Creamy cauliflower cheese soup
To be honest, ‘cauliflower soup’ isn’t a phrase that would usually make me swoon… at least, not until now. This creamy cauliflower cheese soup is the kind of soup that barely even makes it into the bowl.
Try a spoonful straight from the pan, just to check seasoning (perfectly sensible) –> immediately need another because it was so delicious –> ‘just one more’ –> somehow there is no soup left in the pan.
If you have enough self-restraint to actually be able to serve this soup in bowls, you should definitely, definitely make it. It’s thick, it’s creamy, it’s cheesy. It’s even pretty healthy, despite how it may look! It contains no cream at all, and if you choose a really good quality mature cheddar, a little will go a long way.
I used Black Cow, which is a crumbly mature cheddar produced in Dorset. I discovered it a couple of weeks ago when I spent a very happy few days in a fab house not far from Dorchester, thanks to the lovely people at holidaycottages.co.uk. Loads of food bloggers in a house for the weekend + plenty of local Dorset food + wine by the bucketload… we were happy campers.
As you may have seen if you follow me on Instagram, the house was absolutely stunning, and the food was just as good. I do want to give a quick shout out to a few of the local suppliers who kept us fed – these are only a small selection of my favourites but there were many more, and it made our weekend so special knowing that everything we tried had been produced locally.
– Dorset Fine Dining – who cooked us an amazing three course dinner, and were baffled at the sight of fourteen food bloggers taking photos of every course (the only time it’s actually a compliment when people have their phones out at the dinner table).
– BethellBridge Bakery – who served us a stunning afternoon tea and inspired plenty of bickering about which should come first, the jam or the clotted cream (I’m on the clotted cream team).
– Black Cow – who gave us some of their intriguing vodka made from milk (!), which somehow tasted exactly like normal vodka. The whey is used for the vodka, and the curds make the lovely cheddar I used for this cauliflower soup.
– Goldhill Organics – who didn’t mind us all tramping round their beautiful organic farm, and told us all about their veg boxes. The incredible homemade apple cake went down a treat too!
– Purbeck Ice Cream – for their deliciously intriguing beetroot sorbet.
Thanks again to holidaycottages.co.uk for organising the weekend, it was a blast!
If you decide to give my creamy cauliflower cheese soup a go, try to choose good quality ingredients like I did. It’s only a simple soup – it doesn’t have dozens of ingredients – but if you choose well, it will be super tasty. I topped mine with a few more crumbles of that amazing mature cheddar, and a some homemade croutons (the crunch goes so well with the creamy soup!). I haven’t included the croutons in the recipe because they’re really easy, and totally optional in any case – but if you do want to make some, just cut up a slice of bread, toss it in a little oil with some salt and pepper, and bake until crispy. Easy peasy.
Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. I did spend a lovely weekend in Dorset free of charge thanks to holidaycottages.co.uk, but was not otherwise compensated for this post.
Creamy cauliflower cheese soup
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Print Pin CommentIngredients
- 1/2 tbsp oil
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 medium head cauliflower, cut into chunks
- 1 medium potato, diced fairly small
- 500 ml vegetable stock (~ 2 cups)
- 250 ml water (~ 1 cup)
- 1/4 tsp dried parsley
- Black pepper
- 100 g cheddar cheese, grated (~ 1 cup grated)
- Homemade croutons and fresh parsley, to serve (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan, and add the onion and garlic. Cook over a medium-low heat for 5 minutes, until soft.
- Add the chopped cauliflower and diced potato, along with the vegetable stock, water, dried parsley, and plenty of black pepper. Bring to a simmer, and cook for around 15-20 minutes, until the vegetables are very soft.
- Turn the heat down low, and use an immersion blender to blend the soup until smooth.
- Add the grated cheddar (save a little back for garnish, if you like), and mix until the cheese has melted. Serve warm, topped with any remaining cheese, and some homemade croutons and fresh parsley if desired.
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose. Information above does not include croutons.
I love cauliflower soup but never managed to make it very well, however, I think that your recipe could be a winner!!
Becca! This looks soon fabulous!!!! Creamy…cheesy and full of cauliflower goodness! DELISH!
This looks like such a lovely healthy recipe, I adore cauliflower so this soup is right up my street! Your weekend away sounds fab!
This sounds like a dreamy, creamy soup! Such a comforting bowl of yum.
Cauliflower cheese is one of my favourite homey dishes but I’d never thought of mixing it up in a soup! I’ll pass this onto my mum as she is chief soup maker in the house :)
It’s much easier to make in soup form too ;)
Love cauliflower cheese soup and I bet this one is a dream made with such a fab cheese. It was such a fun weekend. Can’t believe how much we managed to eat, then again …
I absolutely love Cauliflower soup, don’t think I’ve ever had it with cheese before. I’m going to bookmark this recipe for the next time I fancy it and I’ll give it a go :).
I love the fact that it has croutons on top to give it that extra crunch. Looks very tasty :)
The croutons take it to the next level! They’re so easy to make too, so there’s no excuse not to :)
This is a real favourite of mine, cauliflower is made to be eaten with cheese in all forms it works!
They really are made for each other aren’t they – cauliflower has such a mild flavour on its own that it just cries out for a bit of cheddar :D
I love cauliflower soup with cheese, it’s really delicious but I don’t make it that very often as I don’t think it’s that healthy but it’s nice to have it once in a while as part of a balanced healthy diet.. I need to have it with croutons next time, didn’t realise they were so easy to make, thanks!
It’s not that unhealthy really, only a handful of cheese in the batch :) And you could always use a little less if you prefer!
Yes, you are probably right, I guess you could make it as healthy or as unhealthy as you like.. :-)