This creamy Cauliflower Cheese Soup is an all-star recipe. It was originally published in my first cookbook, The Mom 100 Cookbook, and every time I make and serve it, I am reminded of the beauty of simplicity in a soup. It’s rich and comforting, and it makes chilly nights feel oh-so-much better.
The great thing about this soup is that it uses the whole head of cauliflower, not just the florets, since everything gets pureed up. Using white cheddar keeps the soup a pretty pale color, while yellow cheddar will…well, you took art class, you know what yellow cheddar will do. And for those of us who see heavy cream and think, “hold on, just a sec,” let’s all hold hands and remember that a little heavy cream goes in a long way in texture, flavor, and just pure satisfaction. Let’s save our raised-eyebrow food-related hackles for something else.
Seasoning Cauliflower Cheese Soup
If you have some fresh herbs on hand, skip the dried thyme, and add a teaspoon or so of the fresh herbs (try thyme, marjoram, oregano…whatever you have, whatever you like), but add them during the final simmer.
You have choices about adding a bit of heat to the soup, which I love. Cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, hot pepper sauce — any of these ingredients will give the soup a bit of a kick. The amount is definitely to taste. And you can also add some hot sauce at the end when serving. A sprinkle of chopped crispy bacon on top would also be great, though obviously not vegetarian! If you want vegetarian soup, just make sure to use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
Immersion Blender for Soup
A word about immersion blenders. Buying lots of kitchen appliances or tools that do one job or another is fun, but as you attempt to find storage for your egg-poaching trays, heart-shaped pancake molds, individual asparagus tongs, and Madeline pans, you often wonder, what was I thinking? Or, more often, what were my kind-hearted houseguests thinking? If they were going to give me barnyard-shaped ice cream sandwich molds, might they not have also given me an extra kitchen cabinet?
The immersion blender is the opposite of the one-off tool. It’s a blender on a stick that you can put right into a mixture, hot or cold, press a button, stir it around, and purée the whole shebang. It’s brilliant, and for some of us (for example, me) the number of times I feel sure I would have (read: have) burned myself transferring hot soups to a blender to purée it pays for the immersion or stick blender over and over again. Seriously, a good immersion blender is like 30 bucks, and you may be aware that that is equal to a few tubes of Neosporin and some packages of gauze. All of this is to say, buy one, if you use your food processor or blender with any regularity and you’ll find yourself reaching for it often.
Cauliflower Cheese Soup: Creamy and rich, this vegetarian soup is so easy to make and as comforting as a cashmere sweater.
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You can also transfer the soup to a food processor or blender and purée it in batches. Don’t fill the food processor or blender too full. Stop at half full, or the hot liquid could pop the top off the machine and splash out.
Cauliflower Cheese Soup: Creamy and rich, this vegetarian soup is so easy to make and as comforting as a cashmere sweater.
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Preventing Grainy Cauliflower Soup
Make sure to cook the cauliflower until it is very tender — you do not want al dente or crisp-tender cauliflower here; you want very tender cauliflower than will blend up smoothly.
Also, add the cheese gradually over low heat, or even off the heat, stirring as each handful of cheese is sprinkled in. This will prevent the soup from separating and becoming grainy. Cheddar melts well into the soup, but too-high heat can cause it to break down, so keep the heat very low at the end.
What to Serve With Cauliflower Soup
- Chimichurri Garlic Bread
- Biscuits
- Irish Soda Bread
- Pesto Crescent Rolls
- Carrot Apple Salad
- Pan con Tomate
Other Soup Recipes
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Cauliflower Cheese Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt (plus more to taste)
- 1 large head cauliflower (about 2 pounds, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 onion (chopped)
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme (or 1 big pinch ground nutmeg)
- 4 cups less-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- ⅕ teaspoon cayenne (or a few shakes Tabasco sauce, or 1 squirt Sriracha sauce, all optional)
- 1 cup heavy cream or whole milk (or a combination of the two)
- Freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
- 1 ½ cups grated sharp or extra-sharp cheddar
Directions
- Fill a large pot with 1-inch of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and the cauliflower, cover, reduce the heat to medium high and simmer for 10 minutes, or until very tender. Drain and set the cauliflower aside.
- Melt the butter in the same pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until tender but not browned, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes, until the garlic starts to turn golden and becomes fragrant. Increase the heat to medium and whisk in the flour and dried thyme or nutmeg. Whisk for a couple of minutes, until the flour starts to color, then gradually whisk in the broth, Dijon and whatever spicy ingredient you may be using. Bring to a simmer, and add the cooked cauliflower.
- At this point you can transfer it to a blender or food processor (in batches if necessary) and puree the soup, or better yet, use your immersion blender and puree until smooth right in the pot. Make it as smooth or chunky as you like. Return it to the pot, if you transferred it out. Add the cream or milk and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Lower the heat, and gradually sprinkle in cheddar cheese and stir until the cheese is melted, and everything is hot, but don’t allow it to come to a simmer, or it might separate. Taste and season with salt and pepper. You can make the soup up to two days ahead; just make sure to reheat it gently over low heat.
Notes
Nutrition Information
The nutrition values are provided as an estimate. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a qualified healthcare professional.
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