What did we do before the cauliflower revolution? While I’m not the type to completely replace foods with cauliflower (I can’t do the pizza crust guys, sorry), I love mixing cauliflower into foods because the color and texture are so versatile that it’s almost undetectable. It’s so sneaky. So, when I was craving cheesy potato soup this past week I decided to sub half of my potatoes for cauliflower for a little extra fiber and cruciferous action. This Cheesy Cauliflower and Potato Soup was super creamy and satisfying, without being overly heavy like creamy potato soups can sometimes be. It was the perfect weight for this transitional is-it-fall-or-is-it-summer weather!
Substitutions:
Cauliflower: I used a whole head of fresh cauliflower here because I was able to get it for a great price at Aldi, but you can substitute a one pound bag of frozen cauliflower florets in its place.
Evaporated Milk: I used evaporated milk because it is rich and thick without being overly heavy, but also because it acts as an emulsifier with cheese. You might be able to substitute heavy cream (a smaller amount, perhaps 1/2-3/4 cup) in its place, but I have not tested this to make sure. I do not suggest using soy, almond, or cashew milk because they are not thick enough, and coconut milk would probably be too strongly flavored and clash with the other ingredients.
Vegetable Broth: I used vegetable broth to keep this soup vegetarian, but chicken broth will work just as well.
Can I Use Frozen Cauliflower Instead of Fresh?
Yes, frozen cauliflower works seamlessly in the recipe below. You’ll want to use a one pound bag of frozen cauliflower florets in place of the fresh listed below.
Cheesy Cauliflower and Potato Soup
Servings 6 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1 head cauliflower ($1.99)
- 1.5 lb. russet potatoes ($1.42)
- 4 cups vegetable broth ($0.52)
- 12 oz. evaporated milk ($0.65)
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika ($0.05)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.03)
- freshly cracked black pepper ($0.05)
- 4 oz. medium cheddar, shredded ($0.85)
- 3 green onions*, sliced ($0.33)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and add it to a soup pot along with the olive oil. Sauté the onion over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until softened.
- Peel and dice the potatoes into 1-inch cubes. Cut the cauliflower into small florets. Add the cubed potatoes and cauliflower florets to the soup pot along with the vegetable broth. Place a lid on top, turn the heat up to high, and bring the pot up to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low and let it simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes and cauliflower are extremely soft.
- Add the evaporated milk to the soup. Use an immersion blender to purée the mixture, or allow it to cool slightly, then transfer the soup in batches to a blender to purée. Blending hot liquids is extremely dangerous, so make sure to let it cool until warm first (adding the evaporated milk will help bring the temperature down), and drape a towel over the lid of the blender as added protection against unintended splatter.
- Once the soup is puréed, season with smoked paprika, salt, and freshly cracked pepper (10-15 cranks of a pepper mill). The amount of salt needed will vary, depending on the salt content of the broth used.
- Place the soup back over medium heat and allow it to heat through. Once hot, begin stirring in the cheese, one handful at a time, until it has fully melted into the soup.
- Serve the Cheesy Cauliflower and Potato Soup with sliced green onions on top.
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Cauliflower Potato Soup – Step by Step Photos
Start by dicing a yellow onion and adding it to a soup pot with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Sauté the onion for about five minutes, or until it has softened.
Peel and chop 1.5 lbs. russet potatoes into 1-inch cubes. Chop one head cauliflower into small florets. Add them both to the soup pot.
Add four cups vegetable broth to the pot as well. Place a lid on top, bring it up to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and let it simmer for about 20 minutes…
Or until the potatoes and cauliflower are extremely tender. They need to be extremely soft to be easily puréed.
Add 12 oz. evaporated milk to the pot. This will help bring the temperature down, which is important if you are using a blender to purée your soup. If using an emersion blender, you can purée the soup right in the pot, even while it’s hot. If using a blender, it needs to be cooled until the soup is warm before blending. Blending hot liquids can build pressure and explode the top off the blender, spraying hot soup everywhere and potentially burning you. SO, let the soup cool a bit, transfer it in batches to the blender, DRAPE A TOWEL OVER THE CLOSED LID, and then blend until puréed.
Once puréed, season the soup with 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, some freshly cracked pepper (maybe 10-15 cranks of a pepper mill) and salt. I used 1 tsp salt, but you will want to taste and adjust this to your liking. The salt content of vegetable broth can vary, so the amount of salt needed at this point will vary as well.
