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.
I made this last night, and my roommate and I both agreed it was amazing. I used chicken broth since I use bouillon to make my broths, and I added minced garlic to the sauteed onions. (Sauteeing onions in olive oil without any garlic just felt so wrong, haha.) Really recommend this one!
This was gooood. I upped the spices as recommended by another commenter and it was perfect. You absolutely cannot tell that it’s partly cauliflower. Yay for soup weather!
I added some corn too to make it a corn chowder. I used my immersion blender but only half blended it to keep some texture. Super tasty!!
Great idea!
This was wonderful…..we now have cauliflower somewhere in our menus weekly….soup..mashed….
I do add some cheddar or nixed cheeses and usually milk….not evaporated milk….if I can…
Maybe a few carrots for color……it’s great!!
This was delicious. My new favorite soup! I froze it also and it reheated perfectly in the microwave.
Thanks for the feedback on the freezing! So glad you liked it. :)
Wow, this looks mouth-watering! Haven’t tried Cheesy Caulliflower and Potato Soup at home! Definitely something worth cooking for. Thanks for sharing this, Beth!
This was delicious! Only modification I made was adding in some cayenne pepper for spice. Highly recommend!
Omg probably the best potato soup I’ve ever eaten! Like another reviewer, I made this in my Instant Pot for 5 mins on high pressure with a 10 minute natural release. I did sub heavy cream for the evaporated milk since I had that in hand. I will be making this again. Thanks Beth!
This was so good! I was afraid it might be a bit bland or too light subbingnin so much cauliflower, but it was perfect. Even my husband, who loves his potatoes and gave me side eye when he saw me putting in the cauliflower, loved it and went back for seconds.
Yummmm. I made this in the Instant Pot, so instead of boiling it in step 2 I just did 3 minutes on manual plus a 10 minute release. I also used a bag of frozen cauliflower. It’s DELICIOUS! I’ll probably fix it for company sometime.
This soup is amazing! So velvety and rich. I could eat a dozen bowls of this stuff. I did use a combination of pepper jack and cheddar cheese. Still turned out great. Off to get seconds! Thank you for another great recipe.
Oh. My. Gosh. The Cheesy Cauliflower and Potato Soup is on point!! My sister and I followed the recipe, but unfortunately, we don’t have an immersion blender. When the soup finished cooking on the stove, we had to let it cool for a few minutes before blending it in a traditional blender. Then, we seasoned the soup according to taste. The soup was so good that we both came back for seconds. Next time, I’d like to add some crumbled bacon. Thank you so much Beth, for this amazing recipe!!! :-)
Thank you for your continued enthusiasm, LaTrice! Your comments always make me smile!
This was great! I ate it for lunch all week and didn’t get sick of it :) It pairs nicely with a green salad with apples and walnuts and i can confirm that it tastes pretty great with some leftover BBQ skillet chicken from the recipe on here with chicken/pineapple/bbq sauce. I ended up putting a little sriracha on top. What can I say? The heart wants what it wants.
Great way to hide the cauliflower! Told my picky eaters it was just potato and they were none the wiser.
I doubled all the spices for a bolder flavor, which worked well.
It was one-note in texture (obviously), so next time, in addition to the green onion on top (which is a MUST) I would add crumbled bacon, homemade croutons, and a little extra cheese to give it texture and color. Overall, a success, and not too difficult even without owning an immersion blender!
When I made it, I just mushed up some potatoes to thicken it and left everything else whole. It keeps it from being one-note, and it’s still creamy.
Ooh good idea! I feel like that would be a very different soup, but still a good one.
I made this today, subbing heavy cream for the condensed milk. I think I used about 3/4 cup and it turned out really tasty!