Instant Pot Loaded Cauliflower Soup (Video)
Instant Pot Loaded Cauliflower Soup is a recipe you’ll make over and over, and this cauliflower soup is a hit with everyone! In fact, even people who “don’t like cauliflower” have gobbled this up and asked for more!
PIN Instant Pot Loaded Cauliflower Soup to try it later!
Instant Pot Loaded Cauliflower Soup is an amazing dinner idea when it’s cold outside and you want a treat that won’t remotely make you think about carbs! And even people who are normally cauliflower avoiders will enjoy this delicious low-carb soup!
When I created this recipe with my niece Kara, we absolutely could not wait to share it with you! And now it’s several years later and this recipe has turned into one of the most popular recipes ever on Kalyn’s Kitchen! And both Kara and I still make it regularly, so today I’m reminding you about this tasty soup for Friday Favorites. And it’s just in time for serious soup weather, are you ready for that?
What ingredients do you need for this soup?
- onion
- butter or olive oil
- large head of cauliflower
- chicken stock or broth
- garlic powder
- kosher salt
- cream cheese
- grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
- half and half (or use heavy cream or milk if you prefer)
- more grated sharp cheddar or extra sharp cheddar cheese for topping (optional)
- sour cream for topping (optional)
- crumbled crisp bacon for topping (optional)
- sliced green onions for topping (optional)
Why is it called Loaded Cauliflower Soup?
The word “loaded” in the name of the soup refers to loaded baked potatoes, and this cauliflower soup is topped with optional cheese, bacon, sour cream, and green onions like the loaded potatoes are.
Want more tasty cauliflower soup recipes?
Check out Keto Cauliflower Soup Recipes for lots more ideas for delicious soups that use cauliflower or cauliflower rice!
What size Instant Pot did I use?
We made the soup in my 6 Quart Instant Pot (affiliate link) and our only regret was that we hadn’t made a bigger batch. If you have an 8 Quart Instant Pot (affiliate link) you could double the recipe for Instant Pot Loaded Cauliflower Soup
Can you make this Loaded Cauliflower Soup without an Instant Pot?
For those who haven’t caught the Instant Pot fever just yet, I’m going to give stovetop direction as well, because this soup would be super simple to make on the stove.
Love Your Instant Pot?
Check out my growing collection of Instant Pot Recipes! You might also be interested in Low-Carb and Keto Instant Pot Soups on Kalyn’s Kitchen or 50 Low-Carb Instant Pot Soup Recipes on my other site.
How to Make Instant Pot Loaded Cauliflower Soup:
(Scroll down for complete printable recipe with nutritional information.)
- Chop up the onion and the cauliflower.
- Melt butter or heat oil in the instant pot on the SAUTE setting and cook onions for 2-3 minutes.
- Then add the chopped cauliflower, chicken stock, garlic powder, and salt.
- Lock the lid, use the MANUAL setting and cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 5 minutes. Quick release the pressure.
- While the soup cooks, prepare the cream cheese cubes, grated sharp cheddar, and cream (or use milk or half and half), as well as the additional cheese, sour cream, crumbled bacon, and sliced green onions for toppings.
- Turn the Instant Pot to KEEP WARM setting and use an immersion blender (affiliate link) to puree the soup to your desired consistency.
- Check to see if you want to add a little more chicken stock to thin the soup (or reduce the liquid on the SAUTE setting if it’s too thin).
- Add the cheese and cream cheese, let it melt, and stir to combine.
- Then stir in the half and half, heat through, and season to taste with salt and fresh-ground black pepper. (Taste before you add more salt.)
- Serve Instant Pot Low-Carb Loaded Cauliflower Soup hot with grated cheese, sour cream, crumbled bacon, and sliced green onions to add at the table as desired.
More Low-Carb Instant Pot Soup to Try:
Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana Soup
Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Soup
Instant Pot Low-Carb Taco Soup
Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
Instant Pot Sausage and Kale Soup
Weekend Food Prep:
This recipe has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep where you’ll find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Instant Pot (or Stovetop) Loaded Cauliflower Soup
TInstant Pot Loaded Cauliflower Soup is a soup recipe you'll make over and over, and this tasty soup is even a hit with people who say they don't like cauliflower!
Ingredients
- 1/2 onion, chopped small
- 2 T butter or olive oil
- 1 large head of cauliflower, trimmed and coarsely chopped.
