Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Soup
This cauliflower soup recipe is the BEST! Roasted cauliflower makes it taste amazing, and a little butter (instead of cream) makes it luxuriously creamy.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 1, 2024
Behold! Lusciously creamy, yet cream-less, cauliflower soup. This cauliflower soup recipe will absolutely satisfy your craving for warm, creamy soup—no cheese required.
I know “cauliflower soup” might not sound super appealing if you’ve never had it before. Trust me, it can be so delicious! Today, I’m sharing my favorite cauliflower soup recipe, and I can’t wait for you to make it at home.
My friend Tessa introduced me to cauliflower soup a few years ago. I loved it so much that I developed my own recipe for my cookbook, Love Real Food.
As the temps and leaves have dropped this fall, I’ve had a hankering for warm, creamy soups. So, I thought I’d share a slightly simplified version of my cauliflower soup for everyone to enjoy. Let’s make some!
Why You’ll Love This Cauliflower Soup
This soup calls for basic ingredients but yields amazing flavor. If you have a head of cauliflower in the fridge, you probably have everything else you’ll need.
This cauliflower soup is the perfect accompaniment to salads and sandwiches. This traditional cauliflower soup will go with just about any other fall or winter flavors, including butternut squash, Brussels sprouts, and greens like arugula and kale. It’ll warm you up without weighing you down!
This soup freezes well for later. This recipe doesn’t yield a ton (about 4 medium bowls), but if you have extra, just freeze it!
This creamy soup is special diet-friendly. It’s gluten free as written. Check my recipe notes to learn how to make this soup vegan/dairy free by using cashews instead of butter.
How to Make the Best Cauliflower Soup
1) Roast Your Cauliflower
Behind that creamy beige exterior, you’ll find loads of irresistible roasted cauliflower flavor. Roasted cauliflower is key here—cauliflower develops caramelized notes with a greater depth of flavor as it roasts in the oven.
2) Build Flavor
Once your roasted cauliflower is almost done, you’ll sauté onions in a soup pot until tender, then add garlic and vegetable broth. Then, add your roasted cauliflower and simmer the mixture on the stove for about 20 minutes to meld the flavors.
3) Add Butter for Creaminess
You’ll transfer the contents of the pot to a blender and add butter. Butter is an easy way to add mega creamy, luxurious flavor and texture without any cream (I borrowed this technique from my butternut squash soup). If you’re like me, you always have butter in the fridge, but rarely heavy cream!
4) Blend Until Completely Smooth
I recommend blending this soup in a stand blender, rather than an immersion blender, because stand blenders yield the creamiest results. Fortunately, the ingredients used here are fairly soft, so even an inexpensive stand blender should work well (I used my fancy Vitamix, affiliate link). The final texture, in my opinion, is absolutely worth dirtying the blender bowl for.
5) Season with Nutmeg and Lemon Juice
We’re using small, subtle amounts of nutmeg and lemon juice here. You probably won’t be able to pinpoint them while you’re sipping your soup, but they offer a certain je ne sais quoi factor. They take this soup from great to fantastic!
6) Sprinkle Something Fresh on Top
I tried garnishing my soup with fresh parsley, green onion and chives. I loved them all and couldn’t pick a favorite, so use whichever you have on hand!
Watch How to Make Cauliflower Soup
Please let me know how this recipe turns out for you in the comments! I really love hearing from you.
Having a moment with cauliflower? Here are some more of my favorite cauliflower recipes on Cookie and Kate:
- Roasted Cauliflower (Four Ways!)
- Mediterranean Cauliflower Rice
- Lemony Roasted Cauliflower Risotto
- Parmesan-Crusted Cauliflower Steaks with Marinara
- Roasted Cauliflower and Farro Salad with Feta and Avocado
Craving more soups? Don’t miss the other eight soup recipes in Love Real Food! You’ll also find quite a few more soups here on the blog.
Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Soup
This cauliflower soup recipe is the best! Roasted cauliflower makes it taste amazing, and a little butter (instead of cream) makes it luxuriously creamy. Recipe yields 4 bowls of soup.
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower (about 2 pounds), cut into bite-size florets
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- Fine sea salt
- 1 medium red onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 4 cups (32 ounces) vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or more if needed
- Scant ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- For garnish: 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, chives and/or green onions
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. If desired, line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup.
