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.
Truly delicious recipe, now saved to my favourites
If I accidentally burnt the cauliflower a little bit, should I throw it out? I don’t feel like it tastes burnt but may be wishful thinking ayiyiii
Oh no! I would use your best judgement, Meghan.
I made this soup tonite. It is divine! I had to use fresh lime juice as I didn’t have a lemon and it worked! Wonderful texture and rich flavour.
Wonderful to hear, Loesha!
Blown away by how gorgeous this soup is x
Thank you, Sam!
Excellent, smooth, and full of flavor. More like fine-dining soup! :-)
Used 1/4 teaspoon salt overall and low-sodium vegetable broth. It still turned out brilliant! My new go-to soup and it is more filling than I expected. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome, Yaw!
I had to look this recipe up again because when I made it before it was such a hit. Seriously one of my favorite soups ever! I made it for my mom who couldn’t have a lot of dairy due to stomach issues. She loved it, my kids loved it, we all want it again! It’s amazing how creamy it is without having any cream. SO GOOD.
I love to hear that, Erin! Thanks for sharing.
Hi, Kate, you girls keep making these good videos, and good recepies. Please say hi to cookie, she looks fun. Thank you girls,. I like cauliflower soup, any recepies about broccoli soup?
Sincerely,
Isidro Cazares Jr.
Hi! Thank you. I don’t have a great broccoli soup right now. Maybe in the future!
You said above that comments on here make your day… well this soup made MY day. Actually my WEEK! I made this soup this past Sunday afternoon and it was gone by Monday night. It is now Tuesday and I wanted more so I made it AGAIN, but doubled the recipe! I absolutely LOVE it! I added extra broth for more consistency, some black pepper and half the amount of butter. That’s it though. This recipe is so simple and so delicious. I think in 24 hours I spoke to over 20 people about your soup and how they need to make it asap! Thank you for my new favorite “Perfect chilly day to snuggle inside on the couch with the dogs and eat some comfy cozy cauliflower soup” soup! And yes, dogs are truly the best!
They do! So, thank you Lindsay :) I’m happy you loved it!
Made this soup last night. At one point I wasn’t too sure how it as going to turn out but after the blender it was absolutely delicious. I don’t use butter anymore but am also not vegan so instead of butter I added plain non-fat Greek yogurt. I was great! The lemon was a nice touch. Thanks for sharing. Love the dog.
I’m glad you loved it!
I love the recipes that I’ve gotten from you. For some reason this cauliflower soup didn’t come out nearly as creamy and smooth as the one in your picture. I used an immersion blender since I don’t have a regular one at the moment. The soup was good just a bit meaty and granular.
Delicious recipe! I was wondering if you could can this recipe? In a water bath or pressure canning. It would be wonderful to open a jar of this soup on a cold day!
Hi Jennifer! I’m not an expert with canning, but I believe this recipe freezes well.
I made this soup for the first time yesterday, although I’ve been eyeing it in your cookbook for over a year. It was super tasty. I did use an immersion blender because my stand blender is a pain. I loved the flavor and the texture seemed great to me, but maybe I’ll try it in the stand blender and compare. I accidentally added WAY too much salt though – next time I’ll be more careful. I definitely will make this again to get it perfect!
I made this dish today, and it was stupendous! The small quantity of lemon juice at the end was a wonderful addition as was the fresh nutmeg.
Thanks for sharing, Dominick!
I LOVE your other soup recipes (Best Lentil Soup is the BEST) and I’ll be trying this one this week!!
Just wondering why you chose red onion over yellow or white?
I was wondering the same. Red onion made it more savory than I prefer so will be using yellow onion or shallot next time.
Oh man. This is likely the best soup I’ve ever made! Coming from a true soup lover this is hands down a favourite. Used my blendtec, I think using a standing blender is key. It’s fluffy and creamy and all sorts of comforting! I topped with shredded parm which was delicious. Thanks for sharing your recipe! ❤️
Just made this. It was awesome! Only used 1/2 T lemon.
Made this soup tonight and it turned out simply divine! So warm, creamy, and comforting—easy, too. I made it vegan/DF with a plant-based butter alternative and it worked great. Thanks, Kate!
You’re welcome, Erika!
I’m eating this soup right now, as I write this review. Along with some Mary’s crackers and sharp cheddar. It is so velvety smooth, light, comforting, and with a deep flavor. I added the juice of about 1/2 a Meyer lemon, and a little pepper. Didn’t have nutmeg but I will buy before I make this again – I am getting a sense of what a smidge of nutmeg will do. I am fortunate to have had an organic, super fresh cauliflower head to make this with. This soup is a hit and a great way to get in the uber nutritious cruciferous veggies!
This recipe was SO GOOD!!!!! I absolutely loved it, plus it was easy to make! I topped it with egg and homemade croutons and wow!!
Every single recipe I have made from Cookie & Kate is amazing and this soup is no exception. It is simply delicious! I made it exactly as the recipe described, and my family loved it! Make this soup!
I’m glad you love it, Robyn!
Hey, This soup recipe tastes great! I used chicken stock instead of vegetable (which I didn’t have) and the results were velvety smooth.
I will try with veggie the next time though!
many thanks.
Doug
This is a really comforting and delicious soup. I added some roasted carrots that would have gone bad and it made a beautiful light orange color when blended. Also I used pumpkin pie spice because I didn’t have nutmeg. I would make it again.
I made this a few months back and was blown away by the taste! It was so delicious, full of flavour, just yummie. I am going to make it again soon!
