This creamy Instant Pot cauliflower soup is so delicious, you could just drink it straight from the bowl. A filling and comforting vegetable soup that you can make in less than 30 minutes!
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Cauliflower soup is incredibly popular in many countries in Europe, and with good reason. It tastes much better than it sounds, it's rich and creamy, and it's incredibly filling too.
This simple cauliflower soup recipe adds potatoes, heavy cream and cheddar cheese, however these ingredients are all optional and can be omitted to suit your dietary preferences, or to make the dish lighter.
The soup is made with around 10 minutes of actual effort in the kitchen, and the dish is served in less than half an hour. Perfect for easy weeknight dinners!
Why you'll love it
- Easy creamy vegetable soup
- Quick and effortless way to cook homemade cauliflower soup
- Easy to customize to suit your preferences
- Variations to suit most dietary requirements, like gluten free, vegan, keto, low carb and more
- Serve it as an appetizer or entree for lunch or dinner
- A great way to use leftover cauliflower
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Ingredients
Cauliflower: Use fresh cauliflower, or frozen cauliflower florets. I usually use a whole head of cauliflower, but you can also use around 3-4 cups of florets.
Potatoes: Potatoes are optional, but add a lovely creaminess to the soup. Any type of potato will be fine.
Vegetable stock: Adds lovely flavor to the soup. You can use premade vegetable broth, or water and a bouillon cube. If you're not worried about making the soup vegetarian, you can also use chicken stock as an alternative.
Onion: Yellow or white onions work best. Shallots are also great!
Garlic: Use garlic cloves, garlic paste or garlic powder.
Seasoning: Salt, pepper and nutmeg add amazing flavor to this soup.
Cheddar: Shredded cheddar cheese gives the soup a great texture, and some added flavor. This is completely optional.
Heavy cream (double cream): The added cream is optional, but makes the soup taste amazing. You can omit it if you prefer, or use milk as a lighter alternative.
Instructions
You can find full instructions + ingredient measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of this page
One: Heat up olive oil in your Instant Pot on the SAUTE setting. Sauté diced onion and garlic for a few minutes until soft and translucent. Press cancel to turn the pressure cooker off.
Two: Add peeled and diced potatoes, cauliflower florets, vegetable stock and seasoning to the Instant Pot. Seal the lid, and cook on PRESSURE COOK or MANUAL setting, set the timer to 8 minutes.
Three: Turn the valve to manually release the pressure as soon as the timer is up. Remove the lid. Use an immersion blender or hand blender to blend the soup smooth.
Four: Optionally, add shredded cheese and cream to the soup. Add any additional seasoning to taste, and serve.
Top tips
- Scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to remove any stuck pieces of onion before you seal the lid on the pot. This will allow the Instant Pot to build up pressure.
- The soup is quite thick and creamy. If you prefer a thinner soup, you can add some water or vegetable stock until you reach your desired consistency after you puree the soup smooth.
- The potatoes, cheese and cream are all optional ingredients that make the soup creamy. If you prefer to leave all these ingredients out, the soup could be a little thin, but it will still taste nice.
- You can manually release all pressure as soon as the timer is up, or leave it to release naturally. The result will be pretty much the same.
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Serving suggestions
This Instant Pot cauliflower soup is best served as an appetizer in smaller servings, or as an entree in larger servings.
You can enhance the texture of the soup by adding a flavorful topping like crispy bacon, toasted pumpkin seeds, Homemade Croutons, cheese or fresh herbs. Loaded cauliflower soup typically adds a generous amount of bacon pieces and cheddar cheese as a topping, and is a very popular variation.
I also like to serve a main course soup with some tasty bread. Air Fryer Garlic Bread and Air Fryer Grilled Cheese are also excellent options.
Variations
Different seasoning: You can change up the seasoning in this recipe as much as you want. Red pepper flakes, dried thyme, cumin or bay leaves are great options.
Keto / low carb: Omit the potatoes to make the recipe keto friendly.
Low calorie / diet friendly: There are several things you can do to make this soup more diet friendly. You can omit the heavy cream, or replace it with milk instead. You can also use 1 potato instead of 2, and either omit the cheese or simply use less.
Vegan cauliflower soup: Omit the cheese and heavy cream, or use vegan friendly alternatives. Plant based dairy products can be found in most supermarkets.
Gluten free: Make sure to use certified gluten free vegetable broth. Most brands will be suitable!
Equipment
You will need a 6 quart Instant Pot or larger to cook the ingredients in. If you have a larger pot, you might be able to double or triple the recipe to make a bigger batch.
Additionally, you will need an immersion blender or hand blender to puree the soup smooth. You can also use a regular stand blender to do this. If you choose to use a regular blender, you might have to blend the ingredients in multiple batches.
Storage
Store any leftover Instant Pot cauliflower soup in a sealed container in a refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can reheat it in a microwave, on the stove top, or in a pressure cooker for a few minutes, and serve it warm.
I don't usually recommend freezing soups that contain heavy cream, as it can separate when you defrost the dish. If you want to freeze the soup for later, as a premade freezer meal, I recommend that you omit the cream from the recipe. The soup will still taste great without it!
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Frequently asked questions
You will need to add at least 1 cup of liquid for the pressure cooker to work. To achieve the best results, I recommend that you follow the recipe accurately.
If the soup is too thin, you can thicken it by adding some cornstarch, arrowroot powder, mashed potatoes or more cooked cauliflower.
Cauliflower releases sulfur when it's cooked, which can sometimes make it smell. You can remove it by adding a tiny splash of vinegar to the pot before you pressure cook the ingredients.
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You might also like these recipes
- Instant Pot Vegetable Soup
- Spicy Tomato Soup
- Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Slow Cooker Pumpkin Soup
- Healthy Mushroom Soup
- Minty Pea Soup
- Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup
If you make this recipe, make sure to post a photo to Instagram with #hintofhealthy!
Recipe
Instant Pot Cauliflower Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
Instructions
- Heat up olive oil in your Instant Pot on the SAUTE setting.1 teaspoon olive oil
- Sauté diced onion and finely diced garlic for a few minutes until soft and translucent. Press cancel to turn the pressure cooker off.1 onion, 3 garlic cloves
- Peel and dice the potatoes into 1-inch chunks. Cut the cauliflower into florets.2 medium potatoes, 1 large head cauliflower
- Add potatoes, cauliflower, vegetable stock and seasoning to the Instant Pot. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen up any stuck pieces of onion.2 ½ cup vegetable broth, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- Seal the lid, and cook on PRESSURE COOK or MANUAL setting, set the timer to 8 minutes.
- Turn the valve to manually release the pressure as soon as the timer is up. Remove the lid.
- Use an immersion blender or hand blender to blend the soup smooth.
- Optionally, add shredded cheese and cream to the soup. Add any additional seasoning to taste, and serve.½ cup heavy cream, ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
Video
Notes
- Store leftovers in a refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in a microwave or on the stove top, and serve warm.
- If you don't have an immersion blender available, you can puree the soup in a regular stand blender. You will have to do this in multiple batches to prevent overfilling the blender.
- You can omit or reduce the cheese, cream and potatoes. This will make the soup lighter and better suited for several dietary requirements.
Nutrition
Food safety tips
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
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