- On the baking sheet, toss the cauliflower with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil until lightly and evenly coated in oil. Arrange the cauliflower in a single layer and sprinkle lightly with salt. Bake until the cauliflower is tender and caramelized on the edges, 25 to 35 minutes, tossing halfway.
- Once the cauliflower is almost done, in a Dutch oven or soup pot, warm the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened and turning translucent, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds, then add the broth.
- Reserve 4 of the prettiest roasted cauliflower florets for garnish. Then transfer the remaining cauliflower to the pot. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a simmer, then reduce the heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes, to give the flavors time to meld.
- Once the soup is done cooking, remove the pot from the heat and let it cool for a few minutes. Then, carefully transfer the hot soup to a blender, working in batches if necessary. (Do not fill past the maximum fill line or the soup could overflow!)
- Add the butter and blend until smooth. Add the lemon juice and nutmeg and blend again. Add additional salt, to taste (I usually add another ¼ to ¾ teaspoon, depending on the broth). This soup tastes amazing once it’s properly salted! You can also a little more lemon juice, if it needs more zing. Blend again.
- Top individual bowls of soup with 1 roasted cauliflower floret and a sprinkle of chopped parsley, green onion and/or chives. This soup keeps well in the refrigerator, covered, for about four days, or for several months in the freezer.
Notes
Recipe adapted from my cookbook, Love Real Food.
Make it dairy free/vegan: Use cashews instead of butter. Soak ¼ cup cashews for 4 hours, then drain and rinse them (if you have a high-powered blender like a Vitamix or Blendtec, you can skip this). Add the cashews when you would add the butter.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I never made a cauliflower soup before but had frozen cauliflower left over from a fresh head. I searched for a soup and Kate had a recipe ! It was easy to make, few ingredients and was bursting with incredible flavour and colour! Thanks again Kate for another amazing & pretty simple recipe!
I am obsessed with this soup. Obsessed. I have never added the butter or nutmeg and it comes out so delicious any way. Thank you!
I made this soup and it is very good but not creamy like the pictures show. Did you add cream or sour cream, maybe?
Hello, I add butter for creaminess, and make sure to blend thoroughly — that produces the texture you see in the pictures!
I was excited to try this soup, as I am looking for low carb, low cal, but filling options. I added a touch of smoked paprika and some fresh thyme. Most off-putting is the color that the red onion renders on this soup. The red onion added a grey tone to the soup. Next time I will use white cooking onion and skip the additional seasoning.
Glorious!
I liked that this recipe didn’t call for anything I don’t normally have on hand, but wasn’t expecting it to be so delicious. Absolutely loved it!! I’ve never been a big fan of cauliflower, but now that I have this recipe, I will make it regularly!
I was wondering what to.do with the two cauliflowers I had in my fridge (thanks veg box!) and stumbled upon this recipe.
I admit I was sceptical as how can something as ordinary as cauliflower be dressed up? But I was wrong! It’s delicious…
I added a drizzle of truffle oil when serving it up one lunchtime – it’s a wonderfully luxurious addition .
This is fantastic! I did add red pepper flakes to add a little zing!
I am so pleased I found this recipe, it’s delicious!
I had a slightly cheesy cauliflower soup recipe that my husband loved (he’s a big cauliflower fan, a rarity, I know), but this one is _so_much_better_!! I eat it with or without the toppings, and add an edge more lemon. To die for. Elegant. And I think it’s pretty, even though, technically, I guess it’s not. :-)
Followed the recipe and it came out great!
I made this soup during the week and was extremely surprised how good it is. I almost ate the whole pan. Thank you and I am definitely keeping this one. If a recipe isn’t good, I can it.
This is some fabulous soup! Taking the time to roast the cauliflower and tossing in a smidge of butter makes this recipe amazingly delicious. And the fact that it included all simple, easy to find ingredients makes it an even bigger win. I am not a huge onion fan, but don’t skimp on the red onion for this recipe!!
Yum, yum, yum! Very cauliflower-y! I used an immersion blender, worked well.
Thanks.
I guess I goofed. Used the immersion blender, apparently too much. My soup was the consistency of water. THe flavor is OK. Might try to add the red pepper flakes someone mentioned. But the consistency is just not what it is supposed to be.
