The silky texture of this puréed cauliflower potato soup makes it seem like you’re enjoying an ultra-rich splurge. It tastes like a creamy bisque, laden with heavy cream and cheese. You’ll be pleasantly surprised when you find that there isn’t a bit of heavy cream or butter in the ingredient list, and only a mere half cup of shredded cheese. The taste is there but not the fat. How long it takes: 45 minutes Equipment you’ll need: Instant Pot pressure cooker Servings: makes 7 cups And to make it even better, cauliflower is low in carbs, super nutritious, and very popular right now. Cauliflower rice is a popular low carb choice and can be used in lots of tasty ways, from side dishes to pizza crust. Have you tried my cauliflower nachos yet? So good, you won’t even miss the chips. You might also like air fryer buffalo cauliflower bites. Even if you aren’t a fan of cauliflower, and I know there are a few of you out there, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by this creamy potato soup. Quite honestly, it’s hard to discern the presence of cauliflower at all. It’s kind of a sneaky way to get your vegetables.
About this Soup Recipe
It’s ready to serve in 45 minutes. Like most Instant Pot recipes, this soup comes together pretty quickly. Everything is cooked right in the Instant Pot in thirty minutes, start to finish. Allow yourself fifteen minutes to clean and chop the cauliflower, potatoes, and onions, and you can have a delicious creamy soup on the table, complete with a lovely garnish of bacon crumbles, shredded cheddar cheese, and sliced green onions in less than an hour!
Ingredient Notes
Cauliflower: Good news! Both frozen and fresh work in this recipe. Use whatever you have on hand. Don’t worry if the cauliflower is still frozen because it doesn’t matter a bit (yay!). Just dump the frozen cauliflower out of the bag and into the pot. Yukon Gold Potatoes: We recommend sticking with Yukon gold potatoes for the creamiest, silky soup. There’s no need to peel them first; just give them a quick scrub. Flavor: We keep things pretty simple in this soup; all you need are onion, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Liquids: The base of this soup is a combination of chicken stock and milk. We always recommend using unsalted or low-salt chicken stock so that you can control the salt levels yourself. For a vegetarian soup, use vegetable broth (and leave out the bacon). Cheddar Cheese: We recommend stirring a portion of the cheese in so it melts and flavors the soup, and reserving the remainder of the cheese to garnish your bowl of soup. Garnishes! Aren’t garnishes and toppings always the most fun part? For this soup, we recommend crumbled bacon, more cheese, and sliced green onions or chopped parsley. Fresh chives are terrific, too, if you don’t have green onions.
How To Make Cauliflower Potato Soup
Sauté the bacon. The process of making this soup begins with a quick sauté of the bacon garnish. Don’t you just love the Sauté feature of the Instant Pot? So handy! Reserve the bacon, and use the drippings to sauté the onion next. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pressure cooker (except the cheese), and set the pressure for ten minutes. The pressure cooker will take about ten minutes to come to pressure, so you have twenty minutes of hands-off cooking. That’s just enough time to make a quick salad to serve with your soup or a pan of whole wheat cornbread. Release the pressure. When the timer goes off, quick release the pressure. Don’t be alarmed if your soup doesn’t look so great yet. It all comes together once it’s blended. Purée the soup. Use a hand held blender to purée the soup. An alternative is to carefully transfer it to a blender to process. If you aren’t quite ready to serve the soup, keep it perfectly warm for up to an hour on the “Keep Warm” setting of your Instant Pot. Add seasonings and cheese. Stir in the garlic powder, salt, and pepper, and some of the cheese and enjoy with your desired toppings!
Make It Your Own
Vegetarian option: Omit the bacon, and sauté the onion in a tablespoon of olive oil instead. Substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth. Experiment with toppings. Fresh chopped parsley, french-fried onions, homemade croutons, or fried sage leaves perfectly garnish this soup. Try a different cheese. Sharp cheddar cheese can be replaced with another type of cheese. Use a cheese with plenty of flavor and that melts well, such as a sharp fontina, Gruyère, or Swiss. Stovetop soup. This recipe can be adapted to cooking on the stove. However, if you don’t have an Instant Pot, you may want to try my roasted cauliflower soup. Not a fan of cauliflower? This five ingredient crockpot pumpkin soup is somewhat similar to this recipe (it also has potatoes). Or go in a different direction with smoky roasted tomato soup or creamy carrot soup.
Storage & Reheating Tips
Refrigerate: Leftover creamy cauliflower potato soup is fantastic and makes a great lunch. Store leftovers in a tightly covered container in the fridge for up to 4 days. We don’t recommend freezing this soup. Reheat: Individual portions can be reheated in the microwave at 50% power until hot. Larger amounts can be reheated in a saucepan on the stovetop over low heat.
More Instant Pot Soup Recipes
Soup’s on! And it’s on the table in a lot less time if you use your Instant Pot! Try:
Instant Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup Instant Pot Black Bean Soup (no need to soak beans!) Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup Instant Pot Tomato Soup Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Soup Instant Pot Minestrone Soup Recipe Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings Instant Pot White Chicken Chili Instant Pot Spicy Peanut Soup with sweet potatoes and kale by Pinch of Yum
in your Instant Pot!
