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Thick and Creamy Cauliflower Soup is a delicious, healthy low carb substitute for potato soup!
Blended with cream and served with crispy bacon, chives and shredded cheese, my Easy Cauliflower Soup recipe is great for meal prep and reheats so well. Skip the bacon and make it vegetarian!
A healthy, CREAMY Cauliflower Soup that happens to be guilt-free and a family favourite? YES!
Roasted Cauliflower Soup
The BEST flavours are created when roasting your cauliflower rather than boiling it. Nothing beats the caramelized edges and buttery, nutty flavours you get from roasting the cauliflower together with onions and garlic to make the best cauliflower soup recipe!
Vegetarian, low carb, Keto and IRRESISTIBLE!
Use this recipe as a side dish right before a beef dinner cooked in a slow cooker.
Ingredients
- Cauliflower: Use a fresh, firm head of cauliflower rather than frozen. Frozen florets hold too much water and steam in the pan instead of getting browned edges for a proper roasted cauliflower soup.
- Chicken Stock: Low-sodium stock builds the base for a good cauliflower soup without overpowering the vegetables, especially once the salty bacon and cheese go in. For a 100% vegetarian cauliflower soup, vegetable broth is an easy replacement that I definitely recommend.
- Heavy Cream: A splash of heavy cream turns the blended veggies into a smooth cream of cauliflower soup. I once tried making a broccoli cheese soup with regular milk, and the milk curdled. Half-and-half, light cream, low-fat cream, or evaporated milk work in a pinch, though I don’t recommend skim milk.
- Cheese: Freshly grated cheddar is my top choice if you want a classic cauliflower cheese soup. Skip the pre-shredded bags since the anti-caking powder stops it from melting smoothly. Gruyère or Parmesan are great swaps too.
Note: Please see the recipe card at the bottom for the full ingredient list.
Spices to Add to Cauliflower Soup
I find that you don’t need to add extra flavor to roasted cauliflower soup from here. Just salt and pepper are enough.
For a kick of heat, you can add cayenne pepper, chili powder, or hot sauce. Curry powder or paste also works really well if you are craving a curried cauliflower soup.
How Do You Make Cauliflower Soup
When reading Roasted Cauliflower Soup, you may be thinking, “Why not just boil it? Why not make it easier?”
The truth is, cauliflower is pretty bland and begs for flavor. You can flavor a boiled cauliflower soup with as many seasonings as you have, but it doesn’t come close to the flavors that are naturally baked into roasted cauliflower.
To add to those delicious flavors, you’re going to mix cauliflower florets with smashed whole garlic cloves and sliced onion, drizzle over some olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.
Herbs
For added flavor, you can add herbs like thyme, rosemary, or parsley.
Roast, mixing halfway through the cooking time to blend all of the flavors together, until the cauliflower changes color to a light brown with caramelized edges. It can take between 25 and 30 minutes altogether. The onions and garlic caramelize in the process, adding more flavor to your roasted garlic cauliflower soup.
Color = flavor.
Next, boil the cauliflower, onions, and garlic in chicken stock (or broth) with the herbs of your choice to release all of their flavors into the liquid. Don’t skip this part. The cauliflower becomes so tender in this process, turning the soup into a delicious warm color while the flavors marry together.
Blend with either an immersion blender or puree in a blender (be careful of escaping steam).
How Do You Thicken Up Cauliflower Soup?
This creamy cauliflower soup has the best liquid-to-cauliflower ratio and doesn’t need any thickening agents. If you like EXTRA THICK soup, only add 4 cups of stock instead of 5 when boiling. I find 5 to be just right to suit my taste.
Having said that, if you find for some reason your soup has turned out too thin, feel free to use a cornstarch slurry (1 part cornstarch to 2 parts liquid) to thicken it up.
Tips for the Best Cauliflower Soup
- Cut florets with a flat side: Slice the florets with a knife instead of snapping them by hand. Flat sides make direct contact with the hot pan for way better caramelization.
- Roast the core too: Peel the tough outer layer off the center stem, dice it, and roast it with the florets. It holds tons of sweet, nutty flavor and blends up super thick, just like a potato.
