Creamy Nettle Soup with Cauliflower (Dairy-Free)

Spring and early summer is the season of the stinging nettles when the young nettle buds can be collected. The most classical way to eat nettles is in a nettle soup. While the traditional ways of making nettle soup involve using milk, sour cream and/or potatoes, or even bacon and eggs, this recipe doesn’t include any of these. This nettle soup with cauliflower is light and nourishing.

What is stinging nettle?

Urtica dioica, often known as common nettle, stinging nettle or nettle leaf, or just a nettle or stinger, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Urticaceae. Originally native to Europe, much of temperate Asia, and western North Africa, it is now found worldwide, including New Zealand and North America. (Source: Wikipedia).

Stinging nettles love humid environments, so you will find them in shaded areas in forests, near rivers, in plains, hilly, or mountain areas. The collection time is in spring and early summer. They are, as their name says, stinging if you touch them, so you have to wear gloves to handle them from collection to cooking.

Health benefits of nettles

As you can imagine, nettles have a lot of nutritional benefits. Some of the most popular uses are as a natural allergy relief remedy, but they can also benefit skin, bone, joint, and urinary health. Cooked nettle is a great source of vitamins A and C, protein, and iron. It tastes almost like spinach and can be used like it: in stews, soups, pestos, or dressings.

However, while spinach can be eaten raw, don’t try that with the stinging nettle. Nettles have to be handled with gloves and blanched before preparation.

Cooking and preparing stinging nettles

First, you must wash the nettles very well, using gloves. Immerse them in cold water and drain them in a colander and repeat this step several times until the water comes out clean. Handle them gently, as they will be bruising. Don’t let a water jet run on them directly.

Heat a large pot of water with one teaspoon of salt. When boiling, add the nettles and let them in hot water for 1 to 2 minutes. Take them out and drain in a colander and run them under cold water.

It’s the blanched nettles you will use for this nettle soup or any time you are preparing something with nettles.

For more creative uses of stinging nettles, try my Green Cassava Flour Tortillas recipe. The crispy tortilla chips made with this green cassava tortilla are the perfect accompaniment for this nettle soup.

The other ingredients for this stinging nettle soup recipe

To add nutrients and taste to this nettle soup, I used:

• onion
• celery
• carrots
• fennel
• garlic

For added creaminess and a thicker texture, I added cauliflower and coconut cream.

For an interesting flavor and anti-histamine properties, I used Nigella Sativa Seeds / Black Cumin Seeds.

Season with nutmeg, salt, freshly ground pepper, and fresh lemon juice.

More recently, I created a recipe for homemade bouillon cubes, and now I add them to everything, but they work particularly well with soups. They are easy to make and a great meal prep hack to help you cook more flavorful and nutritious food with less effort. Add one or two cubes to this soup to add more flavor.

How to make it

• Using gloves, wash the nettles very well, changing the water multiple times until the water comes clean (they can hold quite a lot of grit).
• Heat a pot of water with one teaspoon of salt and when the water is boiling, add the nettles, submerge in hot water, and blanch for 1, 2 minutes. Take them out and drain.
• Have about 1 liter (about 4-5 cups) of hot water ready for the soup.
• In a soup pot, heat the extra virgin olive oil on low to medium heat and add the onions, carrots, celery, and fennel and saute until they are fragrant and golden for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add the garlic and chopped cauliflower, stir well, and sauté for a couple more minutes.
• Add the seasoning: salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and stir well for 1 minute.
• Add the hot water, bring to a boil, and simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes, then add the nettles.
• Toast the nigella seeds in a small skillet for just a couple of minutes, so the beneficial oils are released.
• Simmer the soup for five more minutes or until the veggies are soft enough to be blended.
• Transfer the soup to a blender or blend with an immersion blender until creamy. Add the coconut cream and lemon juice, taste, and season to taste with more salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the toasted Nigella seeds.
• Serve with some compliant crackers or cassava tortillas.

More recipes using stinging nettles

When you are preparing nettles for this soup, blanch more and use it for other recipes. Our Green Cassava Flour Tortillas will make a great accompaniment for this soup, especially if you toast them in the oven to make chips.

You can also use stinging nettles to make our Green Nettle Pasta Sauce.

*This post contains affiliated links, which means I get a small commission if you choose to purchase something via one of my links, at no extra cost to you.

Print Recipe

Creamy Nettle and Cauliflower Soup (Dairy-Free)

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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By Claudia Curici, Health Coach – Serves: 4

Prep Time: 30 minutes – Cooking Time: 30-35 minutes

This creamy nettle and cauliflower soup is the perfect lectin-free, nutritious, and healthy creamy soup you can have in the spring and early summer.

Ingredients

• 6 handfuls of fresh stinging nettles, very well washed
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 yellow onions, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 celery stick, chopped
• 1/2 fennel bulb, chopped
• 1 spring garlic, chopped (use 2 garlic cloves as a substitute)
• 6 medium cauliflower florets, chopped
• 1-liter water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons coconut cream
• juice from one lemon or more to taste
• optional: 1 tablespoon Nigella Sativa seeds
• more extra virgin olive oil for serving

Instructions

1

Using gloves, wash the nettles very well, changing the water multiple times until the water comes clean (they can hold quite a lot of grit). Heat a pot of water with one teaspoon of salt and when the water is boiling, add the nettles, submerge in hot water, and blanch for 1, 2 minutes. Take them out and drain.

2

Have about 1 liter (about 4-5 cups) of hot water ready for the soup.

3

In a soup pot, heat the extra virgin olive oil on low to medium heat and add the onions, carrots, celery, and fennel and saute until they are fragrant and golden for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4

Add the garlic and chopped cauliflower, stir well, and sauté for a couple more minutes.

5

Add the seasoning: salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and stir well for 1 minute.

6

Add the hot water, bring to a boil, and simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes, then add the nettles.

7

Toast the nigella seeds in a small skillet for just a couple of minutes, so the beneficial oils are released.

8

Simmer for five more minutes or until the veggies are soft enough to be blended.

9

Transfer the soup to a blender or blend with an immersion blender until creamy. Add the coconut cream and lemon juice, taste, and season to taste with more salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the toasted Nigella seeds.

10

Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and serve with some compliant crackers or cassava tortillas.