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)”
If you go back and look at earlier comments a number of people have posted what they think it is.
I made your cauliflower soup for the first time but I made it in a crockpot instead. I sauteed the onions in butter then put it in the crockpot with the cauliflower , broth, garlic powder and salt. I also added a frozen chicken breast and cooked on high for 2 hours. I removed the chicken and blended the soup until creamy. I put the chicken back in the pot and cooked on low for 2 hrs. I then removed the chicken and shredded it. I put the cream cheese, shredded cheese, heavy cream and half of the soup into the blender and blended thoroughly. I put the soup back in the pot and added a half can of diced green chilies and cooked on low for 1/2 hr. It was soooooo good. My husband and mother-in-law had a second helping. I will make sure I make a double batch next time!!
Sounds good to me! Thanks for sharing how you did it in the CrockPot!
This was so fricking FANTASTIC! It wowwed my whole family. My non-keto brother poured it over his baked potato! It’s definitely going to be a winter staple in our house!
How fun hearing that; glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe!
Glad you like it!
Made this tonight ..easy and awesome!
So glad you liked it!
Looks like an amazing recipe! I want to make it tonight and see if I can fool my boyfriend into thinking it’s the “real deal” of potato soup.
Only problem is that I do not have an immersion blender or even a regular blender. But I have a hand mixer. Do you think that could work?
Sorry, but I don’t think a hand mixer will work. You need something you can cover with a lid so the hot soup doesn’t go flying everywhere.
You could probably make a chunkier version mashing it with an old-fashioned potato masher if you have that.
This is a wonderful recipe. The only change I make is that I sauté the bacon in the my instant pot before the garlic and onions and use the grease instead of butter as a base. It’s wonderful and delicious each time. Thank you!
So glad you have enjoyed it; sounds like a good idea!
This spup is amazing! Thank you for the recipe!
So glad you’re enjoying it!
I always enjoy eating soup. It’s warm and very filing. I’ve never had a cauliflower soup before but this one looks delicious. I’m definitely trying this one. Thanks for sharing!
Glad you like it!
Sorry you feel that way. Many thousands of people per day use the recipes so I guess some people are ableist to make it work. But unfortunately I can’t snap my fingers and have that information.
More than a year ago I switched my site to WordPress, which created the need to edit by hand to add more than 2,000 recipes to the preferred format for google. I have been working on that (with three assistants) for more than a year, so there is no possibility of me being able to calculate nutritional information until that project is completed. And I know that once I start doing nutrition info on one recipe people will expect to see it on every recipe, which is why I have decided to keep these two projects completely separate.
If you look after the recipe itself, I give two links (where it says “Nutritional Information”) for suggestions of two ways to get that information. That’s all I am able to do at this time.
Can you use frozen cauliflower. If so, would there need to be any changes in instruction. Just curious is you have done this.
I haven’t made it with frozen cauliflower but the cooking time will definitely less. Scroll through the comments and there might be people who have made it that way.
This was amazing. If you are hesitant to try this, please just make it. I do like Cauliflower, but this really gave me a baked potato soup fix. Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks, so glad you liked it!
I have made a few cauliflower soup recipes and this one is the absolute best! The seasoning, texture and creaminess is spot on!! It’s SO good! This is now my go to recipe!
So glad you like it; thanks for the nice feedback!
Can this be frozen ? I meal prep and freeze a lot of my meals.
I haven’t frozen it, I never have any left! But I think it will freeze just fine.
I love soup, especially during the cold weather. My daughter, though, loves it the whole year round. I’e taken note of this recipe and will try this tonight. Thanks!
Hope you enjoy; this soup has a lot of fans!
Made this last night. It was delicious! I did not add any bacon. Even my husband ate it and he doesn’t like cauliflower!
So glad you liked it! And I love that this soup can win over some cauliflower avoiders!
I try internet recipes all the time and I don’t think I’ve ever left a review, but this was so fantastic that I had to. Thanks so much for this wonderful recipe!
Thanks Jodi, so glad you liked it!
Just made this and it was a huge hit with the entire family!! Excellent flavors!
So glad it was a hit!
This was amazing! Definitely a keeper. I doubled the recipe and used the extra sharp cheddar as you recommended. I don’t think my husband knew there was cauliflower in it! He’s lost 50 pounds doing low carb.
Thanks Carol, so glad to hear you both enjoyed it!
If you look after the recipe itself, I give two links (where it says “Nutritional Information”) for suggestions of two ways to get that information. That’s all I am able to do at this time.
I’m not able to provide nutritional information for the recipes for several reasons, including the additional time it takes, the difficulty in doing it accurately, and the sheer number of recipes on my site. I have over 2000 recipes here and spend 6-8 hours most days working on the blog. I just can’t edit over 2,000 recipes to add that info, and I know once I do it on one recipe people will expect to see it on every recipe. Thanks for understanding.
BTW, if you scroll through the comments a couple of people have calculated it and came up with slightly different results.