Now it’s time to add the cheese. The soup needs to be hot to melt the cheese, so if you let it cool to purée, simply place it over medium heat again until the soup is hot (stir fairly often). Add the cheese to the soup, one handful at a time, stirring until the cheese is fully melted into the soup.
And that’s it! It’s never a bad idea to taste the Cheesy Cauliflower and Potato Soup one last time to see if you want to adjust any of the seasonings. Serve each bowl with a few sliced green onions sprinkled over top. The onion really adds a pop of fresh flavor that I felt took the soup to a higher level.
Refrigerated leftovers of this Cheesy Cauliflower and Potato soup reheat very well. I haven’t tried freezing this soup, but creamy milk based soups usually don’t survive the freeze/thaw process well.
What a lovely soup on a dreary rainy day. It goes really well with some kind of toasted crispy bread. I had a ciabatta bun and that was good. I bet garlic bread or pumpernickel croutons would also be really good. Will definitely make again. Thanks for a great recipe!
This soup was amazing! My husband absolutely loved it and even my 9 yr old son thought it tasted good (although he wouldn’t commit to a whole bowl :) ). We added a little crumbled bacon to go with the green onion garnish. Even without bacon, it was delicious. Definitely part of my regular rotation now! Thanks for all the awesome recipes, Beth!
Super easy and tasty, and I will be making this again and again this winter. I found that some homemade croutons for crunch and a tiny bit more seasoning really took this to another level of yum!
Thanks Beth!
I added a couple of turnips to this in place of some potatoes, because I had them in the fridge. Delicious! Thank you!
I absolutely loved this recipe. I used a box grater to shred a Dubliner cheese from Kerrygold and it turned out wonderfully. It was a lot of soup for just my boyfriend and I, so after I dinned I transferred the leftovers into a muffin tin froze it, and then put the individual bricks in freezer-safe zip-lock bags. I reheat a few bricks into a saucepan on nights I’m feeling lazy and the soup tastes as if I just made it!
This recipe was delicious. Has anyone tried to freeze it? It made up so much and I am wondering if this would freeze well.
I froze it! It came out looking TERRIBLE, very unappealing to the point of being downright gross. The liquid and blended veg had completely separated. However, once I microwaved it and stirred just a little it was totally fine! I couldn’t tell the difference from the first time I made it. So I would recommend freezing, just don’t show it to your guests before it’s hot! LOL
Would it be possible to eliminate the potato and use 2 heads of cauliflower? 3 heads? What would you recommend, or do you think it wouldn’t hold together well?
Yes, I think that would also work well. :)
Y-U-M!!!!!!!!
Unable to pin this. :-( Recipe looks yummy though!
I don’t have an immersion blender or a regular blender. How do you think this soup would turn out without blending? Or maybe I just need to invest in an immersion blender!
I think you definitely want to blend this one. :) It’s very watery before you blend it and the cheese probably won’t melt in properly when it’s not blended first.
If you can’t invest in a new blender right now what about using a potato masher? You might not get a silky smooth soup but it might be a cheap way to solve your problem. Your soup might still have chunks in it but that might not be a bad thing.
Kind of a silly question given its in the title: does this taste like cauliflower? Or do the potatoes and cheese carry the day?
You really can’t taste the cauliflower. :D You *can* kind of smell it, especially when it’s cooking, but the flavor pretty much disappears!
Made this last night and it turned out fabulous! Plus it reheated easily for lunch today. I left out the cheese from the entire batch and instead opted to add it to individual servings to taste. Otherwise, I followed the given directions exactly – definitely don’t skip the green onions.
Unfortunately, transferring batches to a standard blender was a bit of a hassle and I ended up making small mess (but it was worth it!). Will repeat this one.
Do you think you have to peel the potatoes? I like leaving the skin on in soup for the texture and added fiber, but not sure how it would be once pureed?
You can leave the skins on, if you prefer. :) There will just be small pieces after you purée, so visually it won’t be as smooth.
It looks so good and yummy. Can I replace broccoli if I’m out of stock of cauliflower? would it be great if I add both broccoli and cauliflower?
I don’t think broccoli would work well in this soup, actually. It doesn’t blend up the same way that cauliflower does.
You list frozen broccoli as a substitution :)
LOL that was a total typo! I meant to say that you can use a bag of frozen cauliflower in place of the fresh. 🤦♀️ Thanks for bringing that to my attention! Hahaha
They make evaporated almond cooking milk now, perfect for recipes like this. Get woke.
Awesome!