This Instant Pot Cauliflower Soup is velvety smooth & creamy. Top with bacon, sour cream & chives for a delicious low carb dinner – you can freeze it too!
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Ingredients in Instant Pot cauliflower soup
Besides the main ingredient, cauliflower, you will just need these staples to make cauliflower soup in the Instant Pot:
- Onions
- Garlic
- Sour cream
- Cheddar cheese
- Vegetable broth
Cauliflower soup is a filling winter comfort food with few calories and carbs, yet lots of fiber, potassium and folic acid. It has the creamy texture of potato soup without the starch and carbs of a bowl of potatoes.
If you omit the bacon on top, you have a vegetarian meal. Without altering anything, this recipe is already low-carb and keto-friendly.
How to make cauliflower soup in the Instant Pot
This winter soup can be made in minutes when you use your Instant Pot! Here’s how to make it step-by-step below:
- Put all the ingredients except sour cream and cheese in the Instant Pot.
- Set the Instant Pot to cook for five minutes.
- Take advantage of this cooking time to prepare your toppings. The soup will take care of itself!
- Perform a quick release.
- Use an immersion blender to puree.
- Stir in the sour cream and cheese. Finely shredded cheese will melt better. Add the cheese in small batches and stir in between additions to keep it from clumping.
- Add your toppings!
Instant Pot cauliflower
If you want to use your Instant Pot to make steamed cauliflower sometime, you can do that too. Instant Pots have a steam function that makes veggies super easy.
You’ll need about a cup of water in the bottom of the pot to create the steam pressure. Use the steam basket to keep your cauliflower out of the water to keep it from getting soggy.
Always do a quick release when cooking veggies in the Instant Pot. This stops the cooking process immediately and keeps them from getting so soggy that they fall apart.
Ingredient substitutions
The sour cream adds a little tartness and makes the soup creamy. However, you could also use cream cheese or heavy cream. Coconut milk is a good substitute when you are trying to keep this soup vegan.
Other cheeses taste great in this soup as well. The best cheese for soups has a high moisture content and a low melting point. This ensures that your cheese melts into the soup. Parmesan, swiss and Monterey jack are popular options for cauliflower soup.
Other seasonings that taste great on cauliflower include:
- Thyme
- Rosemary
- Parsley
- Yellow mustard
Easy garnishes for this soup
You have plenty of time to cook bacon while the cauliflower soup is in the Instant Pot. Just like a baked potato or potato soup, you can offer lots of toppings for each person to customize their bowl of soup.
Other toppings that taste great on top of this cauliflower soup are:
- Cheddar cheese
- Sour cream
- Chives
- Roasted chickpeas
- Leeks
- Capers
- Mushrooms
- Jalapeno peppers
How to blend the soup
By far, the easiest way to blend this soup is to put your immersion blender right into the Instant Pot when it’s done cooking.
If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender and puree it in batches. Only fill the blender about half way and cover it with a towel instead of the lid to keep the pressure from building too high. You’ll also want to wait until the soup cools slightly so that the lid doesn’t pop off. Too much hot liquid can explode if you try to blend it too quickly.
What to serve with cauliflower cheese soup
You’ll want something else to go with this amazing cauliflower soup. Here are some suggestions for accompaniments.
- Quesadillas
- Shrimp or seared scallops
- Steak sandwiches
- Tossed salad
- With chicken breast on the side
- Crusty bread and butter
Storing and reheating cauliflower soup
Cauliflower soup will last for 4-5 days in the refrigerator.
When you are ready to eat the leftovers, just pop them in the microwave for a few minutes until hot and then add your garnishes.
This also means that you can meal prep with this recipe. Make it in advance, then reheat the whole thing on the stovetop until hot.
Or you can divide it in individual portions for a healthy lunch – I use mason jars to store the leftovers
Freezing Instant Pot cauliflower soup
You can freeze this soup with a few small adjustments. Make the Instant Pot cauliflower soup as directed. Do not add the sour cream or cheese. Puree the cauliflower and allow to cool completely. When you put the soup in a freezer bag, you can lay it flat to freeze.
Cauliflower soup prepared this way will last for six months. You can put soup directly into a pot and heat it from frozen.
Add your sour cream and cheese after reheating the soup.
More Instant Pot soup recipes
If you’re looking for more amazing soup recipes, the Instant Pot has got your back! Check out these other favourites below.
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on turning this 30-Minute Ahi Poke Bowl into your weekly lunches.
- I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box,conveniently delivered to me frozen.
- Get a meat thermometerto make sure your chicken is cooked through
- Use these Ziploc bag holders if you’re marinating the chicken then freezing it
- Freeze this recipe in glass microwave-safe bowlsup to 3 months
Instant Pot resources
If you’d like some more help with your Instant Pot, then you’ll love my free resources! Sign up for free below when you get my weekly newsletter:
5-Day Instant Pot Challenge!
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Instant Pot Cauliflower Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 head cauliflower, chopped into florets
- 2 yellow onions, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp each salt & pepper
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
Toppings
- 4 slices Bacon, crumbled
- 1 tbsp chives
- Sour cream, for topping
- Cheddar, for topping
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to Instant Pot in the order in which they are listed except for sour cream, cheddar cheese and toppings.
- Place lid on Instant Pot and make sure valve is set to seal. Press the pressure cook button and set to high, then cook for 5 minutes. Instant Pot will take about 5-10 minutes to come to pressure then pressure cook for 5 minutes.
- While soup is cooking in the Instant Pot, cook and prepare bacon and chop chives if using as toppings.
- Do a quick release of the pressure on the Instant Pot by flicking the switch at the top with a spoon. Open the lid when pressure gauge has dropped and the lid opens easily.
- Stir in sour cream and cheddar, then blend soup with an immersion blender. Garnish with toppings of choice, then serve and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
*Nutritional info includes 1 slice of bacon as garnish
