Creamy Cauliflower Soup is easy to make in your crockpot, instant pot, or on the stove! This Easy Cauliflower soup is healthy and delicious!
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If you know me, you know that I am not a huge cauliflower fan. It can often be flavorless, but that also means it can be easy to use as a base for recipes that get tons of flavor with other ingredients and spices.
Since cauliflower and potatoes are similar when blended, we knew we could make a creamy soup similar to our Creamy Potato Soup and it turned out even better than we expected!
It is rich and creamy with lots of flavor – it’s the perfect canvas for lots of toppings or for dunking a big piece of crusty bread!
This creamy cauliflower soup recipe is HEAVEN in a bowl. You would never know it’s packed with veggies, and healthy!
You’ll Love This Recipe for Cauliflower Soup!
There is so much to love about this healthy and delicious soup recipe:
- SO Easy to make – This soup is so quick to make! it’s completely foolproof!
- Healthy Flavorful Ingredients – Between the veggies and spices, this creamy soup has all the flavor packed in every bowl!
- Super Rich And Creamy (But Healthy!) – Most cauliflower soup recipes are loaded with heavy cream and fat. This recipe does have some milk, but most of the creaminess actually comes from the cauliflower florets! (SHHH)
Easy Cauliflower Soup Ingredients
This creamy soup is made with pretty simple ingredients:
- olive oil
- onions, carrots, celery
- cauliflower florets
- vegetable broth
- garlic powder
- dried parsley
- dried rosemary
- salt, pepper
- milk of choice
- cheddar cheese
You can find substitutions for all of these ingredients below in the green shaded box.
How to Make Cauliflower Soup
- In a large pot, heat olive oil. While oil is heating, chop veggies.
- Sauté onions, carrots, and celery until onions are translucent, about 10 minutes
- Add all remaining ingredients, except milk and cheese. Do not cook the milk, it will curdle.
- Bring the soup to a boil. Allow it to boil for 30 minutes, or until your cauliflowers are fork tender.
- Once cooked, stir in milk. Use an immersion blender or regular blender to make the soup smooth.
- Stir in the cheese.
- Serve with your favorite toppings like bacon, chives, or cheese.
Healthy Cauliflower Soup Substitutions
This soup is so versatile. Here are a few ways you can customize them!
Olive Oil: You can substitute avocado oil, butter, or ghee.
Vegetables: You can use any additional veggies you have on hand in this recipe. More onions, carrots, and celery are always a good idea! We also love this Creamy Vegetable Soup!
Blender: You can use an immersion blender, regular blender, or food processor to make this soup creamy.
Milk: You can use any milk in this soup recipe. We like regular whole milk but you can use almond milk, light coconut milk, skim milk, whole milk, or even heavy cream will work in this recipe.
Broth: Any broth or stock (broth and stock are the same) can be used in any soup recipe. Beef Broth, Chicken Broth, or vegetable broth all work interchangeably. I always use low or no salt broth.
How to Make Cauliflower Soup Thicker: You can make this soup thicker if you add a little bit of flour or cornstarch. We don’t recommend it though!
Toppings for Healthy Cauliflower Soup:
There really is no wrong way how to serve this cauliflower soup. We love it with a loaf of crusty bread, or with a side of some veggies and chicken for a more balanced meal.
We hope you love this healthy soup as much as we do. It’s truly the ultimate comfort food, no matter how you enjoy it! Get creative and make sure to tag us and share the recipe if you try it!
Here are some of our favorite soup toppings:
- Bacon – Regular or turkey bacon both work!
- Chives
- Cheddar Cheese
- Sour Cream or Greek Yogurt
- Cracked Black Pepper
- Crackers
What to serve with Cauliflower Soup to make it dairy free?
This recipe can be made dairy-free just by substituting a few ingredients! Almond milk and light coconut milk both work well as creamy dairy substitutes. Instead of cheese, add nutritional yeast for that sharp bold flavor!
Storing Cauliflower Cheese Soup
How long does Cauliflower Soup last in the fridge?: This will stay good in the refrigerator for up to 4 days in an airtight container
Can I freeze cauliflower soup? : You can freeze this recipe for up to 3 months. We like these containers for freezing – code CLEANEATING10 works to save $$ on our favorite silicone molds!
When you’re ready to eat, defrost the night before by leaving this in the fridge, or take it out of the refrigerator and heat it over the stove/in the microwave.
Separation is normal and ok! Just stir it up. We have a whole post on the best way to freeze soup!
Reheating: You can reheat this soup in a pot or in the microwave.
Tips for blending hot soup:
You can blend this soup with an immersion blender, regular blender, or even a food processor.
Make sure to be very careful when blending soup in a regular blender. If you are blending the hot soup, it can lead the blender to steam up or build pressure which can result in the top popping off. To avoid that, here are our tips for blending hot soup in a regular blender.
