Instant Pot Cauliflower Soup: This cauliflower soup recipe uses simple ingredients and can be made in just over 20 minutes. A healthy soup that will be a hit with the whole family!
Bake up some easy Italian white bread and make a green salad (like this Italian chopped salad) to pair with this instant pot cauliflower soup and you’ll have a meal that’s both hearty and healthy! It’s definitely one of our favorite Instant Pot recipes to date!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
There’s nothing better in the winter months than a bowl of soup, am I right? Hot soup just hits differently in cold weather.
When you think of soup, you probably think of classic soup recipes (like a good creamy potato soup or a chicken noodle soup recipe). But it’s time to expand your collection of soup recipes and add this one in because I bet it will become one of your favorite soups in no time! Especially, using the Instant Pot to make soup! It’s quick and delicious! (You’ll also love this Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup!)
Not only is it a healthy meal (it contains a full head of fresh cauliflower!), it’s also super quick to make since it’s an instant pot recipe! Since this creamy soup is relatively low carb, I think it could even be considered a “keto cauliflower soup” (but I’m not a keto expert by any means, so you’ll have to double-check that for yourself).
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Ingredients for Cauliflower Instant Pot Soup
You only need a handful of ingredients to create this instant pot cauliflower soup.
- 2 tablespoons butter (salted, unsalted or you can use extra virgin olive oil)
- 1 cup onion, diced
- ¼ cup bacon bits
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder and ½ teaspoon salt)
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon ground thyme
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 5 cups cauliflower florets (a large head of cauliflower)
- 3 cups chicken broth (or my homemade chicken broth – could also use vegetable broth)
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
Substitutions
This soup could be turned into a vegetarian soup or vegan soup with a few simple changes:
- Use vegetable broth instead of chicken
- Omit the bacon bits
- Use extra virgin olive oil instead of butter
- Use coconut milk in place of heavy cream
- Use nutritional yeast in place of parmesan cheese
Variations
The best part about soup recipes is that they are so customizable! Even though this soup will taste fantastic the way it is, there are a number of ways you can change up the recipe or the serving suggestion to create a different experience.
- Try serving this creamy soup recipe with a side of crusty bread or in bread bowls.
- If you are looking for more depth of flavor, try swapping the parmesan cheese for a sharp cheddar cheese! The cheddar cheese is also a more distinct flavor- so if you aren’t a big fan of cauliflower, add some additional cheese and you likely won’t taste the cauliflower at all.
- If you want to give your cauliflower soup a more creamy texture, try using cream cheese in place of the heavy cream.
- Garnish your Instant Pot creamy cauliflower soup with a dollop of sour cream, some grated cheese (parmesan or cheddar) and some chopped green onion!
- Some other optional toppings you could try next time- red chili flakes, crispy fried onions, or some extra bacon bits.
Instructions for Pressure Cooker Cauliflower Soup
- Set your Instant Pot to the saute setting and then add butter, diced onion, and bacon bits.
- Cook and stir until the butter is melted and the onions are softened and have turned a golden brown, scraping the bottom of the pot as you go. (You don’t want to get the burn notice.)
- Add the rest of the ingredients (minus the cream and cheese): garlic salt, ground black pepper, ground thyme, sweet paprika, and Italian seasoning. Mix this well until the seasoning is coating the onions.
- Add the cauliflower florets and mix until it is well combined with the onion/bacon mixture.
- Next, pour in the chicken broth and stir to mix everything together.
- Close the lid and set on your instant pot on high pressure for 8 minutes.
- Once the 8 minutes has passed, open the pressure valve to “vent” and let your Instant Pot “quick release” (be careful, that steam will be HOT so it’s best to wear an oven mit or use a towel to help block the hot steam). Once the instant pot has finished the quick release, open the lid.
- Carefully use an immersion blender to blend the soup until it is smooth (you don’t want hot liquid to splash you. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can also pour it in to a blender and blend this way!)
