Velvety Cauliflower Blue Cheese Dream

Cauliflower and Blue Cheese Soup

This elegant cauliflower soup is wonderfully rich and cheesy, thanks to the thoughtful addition of pungent blue cheese.

By David Leite

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 2 smallish potatoes, peeled and chopped into 3/4- to 1-inch pieces
• 1 head cauliflower, stems discarded, florets chopped into 3/4- to 1-inch (18- to 25-mm) pieces
• 4 cups chicken broth, preferably homemade chicken stock (or substitute vegetable stock for a vegetarian alternative)
• 1 cup cold water
• 5 1/2 ounces soft blue cheese, preferably Gorgonzola or Gorgonzola dolce, crumbled, plus extra for sprinkling and nibbling
• Salt and freshly ground white or black pepper, to taste

1. Heat the 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the 1 medium onion and cook until it softens and becomes translucent, which usually takes about 5 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent browning.
2. Introduce the 2 smallish potatoes and the 1 head cauliflower florets to the saucepan. Continue to cook, stirring frequently for about 2 minutes, allowing the vegetables to slightly warm through and develop a touch of flavor.
3. Pour in the 4 cups chicken broth (or vegetable stock) and the 1 cup cold water into the pot. Increase the heat to bring the liquid to a rolling boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, cover the saucepan, and allow the vegetables to cook until they are fork-tender. This typically takes 20 to 25 minutes.
4. Once the vegetables are tender, it’s time to purée the soup. If you are using a handheld immersion blender, carefully purée the soup directly in the pot until it reaches your desired smooth consistency. If you’re using a countertop blender, allow the soup to cool for at least 10 minutes before carefully transferring it to the blender. Process until silky smooth, working in batches if your blender isn’t large enough. Return the puréed soup to the pot and gently rewarm it over low heat.
5. Add the 5 1/2 ounces soft blue cheese to the warmed soup. Stir continuously until the cheese has completely melted into the soup, creating a rich and tangy flavor. Taste the soup and season with salt and freshly ground white or black pepper as needed to achieve perfect balance.
6. Ladle the exquisite cauliflower soup into individual bowls. For an extra touch of indulgence and flavor, garnish with additional crumbled blue cheese. If you have any leftovers, allow the soup to cool completely before refrigerating it in an airtight container for up to several days. This soup actually tastes even better the next day! For longer storage, it can be frozen for up to a month, making it a fantastic make-ahead option.

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Nutrition Facts

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Helen Doberstein

For avid cheese lovers, this cauliflower soup with blue cheese is an absolute delight. Interestingly, my family isn’t typically keen on blue cheese, yet this soup has been the closest we’ve come to embracing it. The texture is wonderfully velvety, and there’s a delicate tang from the cheese that is present without being overpowering. We particularly appreciated its inherent creaminess, achieved without the addition of any actual cream or milk. All the vegetables, chopped into 1-inch chunks, were perfectly tender after just 20 minutes of simmering. I substituted chicken stock with a blend of vegetable stock and cooking water, which worked beautifully. While we opted not to add extra blue cheese at the end, the consensus was that this soup, even with blue cheese, was surprisingly enjoyable. Its versatility suggests I’ll definitely be making it again, perhaps experimenting with a milder cheese like Camembert or Brie to better suit our family’s preference.

Irene Seales

This cauliflower soup recipe is so incredibly simple to prepare, you might wonder if you’ve missed a step. Yet, the harmony between the cauliflower, potato, and the blue cheese is so profound that no additional garnishes are truly necessary. It’s an ideal choice for a sophisticated first course, a light lunch, or even a casual summer dinner paired with a fresh salad. Cauliflower is generally accessible, especially when locally sourced, and it truly shines in this recipe when fresh and tender. While a standard blue cheese worked perfectly, I believe a creamier, veined cheese like Gorgonzola would also impart a beautiful flavor profile. This is a truly fuss-free recipe that adapts seamlessly from a busy weeknight dinner to a more formal weekend gathering. For a touch of drama, crispy fried shallots could make an excellent topping, but a simple sprinkle of cheese and a dash of pepper are equally appealing. What I particularly love is that despite a generous amount of blue cheese, the soup never becomes overly rich or overwhelmingly cheese-dominant, maintaining a delicate balance that makes it highly enjoyable.

Larry Noak

This cauliflower soup is absolutely DELICIOUS! It easily serves 6 people comfortably, or, if you’re like me, it provides three days of delightful meals for two. The entire process, from start to finish, takes less than an hour, with active hands-on time amounting to only about 10 minutes. I used one medium onion, two medium russet potatoes, and a large cauliflower, all diced into 1/2-inch cubes. The recipe works perfectly as written, yielding a consistently excellent result. For an extra layer of texture and flavor, I added some crisp crumbled bacon on top as a garnish. This recipe is definitely a keeper, even if it’s primarily for my own enjoyment!