Hi Karen, did you use more than 4 cups of broth? Or perhaps your cauliflower was on the smaller side? If you used about two pounds, it should come out creamy but thicker — definitely not watery.
Hi cookie hi kate. I love your recipes they’re what a california cuisine palate craves.
Just wanted to point out:
You can clean your blender by quickly rinsing, then adding water and a drop of dish soap. You blend that, rinse again, and, voila.
I absolutely LOVE this recipe! So simple and delicious!
I made it exactly the way it was written and it turned out perfect!
Now, I had another head of cauliflower that I was going to make into a side dish. Instead I turned around and made a 2nd version of the soup.
This is so wonderful to play with. For added flavor without salt I added tumeric and ginger. Sauteed onion in broth ( low sodium). At the end I had leftover kale I added for 10 minutes.
It’s perfect on its own! Thank-you for the wonderful recipe!
Thank you dear Kate for the recipe:)
I made this today and here’s what I think:
As a cauliflower thing! It was awesome.
As a soup in general it was good.
I will make it again because of the good nutrition and calorics.
So delicious! Enjoyed by whole family including teenage kids.
I made this tonight for dinner and my husband loved it, will definitely be in our menu rotation! Thank you
I added a 1/2 c fresh grated parmesan cheese to the blender and it’s amazing!
Just found your roasted cauliflower soup recipe. It was delicious! Definitely will try others. I roasted the cauliflower in the air fryer and added a chopped potatoe
Thank you..
Absolutely amazing! I was so impressed by the flavor. I used chicken broth instead of vegetable and sweet onion instead of red. Such a comforting soup
Very easy to make. I made only 1 change. I didn’t have vegetable broth,so I used chicken. I used my immersion blender in the pan instead of a blender. The soup was pretty good, but I doubt that I would make it again, unless I could think of a way to give it more flavor. I thought it was sort of bland.
This soup is so beautiful and creamy, it’s hard to believe there isn’t any cream in it.
I’m making my second batch today. yum!!
Can I use frozen cauliflower for this recipe?
Hi Abigail, yes, frozen cauliflower roasts nicely and can be used in this recipe.
So delicious and easy! We loved it.
Delicious! I am sensitive to onions and garlic so I had to modify for my needs. I sautéed one crushed garlic clove in oil and then removed before adding the broth and cauliflower. I added some minced chives while the cauliflower and broth were simmering. The flavour of the roasted cauliflower really came through and I loved the silky consistency of the blended soup. Thank you for this easy recipe!
Fabulous – restaurant quality!
Minor modifications:
Sauteed with butter instead of olive oil.
Added 1/2 cup of shredded carrots to saute.
Added 1 cup of grated gouda cheese in the final step instead of butter.
Baking the cauliflower instead of steaming makes all the difference!
I love roasted cauliflower and I Love love LOVE this recipe!!! I like to add a pinch or two of Victorias Curry, it just, takes the flavor over the top! This is now. Our weekly menu.
The best cauliflower soup (and one of the best all-round soups EVER! The only problem was that my husband and I wolfed it all down in one sitting and we wanted seconds (not to mention leftovers!). So I just bought the biggest cauliflower at the farmers market and I will double the recipe. My friend laughed and said she heard you’re not supposed to eat anything bigger than your head but we’re gonna make an exception! Thanks and yum!
Contradicted myself. I knew there was no way I liked this soup because of the cauliflower. I can tolerate roasted cauliflower. I love this cauliflower soup, which I still can’t believe. I thought it was going to be a waste of time making, especially since there was no cream. Will definitely be making this from now on.
By far the best recipe for cauliflower soup I have come across in my 82 years. I had all the ingredients in the house and it was so easy to make and quick to cook. Just delicious. Thank you.
I love your recipes BUT this one was off for me. I thought the nutmeg was way to over powering. I triple check I put in the right amount, I did double the recipe after reading all the great reviews (I grow cauliflower and had a lot) I added a little cumin to off set the nutmeg and add more both as it was really thick. I am glad other people love it.
Wow!I must say this was a great tasting soup.First it was so easy.We are having heat wave in N.J 102 degrees so it was so much cooler roasting the cauliflower in the airfryer then finishing in my instant,cooked for ten minutes,perfect and I must say so delicious now I have a new easy soup to make year round with cauliflower always available. Thanks