Creamy vegetable soup often gets its texture from heavy cream, but cauliflower can reach that consistency without it. Once pressure-cooked and blended, the florets break down into a thick base that needs no heavy cream to finish the bowl.
This recipe pairs cauliflower with vegetable broth and unsweetened cashew milk, then adds Parmesan before blending. Onion, celery, garlic, thyme, apple cider vinegar, and paprika build the rest of the flavor, while the Instant Pot handles both the sautéing and pressure cooking.
Cauliflower Builds the Base Instead of Heavy Cream
The recipe starts with olive oil, celery, onion, and garlic in the Instant Pot on its high sauté setting. After five minutes, cauliflower joins the pot with thyme, salt, and pepper for another five minutes.
Vegetable broth and unsweetened cashew milk provide the cooking liquid. The recipe also calls for apple cider vinegar, which brings acidity to a soup built around mild cauliflower and plant-based milk.
Once everything is combined, the Instant Pot is sealed and set to high pressure on the soup setting for 10 minutes. The pot takes about 15 minutes to reach pressure before that cooking time begins.
An Immersion Blender Changes the Texture
After the pressure cycle ends, the steam is released before the lid comes off. Parmesan goes into the cooked cauliflower mixture at this stage. The original recipe uses a dairy-free Parmesan, though regular Parmesan can be used instead.
An immersion blender then breaks down the softened cauliflower, celery, and onion right inside the pot. A countertop blender can handle the same job if the soup is transferred out in batches.
Blending does more than reduce the vegetables into smaller pieces. The cooked cauliflower becomes part of the soup's body, creating the smooth consistency that heavy cream would provide in many cream-based soups.
Croutons and Chives Finish the Bowl
The finished soup can go straight into bowls once it reaches a smooth consistency. Croutons add a crisp contrast to the blended cauliflower, while chopped chives bring another layer of onion flavor.
A dusting of paprika can go over the top as well. Served with crusty bread, a sandwich, or a salad, the cauliflower soup works as a lunch or light dinner without adding heavy cream to the pot.
Leave a Reply