Natalie Reebel

This cauliflower soup recipe is truly unique and brilliant in its combination of blue cheese and cauliflower. While blue cheese can often be quite pungent, its flavor in this soup is incredibly well-balanced and far from overpowering, contributing a delightful depth. The texture of the soup is silken and smooth, and its presentation is both simple and elegant. It’s fantastic on its own, but could easily be elevated with toppings like croutons, crispy bacon, or even both. The recipe performs flawlessly exactly as written, and the best part is that the soup is ready in roughly 35 minutes. I cut my vegetables into 1-inch pieces, and they were perfectly tender and ready for blending after just 20 minutes of cooking. With only 10 minutes of active prep, this recipe has quickly become a new favorite for weeknight dinners. My cauliflower weighed 1 3/4 pounds and yielded about 5 cups of florets. The small onion I used was about 1 cup, and my 1 pound of potatoes measured approximately 1 1/4 cups. The ability to freeze this soup is a huge bonus, ensuring I always have a quick and delicious meal on hand for family or unexpected guests.

Megan M.

In just under an hour, I had a wonderfully thick and creamy cauliflower soup ready to enjoy. While it tasted good on the night I prepared it, I found it tasted even better the following day for lunch, proving that some soups truly do improve with time in the fridge. Even a few cold spoonfuls sampled while packing my lunch container were quite flavorful! I opted for a fairly robust blue cheese, which resulted in a pronounced flavor in the soup. This is certainly a dish for those who appreciate the distinctive taste of blue cheese, as its character definitely comes through strong.

Ralph Knauth

This cauliflower soup has quickly become one of my absolute favorites! It’s quick to make, incredibly easy, and undeniably tasty—especially if you’re a fan of blue cheese. (My wife, for instance, tried one spoonful and graciously left the rest for me, which I was perfectly happy with!) I used one medium onion, two medium russet potatoes, and a smallish head of cauliflower, all prepared as directed. I also added a few drops of Worcestershire sauce, a personal preference that I find enhances many of my soups. A sprinkle of minced parsley served as a fresh garnish. This soup recipe is definitely a keeper in my culinary repertoire.

Mackenzie Campbell

I’ve been eager to delve into making more soups, and with the recent drop in temperature, it felt like the perfect opportunity to try this one out! This cauliflower soup recipe is remarkably easy and calls for only a few key ingredients. From the initial prep to serving, it took approximately 45 minutes. I found that 20 minutes was ample time for all the vegetables to cook through beautifully. This recipe generously fed three hungry individuals, with a full quart left over to freeze for later. The blue cheese flavor was distinctly present, adding a wonderful richness and depth to the soup. I can vividly imagine savoring a hot bowl of this during the depths of winter, transforming it into a cozy evening meal alongside some crusty bread and a delicate drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. Simply yum.

Martha T.

This cauliflower soup lives up to its promise: a harmonious blend of cauliflower and potato, with its flavor profile largely dictated by the specific blue cheese you choose. I spent about 20 minutes on chopping prep, mostly while the onions were sautéing, followed by another 20 minutes of cooking. A quick 5 minutes with an immersion blender achieved a smooth consistency, after which I adjusted the salt and pepper to taste. I opted for vegetable stock instead of chicken broth for a vegetarian version. While I was hoping for a slightly richer, more multi-dimensional flavor, if you’re looking for a straightforward, dependable cauliflower and blue cheese concoction, this recipe certainly delivers.

Joel Jenkins

Recently, I had the unique experience of spending six days at an endurance running event in Silverton, CO, where I was responsible for providing breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the other runners – a wonderful blend of my two favorite passions! I utilized this cauliflower soup recipe to nourish the runners when temperatures plunged below freezing after several days of cold, wet weather. With many runners observing vegetarian or vegan diets, this recipe was also incredibly easy to adapt; I simply used vegetable broth and omitted the cheese for those with dietary restrictions. The soup, whether with or without blue cheese, consistently yielded a lovely creamy texture. The blue cheese, of course, contributes a delightful salty, umami depth. Without it, as expected, the soup is a tad milder, but this was perfect for the runners who had been exerting themselves for nearly four days. I must admit that my input on the exact quantities will be quite imprecise, as I was cooking for 25 people! For such a large crowd, I used four onions, ten potatoes, three large heads of cauliflower, and a mix of vegetable and chicken broth. I meticulously quartered the potatoes lengthwise and then cut them into three or four pieces, depending on their size, to ensure uniform pieces for even cooking. This soup was a huge hit and provided much-needed warmth and sustenance.