Ultra-comforting, creamy Cauliflower Cheddar Soup with thyme is easy to love. Simple to make and vegan-adaptable(using cashews!).
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The creaminess of this Cauliflower Cheddar Soup recipe comes from the tender cooked cauliflower and sweet potato blending up silky smooth, creating a luscious, velvety texture. Add cheddar for extra richness or keep it vegan with cashews!
The white-fleshed sweet potato may sound like a surprising ingredient, but it lends a mild sweetness that beautifully enhances cauliflower.
Milder than the orange-fleshed yam, sweet potato is delicious here! Sharp cheddar, thyme, and a touch of dijon bring it all to a heavenly, delicious balance.
For more cauliflower soups try our Curried Cauliflower Soup and Creamy Cauliflower Soup.
Table of Contents
- Why You’ll Love This
- Cauliflower Cheddar Soup Ingredients
- How to make Cauliflower Cheddar Soup
- Optional Bread Crumb Topping
- Possible Variations
- FAQs
- More Favorite Cauliflower Recipes!
- Creamy Cauliflower Soup
- 31+ Mouthwatering Cauliflower Recipes
- Curried Cauliflower Soup
- Roasted Cauliflower with Garlic, Lemon and Parsley
- Or try these savory soups!
- Cauliflower Cheddar Soup Recipe
Why You’ll Love This
- Incredibly comforting. This cheesy soup has a subtle sweetness and luscious texture.
- Easy to make. Only 20 minutes of prep time before simmering!
- Vegan adaptable. Use raw cashews instead of cheese for a delicious vegan variation!
Cauliflower Cheddar Soup Ingredients
- Cauliflower head: You’ll need a pound, or 4 cups florets.
- Sharp cheddar cheese: Use a block and grate the cheese. Can also use gruyere or comté. Use raw cashews for a vegan variation.
- Shallots: Sliced small. Could use onion as a substitute.
- Garlic cloves: Roughly chopped.
- Butter: Or use olive oil.
- Sweet potato: Use white-fleshed sweet potato. Not a yam. Can sub with equal parts carrot and potato.
- Dried thyme
- Chicken broth: Or use vegetable broth.
- Dijon mustard
How to make Cauliflower Cheddar Soup
In a large soup pot, or dutch oven, saute shallots and garlic in butter or olive oil for 5 minutes, over medium-low heat. Stir occasionally.
Add cauliflower florets, sweet potato, thyme, kosher salt, pepper, and broth. (If making vegan, add cashews now- see recipe notes). Bring to a boil, then simmer for 25-30 minutes, until vegetables are fork-tender.
If you like a few chunks in your soup, take out a cup of the veggies, set aside, and transfer the remaining soup to a blender, filling just halfway (you may need to do it in two batches)
Be careful, hot soup can explode. Start slow and vent the blender lid so steam pressure can escape. Blend until smooth. Alternatively, you could use an immersion blender.
Return to the soup pot. Add cheese and dijon, stirring to melt white cheddar cheese in, turn on low heat if needed to fully melt. If you saved aside veggie chunks add them back in now.
Add more broth or milk to desired constancy. Serve with optional bread crumb topping, fresh thyme, cracked pepper, a little extra cheese, or drizzle of olive oil.
Optional Bread Crumb Topping
This garlicky bread crumb topping adds an extra bit of flavor and texture. Add the mixture on top of your soup bowl if desired!
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 pieces of bread
- 2 tablespoons butter (or oil)
- Salt and pepper
- Fresh parsley, minced
Crumble together in a food processor. Toast in a skillet over medium heat along with butter (or oil). Melt butter and gently toast, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and minced fresh parsley.
Possible Variations
- Vegetables: You can get creative and toss in any extra veggies (celery, leek) you have on hand!
- Dark, leafy greens: Wilt some greens into the pot once you turn the stove off.
- Meaty addition: If you’re not vegetarian, add some cooked, chopped bacon!
- Add heat: Garnish with red pepper flakes for a little spice (or even hot sauce).
FAQs
Yes! Leave out the cheese. Add cashews into the broth to simmer along with the vegetables. Notes in the recipe.
For an even richer soup, you could substitute one cup of broth with milk. Or sub 1/2 cup broth with 1/2 cup half and half or heavy cream.
Let cool completely, then store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Yes! Once cooled, place in a freezer safe container for 2-3 months. Thaw in the fridge before reheating on the stovetop.
Hope you love this Cauliflower Cheddar Soup as much as we do!
More Favorite Cauliflower Recipes!
Or try these savory soups!
- North African Carrot Soup with Chermoula
- Celeriac Soup
- Homemade Tomato Soup
- Pumpkin Soup with Garam Masala
- Curried Zucchini Soup
- African Peanut Soup Recipe
Cauliflower Cheddar Soup Recipe
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 cups
- Category: Soup
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Ultra comforting and dreamy Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Thyme and Sharp Cheddar is easy to love. Simple to make and Vegan adaptable! (see recipe notes)
Ingredients
- 2 medium shallots, 1 cup (4 oz) sliced small
- 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
- 1 head cauliflower, 4 cups (1 lb) cut in to small pieces
- 1 small sweet potato (not yam), 1 cup (6 oz) cut in small chunks
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon sea salt, adjust to taste
- 1/4–1/2 teaspoon black pepper, adjust to taste
- 1 quart or 4 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 1 cup grated sharp cheddar, more to taste (the stronger and sharper the cheese the less you need to use)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dijon mustard
Instructions
- In a large pot, or dutch oven, sauté shallots and garlic in butter or olive oil for 5 minutes, over medium-low heat.
