This creamy roasted cauliflower soup with crispy bacon screams comfort food and will be the star of your fall menus. A bit of thyme, spicy chili oil, and crunchy green onions in every bite takes it over the top and makes it heavenly!
Why You’ll Love This Cauliflower Soup Recipe
This buttery cauliflower soup with bacon is a comforting dinner once the leaves start falling.
- Packed with veggies. You load up on tender cauliflower, onions, and veggie broth with every spoonful.
- Fancy-but-easy. A bit of garlic, butter, tangy lemon juice, and fresh thyme take this simple recipe to the next level.
- One-pot. Everything comes together in the same pot for easy clean-up afterwards.
- Perfect for fall. Something about homemade roasted cauliflower and soup just scream “fall”.
What You’ll Need
Sweet onions, fragrant garlic, and herby thyme add a lovely aromatic base to this rich cauliflower soup. Scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact amounts.
- Cauliflower – It can be fresh or frozen (thawed florets).
- Olive oil – Vegetable, corn, and canola oil are great substitutes.
- Salt and pepper – Go for kosher salt and freshly-cracked black pepper.
- Bacon – It can be regular or thick-cut bacon.
- Yellow onion – You can also use white onion.
- Garlic – Fresh garlic and garlic paste are best for this.
- Vegetable broth – I prefer low-sodium versions. Chicken broth is a good swap.
- Thyme – Feel free to use fresh or dried thyme.
- Unsalted butter – Salted butter works too.
- Lemon juice – Reduce the amount by half if you use lime juice.
How To Roast Cauliflower
Roasting cauliflower is easy as long as it’s cut into evenly-sized pieces!
- Prep it. Preheat the oven to 425F. Spread out the cauliflower in the baking sheet. Season it with olive oil and salt.
- Roast it. Pop it into the oven for 20 minutes, or until tender and slightly browned. Remove it from the heat and set it aside.
How To Make Cauliflower Soup
Using bacon grease for sautéing the veggies packs the soup with natural smokey goodness. Scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe card.
- Cook the bacon. Set a Dutch oven to medium-high heat and add the bacon. Cook it for 5-7 minutes, or until crispy. Remove it from the heat and let it drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
- Sautée the veggies. Add the onions and garlic to the bacon grease in the Dutch oven. Sautée everything for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix in the roasted cauliflower, thyme, and broth.
- Simmer it. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat. Simmer the soup for 20 minutes. Remove it from the heat for 10 minutes.
- Process it. Transfer the soup to a blender or use an immersion blender to process the soup until smooth. Add the butter, lemon juice, and more salt to taste. Blend again until well combined.
- Serve. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with bacon, green onions, chili oil, and fresh thyme. Enjoy!
Tips & Variations
You can easily spice up this garlicky cauliflower soup with crunchy toppings, spicy jalapeños, and cream cheese.
- Add toppings. Sprinkling more bacon, green onions, or drizzling chili oil over the soup will add more flavor and texture.
- Use leftovers. Mix my 3 Ingredient Mashed Cauliflower or Whole Roasted Cauliflower into the recipe to reduce food waste.
- Make a cauliflower-potato soup. Stir leftover Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes or Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes into the pot. Process as usual until smooth. Adjust the soup’s consistency with more broth.
- Prep ahead. Roast the cauliflower up to 3 days in advance so you can reduce cooking time during the week.
- Make it spicy. Chop up 1/4-1/2 fresh jalapeño or serrano chilis, and sautée them with the onions for a kick of heat.
- Add cheese. Blend 1/4 cup cream cheese into the soup for extra richness. Stirring 1/4-1/2 cup shredded cheddar until completely melted will also give you cheesy spoonfuls of soup.
- Go creamy. Swap 1 cup of broth for heavy cream or half-and-half. Don’t add it in until the last 10 minutes of cooking time.
Serving Suggestions
This hearty cauliflower soup is an easy dinner with a side of toasty bread or breadsticks. In smaller portions, I love serving it as a starter. Pair it with my Roasted Chicken with Lemon Garlic Butter or Honey Mustard Chicken Thighs. If you prefer steak, try my New York Strip Steak with Balsamic Reduction or Grilled Ribeye Steak. For veggie side ideas, try my Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Air Fryer Asparagus.
Proper Storage
Make sure it’s fully cooled before storing to prevent spoilage.
