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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I just threw this together for lunch – it’s time for me to eat healthier. I love it! So thick, creamy, yummy – and best of all VERY SIMPLE! VERY FAST!
I’m wondering: will this still be as wonderful with one potato? I try to eat foods low on the glycemic index and hardly ever eat potatoes now.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Lynn!! Yes, you can reduce it to one potato. The change is subtle, not drastic. But not using any makes quite a difference, it just isn’t as creamy. Thank you for coming back to tell me you loved it! N x
I was thinking of making this tomorrow and was wondering, would it be ok to blend cauliflower first? Or not at all? I have a really tiny blender :/
Hi Nella! Unfortunately that won’t work 🙁 The cauliflower needs to be cooked in order to blend so it comes out smooth. Raw cauliflower comes out almost like rice grains. Can you blend in batches? That’s what I did when I didn’t have a blender stick!
Finally got around to making this last night for dinner and the Man of the House loved it. It was super easy and there is even left overs for tonights dinner.
I personally didn’t try it due to my “aversion” to cauliflower…. sorry Nagi but I did stick my finger in and it still tasted like cauliflower LOL
VICKY! You have such an aversion of cauliflower and made this anyway? AND stuck your finger in….??? I’m blown away. So honoured!! So glad the Man of the House loved it and HE is one lucky guy to have someone like you to cook things that you don’t even like just for him! N xx
Made this tonite for dinner, it was so good! Flavours were great !
So glad you enjoyed it Suzie!! Thanks so much for coming back to share your thoughts!! 🙂
Just love it
Thank you Eveline! Hope you try it, super easy, super fast and just SO so good!! My secret is the potato and onion. Makes all the difference! N x
I think I’m going to have to make a big pot of this glorious soup soon. I’m seriously considering doing the 5:2 thing that a few of my friends are doing (and raving about) and this soup would be PERFECT for the “2” days. Besides, this looks like the best kind of comfort food on cold, dreary days like the ones we’ve been having in Sydney recently!
Going to have to substitute the onion for something else though – sadly found out onion gives me heartburn. Will probably use some leek in place of the onion. I’ll check back in once I’ve made this.
Leek will be even BETTER in this than onion!! Leek is “posh” in my books, I reserve it for when I’m trying to impress! Sorry to hear re: heartburn problems.
I know, the weather has been miserable, hasn’t it?? That’s why I made this!
FINALLY made this today. One word – YYYYYYYYYYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMM!
So good. So so so so so so so good.
http://instagram.com/p/4gAYy-qyTJ/
Wow. Just wow. Can’t believe how good this is!
I drizzled with Extra Virgin Olive Oil infused with Chili, and made sure I added some thyme – only had some dried thyme, and the herb just took this to another level. I promise I won’t forget the thyme, ever! So so so so so good!
EEEEEKK!!! I’m SO glad you liked it! Isn’t it incredible? I am so not into the whole cauliflower “trend” but this…this is SO good, I can’t get enough of it!! (OK, and you have me inspired to make it today because it is so ridiculously cold and I feel like soup!) N x
Oh wow! Looks so tasty and really great in this Sydney weather!
I’m going to make it tonight. 🙂
YES it is perfect for this dreary Sydney day! 🙂
This looks divine! And the olive oil/ cream swirls on top are perfect; they’re not atrocious at all!!
Thanks Kristen!
My goodness, that certainly does look creamy AND dreamy!
Silly name I know!!! He he!! Was just having a bit of fun 😉
Wow I can’t believe how low in calories this is… especially because it looks so creamy! Definitely going on my soup list. Oooh yes thyme over the best is definitely the way to go – nice recommendation!
Thanks Lucy! 🙂
It’s rather blustery here today in San Diego and I for one would love this right now! As for your “attempts at fancy restaurant swirls of cream and olive oil” they are what actually attracted me to read the post. It’s beautiful!
Ha!! That’s always the way, the swirls were bugging me so much and it bothers no one else! See? I have weird standards. 😉
I totally agree with Kevin, the presentation is beautiful! 🙂
Well, who do you think I learnt this from? 😉
Perfect timing as I just was wondering what I was going to do with the cauliflower in my fridge. I made an almond cauliflower soup years ago when on Atkins. Everyone loved it. Main difference is that the cauliflower was roasted, so I may do that with this recipe, but boil the rest. We have some different starchy veggies here in the Caribbean, so my husband had dasheen in the kitchen and I’m going to use that since I don’t have any potato’s. Looking forward to dinner now:-)
Roasted cauliflower would be FANTASTIC in this!! I would suggest popping them in the water towards the end though, just to soften the skin on the stalks a bit of the roasted bits as it gets a wee bit crispy. That way it will whiz smoothly. 🙂 OOOH, or otherwise, use the roasted bits as garnish!! That would be incredible!! (PS I can imagine the almond cauliflower soup would be amazing. Great flavour combo!)
Oh, actually I thought your cream and oil swirls were pretty lovely! Anyway, when you’re making something quick and easy like this, you don’t want to faff around making the garnishes perfect. Rustic rules!
This is so creamy and comforting. Perfect for a stormy day and yes, bonus that it’s so healthy!
Ha! That’s probably cause your a Brit and you’ve been brainwashed by the whole “Jamie Oliver rustic” look!!! 🙂
Such a creamy soup! I love how effortless this soup is to make 🙂
Thanks Katy!! Yup, it sure is super easy! 🙂
These are such a pretty bowls of soup…I absolutely love the swirls of cream and olive oil…the idea of using cauliflower to make creamy soup is amazing…beautiful presentation as always Nagi.
Have a great rest of the week 🙂
Thanks Juliana!! Counting down the hours today – weekend tomorrow! Yay! (Though I guess for us bloggers, weekends doesn’t mean down time!!) 🙂
Oh dreamy creamy alright, this soup looks SO good! I would LOVE a big bowlful right now. Might whip it up for work lunches – yum.
Ooh, this is great for work lunches! Plus it freezes super well!!
I think your swirls are restaurant quality as is this soup. I hope you got through all the storms unscathed and that you and Dozer are happy and safe.
All good thanks! You didn’t get the tail wind of it, did you? I hope not!
I don’t like cauliflower because of the texture but I might give this a go 🙂
There is ZERO cauliflower texture in this! Plus, it’s extra thick and tasty from the potato + onion which is pureed with the cauliflower. 🙂 I hope you do give this a go!! Super healthy 🙂
Nagi this looks absolutely beautiful! Can’t wait to try it!
Oooh, I hope you do!! It’s crazy easy, super healthy and YUMMO!! Pretty much ticks all the boxes! 🙂 Have a great day! (or evening!)
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.
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!
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.