Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup

A healthy, filling, and delicious soup, this broccoli and cauliflower soup makes a great appetizer, lunch, or full-fledged meal! Using only a handful of simple ingredients, anyone can create this creamy, full-flavored soup at home.

Besides being delicious and making a great meal prep item, this soup is an easy way to increase your intake of healthy, cruciferous vegetables.

Featured in: Ideas for Winter Dinners.

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Cruciferous vegetables, (such as broccoli and cauliflower) boast impressive health benefits and pack a nutritional punch. Loaded with large amounts of vitamin C, both broccoli and cauliflower also contain vitamin B, vitamin K, iron, folate, and magnesium to name a few.

With the high amount of antioxidants these two vegetables contain, both have also been linked to lowering the risks of lung, stomach, and breast cancer.

What Ingredients You'll Need

To make this super easy soup, you'll need:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 head cauliflower
• 1 medium head broccoli
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 medium sized Spanish onion

• ½ cup dry white wine
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 black peppercorns

• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup heavy cream (or leave out and use 2 cups milk)

• 1 tablespoon fresh chives
• ¼ cup roasted almonds- chopped

Kitchen Gear To Make It Easy

While you can make this soup without any fancy gear, here are a few items to help create the perfect soup:

• A food processor, stand blender, or immersion blender. Using an electric blender will help create a perfectly smooth, creamy soup!
• A deep, thick bottomed soup pot. A nice deep pot makes making soup easy! No need to worry about overflowing soup, and the thick bottom helps prevent scorching when simmering for extended periods of time.
• A sharp chef's knife. Cutting vegetables goes a lot faster with a sharp chef's knife! Learn about different knives and which style is best for you in our detailed guide to kitchen knives!
• A chinois mesh strainer. While totally optional here, a fine mesh strainer can be used to ensure perfectly smooth cream soups!

How To Make It

Start by peeling the onion and garlic, and then cut into a large rough chop. It doesn't need to be pretty!

In a large soup pot over medium heat melt the butter, then add the onions and garlic. Cook until the onions and garlic start to turn translucent.

As the onions are cooking, cut and trim the cauliflower and broccoli into large florets. Save the stems to use as well, they are great filler in soups! When ready, add the cauliflower to the soup pot. Save the broccoli for later in the recipe.

Cook the onion and cauliflower mix over medium for about 15 minutes, or until the cauliflower starts to break down and turn a light golden brown color.

As the onions and cauliflower are cooking, prepare your garnishes by toasting the almonds in the oven at 325F for about 10 minutes, and finely chop the chives. Once the almonds have cooled, roughly chop them with a knife. Set both aside for later.

Deglaze the pot with the white wine, and then add the chicken stock. Add the whole peppercorns, Dijon mustard, and salt. Simmer the pot another 5 -10 minutes, making sure all of the cauliflower(stems included!) are soft all the way through.

Add the chopped broccoli to the pot along with the milk, and simmer for 10 minutes or until the broccoli florets are soft. Avoid overcooking the broccoli to preserve some of the green color.

Use your immersion or stand blender to puree the soup until completely smooth.

• If using a stand blender, puree the soup in two or three batches to prevent overfilling. Do not fill the blender more than half full when pureeing hot soup. Warning: Pureeing hot liquids is dangerous due to the pressure the heat produces. If pureeing hot liquids, be sure to allow a lid vent to be open or the lid to be slightly lifted with a towel draped over top to allow hot steam to escape and prevent the lid from blowing off.
• If using an immersion blender, puree the soup until it is completely smooth, and pass through a fine mesh strainer to produce a perfectly smooth soup.

Once the soup has been pureed add the cream to the soup and stir it in. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, garnish the soup with the crushed toasted almonds and the finely chopped fresh chives!

A Few Recipe Tips Worth Noting

If your broccoli and cauliflower soup tastes bland after pureeing it, you can always re-season it! Start with salt and pepper first, and then decide if you'd like to add any more of the seasonings we used earlier in the recipe. You can always add a little more lemon juice, herbs, or spices to adjust the soup to your personal tastes.

To create an even richer and nuttier flavor you can roast the vegetables instead of sautéing them in a pot as in step 4. Once the broccoli, cauliflower, and onion are browned in the oven from roasting, proceed with the recipe as described in step 6.

Make sure the cauliflower and broccoli are cooked all the way through! If they still have a slight bite or crunch to them before pureeing, your soup may end up chunky rather than smooth and creamy.

