Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Garlic Soup

Creamy roasted cauliflower garlic soup is delicious and perfect for a cold winter night. I love soup! I like it for lunch or dinner any time of year, but I especially love it during the cold winter. Now I know it doesn’t get that cold in Los Angeles where I live, but for this Southern California girl, 50 degrees is cold (actually freezing!). 

This soup is filled with cauliflower, garlic, and fennel that has been roasted in the oven to bring out the most amazing flavor and then added to the soup. I use russet potatoes to give them a creamy texture, so there’s no heavy cream in this recipe. There is always leftover soup so I get to have it for a couple of days after. It’s one of my favorite soup recipes and I hope it becomes yours as well. So grab these simple ingredients and let’s make some soup.

Ingredients needed to make creamy roasted cauliflower soup:

The veggies that you need to make this soup are cauliflower florets from one head of cauliflower, one fennel bulb, six to eight cloves of garlic, one onion, and two russet potatoes. 

In addition to the vegetables, you need some butter and olive oil to sauté the onion, vegetable, or chicken broth, a little white wine, and some parmesan cheese to finish it off.  

Here’s how to make this creamy cauliflower soup:

Begin by removing the core of the cauliflower head and breaking apart the florets. After that, cut the white part of a fennel bulb into quarters. Next, remove the garlic cloves from the garlic bulb, but keep the papery skins on the cloves.   

To a sheet pan add the cauliflower, fennel, and garlic cloves in a single layer. Toss with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. Then roast in the oven until golden brown. Keep an eye on the garlic, they can cook faster than the cauliflower and fennel and may need to be removed earlier. So if you notice that the garlic is golden brown, remove it and let it cool slightly.  

While the veggies are roasting, dice the onion. Warm up a dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat and add in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and heat until warm. Add the diced onions and cook until soft and translucent. Once the onions are tender you are going to set them aside until the roasted veggies come out of the oven.  

Here’s how to make Parmesan-Rosemary Croutons: 

These croutons really make the soup complete. Yes, you can use store-bought, but once you see how easy it is to make your own and how delicious they are you will probably never use store-bought again.  

First cut a baguette into small cubes, then warm some olive oil and butter in a large frying pan. Once the butter has melted add the bread cubes. Stir the bread around so that it is evenly coated with butter and oil. I like to season it with some salt and pepper. Then you just want to let the bread toast and get crunchy. So it needs to sit and then be stirred. Sit and then stir. Repeat until all sides of the cubes are toasted and golden brown. Then while still warm transfer the croutons to a large mixing bowl. Add fresh chopped rosemary and parmesan cheese and toss until evenly coated.  Set aside until ready to top the soup.  

Back to the soup!

After you remove the roasted veggies from the oven, let them cool slightly so you can squeeze the garlic from the papery skin. If you removed it earlier than the rest of the veggies it will be cool enough to handle.  

After that, return the pot with the onions to medium heat and add some butter and olive oil. Once the butter has melted add the roasted veggies and garlic. Stir to combine and cook for about 10 minutes.  

Now it’s time to deglaze the pan by pouring white wine over the vegetables. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up any bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pan. If you don’t want to use a wine you can substitute it with chicken or vegetable broth. After that has cooked down for a couple of minutes and the alcohol has cooked out add the potatoes and vegetable stock.  Bring this to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are fork-tender about 10-15 minutes.  

Let’s Puree!

Once the potatoes are tender it’s time to puree the soup, There are two ways to do this. You can use an immersion blender or a regular blender. I do not recommend using a food processor.  

The easiest way to puree the soup is to use an immersion blender. This is a kitchen tool I believe everyone should have if they make soups. It’s fairly inexpensive and worth every penny. Do not buy the cheapest or the most expensive. The ones priced in the middle work great and won’t break the bank.  

Using an Immersion Blender

If using a hand-held immersion blender be sure to fully immerse it into the liquid before turning it on. Gently move it around but be careful with splatter because you are working with hot soup. Continue to blend until the soup is creamy and smooth and there are no chunks of vegetables left.  

Using a Regular Blender

If using a blender you will have to puree in batches. Use a ladle or large measuring cup and add the soup to the blender. Only fill 3/4 of the way leaving room for the soup to move around. It’s also very important to remove the center lid. Removing the center lid allows for steam to escape and this will help avoid an explosion of soup all over your kitchen ceiling. Grab a kitchen towel to hold over the hole to minimize splatter releasing the air occasionally as you are blending.  

Pour the pureed soup into a large bowl. And repeat until all the soup has been pureed and the pot you cooked it in is empty. You will return all of the pureed soup to the pot and add freshly grated Parmesan-Regiano cheese, salt, and black pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning. I usually find it needs a bit more salt, but that’s just me.  

Let’s eat!

Ladle soup into bowls and top with homemade croutons. This creamy soup is filling enough to serve as the main course for lunch or dinner. I love to make a pot of this and keep it on the stove over super low heat on Thanksgiving day so there is something to eat when people get hungry. It’s also great to keep warm in a crock pot and serve on Halloween night. It doesn’t matter when you make this delicious soup, just make it! You can thank me later! 

More recipes to try!

Roasted Garlic Tomato Soup

Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup

Quick and Simple Lentil Soup

Quick Minestrone Soup