Healthy Cauliflower Soup (Instant Pot or Stovetop)

Cauliflower soup in a gray bowl, with an Instant Pot behind.

4.86 from 7 votes

Healthy Cauliflower Soup (Instant Pot or Stovetop)

This Instant Pot Cauliflower Soup is creamy without a drop of cream, rich with herbs and spices and freezer-friendly, making it ideal for meal prep!

Prep Time15

Cook Time11

To reach pressure15

Total Time45

Course: Soups

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: Instant Pot Soup, Plant Based Soup, Vegan soup

Servings: Servings

Calories: 178kcal

Author: Dara Michalski | Cookin' Canuck

Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil (or water if cooking oil-free(
1 small yellow onion diced
1 large stalk celery diced
4 garlic cloves minced
1 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 ½ teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
¾ teaspoon ground coriander
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground pepper
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper (omit for less spice)
2 pounds cauliflower head cur into large florets (about 6 cups)
4 cups vegetable broth (See Note 1)
1 cup water
1 (14 oz.) can chickpeas drained & rinsed
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
3 tablespoons raw pepitas toasted in a dry skillet (optional) (See Note 2)

Instructions

Instant Pot:

Set the Instant Pot to the SAUTÉ mode and add a the olive oil. If you prefer to cook oil-free, add a little water or vegetable broth instead and add more as needed while the vegetables cook.
Stir in the onion and celery. Sauté until the vegetables are starting to soften.
Stir in the garlic, ginger, curry powder, thyme, ground coriander, salt, pepper and cayenne. Cook for another minute.
Pour in the vegetable broth and water, along with the cauliflower florets, chickpeas and nutritional yeast. Scrape the bottom of the pot to release any cooked vegetable bits.
Close the lid of the Instant Pot, set the valve to SEALING and pressure cook on HIGH pressure for 6 minutes. (It will take about 15 minutes to come to pressure.)
Blending directions are below.

Stovetop:

Heat the olive oil (or water if cooking oil-free) in a large saucepan set over medium heat. Sauté the onion and celery until the vegetables are tender. If the saucepan is not nonstick, you may need to add a little water while cooking to stop the vegetables from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Stir in the garlic, ginger, curry powder, thyme, ground coriander, salt, pepper and cayenne. Cook for another minute.
Stir in the cauliflower, chickpeas, broth and water.
Bring to a boil, then lower heat slightly and cook at a lively simmer until the cauliflower is very tender. That should take about 15 to 20 minutes.

Blending the soup:

For the immersion blender, submerge the head of the blender completely in the liquid so that the hot liquid doesn’t spray out of the pot while blending. Blend the mixture, pushing down the pieces of cauliflower and chickpeas as you go, until the mixture is smooth.
For the regular blender, cool the mixture for about 10 minutes. Blend the mixture in two batches. The liquid will still be quite hot, so occasionally release the steam (while the blender is off) to avoid the lid blowing off the top of the blender. Blend until smooth.
Ladle the soup into a bowl and garnish with toasted pepitas.

Notes

Note 1: Use low sodium vegetable broth and/or adjusted the amount of added salt if following a low-salt diet.

Note 2: Not included in the nutritional information.

Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I provide nutritional information for my recipes as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using the LoseIt! calculator and Weight Watchers points are calculated using the Recipe Builder on their site. While I attempt to provide information that is as accurate as possible, you should calculate the nutritional information independently before relying on it.

Nutrition