Skip to Content

Healthy Vegan Lentil Soup with Cauliflower and Rice

Today’s delicious and healthy vegan lentil soup gets an addition of cauliflower and brown rice for extra texture, nutrients and fiber. It has quickly become one of my family’s favorite vegan lentil recipes for chilly times of the year. Give this soup a try, and I can guarantee that it will become one of your all-time favorite vegan soup recipes!

Vegan lentil and rice soup recipe with cauliflower

Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. If you make a purchase through my blog, I may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Thank you!

Not long ago Rob and I were returning home late at night after a day trip. This was just a few hours before the entire Gulf Coast area was hit with an ice storm, so the temperature outside was rapidly dropping.

Rob said that he wanted to have some warm soup for lunch the following day. I was surprised by his request because he hardly ever eats soup for lunch, let alone specifically asks for it. He usually prefers sandwiches for lunch – my easy vegan chickpea salad sandwich recipe is his all-time favorite.

I promised him to make some kind of soup by lunchtime the following day but realized that we didn’t have a lot of groceries at home since we skipped our usual grocery trip on the weekend.

Healthy vegan lentil recipes: plant-based lentil soup with cauliflower and rice

When I took a look around the house, I found just enough ingredients to make this healthy lentil soup. It turned out to be delicious and easy to make – one of those perfect vegan lentil recipes that make a great lunch and dinner.

That day turned out to be the first snowy day in Southern Alabama in years and years. I saw the snow on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay for the first time since moving to the Gulf Coast area 7.5 years ago!

We had to wait three more days before we were able to go to a grocery store: some of the roads were undrivable because of the ice, and most businesses (including grocery stores) were closed. I had two things to be thankful for:

1. That we live in quiet suburban area that doesn’t get crazy with traffic – things didn’t get nearly as messy for us as they did in Atlanta;

2. That even with what I consider ‘an empty fridge’ I was able to make decent plant-based vegan breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for those three days, including steel-cut oatmeal, blueberry cornmeal muffins, vegan mac and cheese, kidney bean croquettes, Pad Thai, and the delicious vegan lentil and cauliflower soup that I’m featuring today. I knew that my giant stash of dried beans in my pantry would come in handy one day!

By the way, here’s my tutorial on how to cook dried beans from scratch.

Healthy lentil soup with cauliflower and rice - a vegan lentil soup recipe

As of Thursday and Friday, my town is back to its normal life. The snow is almost all gone (there wasn’t much to begin with), all of the businesses are open, and my fridge is stocked with vegetables for more culinary adventures!

This recipe is one of my 2 year old daughter’s favorite recipes from the blog! See the full list of 15 of my kid friendly vegan recipes that she loves.

Now, back to talking about vegan lentil soup recipes 🙂 To make things more interesting, I added cauliflower and rice. I don’t have anything wrong with a plain lentil soup, but I find that the extra texture of cauliflower and rice is a nice touch here.

I’m not using any oil here to saute vegetables in the first step, but if you aren’t averse to oils, feel free to use them instead of the veggie broth. Honestly, I find that soups don’t lose anything when made with no oils, but it’s ultimately up to you.

For a different take on a “lentil + a vegetable” kind of soup, check out my vegan Instant Pot lentil soup with spinach.

Vegan lentil and cauliflower soup recipe with rice

Top your bowl of this lentil and rice soup with some chopped cilantro and diced avocado, and you got yourself a healthy and filling meal complete with protein, healthy fats and carbs, plenty of fiber – and a whole lot of yum 🙂

Looking for more vegan soup recipes? Check out my vegan minestrone and vegan chickpea and shiitake mushroom soup that can be made on stovetop or in the Instant Pot!

This recipe is a part of my roundup of healthy vegan recipes made with easy to find non-perishable plant based ingredients you most likely have in your pantry right now.

Yield: 6 servings

Kid-friendly Vegan Lentil Soup with Cauliflower and Rice

Vegan lentil soup recipe with cauliflower and rice

This hearty and filling vegan lentil soup is one of my toddler's favorite kid-friendly recipes! A good choice for busy nights because it takes less than an hour to cook. The soup is oil-free, packed with nutrition and fiber, and can easily become the next staple food on your family dinner table!

