This comforting, creamy soup is packed with warm curry spices, protein, healthy fats, veggies, and lots of immune-boosting and anti-inflammatory vitamins and minerals. Carrots, cauliflower, and red lentils get cooked in a flavorful broth into a chunky soup that gets blended until ultra creamy. It all gets topped with a lemony sunflower cream, toasty seeds, and fresh herbs.
Ingredient Highlight
Carrots! These sweet, bright orange root vegetables are super high in beta-carotene, which gets converted into vitamin A – an essential nutrient for immune function. They’re also rich in bone-building vitamin K, vitamin B6, and potassium (to name a few!).
Servings 4 People
Prep Time 10 minutes 
Cook Time 30 minutes Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt, divided
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tbsp curry powder
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 lb carrots, peeled, chopped (about 5-6 carrots)
- 2 cups cauliflower florets
- 1 cup red lentils
- 6 cups water
- 5 tbsp lemon juice, divided
- 2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
- 1 cup Sunflower Cream
- ½ cup toasted sunflower seeds
- Fresh herbs (cilantro or parsley) (optional)
- Note: this is a smooth blended soup, if you prefer it to be chunky, you can skip the blending step or just blend 1 or 2 cups of it to make it a little creamy.
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat, add the oil, onion, and ½ teaspoon salt. Cook for 5 minutes, or until softened, stirring occasionally.
- Add the garlic, curry powder, and red pepper flakes (if using) and cook for 30 more seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in the carrots, cauliflower, lentils, and ½ teaspoon salt. Stir in the water and remaining ½ teaspoon salt, increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Give it a stir, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 25 minutes, stirring halfway through, or until lentils have broken down and carrots are very soft.
- Transfer as much soup as can safely fit into your high-speed blender (it’s ok to leave some chunks/liquid behind) and blend on high until smooth, making sure to let the steam escape while blending (or use an immersion blender). Transfer back to the pot and stir in 3 tablespoons lemon juice and soy sauce or tamari.
- Stir remaining 2 tablespoons lemon into the Sunflower Cream.
- Serve the hot soup with a drizzle of sunflower cream and top with toasted sunflower seeds and herbs (if using).
Items you can prep ahead (optional)
- Chop 1 yellow onion
- Chop 2 cloves garlic
- Peel and chop 1 lb carrots
- Chop 2 cups cauliflower florets
- Make the lemony sunflower cream
- Make the soup!
Substitutions:
- You could also make this soup with peeled and chopped sweet potatoes in place of carrots.
Storage:
-
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer:
- Soup: up to 6 days in the fridge or up to 2 months in the freezer
- Lemon cream: up to 5 days in the fridge or up to 2 months in the freezer.
Leftovers + Repurposing:
- Warm up leftovers on the stove or in the microwave. Top with sunflower cream, seeds, and herbs.
