Dreamy, creamy cauliflower soup. Forget the spoon. Just pick up the bowl and drink! OH – and PS….it’s only 190 calories for an enormous bowl! This is unintentional diet food at its best!
Cauliflower Soup
I am very aware that there is a serious lack of vegetables / salads / meat free / cheese free / carb free food on my blog. I always have good intentions of blogging more vegetable focussed things but I tend to get distracted by…well…you know. Anything but salads.
So I always feel like giving myself a pat on the back when I post a meat-free-almost-dairy-free-cheese-free dish!
I love this soup. There are wild storms hitting Sydney as I write up this post and I can’t think of a better soup to come home to.
Plus, it’s effortless. No fine chopping and dicing. Just break off the florets of a cauliflower, roughly chop up the stalk along with a potato, onion and a few garlic cloves. Toss them into a pot with milk and stock/broth, then once tender, whizz with a handheld blender.
It’s that easy! And LOOK how thick and creamy it is!
This recipe is practically a “formula”. It works with loads of vegetables – broccoli, carrots, parsnip, potato, beetroot (ever tried RED soup??!), peas, fennel, zucchini. Anything vegetable that softens when boiled so it can be whizzed to become a soup.
I wasn’t really thinking about calories when I decided to post this. But when I ran the nutritional analysis, I was more than pleasantly surprised to find that it is a mere 190 calories per serving. I double checked it a few times to make sure it was right – and it is!
So really, if you want to treat yourself, stir through a dollop or two of cream without guilt. 🙂
Hmmm…..so if I have this for dinner, it means I can have a brownie for dessert, right? Same logic behind having a Mars Bar with a Diet Coke….. – Nagi
PS Aren’t my attempts at fancy restaurant swirls of cream and olive oil atrocious? 🙂
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Creamy Dreamy Cauliflower Soup
Ingredients
Soup
- 3 garlic cloves , roughly chopped
- 1 kg / 2 lb (1 medium head) cauliflower , florets broken off and stalk roughly chopped
- 8 oz / 250 g (1 large, 2 small) potatoes , peeled and roughly diced
- 1 large onion , peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 cups milk (any - dairy, non dairy, full fat or low fat)
- 2 cups chicken broth / stock
- Salt and pepper to taste
To garnish (optional)
- Thyme (highly recommended!)
- Cream and/or olive oil , to drizzle
Instructions
- Place all Soup ingredients (except salt and pepper) in a large pot over high heat and bring to boil, then turn down to medium and let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the cauliflower is very soft.
- Use a hand held blender and blend until smooth (Note 1), then add salt and pepper to taste.
- If the soup is too thick for your taste, add more milk, water or stock (and more salt if needed). If you want it even thicker, let it simmer on the stove for a while longer to reduce down and thicken (be careful not to reduce it so much that it is too salty).
- Serve, garnished with fresh thyme leaves and drizzled with cream and/or olive oil, if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
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Susan says
I would call your swirls realistic and reflective of the talent many of us have at doing such things. I am sure mine would look worse, were I to attempt that. I am really not a big soup eater, but I like the idea of cauliflower soup and this sounds wonderful. It’s a little warm here to be making hot soup, but I’m definitely saving the recipe for when the weather cools down.
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Oh Susan, you make me laugh! “Rustic” is the word I tend to use whenever I make a mess of something. My cooking style is generally “rustic”!!! 🙂 How warm is it?? It’s freezing in Sydney now, winter has hit!
Susan says
Glad I can make you laugh, Nagi. Here in far west Texas (El Paso) our temps have been in the 70s to low 80s. Warming up nicely. Lots of spring flowers blooming, even though we’re in the desert. But we have a lot of strong winds at this time of year, and frequently have sand storms that put so much sand in the air that we can’t see our mountains (which are in the middle of the city). It’s nice that your seasons are the opposite of ours, because when we do our long cruises (starting in January), anywhere we visit in Australia is pleasantly summer-like. Hope you can stay warm all winter.
