Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Cheddar Cheese and Bacon

Two stacked bowls of califlower soup topped with bacon and chives on a striped cloth napkin with three spoons

5 from 2 votes

Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Cheddar Cheese and Bacon

This Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Cheddar Cheese and Bacon will warm you to the bone. It's rich and creamy, simple to make and on your table in just about 30 minutes!

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Total Time40

Course: Lunch, Main Dish, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Bacon, cauliflower, cheddar cheese, Comfort Food, healthy, healthy comfort food, Soup

Servings: servings

Calories: 436kcal

Author: MaryAnn Dwyer

Ingredients

1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups yellow onion, roughly chopped
3 celery ribs, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 quarts unsalted chicken stock
24 oz. cauliflower florets, roughly chopped
8 oz. freshly grated sharp white cheddar cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled, for topping, if desired
2 Tbsp. chives, chopped

Instructions

In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, melt butter. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring often, until the onions are translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme leaves, salt and pepper and continue to cook for one minute.
Stir in the flour to form a roux, cooking for one minute and stirring constantly. Increase the heat to high and slowly stir in the stock. Bring to a boil. Add the cauliflower and reduce the heat to medium. Continue to cook for 20 minutes or until the cauliflower is tender.
Remove from the heat and transfer the soup in small batches to a blender to puree until smooth. Return the soup to the pot and cook over medium heat. Add the cheese and cream and continue to cook until melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with bacon and chives.

Notes

As mentioned, the bacon is a topping and it's optional. But really...should this even be optional??

Honestly, the cheese could also be optional if you want a super healthy soup. But then the recipe would just be called Cauliflower Soup and that doesn't sound nearly as good! Lol!

You'll be pureeing the soup in batches in your blender, so no need to chop up the onion and celery really small. Just a rough chop will be fine.

Don't overfill your blender when pureeing. You don't want hot soup exploding on you or all over your kitchen.

Nutrition