You will want to make this super easy cauliflower soup recipe over and over again for dinner, because it is so unbelievably creamy and delicious!
The best cauliflower soup recipe
This just may become one of your new favorite recipes.
If you are looking for a simple cauliflower soup that is perfect for guests or serving as a quick and healthy weeknight family meal, it is definitely the soup recipe to try.
The thick and cheesy cauliflower soup tastes like something you would find at a fancy candle-lit restaurant. And yet, the entire recipe can be thrown together in under twenty minutes, from start to finish.
Here are 25 more healthy Cauliflower Recipes
Cauliflower soup health benefits
Low carb, dairy free, and low calorie, this soup is pure healthy comfort food in a bowl.
Cauliflower is a good source of heart healthy antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, including vitamin C, vitamin K, fiber, pantothenic acid, manganese, and folate. The cruciferous vegetable is cholesterol free and low sodium.
Easy to make, with just six ingredients, this homemade creamy cauliflower soup has no business being so good.
The recipe can also be vegan, keto, gluten free, high fiber, Whole30, paleo, sugar free, soy free, low fat, and oil free.
But it is so rich and savory, you will forget all of these things while eating.
It tastes like a healthier version of loaded baked potato soup!
Use leftover cauliflower for Buffalo Cauliflower Wings
Ingredients for cauliflower soup
This recipe calls for just a few basic ingredients: garlic, cauliflower, shallots or onion, salt, onion power, and your favorite milk of choice.
Optional garnishes include chopped chives or scallions (green onions), roasted cauliflower florets, broccoli, mushrooms, or carrots, croutons, bacon bits (some brands are actually vegetarian), cheddar, parsley, etc.
To make a dairy free and vegan cauliflower soup, I like to use cashew or almond milk. Or I will sometimes make it with canned coconut milk for an ultra rich version.
The coconut milk option is especially good if you throw in a little turmeric or curry powder, ginger, and pepper for an Indian cauliflower soup.
The optional butter or oil adds a rich flavor. Or you can omit it for a low fat or Weight Watchers friendly keto cauliflower soup that is still creamy and delicious.
With cauliflower as the base and no heavy cream or potato, the recipe is pretty low in calories even if you do want to add the optional fat.
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Healthy soup recipe video
Above – watch the step by step cauliflower soup recipe video
How to make cauliflower soup
Read over the recipe, and gather all of your ingredients.
Add the cauliflower, onion or shallot, garlic, salt, onion powder, and milk of choice to a medium pot, and bring this mixture to a full boil.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower is soft. Stir in the cheese (if using), and pulverize with an immersion or regular blender.
Serve the soup hot. The recipe is great with cornbread, garlic toast, or English muffins.
Let the pot of soup cool before covering leftovers. Or divide into airtight meal prep containers and refrigerate for three to five days.
You can also freeze leftover soup for up to four months. Thaw and reheat on the stove top before serving.
Recipe note: Feel free to roast the cauliflower first if desired. I usually skip that step and start with raw cauliflower instead of roasted, for a fast and simple cauliflower soup.
Try serving with Sweet Potato Salad or Avocado Salad
Crock pot recipe
To make cauliflower soup in a crock pot, combine all ingredients except the optional cheese in a slow cooker. I like this Crockpot 8 Quart Slow Cooker.
Cover and cook for four to six hours, until cauliflower is soft. Stir in the cheese, if using.
Blend with an immersion or regular blender until the soup is thick and creamy.
Instant pot cauliflower soup
To make the recipe in an Instant Pot, simply combine all ingredients except the optional cheese in a 6 quart pressure cooker.
Lock the lid and pressure cook on high for six minutes. Let it natural pressure release for fifteen minutes before using quick release to let the remaining pressure out.
Stir in the cheese if desired. Use an immersion blender or a regular blender to pulverize the soup until smooth and creamy.
Keto vegan cauliflower soup
To make low carb and keto cauliflower soup, use a keto friendly milk, such as coconut milk. The low calorie soup is already naturally sugar free.
Similarly, the recipe will be nondairy and vegan as long as you use your favorite plant based milk, toppings, and optional butter alternative, such as coconut oil.
Readers also love this Sticky Sesame Cauliflower
Cauliflower Soup
Ingredients
- 6 cups cauliflower florets (about 1 head)
- 2 shallots or 1/4 cup onion, chopped
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp onion powder, and optional pinch nutmeg
- 4 cups milk of choice
- 3 tbsp butter or oil – or omit for fat free
- optional 1 1/2 cups cheese shreds
Instructions
- *There's a video above in the post for everyone who finds it helpful to watch a recipe being made step-by-step. Instructions for crock pot and instant pot cauliflower soup are also listed above.To make the cauliflower soup, simply add all ingredients except optional cheese to a medium pot. Bring to a full boil. Once boiling, cook on medium—stirring occasionally—for 10 minutes or until cauliflower is soft. If using, stir in cheese until melted. Use a blender or immersion blender to pulverize the soup until creamy. Garnish if desired. Leftovers can be refrigerated or frozen for another day. If you try the recipe, please feel free to leave a comment or rate it below!View Nutrition Facts
Notes
Have you made this recipe?