- Fridge: Place it in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Discard it immediately if the soup tastes sour.
- Freezer: Pour it into freezer bags or containers in serving-size portions. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge or reheat straight from frozen.
- To reheat it: Microwave it for 30 seconds, stir, and microwave again until warm. You can also heat it in a pot over medium-high heat for 8-9 minutes.
More Easy Soup Recipes To Try
Print
Roasted Cauliflower Soup
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 55 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8–10 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This buttery roasted cauliflower soup with crispy bacon, green onions, and spicy chili oil is an easy one-pot dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 4 strips of bacon, diced
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- optional: top with drizzle of chili oil, bacon and green onions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Add cauliflower to baking sheet, season with olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
- Place in oven and roast for 20 minutes, until vegetables are tender and slightly browned.
- Heat a dutch oven to medium high heat, add bacon and cook until crispy. Approximately 5-7 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool on a paper towel lined plate.
- Next add diced onion and garlic, directly to the bacon grease. Saute until translucent, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add roasted cauliflower, fresh thyme, and vegetable broth.
- Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes.
- Let soup cool. Once it’s cooled add to a large blender and blend until smooth.
- Next add butter, lemon juice and salt to taste. Blend until smooth and everything is combined.
- Serve soup with crispy bacon, diced green onion, a drizzle of chili oil and fresh thyme.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 1/2 cup
- Calories: 156
- Sugar: 9 g
- Sodium: 435 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Carbohydrates: 17 g
- Fiber: 6 g
- Protein: 8 g
- Cholesterol: 11 mg
26 comments on “Roasted Cauliflower Soup”
Hi Krista! Love all your recipes! This soup looks amazing! Just so you know…..not sure if this is just my computer but when I choose the print recipe option the five gray boxes to the left for facebook, twitter, pinterest, etc block the recipe and cover it up when printed. Just thought you might want to know that with the new website and all. Thanks!
thank you so much Jules, it’s one of my favs too! And I made sure to update the social shares buttons so they aren’t covering things when you print. 🙂 That can just be annoying haha
Just made this soup last night and can’t wait to try it! Do you serve it as a side or as the main dish?
hurray! you’ll love it! we ate it as a main dish and served a salad along side it!
This soup looks like it will just melt in your mouth. Love that it is so easy to print the recipe with one click of the button! 🙂 Excited to make but need to go to the grocery store first!
hurray!!! Hope you love it Christine!
I LOVE fennel but don’t think I’ve ever had it in soup. Such a beautiful combination with cauliflower. Yum!
You HAVE to try it in soup, so stinking good! thanks Steph!
Okay, so fennel and soup are two things I love so much! How great that you’ve added fennel to this bowl of goodness! It looks amazing and I can’t wait to give it a try!
Fennel is a new found favorite for me! I was intimidated by it at first but now I love it! Hope you get a chance to enjoy this soup Patricia! 🙂
Cauliflower is such a versatile ingredient. So happy to see it used in soup, because we’re all about healthy soup recipes in the fall. Thanks for the great idea! Now I know what to make for dinner 🙂
So glad you enjoyed it!
I have been eyeing this soup all day, Krista! So comforting for a cool fall day! Plus…bacon..of course. 😉
Well I have been staring at your pumpkin soup all day! And yes bacon just makes everything better!
Love that you added a little kick to this soup with chili oil! It looks amazinggggg!
Yes, the chili oil is amazing in this! Definitely a star!
Cauliflower and fennel are two of my favorite veggies!! How nice to pair them together in this lovely fall soup and add BACON!!! 🙂
Woohoo! Then you will love this soup girl!
Ooh, this looks absolutely amazing! I totally big heart soup too! It’s so comforting and perfect for this time of year!
Hurray for soup lovers! You’ll love this one Michelle!
I’ll have to browse your soup board.. maybe I’m not a huge soup lover because I haven’t had extra good ones yet!
Yes! Do it girl! Soup is the bomb in the fall and its friendly on your waist. (most of the time)
OMG I can’t wait till it’s soup weather to make this. Love roasted fennel.
Hurray! You’ll love it Matthew! 🙂
Yes! It was beautiful this weekend! I actually had to put a sweatshirt on Saturday evening! It was amazing! I am really loving the looks of this delicious soup! I love soup!
Yeah for sweatshirt season, that’s my favorite time of year! Enjoy the soup with your sweatshirt on girl! 🙂