Substitutions & Variations (Vegan, Dairy Free)

While we made this broccoli and cauliflower soup as I would make it in a restaurant setting, you can easily make it healthier, vegetarian, or even dairy-free by making a few substitutions.

• Use oat milk, or canned coconut milk instead of milk and cream to make this soup dairy-free
• Use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock for a vegan or vegetarian-friendly soup.
• Not a fan of cooking with butter? Simply substitute canola or olive oil for the butter to sauté or roast the vegetables.

Variations

One of my favorite variations of this soup is a spicy broccoli and cauliflower soup! Add a sprinkle of chili flakes or ¾ teaspoon of cayenne powder when adding the seasonings above.

You can make this a cheesy broccoli and cauliflower soup by adding 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese (aged applewood cheddar works beautifully!) when adding the milk and cream. The cheese will melt and help create a creamy, cheesy flavor! Don't forget to garnish with shredded cheese as well!

Storing Your Soup

Soups are the perfect meal prep item. They freeze well, re-heat quickly, and can be made in large batches ahead of time. This broccoli and cauliflower soup is no different.

To freeze the soup: Once pureed and seasoned to your liking, portion the soup into freezer-safe containers, label it with the date made, and freeze for up to 3 months. It will likely last longer as well, but you may end up getting freezer-burnt flavors in your soup!

If storing in the fridge: Cool the soup as quickly as possible to prevent the growth of bacteria as the soup cools. Portion and label the soup into a small food-safe container, and then refrigerate for up to 4 days.

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Recipe

Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup

Chef Markus

A simple and delicious broccoli and cauliflower soup. This perfectly creamy soup is perfect as a light lunch, an appetizer or as a full fledged meal.

5 from 6 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Total Time 50 minutes mins

Course Soup

Cuisine American, French, Mediterranean

Servings 6 servings

Calories 2319 kcal

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Equipment

1 food processor or

1 immersion blender

1 Soup Pot (deep, thick-bottomed)

1 chefs knife

1 chinois - fine mesh strainer (optional)

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 large head cauliflower
• 1 medium head broccoli
• 4 cloves fresh garlic
• 1 medium Spanish onion
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 whole black peppercorns
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup heavy cream or substitute for another cup of milk
• 1 tablespoon fresh chives
• ¼ cup roasted almonds chopped

Instructions

 

• Start by peeling the onion and garlic, and then cut into a large rough chop. It doesn't need to be pretty!
  
• In a large soup pot over medium heat melt the butter, then add the onions and garlic. Cook until the onions and garlic start to turn translucent.
  
• As the onions are cooking, cut and trim the cauliflower and broccoli into large florets. Save the stems to use as well, they are great filler in soups! When ready, add the cauliflower to the soup pot. Save the broccoli for later in the recipe.
  
• Cook the onion and cauliflower mix over medium for about 15 minutes, or until the cauliflower starts to break down and turn a light golden brown color.
  
• As the onions and cauliflower are cooking, prepare your garnishes by toasting the almonds in the oven at 325F for about 10 minutes, and finely chopping the chives. Once the almonds have cooled, roughly chop them with a knife. Set both aside for later.
  
• Deglaze the pot with the white wine, and then add the chicken stock. Add the whole peppercorns, Dijon mustard and salt. Simmer the pot another 5 -10 minutes, making sure all of the cauliflower(stems included!) are soft all the way through.
  
• Add the chopped broccoli to the pot along with the milk, and simmer for 10 minutes or until the broccoli florets are soft. Avoid overcooking the broccoli to preserve some of the green color.
  
• Use your immersion or stand blender to puree the soup until completely smooth.
  
• Once the soup has been pureed, add the cream to the soup and stir it in. Season with salt and pepper to taste. To serve, garnish the soup with the crushed toasted almonds and the finely chopped fresh chives!
  

Notes

Storing Your Soup:

To freeze the soup: Portion the soup into freezer safe containers, label with the date made, and freeze for up to 3 months.

To refrigerate:  Portion and label the soup into small food safe container, and then refrigerate for up to 4 days.

Nutrition

Calories: 2319kcalCarbohydrates: 160gProtein: 80gFat: 156gSaturated Fat: 83gPolyunsaturated Fat: 13gMonounsaturated Fat: 48gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 399mgSodium: 4251mgPotassium: 6579mgFiber: 42gSugar: 66gVitamin A: 8826IUVitamin C: 964mgCalcium: 1193mgIron: 13mg

Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.

Keyword cauliflower recipes, cauliflower soup

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