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There’s nothing like a warm comforting bowl of soup when fall and winter roll around. This creamy cauliflower soup is just as good as the potato leek soup my Mom made when we were growing up, or my new cream of celery soup. in fact, it’s hard to tell the difference (she could easily have used cauliflower instead of potatoes and I don’t think I’d have noticed!)! Creamy cauliflower leek soup is the perfect starter option or to serve on its own for lunch or a quick weeknight meal.
Creamy Cauliflower Leek Soup
You can whip this equally hearty and healthy soup up in just 30 minutes with a few ingredients that you probably already have stocked in your pantry. Whilst it’s cooking, you can make a nice side salad and slice some bread for lunch, or get to work on your main course! I like to keep it simple and serve up this creamy cauliflower leek soup with some of my pretty darn perfect sweet dinner rolls.
How to Clean Leeks
The key to using leeks in your cooking is to clean those suckers out, and well. They are infamous for having grit hiding in their layers, so they can be slightly time consuming. Slightly.
- You might have to add on another five minutes to your prep time for leeks and that’s about it. This recipe only uses four, so it’s safe to say that you can still tackle this and have it ready for dinner in no time.
- Leeks have hidden dirt between the layers usually. You are going to have to chop off the dark green parts and then make sure to rinse the paler parts well!
- Chop the dark green part off and then rinse out the leeks the best that you can.
- Chop into small circles like shown in the photo.
How To Make Creamy Cauliflower Leek Soup
You can cook this on the stove, instant pot, or a slow cooker. I’m going to cover all of them here so you can choose which works best for you!
Stove top
- Start by melting the butter over medium heat in a large pot and begin to saute the leeks until they’ve turned soft and translucent.
- Then add in the garlic and continue to saute for 2 minutes until browned.
- When you have a fragrant mix, stir in the cauliflower, chicken broth, and bay leaves, and bring to boil.
- At this point, you can reduce the heat and cover the pot to let the soup simmer for around 30 minutes. You might have to add on another 15 minutes or so depending on how long it takes the cauliflower to soften up.
- Remove the soup from the stove and blend until smooth.
- Mix in the heavy cream – you’ll need to do this by hand because mixing with a blender can make the soup very frothy once you add the dairy.
- Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat and saute the leeks until they are soft and translucent. Add in the garlic and saute for another 2 minutes until browned and fragrant.
- Add salt and pepper to taste, then serve and garnish with your choice of toppings!
Instant Pot
- Place the oil and leeks in the bottom of the instant pot.
- Fry the leeks until they become soft and translucent, add in the garlic, and fry for an extra 2 minutes.
- Pour chicken broth into the pot and add the rest of the ingredients (but leave out the cream and toppings), then stir.
- Close and seal the lid and press the soup button to let it cook. Once the soup is ready, take off the lid and use an immersion blender to puree the soup until it’s nice and smooth. Then add in the whipping cream.
- Annnnd… you’re done! Ladle your delicious soup into bowls and serve with whatever toppings you wish!
Slow Cooker
- Grab a frying pan and fry the leeks and butter until they’re soft and translucent, then add in the garlic and continue to fry for another 2 minutes.
- Once that’s done, transfer into the slow cooker and pour in the chicken broth and the rest of the ingredients (again, not the cream and toppings!), then stir it until combined.
- Leave it to cook for about 6 hours on high or 8 hours or low (give or take an hour each end, you’ll need to keep an eye on it towards the end).
- Use an immersion blender to puree the soup until it’s smooth and add in the whipping cream.
- Fry the leeks and butter in a frying pan until they are soft and translucent then add in the garlic. Fry the garlic and leeks for another 2 minutes. Transfer into the slow cooker.
- Ladle into bowls and serve with your desired toppings!
Tips And Tricks For Making Creamy Cauliflower Leek Soup
- If you don’t have an immersion blender, a regular blender will work just fine.
- For a vegan and dairy-free version, leave out the butter and cream and use a vegetable broth.
- The toppings are totally up to you. I like to add some fresh herbs like cilantro and parsley, and some toasted bread goes really well on the side or mixed in the soup.
- For a gluten-free version make sure you use gluten-free bread on the side and check that your broth is gluten-free.