- 3 cups chicken stock, plus a little more to thin soup if needed
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 4 oz. cream cheese, cut into cubes
- 1 cup grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup half and half (or use heavy cream or milk if you prefer)
Topping Ingredients:
- extra grated sharp cheddar or extra sharp cheddar cheese (optional)
- sour cream (optional)
- 8-10 strips bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled (optional)
- thinly sliced green onions (optional)
Instructions
- Peel onion and chop into small pieces.
- Cut away the leaves of the cauliflower and some of the stem, keeping the core part. Coarsely chop cauliflower into pieces.
- Turn Instant Pot or pressure cooker to SAUTE and melt the butter; then add the onion and cook 2-3 minutes.
- Then add the chopped cauliflower, chicken stock, garlic powder, and salt.
- Lock the lid, use the MANUAL setting and cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 5 minutes.
- Quick release the pressure.
- While the soup cooks, prepare the cream cheese cubes, grated sharp cheddar, and half and half. Also cook and crumble the bacon, dish up sour some sour cream and extra grated cheese, and slice the green onions for toppings.
- Check to make sure the cauliflower is very tender; then turn the Instant Pot to KEEP WARM (use simmer or low for other pressure cookers.)
- Use an immersion blender (affiliate link) blender, or food processor to puree the soup. (I highly recommend using an immersion blender to puree the soup in the pressure cooker if you have one. Be very careful with the hot liquid if you remove it to a blender or food processor to puree.)
- Check the thickness of the soup and add more stock if you want it thinner or simmer a little to reduce if it seems too thin.
- Add the grated cheese and cream cheese cubes and let them melt, then stir to combine.
- Add the half and half (or heavy cream or milk) heat through, and season with salt and fresh-ground black pepper. (Taste before you add more salt.)
- Serve hot, with grated cheese, sour cream, crumbled bacon, and green onion to add at the table
Stovetop Directions:
- Prepare ingredients as described above, but use 3 1/2 cups chicken stock for stovetop version. Use a heavy dutch-oven type pan that will hold all the ingredients.
- Heat butter or oil in the dutch oven, add the onion, cook 2-3 minutes.
- Then add the chopped cauliflower, chicken stock, garlic powder, and salt.
- Bring to a boil, then turn heat to medium-low and simmer until the cauliflower is very soft, probably 20-30 minutes.
- Puree soup as above, and check the amount of liquid. If it's too thick add a little more stock and if it seems thin, cook a few minutes more to evaporate some of the liquid.
- Turn heat to low, add the grated cheese and cream cheese cubes and let them melt, then stir to combine.
- Add the half and half (or heavy cream or milk) and heat through, and season with salt and fresh-ground black pepper. (Taste before you add more salt.)
- Serve hot, with grated cheese, sour cream, crumbled bacon, and green onion to add at the table as desired.
Notes
Equipment: I made this soup in my 6 quart Instant Pot (affiliate link). Look at the end of the recipe if you'd prefer to just make the soup in a pan on the stove.
Nutritional information doesn't include toppings since it's hard to calculate which ones and how much people will add.
This recipe was created by Kalyn and Kara, after reviewing my recipe for Low-Carb Cauliflower and Mushroom Pressure Cooker Soup with Parmesan.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 360Total Fat: 27.4gSaturated Fat: 15.4gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 77.6mgSodium: 881mgCarbohydrates: 9.7gFiber: 3.4gSugar: 6.8gProtein: 17g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations. (The nutritional info for this recipe doesn't include the optional toppings.)
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Instant Pot Loaded Cauliflower Soup is great for low-carb or low-glycemic diets. However if you’re strictly following the South Beach Diet you’ll want to use lower-fat dairy products, use olive oil instead of butter, and maybe limit the amount of bacon or use turkey bacon.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Instant Pot Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
Instant Pot Loaded Cauliflower Soup was first posted in 2017. The recipe has been wildly popular on the blog and with my family and friends. It was last updated with more information in 2022.
212 Comments on “Instant Pot Loaded Cauliflower Soup (Video)”
This soup is delicious ….I did use the frozen riced cauliflower I used 6 cups and it worked out perfectly….I used the cooking time as stated in the recipe….Thank you for a great low carb recipe. Oh and I used Smoked Gouda because thats what I had…
Thanks Donna, good to know it will work!
Hello, can you use the frozen riced cauliflower?
I haven’t tried that, but I’m guessing it will work. Not sure how much riced cauliflower is equal to a large head of cauliflower though. Maybe about 4 cups, since there’s no air spaces compared to a cup of chopped cauliflower. I’d love to hear how this works if you try it. I think you might not even need to puree with the riced cauliflower!