Thank you for your review!
That was amazing!!! It tasted like butter and my vegetarian (picky) daughter gobbled it up!!! Thank you for posting this awesome recipe.
I made this recipe. It was fabulous and enjoyed by all! Thank you.
I never leave reviews but I had to for this soup. I just bought a vitamix this week and was looking for a yummy soup recipe to make. I had all of the ingredients so I didn’t have to go to the store. I did have to add one thing to this which was better than bouillon because I didn’t have enough vegetable broth. This soup is amazing! I loved it so much and so did my kids. We ate it with grilled cheese sandwiches. Thank you so much!
I’m glad that you did, Stephanie! I appreciate your comment and review.
This soup is absolutely gorgeous. As others have suggested, I roasted the onions and garlic along with the cauliflower. It turned out perfectly and is now my new favourite soup. Thank you!
This is a fantastic recipe. I used more garlic & more cauliflower. I also sautéed a bunch of parsley w/a little San-J low sodium/G/F soy sauce and this is the garnish I used in this soup. I cook for a girl and she loves this soup recipe.
I’m sick and this is exactly what I wanted for lunch. Thank you!
I’m glad this helped! Feel better!
This soup is amazing! So easy to make and delicious. The flavours are rich and the texture is lovely.
I’m happy you loved it, Julie!
This soup is one of my favourites. It’s easy especially if you have a vitamix
Oh my gosh! This is an amazing soup. I’m making it for Christmas….have to stop myself from eating all of it before tomorrow. I thought it would be kind of bland but it is so tasty. Thanks!
omg. What a awesome recipe, and so easy to make. Thank you.
You’re welcome, Sue!
Delicious!
This recipe is an absolute godsend. Thank you.
Made this tonight. Easy. Tasty. I used my Nutribullet to blend. 3 careful batches so the hot liquid doesn’t erupt out of the blender! I did the butter version. Totally lazy. No garnish. Tastes light, satisfying. I feel smug and “healthy.” Might share with friends. Probably will eat it all before they reserve a cup. Because yes, I am that piggish. And it is that kind of soup where you want more.
I roasted two very large carrots along with the cauliflower to add more nutrients. This soup is delicious, and I will be making it again and again.
I’m making your FAB Cauliflower Soup for the 3rd time in a month. It is easy, so tasty, and a perfect intro to both a light and heavier meal. Also love your clear directions and tips. THANK YOU!
I love that you have made it 3x already! Thanks for your comment and review, Christie.
I made this for dinner tonight, with a few modifications. I reduced the olive oil to 2T, substituted 2 oz (a quarter block) light cream cheese for the butter, and omitted the lemon juice. I have found that light cream cheese is the BEST silkener for pureed soups, and is nutritionally a bit better than butter. It was really good! It is so low calorie that I could have more homemade crusty bread…because the world really does revolve around crusty bread! I will definitely be making this again!
The soup is delicious! I added a tbsp.of light cream cheese and about the same amt of grated cheddar and melted into the soup after I blended it.
This is soooo good! I made the vegan version with the cashews, and tasted it before I put in the lemon juice and nutmeg- it tasted great then, and I almost left out the juice/nutmeg, but decided to go ahead and complete as the recipe was written. BOY, the lemon juice really does make it sing! This recipe will be in the rotation from now on!
Delicious! Keeping this recipe to use again and again!
Thank you!
Loved this! I changed it a bit by adding two carrots to bake with the cauliflower, did chicken broth instead, added paprika and left out the lemon. Turned out amazing!
Just made this soup and had it for lunch. It was so flavorful and delicious. I will definitely make it again. Topped it instead with some crisped up portobellos that I roasted in the oven. Yum! Got a seal of approval from my husband.
I make a version of this soup often. I save time and boost the taste by adding the onion and garlic to the cauliflower and roasting it all together. Then I simply add it to the veggie broth and use my immersion blender. Love your website!
My main complaint about this recipe is the very unappetizing color! Maybe it was just the dark-colored veggie broth I used – but the end result is baby poo brown. It also needed a lot of salt, pepper & cayenne to boost the flavor. I will def try again – but with chicken broth – and extra garlic!!
Hi Kate! Yes, sometimes vegetable broths vary in color and that can be a big factor. What brand of broth did you use?
I make this regularly for my elderly mom who loves cauliflower soup.
Next week a double batch I think…..so delicious!!
Great to hear, Melodie!
This was absolutely delicious. I skipped the butter and the cashew cream…the soup didn’t need it for me. The lemon juice made it just shine!
I was roasting some fennel along with the cauliflower so I added some of that to the soup and made the rest of the roasted fennel into little salad with sliced oranges, pickled red onions and walnuts.
This felt like a spa soup & salad lunch!
simple but yet amazing only thing I done different was roast the onion next time i will roast the garlic as well
Thank you for sharing, Heather!
I made this soup tonight for myself and my husband. Delicious! We both enjoyed it very much. Since I didn’t have vegetable stock at hand, I just used what I had which was chicken stock. Creamy goodness and easy peasy to make!
Hooray! Thanks for sharing, Eva.
This is such a fantastic recipe! I just made it for my family and it was a big hit. I followed the recipe exactly as described and wouldn’t change a thing. Easy to make and very delicious!
Has anyone tried adding coconut milk or cream? Not always fond of the texture cashews add.
Hi Nichole! Coconut cream might add more flavor than you would like for this. Maybe try a vegan butter instead?