More soup recipes to try:
Simple Tomato & Rice Hamburger Soup
Instant Pot/Slow Cooker Chicken & Wild Rice Soup – No Cream/Milk
Cheesy Cream of Cauliflower Soup
Happy cooking! Man, I love that sup season is finally here again!
Love,
Karlynn
Creamy Cauliflower Leek Soup
- Prep Time
- 20 minutes
- Cook Time
- 45 minutes
- Course
- Soup
- Cuisine
- American
- Servings
- 8
- Calories
- 180
- Author
- Karlynn Johnston
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 leeks cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 large head cauliflower chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 cup heavy cream optional
Toppings
- bacon
- shredded cheese
- green onions
- sour cream
- more whipping cream
Instructions
Stove Top
- Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat and saute the leeks until they are soft and translucent. Add in the garlic and saute for another 2 minutes until browned and fragrant.
- Stir in the cauliflower, the chicken broth and bay leaves.
- Bring the mixture to a boil.
- Reduce the heat, cover the pot, and simmer the soup for 30-45 minutes, until the cauliflower has softened.
- Remove the soup from the stove.
- Blend the soup until smooth with an immersion blender or hand mixer.
- Mix in the heavy cream by hand. ( mixing with a blender can make the soup frothy when dairy is added)
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve and garnish with suggested toppings.
Instant Pot Instructions
- In the bottom of the Instant pot place the oil and the leeks. Fry the leeks until they are soft and translucent then add in the garlic.
- Fry the garlic and the leeks for another 2 minutes. Pour the chicken broth into the instant pot.
- Add in the rest of the ingredients (not the cream and toppings)and stir together.Close the lid of the instant pot and seal.Press the soup button and let cook.When the soup is done remove the lid according to the manufacturers direction.Puree the soup using an immersion blender until smooth. Add in the whipping cream.
- Ladle into bowls and serve with any of the toppings you desire!
Slow Cooker Instructions
- Fry the leeks in the butters in a frying pan until they are soft and translucent then add in the garlic. Fry the garlic and the leeks for another 2 minutes. Transfer into the slow cooker.
- Pour the chicken broth Add in the rest of the ingredients – NOT the toppings and cream! – and stir together.
- Let cook for 5-6 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.
- Puree the soup using an immersion blender until smooth. Add in the whipping cream.Ladle into bowls and serve with any of the toppings you desire!
Nutrition Information
All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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Beanie says
I used frozen cauliflower rice from Costco. Made on the stove top. Easy and delicious!
Melissa says
Great flavour!!!! Love it!! I would say 4-5 cups of broth is better though so the soup is a little bit thicker. Thanks so much for this recipe!
Kim says
You don’t need cream. Soak 1/4 c raw almonds in a cup of hot water for at least a half hour. 6 c broth is too much. You only need 4-1/2 c broth for a whole head of cauliflower. You can also substitute 1 of those cups of broth for water. Add the soaked raw almonds with the cooked cauliflower, leeks etc. into your blender and you will have perfectly creamy cauliflower soup! I let the soup cool before blending. Hope you don’t mind my suggestions.
Jessica says
Can this be frozen?
KWL says
It would be helpful to add cooking time for instant pot. “until the soup is done” isn’t very helpful for novice Instant pot users.
Linda says
Couple of problems — in the first stovetop instructions, #7 is a repeat of something already instructed. Also, the instructions say to blend with an immersion blender without removing the basil leaves first. I used fresh thyme leaves instead. No worries about gagging on the soup! Otherwise, lovely recipe.
Larkin says
Made this last night in my Instant Pot and it was absolutely perfect! Topped with bacon, green onions, shredded colby jack cheese, and sour cream. It was so yummy I ate leftovers for breakfast this morning.
Jennifer says
I made this last night and it was delicious. I added a full head of caulflower since mine was small and cut back on the leeks because they were huge. I served mine just with bacon bits but I’ll have the leftovers with cheese sprinkled on top. I made a loaf of cheesy biscuit bread to eat with it.
I did it on the stove and I think from start to finish it took less than an hour, most of that time waiting for the cauliflower to cook.
Definitely worth making if you love cauliflower and leeks!