This creamy Keto Cauliflower Soup is velvety smooth and delicious, and it takes only a few short minutes to make in the Instant Pot. It’s healthy, low carb comfort food at its finest. Stovetop instructions included too.
This Instant Pot Cauliflower Soup might just be the Best. Dang. Soup. I. Have. Ever. Made.
Is that an exaggeration? Possibly but at the moment, it’s how I really feel. It’s so velvety, so rich, and chockfull of creamy goodness. It’s a classic “loaded recipe”, with bacon, sour cream, cheese, and green onion. But so much healthier than the potato version!
This keto-friendly is the perfect comfort food on a chilly, blustery day, when all you want to do is curl up with a good book or movie. And I plan on doing just that all winter long!
Easy Keto Cauliflower Soup
This recipe gets rave reviews from everyone who tries it, even the cauliflower haters. It really has the right consistency to mimic potato soup. And with the bacon, cheese and toppings, it’s hearty and satisfying.
If you follow the Instant Pot instructions, the soup cooks very quickly and easily. But the stovetop version comes together quickly as well. And because everything is cooked in one pot, clean up is easy too!
It has only 5.7g net carbs per serving, so it’s a healthy and delicious option when you need something warm and comforting. It’s the edible equivalent of a cozy blanket on a chilly day.
Reader Testimonials
Here’s what readers say about this Instant Pot Cauliflower Soup:
“This soup is absolutely delicious! Even my teen sons devour it. Full of fat, so it’s filling and it really fulfills any baked potato cravings you may have. Super easy to make.” — Stephanie
“This was one of the best soups I’ve had since starting keto 2 years ago. Thanks for your hard work on your recipes.” — Pat
“This soup is incredible! That flavor is amazing. It snowed here today so this soup was perfect for dinner! Thank you for sharing it with us all!” — Sharon
Ingredients
- Bacon: Cooking bacon in the pot first has two functions. The bacon bits become the crisp topping for the soup, and the grease in the pot is used to sauté the veggies. This provides velvety texture and amazing flavor.
- Cauliflower: You will need about 1 pound of cauliflower florets for this recipe. And you can use fresh or frozen cauliflower, as they both cook easily and quickly.
- Sour cream: Loaded potatoes always have sour cream, and so should your soup! It provides a wonderful, creamy consistency.
- Shredded cheese: You can use cheddar or Monterey Jack. Or something more interesting, if you prefer. I love the color that a little orange cheddar gives the soup.
- Green onion: This garnish adds additional color and flavor to make the soup resemble loaded baked potatoes. You could also use chopped chives.
- Bone broth: Use good quality broth for all your keto soups. It can be homemade or store-bought.
- Aromatics: Onion, celery, garlic
- Salt and pepper
Step by step directions
I love using my Instant Pot for this recipe, but I have also included stovetop directions in the recipe notes.
1. Cook the bacon: Place the chopped bacon in the Instant Pot and turn on the sauté function. Cook the bacon, stirring frequently, until crisp. Remove to a paper towel lined plate, leaving as much of the bacon fat in the pot as possible.
2. Sauté the veggies: Add the onion, celery, and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Turn off the sauté function.
3. Cook the soup: Add the chicken broth to deglaze the pan, then add the cauliflower. Lock the lid onto the pot and make sure the vent is sealed. Set the manual function on high for 5 minutes (it will take 5 to 10 minutes to come up to pressure).
4. Add the sour cream: When the timer goes off, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes before opening the vent. Remove the lid and stir in the sour cream and 1 cup of the shredded cheese.
5. Blend: Blend with an immersion blender until smooth or transfer to a full size blender or food processor (you may need to work in batches).
6. Garnish: Serve the soup topped with the remaining cheese, the bacon, and the green onion.
Expert tips
Cooking the vegetables in the leftover bacon grease gives this soup its velvety rich consistency and also adds flavor. But if you want a vegetarian cauliflower soup, simply sauté the veggies in butter or oil. You will need about 3 tablespoons.
If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can blend the soup in a regular blender or a food processor. You may need to work in batches, depending on the capacity of your appliance.
