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.
Absolutely delicious!
Excellent, loved this easy non-dairy recipe. This is a keeper!
Great to hear, Cathy!
Hello .is your Tablespoon measure 15 or 20 ml? I’m just about to make your creamy cauliflower soup. It looks delicious.Thanks matthew
Hi Matthew! I just double-checked, and my tablespoon comes to 15 mL. Hope you love the soup!
Planning on making this tonight, anyway to add a little more protein?
Hey Carolyn! I can’t think of any easy additions. I’d suggest serving something protein-rich on the side instead. I love it with a grilled cheese sandwich or hearty salad. I think of this soup as a side dish, not a full meal.
Added Roasted chickpeas to the top of the soup and had a small salad . Thanks for a good dinner
Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Soup
Fantastic……..great anytime of the year…….simple to prepare and the result is an elegant soup that has a wonderful taste and is very satisfying. During these unusual times, I have been preparing batches and sharing with my neighbors. Can’t say enough good things about this recipe. The only thing that I do is roast my cauliflower longer, about 40 Minutes, to get the optimum taste.
Made this just now. I sliced up some carrots to roast with the cauli, since mine was a little scant. I probably didn’t need the butter, since I used home-made chicken broth… but it is delicious. Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks Katie,
The soup is delicious. I’ve filled a couple of jars and put it in the freezer
I love it! Thank you for sharing, Matthew.
This soup was delicious. I used a low sodium vegetable broth so I could add salt to my taste. After blending it was a bit thick; I had a huge cauliflower so I returned to a pot after blending, heated after I added a bit of water. Can’t wait to eat the leftovers.
I’m new to your blog!! I feel like a kid in a candy store! I prepared the vegan version of the recipe last night as written, using cashews instead of butter. My only addition was pepper. Wow!!! It was fabulous! The creaminess was amazing. Fabulous on its own but the possibilities are endless using this as a base. So easy and quick to prepare.
I’ve blasted this recipe to all of my foodie friends!!!
Thank you Kate!!
I just discovered that my red onion has gone bad, and I’ve already made my weekly grocery store run (trying to be safe!). Would it make a big difference if I use a yellow onion? Looking forward to making this!
Hey Judy! Yellow onion should be great. Stay well. :)
Fantastic soup. So creamy. Not usually a vegetable soup person but this one changed my mind.
I made this soup as I had a huge cauliflower in the fridge and was tired of sautéing veggies. I had never had cauliflower soup before but oh-my-goodness was a pleasant surprise! I forgot to add the butter, but I must say this will be one of my go-to soups from now on, absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for posting this, Kate! 5/5 recommended.
I don’t usually comment on recipes but I must for this one: it’s so DELICIOUS!!!!! I can’t stress how tasty this soup is!
Thank you so much for sharing the recipe, Kate
I didn’t have any suggested garnish so I roasted the cauliflower leaves and used that instead! SO GOOD!
Deeply unpleasant. Really feel I wasted a delicious organic cauliflower.
Simple and SENSATIONAL what more can you want from a nourishing meal. I made sure to get lots of caramelisation on the cauli, and roasted a bulb of garlic. I didn’t use the fresh garlic with the onions, but instead used half the bulb when blitzing up with the cashews. Highly recommend.
Absolutely love this recipe! I’m making this soup for the 4th time now and can’t get enough of it! Thank you Kate!
Simply + delicious!
I tried this tonight to get veggies in for me and my son. We both absolutely loved it! The lemon and nutmeg add a fantastic balance to this creamy, warm soup. Thanks for the recipe! We’ll be eating this often around here!
I’m glad you were able to get veggies into your kiddo and he loved it! I appreciate you taking the time to review, Ashley.
Delicious and now a favourite with the family. Easy to make and uses staple ingredients
You are my go-to cooking platform. Simple and delicious! Thank you, jen
We made this soup tonight! It was absolutely delicious!!!thank you:)
Great recipe, thank you.
