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.
Super soup recipe! We had a spicier roasting recipe, but used your soup method ~excellent first time results. We are next trying your roasted butternut squash soup recipe ~ cannot wait! Who says healthy cannot be decadently delicious?
Hooray! I’m glad you loved it, Daisy.
Love the cauliflower soup. Used the BBQ! After removing steak and baked sweet potatoes for dinner (with steamed asparagus), over dinner we roasted cauliflower on baking sheet with foil. While eating and roasting cauliflower, the garlic and onions softened…, and One big cleanup – dinner ready for tonight, YUMMY soup with salad!
Thank you for sharing, Christie! That’s great to hear.
The part about adding the broth, hot or cold(?) is missing in the instructions….making it anyway because all your recipes are delicious!
Hi, I pull mine from the pantry so it is room temp. But if you have some cold, that should be fine too.
This is a rare thing: A perfect recipe. No tweaking needed. Follow it to the letter and the results will be luxuriously delicious; a complete transformation of otherwise basic ingredients. Five stars.
Great to hear, Ed!
This was a truly exceptional soup. I added a carrot and stalk of celery. Even my husband liked it. THANK YOU!
I’m glad you loved it, Diane! I appreciate your review.
Can I just say that the flavor profile of this soup is restaurant (or better) quality! I am sitting at home sick but I don’t care since this comforting soup is meeting all of my needs. I’m on a low calorie diet so this soup felt like I was overindulging when I truly was not. I recommend this soup to anyone. Mine looked exactly like the recipe on the site. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Absolutely delicious and so comforting. I roasted the garlic with the cauliflower. Added a lot of lemon, as I love lemon and with the the rest of the ingredients, made an amazing pot of creamy deliciousness!
I’m glad you loved it, Carina! I appreciate your review.
I just made this soup. Absolutely delicious. I used chicken broth and regular yellow onion. A little extra garlic. But OMG! So so good.
Great to hear, Gretchen!
I made this recipe for my book club today to absolutely rave reviews! I had made the NYT recipe to start with and then tried this one, which was far superior. I topped it with homemade croutons in addition to the dash of olive oil and chopped parsley. Thank you so much for a fabulous and healthy recipe!
You’re welcome, Cindy!
I was looking for a low calorie meals and it’s actually very tasty!
I’m happy you enjoyed it, Sherry!
I loved this! It was so easy and so tasty. What a simple way to create delicious flavor with cauliflower. I used extra garlic and chicken stock instead of veggie. I skipped the toppings. I used my immersion blender (so much easier: less to clean and no working in batches). I prefer soup with a little texture and slight lumpiness, rather than perfectly smooth, so immersion blender works for me. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Susanna! Thank you for your review.
Delicious. I made some substitutions and additions.
I used 1 large leek instead of onion, sauteed in ghee. I added potato flakes to thicken, used homemade vegetable broth, added 2 Tbs of Better than Buillion, and blended with an immersion blender..
Everything else the same. The roasted cauliflower is the best! thanks
Absolutely delicious. Easy to make.
Thank you.
Thank you for your review, DW!
Hi fellow dog lover – we have 9 rescue dogs. Made this once & it was really good so I’m going to make it again today – caulis coming to an end so will be the last this season best wishes, John
Easy and delicious. My 8 year old loved it too. Is already asking me to make it again
Hooray! That’s great, Alex.
I may have missed it but the recipe doesn’t show when to add the vegetable broth.
Just made the cauliflower soup and love it
OMG! This is delicious! I made this (mostly) as written and I was pleasantly surprised at how good and creamy it was. I halved the recipe since I had a little less than a pound of precut cauliflower that I found on sale. With few exceptions, all my soups start with the “trinity”: onion, celery and carrots. Sauteed those and then added garlic. Also, I make my own chicken broth so used that. But followed the recipe exactly. Used an immersion blender which is a must have item in the kitchen. I didn’t need to add extra salt since the flavor was perfect. I think the carrots added a hint of sweetness. This is a keeper!