- Deglaze the baking sheet: Pour a splash of warm stock right onto the hot roasting tray and scrape up all those stuck-on browned onion and garlic bits. Pour that straight into the soup pot so you don’t lose any flavor.
- Take the chill off the cream: Pouring cold cream straight from the fridge into boiling soup can make it split. Stir a spoonful of warm soup into your cream first before pouring it into the pot.
- Kill the heat before adding cheese: Never stir cheese into a bubbling pot, or it will turn grainy and oily. Turn the burner off completely and let the residual heat melt it into a smooth cauliflower cheese soup
What To Serve With Cauliflower Soup
If you are wondering what to eat with cauliflower soup, its thick, creamy base pairs well with basically everything:
- A Toasted Sandwich: The day we filmed this recipe, my mum made toasted ham and cheese sandwiches for everyone to dip into their bowls. It obviously stopped being low-carb at that point, but it was AMAZING with the soup!
- An Extra Veggie: Serve a bowl alongside a fresh green salad or roasted asparagus to get extra greens on the table for a lighter lunch. I like to mix this sauce with homemade zoodles.
- A Main Protein: Turn it into a full dinner by pairing it with your favorite protein, like roast chicken, garlic butter steak bites, or pan-seared salmon.
Also, I love to have this as an entree for pasta sides since it’s a good balance with all the carbs in most of the Italian dishes. Sometimes I like to replace the sauce and make a shrimp pasta with this cream.
FAQs
Roasting the florets in the oven with extra virgin olive oil, onions, and garlic adds real depth of flavor. Once blended, stir in fresh herbs, a pinch of red pepper flakes for spice, or a spoonful of Greek yogurt for a tangier finish.
Classic cream of cauliflower soup comes from 18th-century France, originally known as Potage Dubarry. It became a staple across Europe because cauliflower is high in fiber and blends into a thick base without needing flour.
Either the florets weren’t boiled until completely tender, or the dairy overheated and split. Puree the soup in batches in a stand blender, and keep the stove on low to medium heat when adding cream or cheese so it doesn’t curdle.
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Cauliflower Soup (Low Carb Recipe)
Ingredients
- 1 large cauliflower about 2 pounds or 1 kilo, cut into florets
- 1 large onion sliced or chopped
- 6 cloves garlic smashed with the back of a knife or minced
- 1 pinch salt to taste
- 1 pinch pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 5 cups chicken stock or broth, substitute with vegetable stock
- 2 teaspoons fresh parsley chopped, or thyme or rosemary
- 1/2 cup heavy cream or thickened cream
- 2 tablespoons chives or green onions, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup diced bacon pre-cooked to serve
- 1/4 cup shredded cheese cheddar, mozzarella, provolone, parmesan, gruyere
Instructions
- Lightly grease a large rimmed baking sheet. Combine cauliflower, onion, and garlic on the baking sheet. Season with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Toss with olive oil until evenly coated.
- Toss the cauliflower through the onions and garlic, then return to the oven and bake for a further 10-15 minutes until the cauliflower is caramelized on the edges and fork-tender.
- Transfer cauliflower to a pot. Add the stock and herbs. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- Cook, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes to let the flavours blend. When cauliflower is soft, remove from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Carefully transfer the soup to a blender.
- Add the heavy cream and blend until smooth. Taste, then add extra salt and pepper. After seasoning, blend again if needed.
- To serve, top bowls of soup with cooked bacon, shredded cheese and chopped chives or green onion.
Notes
How to Store Cauliflower Soup
- Fridge: Store your leftover cauliflower soup in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 3 days.
- Freezer: Freeze in airtight containers for up to 3 months. If you plan on freezing a batch for meal prep, I recommend freezing it before adding the heavy cream and cheese so the dairy doesn’t split when thawing.
- Reheating: Thaw overnight in the fridge if frozen, then reheat gently on the stove over low heat or in the microwave. Because this soup naturally thickens as it sits in the fridge, stir in an extra splash of broth, cream, or milk while warming it up to bring back that smooth consistency.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