This cauliflower soup recipe was amazing!!! Will definitely do it again and again. I actually Used vegan butter. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Kate & Cookie! I’ve made this delicious soup now at least a dozen times. It is the PERFECT pick-me-up for the lockdown blues! I have noticed, however, that mine always comes out darker than your beautiful photo–mine is more brown than yellow. I wonder if I’m roasting for too long…what do you think? It still tastes amazing!
Hi Robyn! Thank you for your comment. I appreciate your review! I’m happy you are loving it. It could be the vegetable broth you are using as they do vary sometimes. I say as long as it tastes good, that’s what you want!
Very yummy. Thank you for sharing.
Delicious, easy to make , I absolutely love the soup !
I had half a cauliflower that I needed to use so I halved the recipe and wow… recipe was simple AND tasty! I added milk to my recipe and it turned out great. Who knew the star ingredient was from the splash of lemon juice!
Holy cow that was delicious soup. It was so refreshing and unexpected .
I’m glad you loved it, Angela! Thanks for sharing.
Wowweee! SO GOOD! Huge fan – this one is a keeper for my family!
Wonderful to hear, Maryann!
The flavours are amazing. My new fav!!!
thank you for another brilliant recipe, kate. this soup is so simple but so perfect. i loved some of the comments so roasted the garlic along with the cauliflower, added a can of cannellini beans to the pot, along with some smoked paprika and turmeric and freshly ground black pepper instead of nutmeg. i pureed 95% and left a little bit of chunkiness for texture. the leftovers are in the freezer for another great meal to come. thanks again.
This recipe was pretty good. It was not bad for such a healthy cauliflower soup! I just thought that it was a bit bland in the end, and I don’t think I liked the nutmeg very much, but that was just personal preference. I’m not sure if I would make this again, but it’s a good basic, healthy cauliflower soup.
Fantastic! Added some homemade croutons too
WOW!!! I was genuinely surpised by this recipe! As someone who is not the biggest fan of cauliflower this soup is absolutely delicious! Definitely my new winter fave! Thank you!!
This recipe is delicious! I added a few pinches of cayenne pepper at the end to give it a little kick. Highly recommend.
Really great flavor. Will definitely make again and add bacon crumbles as garnish.
I make this all the time! Delicious with a drizzle of truffle oil upon serving.
love it!!!
Great to hear, Kieran!
Not my favourite! Sorry but I’ve made better cauliflower soup. Won’t make this again.
Sorry to hear that, but I appreciate your feedback!
Very yummy. I added crunchy bacon bits on top.
Just made this (used cashew butter instead of butter) and turned out so delicious! Perfect blend of flavors… def worth the time it took to make.
Does this freeze well?
So glad to hear it! Yes, it does freeze well.
This recipe was absolutely delicious!!! Thank you, Kate!! So healthy and incredibly flavorful! The lemon juice and the nutmeg make this dish so, definitely don’t skip. We added 2tbs of lemon juice and the brightness was fantastic. Can’t wait to make this recipe again and try a few tweaks other people recommended like adding carrots and roasted garlic and possibly skipping the butter. Soooo good!
what a wonderful recipe! i made it without any additions, only omitting butter, and it turned out flavorful, creamy and as thick as it should be. i would like to serve this two days after i’ve made it. do you think it will keep well? should i add anything? thanks for the amazing array of recipes!
So glad to hear it! This soup should still be great if you serve it two days later. You might appreciate another little squeeze of lemon juice after heating it, to liven it up.
This soup is now a family favorite. I squeezed a whole fat lemon into mine and we all were licking the bowls clean. Pennies a serving.
Thanks Scott! So glad to hear it.
Amazing!!! My whole family loved this recipe. I even made an extra two batches and shared them with my girlfriends and their families-huge hit! Thank you!
This has become my favorite soup recipe!
Excellent recipe, even with the modifications I made. I used pomegranate juice instead of lemon juice, and macadamia nuts instead of butter. I made these modifications because of my low histamine diet. Thank you.
this soup is delicious!
I’m a huge soup and cauliflower fan so this soup really fitted the bill. I loved it! Just the right combination of flavours. Definitely one to repeat. Thank you so much for sharing!
This is delicious! Thank you for sharing :-) oh and I added cooked bacon. This soup is a favourite.