I’m glad you loved it, Rita! I appreciate your review.
This is the second time I’ve made this and it is really delicious. I tried a few recipes off of other blogs but this one beats them hands down. The roasting of the cauliflower makes a huge difference in taste and I love that there’s no cream added. Really yummy, thank you!
Creepily great given how simple it was. I used chicken broth instead of vegetable broth, slightly less cauliflower (was running low,) and olive oil-based margarine instead of butter (friend is allergic to dairy.) So not only is the recipe great, but it’s resilient to adaptations!
I suspect you could replace the cauliflower and use a similar onion-garlic-lemon-blend base and it would elevate any vegetable.
Winner! I had my doubts… but after reading reviews, I had to try it. So good I wish I had made double! Your recipes are always easy to make & amazing finish! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Sarah! I appreciate your review.
My famiily loved this soup. It was so nice to know that I was serving them a healthy bowl of soup that was not loaded with cream or 1/2 & 1/2. I will be making this again.
That’s great! Thank you for sharing, Caylee.
Kate, It was a cold rainy day today so I was in the mood for soup. This was really delicious! I used your ingredients, but I substituted chicken broth as I didn’t have vegetable broth. Also, I heated and blended it in my Pampered Chef Deluxe Cooking Blender. It worked great! Definitely roast the cauliflower first. The butter, nutmeg and lemon do add a wonderful finish. Thank you.
You’re welcome, Brenda! I appreciate your review.
Really delicious, dare I say decadent texture and flavor!! Thanks!
You’re welcome, Tim! Thank you for your review.
I love this soup , it is also help with weight management. A large cup of this soup is satisfying enough for a meal but I made it soo many times I’m looking for a new soup recipe with the same amount of few calories and little to no fat. Any suggestions. And I add ginger to the cauliflower soup because it does give me heartburn. The ginger helps
Great to hear, Barbara! I appreciate your review.
Absolutely phenomenal, one of the best soups my wife and I have ever had, and we really love top quality food. It’s almost too easy, thank you unbelievably!
Lovely soup. Great to find a cauliflower soup without milk and cream. I roasted the onion and garlic, but won’t next time as it was a bit rich. Did add a tiny bit of Harrisa spice on the cauli when roasting, could certainly leave it out too, although might try Chermoula another time also! A keeper!
Great to hear, Bee!
The creaminess of this cream-less recipe is amazing!! I didn’t even use butter. But somehow this soup is creamy. This will be my go-to soup recipe from now on!
Hooray! That’s great to hear, Amelia. Thank you for sharing.
Oh em gee!! I never leave recipe reviews but seriously. Wow. This soup is the best I have ever tasted. I love it! Forgot to add the lemon and I like it exactly as is. Have made twice in as many weeks! Thank you so much :D
That’s great to hear, Mon! Thank you for your review.
I just made this with a head of purple cauliflower. It’s a beautiful lavender color and tastes amazing.
Absolutely delicious! Even works with frozen cauliflower if you’re lazy like me.
I made a double batch but only used 1 red onion, and thought it turned out fantastic as I’m sure it would with 2!
I’m glad you loved it, Kevin!
1st time trying cauliflower soup. I used this recipe, but used what I had on hand. Smoked paprika & it’s Divine!
Thank you for sharing how you made this, Brenda!
The Roasted Cauliflower Soup was an absolute hit in the family and will be making to freeze for sure.
Thank you
That’s great to hear, Estelle! Thank you for sharing.
Friend gave me two heads of cauliflower from her yard. Didn’t know what to make and came across this recipe. My first time making cauliflower soup. With the first head I followed recipe as is and LOVED it, as did my dinner guests! We all agreed the recipe is great as is or as a base to experiment with other flavors/ingredients. With the second head of cauliflower a friend and I decided to saute some carrots along with the onions for additional sweetness, and I roasted the cauliflower with salt and cumin which also turned out pretty good. Great recipe, definitely a keeper as is and versatile enough to have fun experimenting with additional ingredients/flavors.
