Ivory cauliflower florets, sautéed aromatics and mild green chiles cooked in vegetable broth and blended until the vegetables become part of the broth, this soup is creamy without a lick of cream. Southwestern cauliflower soup is a delicious quick and easy recipe you’ll make again and again!
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“Cauliflower is nothing but a cabbage with a college education.” ~~ Mark Twain, via Food Lover’s Companion.
An elegant head of cauliflower tucked in our fridge crisper drawer inspired this simple silky-rich vegan soup. For color, contrast, and crunch, we give each bowl finishing sprinkles of toasted pumpkin seeds, sliced green onions, and cilantro leaves.
This healthful soup is more brothy than thick. If you prefer a thicker soup, you’ve got a few options. One is to include peeled potato chunks along with the other vegetables. You could also add cooked white beans–not only will the beans give this soup a creamier texture, they’ll bump up the protein ration. And the easiest way to give your velvety pureed cauliflower more body is to reduce the vegetable broth from 5 cups to 4.
If your kitchen sports a couple of worthy time-saving tools, you can make this soup in half an hour. A pressure cooker, stove-top or the electric Mealthy or Instant Pot, and an immersion blender, are the best speed tools I know for smooth creamy soups.
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Know that you can make this soup without a pressure cooker. And of course you can puree it in a regular blender. Without those time-savers, it will just take a little longer. You’ll find directions for both pressure cooker and stove-top Southwestern cauliflower soup in the recipe card below.
Make this soup your own–this easy recipe offers plenty of riffing possibilities. One day sub in cauliflower’s cousin broccoli. Another, add a sweet potato and a carrot along with the cauliflower and season the soup with curry powder instead of cumin.
To make this soup in your pressure cooker, sauté the aromatics first, then add the caulflower, chiles, and broth. Lock the pressure cooker lid in place and bring to high pressure. Maintain the pressure for 6 minutes, then quick-release the pressure. With an Instant Pot, you turn the top dial to vent, for a stovetop pressure cooker, place the pot under cold running water until the pressure valve drops.
As I mentioned, a hand-held immersion blender (Affiliate) makes it easy to puree creamy soups. Really, especially if you make a lot of soups like we do at our house, an immersion blender is a very handy kitchen gadget, in my mind practically essential. Simply stick that wand in the cooking pot and whir until you’ve got smooth, creamy, no muss no fuss, lickety-split soup. All you do is keep moving the hand blender up, down, and around the pot until no chunks remain.
I mean, have you ever tried to liquefy hot soup in a regular blender jar? Don’t try to puree the whole batch at once, it’s just about impossible to hold the lid on tight. The heat/steam pushes the lid off, the hot soup splatters everywhere, on your clothes and all over the kitchen counter. You have a big cleanup situation. If a jar blender is all you have, be safe–blend in small batches, transferring the pureed soup to another pot as you go.
More amazing creamy soups made easier with an immersion blender:
- Red Velvet Beet Soup
- Creamy Garbanzo Bean Soup
- Hearty Potato Soup with Leeks, Garlic and Parsley
- Spicy Cashew Spring Greens Soup
- Mexican Chayote Chile Soup
- Curried Carrot Soup
Make it a fabulous week–get in the kitchen and cook a quick and delicious soup!
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Vegan Southwestern Cauliflower Soup (Pressure Cooker)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion , chopped
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- 5 cups vegetable broth (see note)
- 1 head (1 1/2 pounds) cauliflower, broken into florets
- 1 (4-ounce) can diced mild green chilies
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- fine sea salt , to taste
- 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
- 1/2 cup sliced green onions , for garnish
- 1/4 cup shelled pumpkin seeds , toasted, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil over medium flame, in a pressure cooker or soup pot. (see note) Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion has softened, about 5 minutes. Add the vegetable broth, cauliflower, chiles, cumin, and white pepper.
- Lock the pressure cooker lid in place and bring to high pressure. Maintain the pressure for 6 minutes. Quick release the pressure: With an Instant Pot, turn the top dial to vent. For stovetop pressure cooker, place under cold running water.
- For regular stovetop cooking, cover and simmer until the vegetables are soft, about 25 minutes.
- Puree the soup using an immersion blender or in a blender jar. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish each serving with cilantro, green onions and pumpkin seeds.
Notes
- Keep it easy--use instant vegetable bouillon dissolved in hot water for broth.
- Be sure to sauté the aromatics, the onion and garlic, in a little olive oil first. Skip that step and your soup won’t have the same depth of flavor.
- For pressure cooking: Lock the pressure cooker lid in place and bring to high pressure. Maintain the pressure for 6 minutes. Quick release the pressure: With an Instant Pot, turn the top dial to vent. For stovetop pressure cooker, place under cold running water.
- If a jar blender is all you have, be sure to blend in small batches, transferring the pureed soup to another pot as you go.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is meant to be an estimate only. The numbers will vary based on the quantity consumed, brands used and substitutions that are made.
** This is an update of the Southwestern Cauliflower Soup I posted 4 ago! I’ve made it twice last month, thinking I really should republish so you can enjoy it too! Now includes with nutrition information and more.
What brand of veggie bouillon do you recommend? · 3 December, 2015
Christy–my favorite is Rapunzel. It comes in cubes and in a jar. · 3 December, 2015
I originally resisted the immersion blender as too gadgety. I was wrong. It’s so much easier and less messy than a traditional standing blender. Gorgeous soup. GREG · 4 December, 2015
This looks just soo good and comfy! I’m really into that kind of warm soups when it’s autumn · 4 October, 2019
Thank you–yes warming soups hit the spot this time of year! · 4 October, 2019
Well, I must admit, I’m not a big fan of cauliflower (and I don’t even know big fans personally), but sometimes I cook cauliflower in batter or breadcrumbs, and my family and I find it quite tasty as a side dish. I think this is due to the specific smell of cooked cauliflower. Despite this, your recipe caught my attention and I wanted to make this soup. I like its texture and that this soup doesn’t require too much time for preparation. By the way, adding toasted pumpkin seeds on top is also an original idea. Thank you! I will definitely try to make this soup. · 5 November, 2019
Hi Ann, Truth be known, we’re not huge fans of cauliflower either. This soup came about as a way to get cauliflowers nutritional quality in a quick easy and flavorful recipe! Let me know what you think when you make this recipe. · 7 November, 2019
This looks great – I can’t wait to try it! My husband loves cauliflower, and I’m originally from New Mexico where we put green chile in everything. So, this looks like the perfect meal for us! · 29 November, 2019
Thank you Katrina. I hope you do make it. It’s one of my go to soups. · 29 November, 2019
I like this recipe very much but I find that the flavor completely accelerates if I grill my own green chiles. · 22 December, 2019
Thank you Tammy. My mouth is watering just thinking about how this soup with fresh green chiles will taste. I do try to keep recipes simple and do-able for folks and canned chiles are pantry ready. But that doesn’t mean we can use home-roasted green chiles. 😉
Do you sweat and peel your grilled chiles or do you just puree them skin and all once they are roasted? · 22 December, 2019
I made this yesterday and I neglected to take a picture. It was great! I think I could have spiced it up a bit more but my husband and I both really liked it. I thought the cilantro and roasted pumpkin seeds on the top are a must as well. · 7 April, 2020
Thank you Carolyn–delighted to hear you enjoyed the soup! For years this was the only recipe I’d make with cauliflower and broccoli. It’s a good broccoli soup too! · 7 April, 2020