Creamy Cauliflower Soup

Name: Creamy Cauliflower Soup
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons unsalted butter; 1 medium onion (chopped (6 oz)); 2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic; 1 large head cauliflower (chopped (2 lbs. with refuse, 1.5 lbs. without)); 1 quart reduced-sodium chicken broth ((I use the Pacific Natural brand)); 1/4 teaspoon white pepper; 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg; 1/4 cup heavy cream; 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan

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This creamy cauliflower soup is wonderfully flavored with garlic, nutmeg, and parmesan.

Ready in just 30 minutes and truly easy to make, it's perfect as a first course at dinner, but you can also serve a bowl of it for lunch.

Creamy cauliflower soup served in a black soup bowl.

I was never a big fan of soups until I met my husband. He loves soups, and he's the one who got me hooked on them.

He used to make this amazing onion soup in the winter that I really loved. In the summer, he made gazpacho, tzatziki, cold tomato soup, and cold avocado soup.

Now that I'm in charge of cooking, I taught myself to make many of his tasty soup recipes. And I also learned to deeply enjoy them!

I now regularly make tomato soup, egg drop soup, cabbage soup, and many more.

In particular, this tasty cauliflower soup has a delicate flavor and a wonderfully creamy texture. It's so good!

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Ingredients
Instructions
Expert tip
Frequently asked questions
Variations
Serving suggestions
Storing leftovers
Related recipes
Recipe Card

Ingredients

You'll only need a few simple ingredients to make this tasty soup. The exact measurements are included in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:

Butter: I love using creamy European butter. But any butter will be great.

Onion and garlic: I make life easy by chopping the onion in the food processor and using jarred minced garlic.

Cauliflower: You will need one large head for this recipe.

Chicken broth: Store-bought is fine. But when I have some leftover homemade chicken broth, I use that.

Spices: White pepper and ground nutmeg.

Heavy cream: I tried using half-and-half once and determined that heavy cream is the way to go.

Grated Parmesan: Make sure you use finely grated parmesan, not coarsely shredded.

The ingredients needed to make cauliflower soup.

Instructions

Making this creamy cauliflower soup is easy! Scroll down to the recipe card for details. Here are the basic steps:

Saute onions, garlic, and cauliflower in butter. You want the onions to be soft, but you don't want them browned and caramelized for this recipe.

Now, add chicken broth and simmer until the cauliflower is tender. This only takes 15 minutes or so.

The last step is to puree the soup, then stir in heavy cream, spices, and parmesan.

A photo collage showing the steps for making a creamy cauliflower soup.

Expert tip

There are two ways to puree a soup. For a very creamy texture, working in at least two batches, carefully transfer the hot soup to your stand blender. Blend each batch until completely smooth and transfer it to a bowl. When all batches are done, return the pureed soup to the pot and proceed with the recipe. You can see the results of this method in the photos on this page - very smooth and creamy.

The second method is to use an immersion blender and blend the soup right inside the pot. I used this method when filming the video, and as you can see, the soup is not as creamy. However, it's just as tasty, and using an immersion blender is easier. Which of these methods you choose is up to you. Both work and both yield great results, just different textures.

When using a stand blender, never fill your blender past the maximum fill line. It's best to fill it no more than half full. If the lid of your blender wasn't designed to allow steam to escape, you’ll need to remove the center piece and drape a clean towel on top of the lid. You can hold down the lid when blending to prevent it from being pushed off, but do so without actually placing your hand - or your face - over the hot steam.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use black pepper instead of white pepper?

Yes, it's OK to use black pepper, but the black speckles will show on the white soup.

Can I use frozen cauliflower?

Yes. You can use frozen cauliflower in this recipe. You can add it frozen to the pot. You will need to cook it for a bit longer, perhaps 4 or 5 minutes.

Is it OK to substitute milk for heavy cream?

I don't recommend that. For the best texture and flavor, it's best to use heavy cream.

Variations

I consider this cauliflower soup pretty much perfect and very rarely make any changes. But here are a few ways you can change this recipe:

Use olive oil instead of butter. Personally, I prefer butter, but olive oil is very good too.
Use shallots instead of onions.
For an extra creamy soup, increase the heavy cream and use up to ½ cup.
A pinch of dried thyme can replace the nutmeg or you can add it as an additional layer of flavor.

Serving suggestions

I often have a bowl of this soup for my lunch, especially in the winter. I sometimes have it with buttered 90-second bread on the side, and sometimes I enjoy it on its own. (By the way, another soup that I really enjoy for lunch is this very flavorful butternut squash soup).

You can also serve it as a dinner appetizer. In this case, serve a cup per person instead of a bowl.

Storing leftovers

You can keep the leftovers in the fridge, in a sealed container, for 3-4 days. Reheat them gently in the microwave, covered, on 50% power. You can also reheat them over low heat on the stovetop, making sure not to let the soup boil.