Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup

Broccoli and cauliflower soup is a creamy and nutritious blend of broccoli and cauliflower. This soup is velvety smooth and comforting. Kids love it too! Stove top and Instant Pot instructions below.

Simple Broccoli Cauliflower Soup

Making creamy soups is one of the easiest things to make. You don’t have to watch it very much. You basically just add a bunch of vegetables, seasoning, and liquid to a pot and wait until your vegetables are tender enough to puree them. If you can slice a fork through the vegetable easily, then you know it is soft enough to be pureed. I love making soup. It can be a full meal or just a snack. Pair it with a piece of nice crusty bread and it is just so delicious and comforting. If you haven’t already, check out all of my other soup recipes here “Soup Recipes“.

I used to follow a paleo diet and I would honestly drink pureed soups like smoothies. For real. I love the smooth texture of pureed soups, but I do know that some soups are better with a little texture. In order to get a good mixture of smooth and texture, I take out some of the vegetables before I puree the soup. Or, sometimes I will puree the whole soup into a velvety texture, but then add cooked sausage or rice later on to give it some texture.

Creamy Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup

Broccoli and Cauliflower are two of my favorite vegetables and they are two vegetables that a lot of children like to eat. My daughter loves roasted broccoli, but she normally won’t eat as much roasted cauliflower. However, when I make this soup or just cauliflower soup, she will eat so much of it I can barely keep it stocked in the refrigerator. I know it is best to give your child whole vegetables, but if you are having trouble doing that, creamy vegetable soup purees are a great way to introduce them to vegetables they may not normally eat.

To be honest, that is exactly how I got into cauliflower in the first place. I remember going out to a fancyish restaurant in my early 20s and my date ordered cream of cauliflower soup. I tasted it because it looked like potato soup and I was so surprised that it really was actually delicious. After that, I was way more inclined to try mashed cauliflower and all of the other creative cauliflower dishes that came out in the mid 2000s. And nowadays, I will straight up eat a whole roasted head of cauliflower.

Healthy Soup

I know that many recipes for broccoli and cauliflower soup use cream or half and half, but we are using milk in this in order to make it lighter. You can use 1/2 cup of coconut milk or and an extra 1/2 cup of broth, or use unsweetened original almond milk in place of the milk. I have made this recipe with cream, and it is absolutely delicious, but it is also super decadent. I think if I were making this for guests, I would use cream, but when I am making this for my family as part of our weekly meal prep, I don’t want decadent, I want moderately healthy.

If you remove the cheese from this recipe, you will be removing a lot of the flavor, so keep that in mind. You will need to add additional salt and additional spices if you do that.

INGREDIENTS  

• 2 tbsp Olive Oil or Butter
• 2 cups Frozen Broccoli Florets  Fresh can also be used
• 2 cups Frozen Cauliflower Florets Fresh can also be used
• 8 oz Sliced Carrots
• 1/2 Onion sliced
• 1 Shallot or 2-3 Garlic Cloves
• 1 cup Milk or Half and Half, or 1/2 cup of coconut milk with 1/2 cup extra broth
• 3.5 cups Chicken Broth
• 12 oz Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• salt and black pepper to taste I used about 1/2 tsp of salt and it was perfect for me since I also added bacon on top

Optional Toppings

• green onions
• bacon bits

INSTRUCTIONS 

Stove Top Instructions

• Add 1 tbsp of oil to a large pot.
• Add Carrots, Onions, and Shallot and saute until the onions and shallots are translucent and starting to get some color on them.
• Add the broccoli and cauliflower florets, chicken broth, and milk to the pot and then bring it to a boil. Cover it and let is simmer for 35 minutes or until the florets are soft.
• Use an immersion blender and blend the contents of the pot until super creamy. Alternately, you can add it to a vitamix. If you prefer your soup to be chunky, then you can remove some florets before your blend the soup and then add them back afterwards.
• Slowly add the cheese to the pot and stir continuously. Keep a small amount of cheese to the top each bowl of soup.
• Optional: add a little bit more milk and stir. Add the reserved florets back in the pot, and serve immediately.

Can you make Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup in the Instant Pot?

Yes!

Instant Pot Instructions

• Hit Saute on your Instant Pot, add 1 tbsp of oil, and let the pot heat up. Add Carrots, Onions, and Shallot and saute until the onions and shallots are translucent and starting to get some color on them.
• Add Broccoli and Cauliflower Florets, Chicken Broth, and Milk to the instant pot and then bring to a boil.
• Turn off your Instant Pot, put the lid on and make sure the vent is in the “sealed” position. Then, cook the soup on High Pressure for 5 minutes
• Once the timer goes off, let the soup naturally release for 5 minutes
• Use an immersion blender and blend the contents of the pot until super creamy. Alternately, you can add it to a vitamix. If you prefer your soup to be chunky, then you can remove some florets before you blend the soup and then add them back afterwards.
• Slowly add the cheese to the instant pot and stir continuously. Keep a small amount of cheese to the top each bowl of soup. Optional: add a little bit more milk and stir.
• Add the reserved florets back in the instant pot, and serve immediately.

Try some more of my delicious soup recipes:

Slow Cooker Potato Soup

Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup

Tomato Soup with Halloumi