- Add cauliflower, sweet potato, thyme, salt, pepper, and broth. (If making vegan, add cashews now- see recipe notes). Simmer for 25-30 minutes, until vegetables are fork-tender.
- If you like a few chunks in your soup, take out a cup of the veggies, set aside, and transfer the remaining soup to a blender, filling just halfway (you may need to do it in two batches) Be careful, hot soup can explode. Start slow and vent the blender lid so steam pressure can escape. Blend until smooth.
- Return to the soup pot. Add cheese and dijon, stirring to melt cheese in, turn on low heat if needed to fully melt. If you saved aside veggie chunks add them back in now. Add more broth or milk to desired constancy.
Notes
Keeps in the fridge 4 days.
The stronger the cheese the less you need. Good options: extra sharp cheddar, gruyere, comté.
Optional Bread Crumb Topping: 1 garlic clove, 2 pieces of bread- crumble together in food processor. Toast in a skillet over medium heat along with 2 Tablespoons butter (or oil) gently toast stirring constantly for about 5 minutes. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley.
Substitute equal parts carrot and potato for the same amount as the sweet potato.
Vegan option: add 1/2 cup of raw cashews in with the vegetables to simmer.
Vegan topping: Vegan Cheesy Sprinkle
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 180
- Sugar: 3.6 g
- Sodium: 904.6 mg
- Fat: 12.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 11.1 g
- Fiber: 2.3 g
- Protein: 7.7 g
- Cholesterol: 22 mg
Perfect for a snowy night. Added some crumbled blue cheese to the cheddar and a splash of half and half at the end. Winner!
Sounds divine Herta! Glad you enjoyed, thank you for leaving a review!
So easy and SO tasty! Such a fun spin on classic broccoli cheddar soup, but I think I like this even better.
Great to hear Janine!
I’ve made this before, but this time I forgot to buy a sweet potato so I used carrots instead and it’s still really delicious and garners a gorgeous light orange color 🙂
Oh perfect!
Delicious, light, and easy. Will make this soup again.
Glad you enjoy Christina!
Excellent results! A hit with everyone. Added a little (maybe 1/2 cup) Oat milk to cream it up and keep it vegan for us, then offered stir-in grated cheddar cheese by the bowl for the non-vegans.
So glad to hear this Lynn!
Just made this as randomly needed to clean out the sweet potato, cauliflower, thyme and cheddar in my fridge and this recipe had all of these ingredients! Would have never thought of making this recipe – delicious! Definitely a keeper!
Awesome Lisette, so glad you enjoyed!
I always make this with the caramelized onion scones (w smoked cheddar). A pair made in heaven!
Sounds super tasty Bowie!
I loved it! I made the stock in my instant pot and had a wonderful soup in less than 2 hours.
Great to hear Christy!
Mine came out a little more orange rather than white due to the sweet potato. However that did not impede up on the flavor at all. I expected this to be good. However, I didn’t expect it to be as good as it actually was. I served it at a dinner party and it was a huge hit. There was absolutely none left over. This was really a remarkably good soup. I paired it with a soft bread and it was sublime. Thank you for a great recipe.
Great to hear Danny, so glad everyone enjoyed! Next time if you want a less orange soup you can use a white sweet potato. 🙂
This soup was exquisite! I love cauliflower and knew it was going to be delicious. The breadcrumbs were a perfect addition; I will be sure to add them whenever we make this recipe. Thank you for sharing it!
Thank you Allison!
Such a complexity of flavors here, they all went together so nicely. This will be my lunch for the week 🙂 thank you Tonia!!
Wonderful to hear Angeli!
Made this delicious soup last night, another excellent recipe – thanks Sylvia!
Great to hear Kimberly. So happy you enjoyed!
I made this tonight and it was delicious!!! I added a little pan fried pancetta as a topping, yum!
Great Lex! Yum on the pancetta!
This is fabulous! I love the addition of the sweet potato. I made this in my instant pot and it turned out beautifully. Thank you!
Oh perfect Brittany, thanks for sharing!
I’m interested in using the Instant Pot, would you please tell me how long to cook and what pressure? Thank you.
I would love to know exactly how you adapted it for the IP, please. 😀
Could you tell me the purpose of the sweet potato in the cauliflower soup. I’ve never heard of this before
Hi Michele, The sweet potato adds body as well as a little sweetness. It is like adding potato for texture (which you can totally use to substitute!) but sweet potatoes have more fiber and are a little lower on the glycemic index. The flavor is really nice with the thyme and dijon.🙂
I made this last night. It was amazingly good and tasty. Loved the extra bread crumble on top. The Dijon added flavor that you wouldn’t expect and paired with the sharp cheese made this a keeper for sure!
Yay! Thanks Cat.
This cauliflower soup sounds scrumptious! I’ve never tried it with sweet potato so that will be my next soup go to. I love soup—especially in the winter! Thanks Tonia
Let us know how you like it!