I did use frozen riced cauliflower….threw it in frozen….used 6 cups it worked great…used the same 5 minute cook time.
I made it this way too. About 7c cauliflower rice. After i finished I Realizd i forgot the milk or half n half. Still amazing.
I love you guys testing variations for me!
This is SO yummy!  I decided to brown the bacon in the pot so I could have the additional flavor from the bacon fat to sauté the veggies in….a great comforting pot of soup!  Thanks!
OMG, you are brilliant! Now I’m wondering why I didn’t think of that. So glad you enjoyed it!
Wow! Made this soup exactly as written. So good and so flavourful!Â
So glad you enjoyed it; thanks for taking time to tell me!
Made a 1/2 batch of the recipe as directed (with milk) on the stove top and pureed it my my Vitamix before transferring back to stovetop. It was really good! Very easy to make and the directions are easily followed.
Very similar flavor profile to potato soup but with a better, silky texture (I like cauliflower 100xs more than potatoes anyway). Thanks for the new recipe-it’s being added to my rotation!
Thanks for sharing how you did it with the Vitamix; so glad you enjoyed it!
All of your recipes look so yummy! Thank you for explaining the steps in detail! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Thanks, glad you like it!
Have you trie freezing this?Â
I have an upcoming procedure and need soft foods. I was hoping to be able to freeze and thaw out when I needed it!Â
Thank you!Â
I really think it will freeze, but I haven’t tried it. Would love to hear how it works if you try it. And good luck with the procedure!
Did you freeze it and if so, was it ok? Â
I do not have an instant pot or a pressure cooker,but I do have a vitamix blender and this recipe was awesome cooked in my vitamix blender.
Great to hear that. I don’t have a Vitamix, but I’ve heard good things about them.
How did you modify the recipe cook time (and ingredient wise if you did since onion and garlic can overpower with a Vitamix)? I love cauliflower and my Vitamix and want to use it more!
We made this tonight and it was amazing! Thank you so much.
So glad you liked it!
My hubby and I are camping in MI right now and I've saved this recipe to try on this trip! It's cool outside and today is a good day for soup! It's in my IP right now…cannot wait to have it soon!
I love the idea of camping with the Instant Pot, hope you enjoy!
I just discovered your site, and find so many recipes that I want to try out, thank you so much. I do have a question here, can I use heavy cream instead of the half&half, because I never use this, and I always have heavy cream in my fridge.
Glad you like the recipes! I haven't made this with heavy cream, but I can't imagine why it would not work!
Quick question… when you say quick release the pressure, do you mean to cook and then quick release or have it on the quick release setting while it cooks? Newbie IP user here ???
AnnMarie, you always have the lid locked to prevent steam from escaping when you pressure cook. Quick release means that once the time is up and the Instant Pot has counted back to zero time left, you move the steam valve to open so the pressure can quickly come down. (Use a wooden spoon or something to keep from burning yourself) Here's a good post from my friend Barbara about the difference between Natural Pressure Release and Quick Release.
BTW, hope you enjoy AnnMarie!
Ah yes, that makes sense, can't really pressure cook with an open steam valve! LOL! Didn't really think that one through before I asked my question. Thanks for the reply! I'm making this tonight 🙂
Has anyone tried it with frozen cauliflower instead of fresh? It is hard to get fresh cauliflower this time of year that is affordable…
It might work with frozen cauliflower but I am not able to tell you how to adapt the recipe, since I haven't tried it that way. Let me know what you think if you try it.
I'm so glad I followed your advice to make a double batch. So, so good!
So glad you liked it Monica!
Just visited your website. Nice healthy food. I usually look to whitefish for low carb diets, but your suggestions are great. Thank you for sharing.
Glad you like the site!
Will made it tomorrow for dinner, It looks and sounds good!
Hope you like it Alma!
Thanks for share the recipes. I want to try it..
Hope you enjoy!
Hi Em, so glad you are enjoying the recipes! The YUM button is at the top of the post, in the row of buttons that starts with Pinterest. I think you might have to sign up at Yummly.com (or maybe it will prompt you to sign up the first time you click it.) I will warn you that the Yummly nutritional info isn't always 100% correct, but usually it's good.
Even though it's cauliflower (not my favorite!), I have to try any soup that has this much cheese. And I love to use my Instant Pot, so thanks for creating a recipe for it.
Lydia, try really sharp cheddar!
I must just be missing it, but how much half and half?
Oops, I guess that is what happens on a day I try to quickly write up a recipe while I'm getting ready for a Superbowl Party. So Sorry, should be 1/2 cup. I will fix right now!