Brian says
i like the bite of florets in soup.. if i pick some out before blending will it mess up the creaminess too much? looks awesome like everything else you post
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Absolutely not! It will make the soup look even prettier if you plop some florets back in 🙂 Just don’t take out too much, but up to a cup is fine!
Rachel (Rachel's Kitchen NZ) says
He, he – have had cauliflower soup on the mind lately – love it and yours looks gorgeous with wonderful swirls:-)
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Oh please, my swirls are terrible!! 🙂 And why does it not surprise me you’ve been thinking about cauliflower soup….?
John@Kitchen Riffs says
Unintentional diet food is the best, isn’t it? It usually has great flavor. Although I honestly rarely work out the calories, etc. of whatever I’m making. Probably should, though. 🙁 Anyway, really nice — thanks.
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Thanks John! And yes, unintentional diet food is always the best. I don’t count calories on a day to day basis, though obviously I know whether something I’ve making is healthy or unhealthy – but still, this was a pleasant surprise!
annie@ciaochowbambina says
Even your photos are dreamy….I am loving everything about this…creamy and delicious! Thanks, Nagi!
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Aw, thanks Annie!! Chuffed that you said that, cause I WAS going for a “dreamy” look!!
Marissa | Pinch and Swirl says
What? I think you did a great job with the olive oil and sour cream – like a pro! I love cauliflower in soup, so I’ve got to try your recipe. It’s getting near shorts weather here, so I need some lo-cal delicious meals.
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Aw, you are so sweet Marissa!! Thank you 🙂
Shinee says
Dang it, I just used all my cauliflower the other night! I’ve been on cauliflower kick lately. Definitely making this one, maybe in a week or two, my hubs won’t appreciate if I make him to eat more cauliflower now.
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Deep fry it!! I bet he won’t complain if you do that!
Matt @ Plating Pixels says
You gotta love it when you make a healthy recipe and don’t even realize it. Double win! Even though it’s Spring I’m finding myself craving soups more. I never make them enough and definitely lacking those on my blog as well (gonna change that). I just made a tomato basil soup recipe I found on Pinterest last night and was surprise how tasty AND healthy it was. Pinned this one too. P.S. Great job photographing white soup, I know how difficult that is.
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Thanks so much Matt! I find myself craving soup all year round. Especially the thick creamy ones. It’s just the kind of food I love!! 🙂
Kathleen | HapaNom says
Oh my gawd…. look at how creamy that is!!! This must be the creamiest, no cream soup EVER! This is exactly the type of soup I love – hearty and guilt free. I can already tell this one is going to be a favorite.
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Thanks Kathleen!!
Tina Jui | The Worktop says
Yum yum yum! What a beautiful simple, healthy and delicious soup! Your fancy swirls of cream and olive oil make it look like it deserves a michelin star 🙂
Nagi | RecipeTin says
You’re just trying to make me feel better! Those swirls look like a kid did them! 🙂
jo@jocooks.com says
It’s like you read my mind girl! You have no idea how many times I’ve bought a head of cauliflower with the intent of making a cauliflower soup, but somehow it never happens, the cauliflower goes bad and I end up throwing it. Think I should try again? Love your recipe, it looks pretty easy. 🙂
Nagi | RecipeTin says
YES!! I know your taste and trust me, you’ll like this. It’s the potato and onion. I know it sounds weird to boil them with the cauliflower, but I swear, it makes this SO much yummier!!
It is an easy recipe. I think even a cook of your experience could manage it 😉
john | heneedsfood says
Calories? What are calories? I consider my life way too short to be counting numbers and missing out on the things I love. Like this soup. One of my faves!
An PS, your swirl garnishes are fab.
Ana says
and it is Tasty too full of Vita Vita Vegemins…
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Um, excuse me, not everyone was born with super-fast metabolisms. Don’t rub it in. 🙂