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More Healthy Soup Recipes
And for dessert…
JoAnn M Lakes says
I just opened 2 bags of frozen cauliflower florets and tossed together with the rest of the ingredients, pureed, and dinner with no-oil balsamic croutons and pepper on top! Easy peasy! Nice!!!!
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Thank you so much for making it. I think you are the first ?
Tina says
Can you share what size bags? Thank you!
Nina says
Lucky me, I had everything in the house and just made this. Super simple and delicious.
Michelle says
This cauliflower soup was SO GOOD! I added cheddar cheese so it wasn’t vegan, but it was still I’m sure much healthier than the baked potato soup from Panera, and it tasted just as good! My kids loved it too, so that’s a huge plus.
10/10 I will be making this recipe again.
Christine Whittington says
I must have missed what the pink bits on top are?
Christine Whittington says
I am making the soup tonight and thinking: veggie bacon bits? Pink peppercorns?
Jason Sanford says
Yes, veggie bacos! A lot of brands of bacon bits (even common ones found in regular grocery stores) are accidentally vegan 🙂
Christine Whittington says
Thanks, Jason! Yes, those would be perfect. Loved the soup!
Lynnsey says
Some of them are kosher too 😉
Gabrielle says
I still haven’t found a vegan cheese brand that I really like; would this still be good with nutritional yeast?
Jason Sanford says
Yes, the vegan cheese is optional and it’s fine to either sub some nutritional yeast or leave it out entirely 🙂
Jason
Gabrielle says
Thank you! I’ll definitely give it a try!
Lorri Crockett says
Violife! We use the shredded mozzarella and cheddar!! 😋
Jennifer says
I made this as part of dinner tonight. Everyone enjoyed it. Simple and hearty.
Karen says
Quick and easy especially in the instant pot. Great recipe. I garnished with a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkle of chopped cilantro to give a bit of zip.
Melinda says
I usually love all your recipes, but I was not a hugeeee fan of this one. I used a whole cauliflower head, but did not measure to see if it was 6 cups (so there’s a chance that my cauliflower head was extra small?), and the result just seemed very milky. I should have used less milk…or more cauliflower? Also, once I poured it from the pot to my blender, it BARELY fit in there! Something to be careful of. : /
But it definitely wasn’t bad. My husband enjoyed it and had seconds. 🙂
Diane Miller says
Sometimes you have to puree the soup in batches if there’s a lot of it.
Christine Whittington says
I accidentally made the soup with unsweetened vanilla cashew milk instead of plain. It tasted like maybe it was made with coconut milk! Not a problem! 😉
G. says
The cauliflower soup recipe was delicious, thank you!
Katie Rose says
This cauliflower soup is delicious. I used the leftover soup today as a veggie bechamel in scalloped potatoes. It was so good. Keep those awesome recipes coming.
Jennifer says
This was so good that I’ve made it 2 times already. Thanks for sharing! I used unsweetened almond milk and didn’t use the oil or the cheese. I did add a veggie broth cube though. I love when you post savory recipes!
Beth says
I made this, but used a little reverse instruction. I put everything in the blender first! Then cooked it and added my cheese. VERY GOOD!
Melanie says
This recipe is awesome! Thank you so much!
Lily says
Husband and I are doing vegan 5 nights a week just to help us lose weight. I tried 3 of your recipes this week, the cauliflower soup included! I was shocked how good this was. It really was like a potato soup – so very thick & creamy – very satisfying! I used unsweetened coconut “beverage” that came in the 4 cup carton and my immersion blender. My husband was skeptical but now it’s in the monthly rotation – THANK YOU KATIE!!!
Tia Turner says
Help! I didn’t see if I’m supposed to cook this on low or high in the crock? I see 4-6 hrs, but no temp!!!
Jason Sanford says
Do 4 if high heat, 6 if low heat 🙂
Katie Rose says
I just put the makings of this soup in the crock pot. This is the second time I’ve made it. It’s so delicious, thick and creamy. In lieu of butter I added half tsp of butter flavored extract. No cheese.
Last time I used some of it as a bechamel sauce and made scalloped potatoes. Yummy!!
Keep your great recipes coming!
twinkle kumawat says
Simple and sweet [thnku maam].
Wendy says
Simple to make, heathy and delicious. Love it; thank you!
Molly says
We made this for Valentine’s Day! We paired it with Imagine super reds soup in one bowl and topped with heart shaped crouton. They were delicious together but your cauliflower soup was my favorite. Will definitely make again! Also made your sugar cookies for Valentine’s desert. Thanks Katie!
Michele says
That is so cute!!!
Lori says
This was great. A little too smooth for me, so I added pepper and crushed red pepper. Then it was perfect!
Michele says
This is hands down the best cauliflower soup recipe I’ve ever made (out of three others). It was easy to make and got big thumbs up from the kids too 🙂
Lori Souter says
can you use half and half or heavy cream in leu of milk or maybe a mixture of milk and cream in this recipe?
Jason Sanford says
Sure!
