Calling for basic ingredients, today’s delicious and satisfying cauliflower soup recipe will provide you with a quick and healthy supper that’s packed with amazing flavors. Its earthy taste and creamy, velvety texture will surprise you!
Our cauliflower soup works well as a heart-warming appetizer, setting your palate up perfectly for the bold flavors of a main meal. However, with crusty bread on the side for dipping, it can also easily stand alone as a simple hearty brunch.
Is Cauliflower Soup Healthy?
Yes, it is.
Our cauliflower soup is packed full of wholesome, plant-based ingredients. It provides only 147 calories per serving, leaving plenty of room for you to tweak the recipe to your own dietary requirements.
Let’s explore these healthy ingredients.
Main Ingredients
- Cauliflower:
Cauliflower’s earthy and nutty flavors lend the soup a depth of flavor, with extra support from the creamy base and the seasoning mix.
To ensure our cauliflower soup recipe is easy to make, no sophisticated prepping is required. Simply remove the cauliflower core, break off the florets, and par-boil what’s left.
The stovetop and the hand blender are now all you need to finish the job. After boiling, the cauliflower will have softened up nicely, so any hand blender or stand blender will easily whizz it to a silky smooth consistency.
- Cream and cheese:
If you want to treat yourself with a dose of double creaminess, stir in an extra dollop or two of cream or creme fraiche. Feel free to make it even richer by stirring in some potatoes, or any kind of blended nuts that you fancy.
- Baguette:
We’ve chosen crusty baguette slices as a dipper for our cauliflower soup. You could also try crusty garlic bread or dinner rolls.
Seasoning for Cauliflower Soup
First, you’ll need to caramelize onion, celery, garlic, and thyme in butter and olive oil to create a flavor base. The seasonings will then infuse with the cauliflower when everything is simmered in the unsalted chicken broth, whole milk, and heavy cream on the stove.
As for garnishing, to make it easy, just grab whatever you have on hand. Here are some ideas to get creative:
- Top the soup with an aged, sharp cheese for added depth
- Drop in a few dashes of hot sauce or a pinch of red pepper flakes for a shot of mild heat.
- Simply sprinkle the soup with whatever garnishes you desire. Scallions, chives, or fresh parsley are all great options.
How to Make Cauliflower Soup
In this cauliflower soup recipe, the veggies are simmered with broth, milk, and cream to create rich and hearty flavors. You can follow the detailed instructions at the bottom of the article, but for now, here’s a quick look at the cooking process with images:
Par-boil the cauliflower.
Remove the cauliflower. Drain and set aside.
In a saucepan, sauté the vegetables with spices in butter and olive oil.
Add the broth, milk, cream, and salt to the saucepan.
Add the par-boiled cauliflower.
In the air fryer, toast the baguette slices.
Continue by stirring cheddar cheese into the soup.
Remove the soup from the heat and blend until smooth with a hand blender.
Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle black pepper on top.
Serve hot with the crusty baguettes as dippers.
How Do You Thicken Cauliflower Soup?
Thickening soups is simple. You can either stir a roux of flour and butter or a slurry of cornstarch and water to the soup while it’s cooking on the stovetop.
The roux gravy should follow the ratio of 2 parts fat to 2 parts flour to 1 part water. For the cornstarch slurry, the ratio is 1 part flour to 2 parts water.
How Long Does Cauliflower Soup Keep in the Fridge?
Cauliflower soup is an ideal choice if you need to prepare some meals ahead. Properly stored in an airtight container, it can last up to 4 days in the fridge.
Unfortunately, due to having a dairy base of cream and milk, our cauliflower soup doesn’t freeze so well. Once defrosted, there’s a high chance our soup will lose its original beautiful velvety texture and become powdery, so it’s best to enjoy it hot, just minutes after cooking.
What to Serve With This Soup
Cauliflower soup is super versatile thanks to its ability to balance out the bold flavors of a sumptuous main dish. Consider using up any leftover cauliflower soup by pairing it with other dishes, such as:
- Grilled chicken.
- Baked potatoes.
- Roasted veggies — butternut squash, potatoes, or Brussels sprouts.
- A simple tossed green salad with honey mustard or lemon vinaigrette.
Cauliflower Soup Recipe
Calling for basic ingredients, today's delicious and satisfying cauliflower soup recipe will provide you with a quick and healthy supper that's packed with amazing flavors. Its earthy taste and creamy, velvety texture will surprise you!
- cook TIME 25 mins
- prep TIME 5 mins
- total TIME 30 mins
- COURSE Side Dish
- CUISINE American
- SERVINGS servings
- CALORIES 147 kcal
INGREDIENTS
- 12 ozcauliflower (chopped into small florets)
- 2 ozonion (diced)
- 1 ozcelery (diced)
- 1 tspgarlic (minced)
- 1 tspfresh thyme (chopped)
- 0.5 tbspunsalted butter
- 0.5 tbspolive oil (divided)
- 1 cupunsalted chicken broth
- 0.5 cupwhole milk
- 1.5 tbspheavy cream
- 0.3 tspsalt
- 2 ozFrench baguette (sliced)
- 0.5 ozcheddar cheese
- 0.5 tspground black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
Par-boil 12 oz cauliflower florets for 3 minutes.
Remove the cauliflower. Drain and set aside.
In a saucepan (can also use a Dutch oven): Sauté 2 oz onion, 1 oz celery, 1 tsp garlic, and 1 tsp fresh thyme in 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter and 1/4 tbsp olive oil over medium heat for 2 minutes.
Add 1 cup unsalted chicken broth, 1/2 cup whole milk, 1 1/2 tbsp heavy cream, 1/4 tsp salt to the saucepan.
Add the par-boiled cauliflower. Cook for 10 minutes.
In the meantime, toast 2 oz French baguette slices in the air fryer at 380℉ for 2 minutes.
Continue by stirring 0.5 oz cheddar cheese in the saucepan.
Remove the saucepan from the heat. Use an immersion hand blender to blend the soup until silky smooth.
Drizzle the remaining 1/4 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle 1/2 tsp ground black pepper on top.
Serve the soup hot with the crusty baguette bread as dippers.
NUTRITION
Luna Regina
Writer, Author
Tuyet Pham
Chef, Culinary Consultant
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN, LD
Nutrition Reviewer