Roasted Cauliflower White Cheddar Soup
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If there’s a soup that you must try this Fall, please let this be it! This soup is equally as delicious, if not better, than broccoli cheese soup. I wouldn’t have thought it would be as good because cauliflower seems quite bland, but when you roast it in a blazing hot oven, it takes it to a whole new level.
It seems to caramelize on the edges and bring a light sweetness to the soup. It was hard for me not to eat all of the roasted cauliflower before adding it to the soup, I love the stuff!
I loosely adapted the recipe for this from the Broccoli Cheese Soup I have posted (which is maybe why I feel they are both so amazing), but I did however make this one just a bit lower in fat.
Since the cauliflower was able to offer some creaminess to the soup after pureeing, I didn’t need as much of the roux mixture (the butter and flour) and I also used a little less cheese.
Nutrition wasn’t really in mind when I added the lesser amount of cheese though, I just wanted some of the roasted cauliflower flavor to really show through. Truthfully, you could leave the cheese out all together and still have an irresistibly tasty soup (and I won’t say that often about cheese, I’m a cheese fanatic).
This soup is also wonderful served in the homemade bread bowls I posted just yesterday. Here is the link if you’d like to make them to go along with this soup. Enjoy!
Follow Cooking Classy
Roasted Cauliflower White Cheddar Soup
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower (2 - 2 1/2 lb), cored and chopped into small, bite size pieces
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
- 3 1/2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- 3 cups milk
- 1 (14 oz) can low-sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp dried parsley or 1 Tbsp chopped fresh
- 1/4 tsp (slightly heaping) dried thyme or 1 tsp chopped fresh
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 tsp granulated sugar
- 4 oz shredded sharp white cheddar cheese , shredded (1 cup), plus more for serving if desired
- 1 oz finely grated parmesan cheese (slightly packed 1/4 cup)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place cauliflower on baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and toss to evenly coat, then spread into an even layer and season lightly with salt and pepper.
- Bake in preheated oven until golden, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
- In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add in onion and saute until tender, about 4 - 5 minutes. Add in flour and cook, stirring constantly 1 1/2 minutes, adding in garlic during last 30 seconds of cooking.
- While whisking, slowly pour in milk followed by chicken broth and cream. Add in parsley, thyme, bay leaf, sugar, roasted cauliflower and season soup with salt and pepper to taste (I used 1/2 tsp salt but this may vary depending on how much salt you added to your cauliflower and how much salt you prefer).
- Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then reduce heat to low. Puree 3 cups of the soup in a blender (being careful as your working with hot liquids) and return to soup in pot.
- Remove from heat and stir in sharp white cheddar and parmesan cheese. Serve warm garnished with additional shredded white cheddar and serve with fresh bread or croutons if desired.
- Recipe Source: Cooking Classy, adapted lightly from my Broccoli Cheese Soup