
- If you don't have butternut squash, sub for buttercup squash or delicata squash. Sweet potato would also work, but leave out the sugar.
- Use a vegetable stock that has a flavor that you like. We recommend keeping Better than Bouillon seasoned vegetable base on hand!
Storing and freezing
Storing:
Store any leftover soup in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Keep the rice in a separate container! Not only will the rice become soggy, but it can also contaminate the soup if left in.
Freezing:
Freeze the soup in an air tight freezer safe container for up to 3 months. Do not freeze the rice in the soup!
Defrost the soup in the refrigerator until the ready or serve or heat from frozen in a pan on the stove top.
FAQs
No. The rice will create a starchy broth that is unpleasant.
This recipe is vegan!
This recipe is gluten free?
We recommend peeling the squash. The skin is not pleasant to eat in soup.
More soup recipes you'll love:
- Thai curried butternut squash soup
- Hearty vegan pumpkin lentil soup
- Butternut squash leek soup with potatoes and herbs
Did you make this recipe? Leave us a review and star rating in the comments below! We read every single review and appreciate your feedback.
Recipe
Cozy curried butternut squash cauliflower soup recipe! This warm vegetable curry soup with rice is always a hit with the whole family.
- 4 cups cooked basmati rice
- 3 cups water
- 2 Tablespoons coconut oil
- 4 cups cubed butternut squash (about ½ of a large butternut squash)
- 2 cups diced yellow onion (about 1 medium onion)
- 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 5 cups chopped cauliflower (about 1 medium head)
- 8 cups vegetable stock
- 2 15oz cans unsweetened coconut milk
- 3 Tablespoons curry powder
- 4 Tablespoons white sugar
- 1 medium lime
- Salt and pepper
- fresh cilantro, lime wedges, and jalapeno slices (optional) for serving
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Make sure the rice is cooked and set aside.
-
Meanwhile, Heat the coconut oil in a large soup pot over medium high heat. Add the squash and onions and saute, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cauliflower and saute, stirring occasionally, until softened, another 10 minutes.
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Add the stock, coconut milk, curry powder, and sugar and raise the heat, bringing it to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer until veggies are adequately softened and tasty, about 10 minutes. Juice the lime into the soup and stir to combine. Generously season with salt and a bit of pepper. You may need a lot of salt!
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To serve, add some rice to a bowl and top with soup. Top with fresh cilantro and serve with lime wedges and jalapeno slices if desired.
- Make sure that you have cooked rice! I've noted this at the beginning of the recipe, but don't finish the soup and realize you don't have any rice.
- If you don't have basmati rice, any rice of your choice will work.
- Make sure to serve the soup over rice and don't add rice to the soup. The rice will become soggy if left in the soup.
- If 12 servings is too many, you adjust the servings to suit your needs in the recipe card. It will adjust all of the ingredients to the servings you input.
- If sugar isn't your thing, just leave it out! No worries there. It sweetens the soup just a bit.
- If you don't have butternut squash, sub for buttercup squash or delicata squash. Sweet potato would also work, but leave out the sugar.
- Use a vegetable stock that has a flavor that you like. We recommend keeping Better than Bouillon seasoned vegetable base on hand!
If you make this recipe, please let us know on social media or in the comments below! Leave a star rating in your comment or tag us on Instagram with #Rhubarbarians
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Ellyn Nguyen
I'm so glad everyone likes it! I'm actually making this for my family this week. It's funny, I tell my kids I'm making the curry soup and they tell me they don't like curry, but when it's on the table in front of them they (usually lol) scarf it up! I personally love it and I'm happy it's soup weather again! We might even get snow on this side of the mountains next week.
Trish Bozeman
A back-pocket soup is so necessary this time of year. Thanks so much for your fantastic recipe, Ellyn! 🙂
Tracy
Less than an hour? Exactly the kind of Sunday meal I love to make and then have all week. Although we would probably eat in just a couple of days, too! That's usually what happens, I plan to make a big batch of something to freeze some, but then just end up eating it all! It's a good sign that it's a delicious recipe!!
Marisa F. Stewart
What an amazing looking soup. We make at least one soup a week and we've been looking for something a little different. The curry sounds amazing and what a healthy soup it is. Going meatless for several meals is always a great idea.
Kirsten/ComfortablyDomestic
Welcome, Ellyn! This curry is chocked full of things that I love. Good on Rhubarbaby for picking out the butternut squash and cauliflower to eat first. I'd totally do the same thing.
Dana
This *is* super cozy! Like, the definition of cozy. And as much as I'm trying to stray from cold-weather foods in a desperate attempt to summon the heat, I just can't pass up on something like this on a cold, wet day like today. Also, loving that lime shot!
Traci
This soup comes at the right time as I'm having crazy cravings for curry! I'm always game for cauliflower and I really love that this recipe has butternut squash. How'd ya know?! Thanks for sharing this one!
Kris
Ah!! This soup looks so comforting and so loaded with flavor. The curry, cauliflower and coconut milk are three of our most favorite ingredients in the world. Oh, and butternut squash! Healthy and huge on flavor. Love the hint of heat, but not too much. Really a perfect soup recipe. It's cold outside but warm on the inside, for sure. Thanks for this awesome recipe. We love it!
Debra
With winter dragging on, this warm and nourishing soup is exactly what's needed right now. I love a healthy recipe that can be made in advance and frozen for when needed. Thanks for the tip about not freezing the rice as well. I"m adding this to my meal prep list for this Sunday.
Gloria
So many delicious flavours in this soup. I have been making homemade soup each week for the last little while. With all the snow that is headed our way, this is the best way to warm up from the cold (and all the shoveling).