Allow the soup to cool for a few minutes if you can. It’s best not to take this right off the stove/instant pot/crockpot and put it in the blender. Give it a few minutes uncovered/off heat to release some steam.
Blend the soup in batches. It’s probably best to divide this in half and blend it 1/2 the batch at a time. By doing this you’re leaving room in the blender for the soup to move around.
Remove the center cover from the blender and cover with a towel instead. Most blender tops have a removable plastic piece in the center. Take this center piece out and put a clean dish towel over the opening while blending. (You don’t want soup on the ceiling!). Doing this allows the steam to vent out and prevents pressure from building up in the blender. Make sure to hold your hand over the dish towel to avoid it from moving/splattering.
Cauliflower Soup Recipe FAQ
We like white cheddar cheese best for this soup.
This recipe has 212 calories per 1.5 cup serving.
This soup can separate and appear watery when it is frozen or in the fridge. It’s totally fine. Just stir it up!
If you overcook cauliflower, it can create a bitter taste. If you follow these directions, you shouldn’t have a bitter tasting soup!
After sautéing the onions, carrots, and celery, you will add the cauliflower with the other ingredients to the soup.
No need to boil your cauliflower before adding them to the soup. In this recipe the cauliflower cooks right in the broth and get blended. It’s all in one pot!
More Healthy Soup Recipes:
Looking for other soup recipes? Check out these 40+ Healthy Soup Recipes. Click here to grab our free healthy soup cookbook.
Healthy Cauliflower Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup onions diced
- 1 cup carrots diced
- ½ cup celery diced
- 6 cups cauliflower florets about 1.5 lbs
- 4 cups vegetable broth low or no salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups milk of choice dairy or non dairy room temperature!
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese optional
Instructions
Instant Pot Directions:
- Set the Instant Pot to sauté mode for 15 minutes. Heat olive oil. While oil is heating, chop veggies.
- Sauté onions, carrots, and celery until onions are translucent. Turn off sauté mode. Make sure to scrape off any pieces of food on the bottom of the Instant Pot or you will get a burn notice during cooking.
- Pour in remaining ingredients, except milk and cheese. Do not cook the milk, it will curdle.
- Set the Instant Pot to sealing, pressure cook for 10 minutes on high pressure. It will take about 10 minutes for the pot to come to pressure before it starts to count down.
- Manually release pressure when the timer goes off.
- Stir in milk. Use an immersion blender or regular blender to make the soup smooth. Stir in the cheese. Serve with your favorite toppings like bacon, chives or cheese.
Crockpot Directions:
- In a sauté pan, heat olive oil. While oil is heating, chop veggies.
- Sauté onions, carrots, and celery until onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. (This step is optional, but adds flavor)
- Add all ingredients into the crockpot, except milk and cheese. Do not cook the milk, it will curdle.
- Set the crockpot to cook for 6 hours on high, or 8 hours on low.
- Once cooked, stir in milk. Use an immersion blender or regular blender to make the soup smooth. Stir in the cheese. Serve with your favorite toppings like bacon, chives or cheese.
Stove Top Directions:
- In a large pot, heat olive oil. While oil is heating, chop veggies.
- Sauté onions, carrots, and celery until onions are translucent, about 10 minutes
- Add all remaining ingredients, except milk and cheese. Do not cook the milk, it will curdle.
- Bring the soup to a boil. Allow it to boil for 30 minutes, or until your cauliflowers are fork tender.
- Once cooked, stir in milk. Use an immersion blender or regular blender to make the soup smooth. Stir in the cheese. Serve with your favorite toppings like bacon, chives, or cheese.
Monica says
We can’t get enough of it! I received the recipe in my inbox last night and thought what the heck, I have everything I need. It did not disappoint!! I did add a bit more carrots and switched out vegetable broth for chicken. It was quick, it was easy, and it is delicious. We served over ground turkey with some chives on top, then for lunch today I had it with some extra cheese and bacon. Will definitely repeat!!
Kelly Otten says
Made this tonight. A couple modifications – I used chicken stock (4 cups) and vegetable stock 2 cups – primarily because I had so much cauliflower that I needed more broth.
I sautéed the veggies in a chipotle infused olive oil and also add 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper.
Delicious!!!
Thanks for the recipe.
Kelly says
Made this tonight. A couple modifications – I used chicken stock (4 cups) and vegetable stock 2 cups – primarily because I had so much cauliflower that I needed more broth.
I sautéed the veggies in a chipotle infused olive oil and also add 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper.
Delicious!!!
Thanks for the recipe.
Teena says
So easy to make. I did the crockpot version and followed the recipe exactly. So much flavor.
Natalie Hardy says
Another great recipe from the Clean Eating Couple! This soup was quick to make on a busy weeknight (with the help of pre chopped cauliflower) and will be a new staple in our house! It really put me in mind of potato soup so a great alternative!
Janie Rhoads says
Absolutely delicious! Made last weekend and making more this coming weekend. Followed recipe exactly. Great flavor, and so easy to make.