That’s great to hear! Thank you for sharing.
This came out great. The roasting really makes a big difference. Instead of lemon and nutmeg, I added plain yogurt and fried chili oil. What a hit!
That’s great to hear, Karen!
Made this soup today. I substituted the red onion for yellow, veg stock for chicken stock and skipped the nutmeg. My boys loved the soup with some crusty dinner rolls and boiled beets. Definitely a winner here!
Great to hear, Mellisa!
I really loved this soup. Can’t believe how creamy. I freeze in small batches and when I defrost add eithe some chopped chicken or carrots and peas or sweetcorn. It’s so versatile.
Sorry about the chicken veggies!!
Thank you for sharing, Liz! I appreciate your review.
Yum!! I added some celery in with the onions because I needed to use them up; and subbed 2% milk for 1/2 the broth. Will absolutely make this again.
That’s great to hear, Kristin! I appreciate your review.
Fantastic soup!! I only remembered to measure the cauliflower after roasting … used 4c roasted cauliflower pieces and approx 5c chicken bone broth to cover cauliflower in pot. Afterwards, had approx 2c leftover soup, so I added 1c cooked chickpeas that I needed to use up and another 1c broth, whizzed it up, and wow, another delicious variation for another meal. Thanks Kate!
You’re welcome, Katica! I appreciate you taking the time to review.
Very good and simple! Added some chopped spiced/candied walnuts as a garnish, which really elevated it to great!!!! Highly recommend.
I’m glad you loved it, Kristine!
So yummy! I roasted the onion and garlic along with the cauliflower, dumped it all in the pot with the broth (I used some of the broth to deglaze the roasting pan) and proceeded with the rest of the recipe as written.
Everyone loved it!
That’s great to hear, Debroah! I appreciate your review.
I LOVE this recipe! Simple ingredients but a wonderful gourmet taste! It’s my go to soup and it freezes well! Thanks for sharing this one.
You’re welcome, Jen!
A truly delicious healthy soup, great when cauliflower is in season and cheap to buy yummy
Because I can not have any dairy, I use chicken or beef broth and water, and use just enough water to cover tops of califlower which makes it thick and if too thick, then can add more broth.
I made this, happened to taste it just before putting the lemon and nutmeg in, absolutely loved it. Put the lemon in and the whole thing tasted like lemon, was absolutely shattered. Found a solution to the lemon taste online and found adding baking soda (1/4 tsp to every cup of liquid) completely took the lemon taste out, something to do with acidity. Annnd it was the perfect soup again! Thank you so much for this recipe!
Thank you for sharing, Ellie. I’m sorry to hear you didn’t love the lemon. Happy you found something to work.
Absolutely easy and amazing roasted cauliflower soup recipe! Heaps of flavour. I added a can of rinsed chickpeas then pan fried In olive oil. I placed the chickpeas on the finished soup.
Loved it!! Super easy and yummy to make. I needed a different recipes to finish the large amount of cauliflower in my pantry without getting tired and this is a new favorite recipe! I added garam masala since I didn’t have nutmeg. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Oh My. It tasted like there was a ton of cream in it but there isn’t ! Just a little butter. Roasting is key to intensifying the flavor. Onions and garlic simply takes it over the top. The finished bowl of soup had a sprinkling of grated cheese because that’s Me. Did not miss the chives, nutmeg, or the other suggestions. Wonderful healthy soup. I will keep this in my rotation of soups. Thank you !
You’re welcome, Gina! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Hi Kate, thank you so much for this recipe. I made the soup last night and it was absolutely delicious. Roasting the cauliflower made such a difference. This will now be my go-to recipe and replaces my usual cheese laden one.
This was soo good and everyone liked it. I did not add the nutmeg or lemon juice. I did add some roasted corn ❤️ I think everyone was impressed that it was cauliflower soup. I don’t think anyone was really interested at all, but they enjoyed it and ate all of it.
Thank you for sharing, Jessica! I appreciate your review.