Creamy Cauliflower Soup with No Cream
Creamy cauliflower soup is a rich, chunky, vegetarian dish given luxurious texture with a roux rather than cream, a real comfort food winner!
This vegetarian soup is easy and quick to cook, coming together in a shade over 30 minutes.
Chunky Cauliflower Soup
I'm rather fond of a good bowl of soup; this creamy cauliflower soup joins at least 45 here on my site already.
Unlike my cream of asparagus soup, creamy Jerusalem artichoke soup and cream of celeriac soup, this delicious munch contains no cream at all.
Now, that does not mean that it is all pious in its intent. This delicious vegetarian soup is thickened with a roux.
A classic technique that combines a mix of flour and butter with milk or stock.
Most famously known as bechamel sauce, it is commonly seen in classic lasagna recipes, and it is also at the heart of a traditional British parsley sauce.
It offers this soup a rich and round texture that I absolutely adore.
I also have an Indian-inspired curried cauliflower soup that uses a velouté to make the dish creamy; this is essentially a bechamel made with stock rather than milk.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I turn this into a smooth soup?
Yes, this soup blends very well. Place it all in a blender, give it a blitz, and you have a cream of cauliflower soup.
This makes it much easier to drop into a thermos flask and take to work for lunch.
My roux is grainy. What did I do wrong?
If you have a grainy roux or one that tastes like flour, it is likely that you have not cooked the flour out before adding the milk.
It is important that you are patient with this part of the dish. You must not have the pan too hot or the flour will colour up, and your roux will turn out golden.
Can I make this soup in advance?
Yes, this soup will last for 3-4 days in the fridge.
However, it will not take continual reheating; if you do this, the cauliflower will break down. As a result, you should only reheat what you need.
Can I scale up the size of this soup?
Yes, you can make this as big as you like. Generally speaking, the cooking time will remain largely the same, although volume means that things take longer to heat up.
Serving Suggestions
I tend to view this creamy cauliflower soup as a one-pot simple meal.
It serves 4 as a light lunch or 2 as a main course. I do usually serve this with bread, though, you gotta mop up leftover soup from the bottom of the bowl, right?
If I am making bread at home, it is most likely to be a small soda bread. I am genuinely not to be trusted with freshly baked bread; it rarely makes it until it cools.
Other types of bread that I like to serve with this include ciabatta and even focaccia.
Equipment Used
I only name-check brands of equipment if I think they make a material difference to a recipe. But if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section of the recipe.
- Hob/stovetop.
- 20cm or 8" saucepan.
- 15cm or 6" saucepan.
- Chopping board.
- Kitchen knife.
- A combination of weighing scales, a measuring jug, measuring cups and spoons.
- Stirring and serving spoons.
Creamy Cauliflower Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 325 g Cauliflower 3 Cups
- 1 Small Onion 75g
- 1 Small Carrot 100g
- 1 Small-Medium Stick Celery 35g
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- 50 g Butter 3 tablespoon
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 500 ml Vegetable Stock 2 Cups
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 25 g Flour 2 Tbsp
- 200 ml Milk ¾ Cup + 2 teaspoon
- 5 g Chopped Parsley ¼ Cup
- 1 Pinch Sweet Paprika
Instructions
- Cut the carrot, onion and celery into a 5mm (¼") dice.
- Slice the garlic as thinly as you can.
- Heat half of the butter over a medium heat in a 20cm or 8" saucepan.
- Add the onion, garlic, carrot and celeriac and cook for 10 minutes.
- Cut the cauliflower into 1-2cm (½-¾") florets, finely slicing any stalks.
- Add the cumin to the onion mix cook for a further 1 minute.
- Add the cauliflower and stir to combine, then pour in the vegetable stock and add the bay leaf, and allow to cook for 10 minutes.
- Heat the remaining butter over a medium heat in a 15cm or 6" saucepan.
- When melted add in the flour and cook out the flour for 5 minutes stirring continuously.
- Add 50ml (3 tablespoons) of the milk to this mix and beat until it is thoroughly combined. Repeat this process until all of the milk has been combined and you have a thick and smooth sauce.
- Add this sauce to the soup mix and cook for a further 5 minutes
- Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped parsley.
- Sprinkle with sweet paprika to serve.
Just made it for dinner now and it's wonderful! Thanks Brian.
