How often do you eat cauliflower? I love cauliflower and would never turn down a bowl of this delicious Cauliflower soup with cream. This recipe is super simple and quick to prepare with the secret ingredient to its silky smooth texture being a good dose of heavy cream!
This cauliflower soup with cream is also a great way to get some veggies into your kids. They’ll love it and so will you, as you won’t have to spend much time or effort preparing it, making it the ideal dish for busy weeknights.
Cauliflower soup with cream ingredients
This cauliflower soup ingredients are cauliflower, potato, leeks, onion, garlic cloves, vegetable broth and milk or cream. The only herb I use in the soup is thyme, though you can experiment with others like ginger, sage or rosemary. As far as seasoning goes, salt and black pepper are a must.
This homemade soup needs the freshest of ingredients, so make sure you get fresh ones. Have a look at the cauliflower, fresh cauliflower florets will be white. When cauliflower is off, the florets will have a dark colour and an offensive taste. Make sure your potatoes are equally fresh, firm to touch with no black spot or blemishes. Fresh leeks will be crisp and firm with no signs of mould.
Also, make sure you slice off the florets from the cauliflower head and you don’t use the head of the cauliflower!
You can also make a lighter cauliflower soup, simply by substituting the cream for milk. Both milk and cream render the soup more silky, though with double cream the soup will be heavier but also more satisfying. For a dairy free cauliflower soup, add soya milk.
How do you thicken cauliflower soup with cream
The easiest way to thicken this soup is by adding a tablespoon of unsalted butter. If after pureeing the soup you find it still watery enough, then simply add unsalted butter, straight from the fridge. Cold butter will melt into the soup and thicken in it in an instance.
A further way to thicken this cauliflower soup is to add flour, though I would not recommend this as it alters the soup’s flavour.
How do I add flavour to cauliflower soup
This cauliflower soup with cream can be made with water instead of vegetable broth and with milk instead of cream. Nevertheless the addition of vegetable stock or broth will elevate its flavour. Vegetable stock or broth contains other vegetables such as onion, celery, carrots and herbs like thyme which will complement the cauliflower flavour. So choose a good quality vegetable stock that you have used before. Remember, vegetable stocks are suitable for vegetarians and vegans. If in doubt, check the label.
To instil further flavour into the cauliflower soup with cream, you can add herbs like sage, tarragon or chives. Chilli flakes will give the soup a spicy kick to it. Moreover, grated cheese or chunks of blue cheese when serving will not only provide a thicker consistency.
What is the best way to cook cauliflower
The best way to cook cauliflower and the rest of the vegetables for this soup is to boil them long enough until they become very soft and tender. When they do, it will be a lot easier to puree the soup with an immersion blender or if you don’t have one, in a food processor. Do make sure though not to overcook the vegetables as they will lose all their vitamins and much of their flavour.
How to make my cream based soup more creamy
There are two ways to give your cauliflower soup a creamy texture. You can substitute the milk for heavy cream, which will give your soup a silky texture. If you’re using heavy cream, add it together with the broth as per my recipe below.
Alternatively you can add a tablespoon of butter to further enrich your soup. The fat in the butter will homogenise the soup mixture and bind it together, giving it that smooth texture you are looking for.
Finally, if you want a lighter soup, you could try making this recipe without any dairy products. Use plant based soya milk instead.
Serving suggestions
This cauliflower soup with cream is best served hot with bread, croutons or bread cubes. The soup can also be garnished with small chunks of blue cheese. Grate cheese and place it in a parchment lined baking tin. Place it in the oven and as soon as it melts take it out from the oven. Let it cool down and form a cheese sheet. Serve this with the cauliflower soup.
Storing
This creamy cauliflower soup can be stored in the fridge for a couple of days and consumed later. Unfortunately, it cannot be frozen as, when defrosted, it will lose its original flavour and creaminess.