Laurie L says
Hello Katie,
I made this soup tonight for our supper in my Instant Pot. I sauteed the onion and garlic with 3 tablespoons of olive oil on the saute setting, turned off the IP, added the remaining ingredients, except for the cheese, and turned it back on on pressure cooking for six minutes, as described. I’m wondering why you didn’t write in your recipe to use the soup setting? (Anyway, it turned out fine.)
Instead of 4 cups of milk I used 2.5 cups of commercial almond milk (as that’s all I had on hand) and 1.5 cups water, which turned out a bit thin, but was fine. Instead of blending the cheese into it, I sprinkled each bowl with two tablespoons of grated vegan ‘cheddar’ Daiya cheese, which provided a lovely colour contrast and made it a nice texture
Ria says
Love this simple recipe!
I do tend to sub with whatever I need to use up. A couple carrots or some potatoes. And it’s so simple, ridiculously quick and tastes spectacular!
Have made it about 3 or 4 times now.
Recifit says
cauliflower soup has unique antioxidants that can reduce inflammation and protect against many diseases, such as cancer and heart disease.
Linda says
while i was bringing it to the boil the milk burned on the bottom of the pot.
i should have known. wont do that again
Brandi Keller says
This recipe was super easy and so tasty! Already a go-to in this household. About to make this for a second time in a week and will be trying it with frozen cauliflower this go ’round.
We loaded ours up with cheese, bacon, and green onion. Great subsitutute for a loaded baked poatato soup.
ann says
This was absolutly delicious!
Kendall says
I’ve made this cauliflower soup recipe five times since I found it. Obsessed doesn’t even begin to cover it. This is REALLY good!
ELIZABETH says
I’m happy this was easy and is pretty healthy, but I’m not wowed by the taste–I could be eating cream of wheat, despite the onions, garlic, and cheese in it. But there are so many people who love it, I’ll just say, to each his or her own.
Sarah says
So perfect! Husband loved it too. This doubled easily in my large crock pot. I immediately divided it in half. We had half with cheddar last night and I’ll turn the other half into the Alfredo sauce later. Thanks Katie!
CCK Media Team says
Thank you both so much for trying it!
Paul says
Simple to make. Amazingly delicious. Added a little vegan mozzarella and topped with paprika.
CCK Media Team says
That sounds fantastic!
Katie says
This was delicious! I made it my own by adding in a can of white beans, half a bell pepper, and extra onions because I wanted more protein and a little more flavor!
Definitely be making this again!
CCK Media Team says
Love your variation ideas!
Gina says
One of the best and easiest cauliflower soup recipes ever! I used whole milk and about 1/2 cup cream 😉 and I threw in one vegetable bullion cube for a little more flavor!
CCK Media Team says
❤😁
Lucky Woman says
If using frozen cauliflower florets, do you defrost and squeeze out excess water first? Thanks! Love all your recipes!
CCK Media Team says
Hi! You definitely can, but it will still be good if you don’t want to take the time for that 🙂
Holly says
Very filling
Pamela says
This was a delicious soup for dinner and my kids loved it.
Lucky Woman says
Sounds great! Can I use frozen riced cauliflower instead of florets?
CCK Media Team says
Sorry we have not tried!
Deborah says
Hi, for vegan, could I use rice milk? Or what kind of milk would you recommend? Thanks
CCK Media Team says
Hi! Pretty much any type of milk will work, but thicker milks will yield a creamier result. If you have a creamy ricemilk you like, you can go with that. We like either canned coconut milk or creamy almond milk.
shelly jungemann says
I’m on dialysis so can’t have cheese. Can I use cream cheese?
I can have that.
CCK Media Team says
Hi, we are not sure because we have not tried. Be sure to report back if you experiment!
Nancy says
Made this cauliflower soup recipe for dinner last night and it went down a hit!
Susan says
Added parsnips (I’m trying to get my 5 fruits and veggies a day.) Used smoked gouda which didn’t fully melt, but it didn’t matter. This soup is truly creamy and delicious.!! Thought the coconut milk might not hold up to heat in my Instant Pot, but it came out fine..
CCK Media Team says
Your version sounds wonderful!
Kaye Schlick says
AWESOME!!
MY FAVORITE SOUP AND IT’S HEALTHY AND LOW CARB!
Danielle says
This is delicious! I roasted the cauliflower in the oven first, then followed the recipe from there. I used almond milk. To dress it up, I used some small pieces of roasted cauliflower, dairy-free shredded cheddar cheese, and small pieces of crisp turkey bacon.
Emily says
We loved this cauliflower soup and have had it for dinner two nights in a row. I followed the recipe to a T.
Kate says
10/10 just made this for dinner before work and honestly so easy and so delicious!
Michelle says
Can you suggest what size pot we should use to make this soup? I am VERY excited to make it and am unsure of the right size pan so it can be stired without spilling and let the ingredients cook down nicely.
Thank you for your help,
Michelle
CCK Media Team says
Hi! Any medium size pot that comfortably fits six cups of cauliflower should work. Just add the raw cauliflower to your favorite pot and move to a larger pot if it fills up the entire pot.
Michelle Marrujo says
Can this be done in a slow cooker?