Glad you enjoyed it Sue 🙂
I love all the flavorings you've added to your cauliflower soup! I would never have thought to put cumin in it! I love cumin and now I have another recipe to make just so I can add it! Your soup looks amazing and delicious and I look forward to making it!
Cauliflower is one of my favourite veggies and you can't beat a good, hearty comforting soup! A big 'ol bowl of this and some bread and I'm set!
What a delicious soup Brian, cauliflower is one of my favorite veggies, love that you added a white sauce to thicken it!
I love all the flavorings you've added to your cauliflower soup! I would never have thought to put cumin in it! I love cumin and now I have another recipe to make just so I can add it! Your soup looks amazing and delicious and I look forward to making it!
I think cumin has a great affinity with cauliflower, give it a try and enjoy 😀
Cauliflower is one of my favourite veggies and you can't beat a good, hearty comforting soup! A big 'ol bowl of this and some bread and I'm set!
Same here!
What a delicious soup Brian, cauliflower is one of my favorite veggies, love that you added a white sauce to thicken it!
Mine too, a roux-based white sauce is so good at thinking creamy soups
Brian your website is AMAZING I found myself negativing and just simply being in awe of your wonderful recipes, however this cauliflower soup really caught my eye. I love drinking soup during the wintertime and this is the type of soup that I could easily consume on a daily basis.
Thank you so much for your kind words Charlene, made my day 😀 I'm with you on soup, I love the stuff and have to try hard not to put too many on here... Such a versatile way of getting masses of flavour and texture into a dish!
Cauliflower deffo never belonged to my favorite veggies, but the older I get the more I like it. The soup looks really awesome, Brian!!
Cheers Howie, I'm with you on that... My Mum would not get me in the same room as a Cauliflower when I was growing up, like many vegetables in all fairness 😉 I have come to love it in later years though and it is now one of my favourites.
Cauliflower soup is one of the most comforting foods on a cold day. This one looks great, and I love the idea of thickening it with a roux.
Thank you Mary, the roux is a great way of thickening the soup... It works a treat 🙂
Cumin is a "go to" spice for me, and is an intriguing ingredients in this soup! I may have to try it... Also, I like the fact that you didn't rely on cream to make a creamy soup. Nice!
Thanks Tamara, the cumin provides just a little subtle note in the soup and is not a dominant flavour, I love cumin with cauliflower I think that are great bed fellows!
This soup looks amazing and so creamy! Sounds delicious!
Thank you Sherri, not a drop of cream to be found anywhere but you would never guess from the flavour 😀
Such simple ingredients, but so much flavor. I will definitely be giving this one a try!
Thanks Melissa, it really is a simple and wholesome dish but tastes much more than the sum of its parts 🙂
Cauliflower is one of those pure foods that combines with so many other goodies!! Congrats on managing to grow your own.
Thank you Noeal, it took a while but we finally have our own, which now means I eat even more caulis than before 😀
I've been devoted to The Moosewood Cookbook's "Cauliflower Cheese Soup" for decades, but I'm interested in checking this one out, especially because I love the idea of thickening it with a white sauce. Thanks for the recipe!
I had to go and look up Moosewood cookbooks, I've not heard of them at all, found the cauliflower soup and it sounds like a great recipe. The white sauce is a superb thickening agent, I usually keep it quite simple but you could go to town on the flavouring by steeping the milk with all sorts of stuff.
Flavoring the milk - what a great idea. Yeah, Moosewood is probably more of a this-side-of-the-Atlantic thing. Mollie Katzen was at the forefront of the veggie revolution in the U.S. in the late 70's. Her recipe for Swiss cheese and mushroom soup is one of my Christmas traditions. But enough about that. I so admire what you're doing! Would love to be growing my own food!
Cheers Jeff... We have pretty much finished for another year with just the bare bones outside so we get a little down time.
I did head back and look at some Moosewood recipes they sound super and am keeping my eyes open for a book to peruse:D
This sounds like comfort served up in a bowl! Also, the cumin sounds intriguing...
It certainly is Rebekah, the cumin provides just a wee subtly back flavour and is not meant to be all up in your face 🙂
This looks absolutely delicious...perfect to make with our Fall weather {finally} arriving!! XO
Thank you Sarah, it really works for me 🙂