*NOTE* If you are planning to freeze a portion of your soup do it at this point before adding the cream and the cheese. Use a freezer-proof container and you can freeze individual portions for up to 2 months. When thawing the soup, put it in the fridge overnight. Then place in a saucepan and warm up to the desired temperature, stirring occasionally. Then add the cheese and the cream. Stir.
- Add the cream and the parmesan cheese to the pot and then use your immersion blender until you attain a nice smooth texture.
- Serve and enjoy!
What to Serve with This Soup
Personally, my favorite way to serve this Instant Pot cauliflower soup is with a dollop of sour cream, some extra bacon bits, and some cheese on top (not exactly low calorie, but oh it’s delicious)!
Then, if you’re able, you’ll want to make these Garlic Bisquick Drop Biscuits to go with this soup!
Equipment
We used an Instant Pot to make this soup, but you could easily use other brands of pressure cooker.
Storage
Store any leftover soup in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days.
This soup freezes well, but the best way to do it is to freeze it before you add the cream and cheese (as those two ingredients will not freeze well and will change the texture when it thaws). Use a freezer-proof container and freeze individual portions for up to 2 months.
When thawing the soup, put it in the fridge overnight. Then place it in a saucepan and warm it up to your desired temperature, stirring occasionally. When it has warmed up, add the cheese and the cream and stir.
Expert Tips and FAQs
The most common culprit of bland soup is under-salting. Try adding more salt (just a pinch at a time, tasting between each addition). You could also try some of the variations we have listed above to make your soup a bit more fun and flavourful!
If you’ve blended your soup with an immersion blender and added the cheese and cream but it’s still too runny for your taste, try adding a cornstarch slurry.
Make sure your Instant Pot is on saute mode. Mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 2 tablespoon of cold water in a small dish and slowly add it to your soup, stirring constantly to avoid lumps forming. Keep stirring until the soup has thickened as much as you would like it to, then turn off the Instant Pot.
Cauliflower soup stored properly in an airtight container should last 4-5 days in the refrigerator.
Related Recipes
If you loved this low-carb soup recipe then you’ll also love our cauliflower potato salad and our low carb parmesan chicken tenders! Or, with a similar texture, this loaded potato soup recipe is so easy and delicious!
Or, if you’re a fan of soup recipes like this, I have a feeling you’ll also like this roasted red pepper soup!
Recipe
Instant Pot Cauliflower Soup
Equipment
- instant pot
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter salted, unsalted or you can use extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup onion diced
- ¼ cup bacon bits
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt or 1 teaspoon garlic powder and ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon ground thyme
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 5 cups cauliflower florets large head of cauliflower
- 3 cups chicken broth could also use vegetable broth
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Set your Instant Pot to the saute setting and add butter, diced onion, and bacon bits.
- Cook and stir until the butter has melted and the onions are softened and have turned golden brown. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot as you go because you don't want to get a "burn" notice.
- Add the rest of the ingredients (minus the cream and cheese): garlic salt, ground black pepper, ground thyme, sweet paprika, and Italian seasoning. Mix well until the seasoning is coating the onions.
- Next, add the cauliflower florets and mix until it is combined with the onion/bacon mixture.
- Pour in the chicken broth and stir everything together.
- Next, close the lid and set your instant pot on high pressure and set the timer for 8 minutes.
- Once the 8 minutes has passed, open the pressure valve and let your Instant Pot "quick release" to let out the remaining pressure (be careful, that steam will be HOT). Once the instant pot has finished the quick release, open the lid.
- Carefully use an immersion blender to blend the soup until it is smooth (you don't want hot liquid to splash you but if you don't have an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender and then pour back in to the pot.)*NOTE* If you are planning to freeze a portion of your soup do it at this point before adding the cream and the cheese.
- Add the cream and the parmesan cheese to the pot and then use your immersion blender until you attain a nice smooth texture.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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