This Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Soup is hearty, warming and filling, and a good way to up your vegetable intake. It's budget friendly and if you aren't usually a fan of cauliflower, this soup is here to change your opinion. Roasting the cauliflower really brings out the flavour and makes for a delicious creamy soup.
A big bowl of this creamy and comforting soup is just 146 calories a bowl, but still really filling. Instead of using cream to make it creamy and indulgent, we have used some milk to intensify the natural creaminess of the cauliflower. This tastes far more indulgent than it actually is.
Soups are a good option if you are looking for a lighter and healthier lunch compared to a sandwich, and they are also a good way to increase your vegetable
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Why should you try it?
- A delicious way to eat cauliflower
- Ready in under an hour
- Just 146 calories a bowl
- Vegan alternative
What you will need
- Cauliflower - Cauliflower heads should be firm to the touch with tightly closed florets. Make sure there are no brown patches. Soft heads are starting to spoil, so should be rejected.
- Garlic cloves - You can use ready crushed lazy garlic to save time.
- Olive oil
- Shallots - This can be swapped for onion if that is all you have on hand, but shallots are sweeter and add a nicer flavour in our opinion.
- Celery
- Salt and pepper
- Fresh thyme - You can use parsley or chives instead. Fresh herbs are always best when it comes to soups.
- Vegetable stock - Try to use a really good quality vegetable stock, as you will be able to taste the difference. Mushroom stock works well too. If you are making this for young kids, then use a low salt stock.
- Semi-skimmed milk - You can make this vegan by using almond milk instead.
Step by step
One: Cut the cauliflower in to chunks and put in a large baking pan with the garlic cloves (still in skin). Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and mix well. Put in a preheated oven at 190°C/375°F/Gas 5 for 30-35 minutes until the cauliflower starts to get crispy.
Two: Once the cauliflower florets are cooked, add a little oil to a large saucepan and add the shallots and celery and gently cook for 3 minutes over a medium heat. Add the cauliflower and squeeze the garlic out of the skin in to the pan.
Three: Pour in the vegetable stock and thyme, stir well and simmer for 15 minutes.
Four: Add the milk to the pan and then using a stick blender, blend until smooth. If it is still a little thick, add a little more stock.
How to make the soup creamy
Now, boiled or roasted cauliflower by itself isn't particularly creamy, but when you blend it with with milk you get a super (or souper....see what I did there?!) creamy texture that makes this soup feel much more indulgent than it actually it. You can use blended up cauliflower to make some seriously good healthier pasta sauces too.
You can make this even creamier by adding some creme fraiche/yoghurt or even adding a bit of cheese to this creamy cauliflower soup. Parmesan will add a lot of flavour to this.
Roasted cauliflower
You see, what makes this cauliflower soup SO good is the fact that the cauliflower is roasted first. Roasted cauliflower is the best kind of cauliflower. I nearly didn't manage to make this soup to photograph, as I was snacking on all the cauliflower as soon as it came out of the oven. There are definitely worse things to snack on though!
Roasting the cauliflower really changes the flavour, but also intensifies it as well. It gets nice and crispy and is the best way to make cauliflower soup in our opinion.
What to serve it with
This is a really light, and pretty low calorie, soup. You could serve it as a starter as it is, but if you are having it for lunch then it has to have something to dip in it to make it a more filling meal. Bread and soup are just the perfect match, right?
You can keep it simple with some slices of toasted french stick or a buttery tiger loaf. But even something like a toasted bagel will work.
As for what to serve on top of it, there are a few ways to make it a little bit more special and presentable. Keep a few smaller bits of roasted cauliflower to the side before blending it up, as these are nice sprinkled on top of the soup, with a drizzle of olive oil. You could make this soup a little more indulgent by topping it with some cooked chopped bacon.
FAQs
Because cauliflower is naturally creamy, it is perfect to make a vegan soup with. You can use almond or oat milk to make the soup and then make it extra creamy with some oat creme fraiche or soya yogurt.
This soup freezes really well, so we make a big batch of it and then freeze it in portions for an easy lunch or something quick when we get back in late in the evening.
When you have reheated it, just jazz it up with a drizzle of olive oil and a swirl of creme fraiche. Of course some nice chunks of warm bread and butter are a must to eat with this soup.
Cauliflower really is the star of this soup, so if you took it out it obviously wouldn't be cauliflower soup. If you don't like cauliflower, just give this a try as even cauliflower haters have loved this soup.
But, if you really can't bring yourself to try it with cauliflower then you can swap it for broccoli. Still roast the broccoli, to really bring out the flavour and follow the same directions. Why not try our Creamy Broccoli Soup.
You could even use this recipe as a base and swap out the cauliflower for any other roasted vegetable you like. Carrots, sweet potato, parsnips, courgette and even beetroot for a vibrant red soup.
Extra tips
- Thyme goes really nicely with the cauliflower to make a fragrant autumn soup, but you could use parsley, rosemary or chives.
- Make this creamy cauliflower soup vegan by using almond milk and making it extra creamy with some oat creme fraiche.
- Really don't like cauliflower? Use this recipe as a base and then swap the cauliflower for broccoli, carrots, sweet potato, parsnips or even beetroot.
- This soup can be made even creamier by stirring in some grated parmesan just before serving.
More soup recipes
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Recipe card
Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Head of cauliflower
- 3 Garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 3 Shallots peeled and diced
- 2 Celery ribs chopped
- 1 pinch Sea salt and black pepper
- 2 tbsp Fresh thyme chopped
- 750 ml Vegetable stock
- 375 ml Milk (any milk, but we used skimmed in this)
Instructions
- Cut the cauliflower in to chunks and put in a large baking pan with the garlic cloves (still in skin). Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and mix well. Put in a preheated oven at 190°C/375°F/Gas 5 for 30-35 minutes until the cauliflower starts to get crispy.
- Once the cauliflower is cooked, add a little oil to a large saucepan and add the shallots and celery and gently cook for 3 minutes. Add the cauliflower and squeeze the garlic out of the skin in to the pan.
- Pour in the vegetable stock and thyme, stir well and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add the milk to the pan and then using a stick blender, blend until smooth. If it is still a little thick, add a little more stock.
Notes
- Thyme goes really nicely with the cauliflower to make a fragrant autumn soup, but you could use parsley, rosemary or chives.
- Make this creamy cauliflower soup vegan by using almond milk and making it extra creamy with some oat creme fraiche.
- Really don't like cauliflower? Use this recipe as a base and then swap the cauliflower for broccoli, carrots, parsnips or even beetroot.
- This soup can be made even creamier by stirring in some grated parmesan just before serving.
Lesley
Hi I made this last week and loved it so put servings in the freezer to last all week. Craving it tonight so had to go out to buy cauliflower! I added thyme but when serving I add parsley too. I'm not a fan of milk (taste no other reason) so didn't add it but it was still delicious. Thanks very much!