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1 celery rib, diced
  • 2 medium carrots, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • Equal amounts of brown, red, and black lentils (see note*) to make 1 cup total
  • 1 cup diced tomatoes, canned or fresh
  • 2 cups cauliflower florets (see note **)
  • 8 - 9 cups of vegetable broth - see my easy veggie broth recipe
  • Cooking oil, for sauteing vegetables (if using)
  • Cooked rice or any other grain, for serving (make sure to use gluten-free grain types if needed)

Spices:

  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1/4 tsp assafetida (optional - omit for gluten-free)
  • 1/2 tsp garam masala (optional)
  • Salt, pepper to taste

Instructions

    1. Heat 2-3 Tbsp of vegetable broth or oil in a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot or Dutch oven.
    2. Add onions, celery, carrots and garlic. Cook 3-4 min, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables look soft. Add more broth to prevent sticking if needed.
    3. Add cumin, turmeric, paprika and assafetida (if using - omit for gluten-free) to the vegetables. Stir to distribute the spices, cook for 1 minute.
    4. Add rinsed lentils, diced tomatoes, and the rest of the vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer over medium-low heat for 20 min, or until the lentils become soft. Stir in salt and pepper.
    5. Once the lentils are soft, add cauliflower florets to the pot, cover, and cook the soup for 3 minutes. (Avoid cooking the soup any longer as the cauliflower can turn into mush). Take the pot off the heat, stir in garam masala if using. Let the soup cool for at least 10-15 min before serving.
    6. To serve: ladle the soup in individual bowls, top with cooked rice or other grain of choice. Enjoy!

Notes

*If you don't have three different types of lentils available, you can easily use 1 cup of regular, brownish-greenish lentils.

**You can omit cauliflower or replace it with broccoli or spinach if you like.

***Red lentils tend to completely disintegrate in this soup, adding to a hearty texture, so in the end you'll only see brown and black lentils floating in the soup.

Recommended Products

This recipe contains affiliate links to Amazon.com. If you make a purchase through affiliate links on my blog, I receive a very small commission that helps me run this blog, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1 bowl

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 340Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 1mgCarbohydrates: 58gFiber: 8gSugar: 22gProtein: 14g

Please note that the provided nutritional information data is approximate.

Follow Vegan Runner Eats on Pinterest for more recipes!

If you want to Pin this recipe, click on the round pin button at the top of this card.

Hope you enjoyed my easy vegan lentil soup with cauliflower and rice!

If you’ve enjoyed this post, share it with your friends on social media! And stick around for more awesomeness – subscribe to Vegan Runner Eats to receive the latest posts (I’ll send you a free copy of my vegan dinner recipe e-book as a thank you), or follow the blog on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.

author avatar
Alina Zavatsky - Vegan Runner Eats
Alina first made a switch to a vegan diet in 2013 to optimize her athletic performance as a marathon runner. Eventually she embraced veganism as a way to be kinder to fellow living beings and the environment. Alina hopes that this blog helps its readers on their path to becoming vegan and making this world a better place.
Click here to cancel reply.

Kathleen

Friday 22nd of September 2023

Hi can you please clarify if the lentils are dry when you put them in the soup, or if they are already cooked (i.e. from dry already, or from a can)

Alina Zavatsky - Vegan Runner Eats

Friday 22nd of September 2023

Yes, the lentils for this recipe need to be dry (uncooked).

Suzanne

Tuesday 29th of June 2021

This looks so good! What a great lunch prep to make for the week!

Alina Zavatsky - Vegan Runner Eats

Wednesday 30th of June 2021

Thanks Suzanne!

mary

Saturday 13th of December 2014

can you give me the carbs for this recioe?

thank you

Alina

Saturday 13th of December 2014

Hi Mary, I don't have access to nutrition calculators at the moment (I'm on the road), but you can Google those and enter the ingredients, then divide by the number of servings. Hope this helps!

Annie

Wednesday 16th of July 2014

Alina, thanks for sharing this at the weekly Potluck! I'm a fan of soup ANY time of year and this one looks so hearty and comforting.

Alina

Wednesday 16th of July 2014

Thank you for your kind words, Annie - and thanks for running the linky potluck!

Skip to Recipe