Stovetop Option: Not everyone has an Instant Pot, nor any interest in getting one. So you can also make this keto cauliflower soup on the stovetop. Follow the instructions for cooking the bacon and vegetables in a large pot over medium heat. Add the broth and cauliflower and bring to a simmer, then cook for 30 minutes. Follow the remaining steps as directed.
Frequently Asked Questions
This creamy cauliflower soup is low carb and keto friendly. It has 8g of carbs per serving and 2.3g of dietary fiber. So it has 5.7g net carbs per serving.
You shouldn’t need any extra thickeners such as flours or starches for this keto soup recipe. The cauliflower provides a thick consistency already, and the sour cream and cheddar cheese contribute to the rich, creamy consistency. Don’t add too much broth, as it does water it down.
Freshly made, this Instant Pot Cauliflower Soup can last for up to 6 days in the fridge. It can also be frozen for up to 2 months.
More delicious cauliflower recipes
- Cauliflower Risotto
- Slow Cooker Pepper Jack Cauliflower
- Keto Shepherd’s Pie
- Mexican Cauliflower Rice
- Creamy Cauliflower Salad
- Cauliflower Fritters
Instant Pot Loaded Cauliflower Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon, chopped
- 1/4 cup (40 g) chopped onion
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Salt and pepper
- 3 cups (705 g) chicken broth
- 1 head (566 g) medium cauliflower (about 1 1/4 pound), cut into florets
- 3/4 cup (172.5 g) sour cream
- 1 1/2 cups (169.5 g) shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar, divided
- 1 green onion
Instructions
- Place the chopped bacon in the Instant Pot and turn on the sauté function. Cook the bacon, stirring frequently, until crisp. Remove to a paper towel lined plate, leaving as much of the bacon fat in the pot as possible.
- Add the onion, celery, and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Turn off the sauté function.
- Add the chicken broth to deglaze the pan, then add the cauliflower. Lock the lid onto the pot and make sure the vent is sealed. Set the manual function on high for 5 minutes (it will take 5 to 10 minutes to come up to pressure).
- When the timer goes off, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes before opening the vent. Remove the lid and stir in the sour cream and 1 cup of the shredded cheese. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth or transfer to a full size blender or food processor.
- Serve the soup topped with the remaining cheese, the bacon, and the green onion.
Notes
Nutrition
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Non stop rain here in Mt Hood Village. Made his crock pot cauliflower loaded soup and it was so incredibly good. My husband liked it too (and he’s super picky) but half way through his soup, he added left over roasted chicken chunks to it for some protein. Thanks for sharing a great recipe
Perfect for a (cruddy) day like today. It’s miserable here too!
Love your recipes! Made the Cauliflower soup but used my slow cooker. Slow cooked for about 5 hours. It’s delicious! This makes my top 5 list of slow cooker recipes and bonus that it’s low carb! Thank you
This soup is so delicious! My husband raved about it more than once. It’s so creamy even though there is no heavy cream in the recipe. We enjoyed it so much that we made a second batch and substituted broccoli for cauliflower and used four cups of broth, instead of three. It was equally as delicious but a little thinner than the original recipe. I will be making this again and again! Thank you, Carolyn, for sharing your talents.
This soup is so yummy and satisfying! I used to buy the Parmesan cauliflower soup in the Walmart deli, until I saw the carb count and ridiculous ingredients. How nice to have a better, tastier version ready in 5 minutes!
This soup is outrageously delicious! I put some liquid smoke in instead of the bacon which I did not have. The soup is creamy, rich and so beautifully tasty.
We loved it…another wonderful soup from Carolyn!!
Great idea!
Just made this and it was so good that I had two bowls. Thank you for another great recipe.
Not going to lie…this was very easy and delicious! I used 2 bags of frozen riced cauliflower and the rest was per recipe. This is now added to one of my favorites when the weather is cold and maybe when it’s not!????
Can you substitute frozen cauliflower florets for fresh?
Hi… please read the blog post as I talked about this several times.
This soup is absolutely delicious! Even my teen sons devour it. Full of fat, so it’s filling and it really fulfills any baked potato cravings you may have. Super easy to make.
This is such a good soup and I am so glad we are coming into soup weather. I just made a batch and I have to say I have missed it over the very hot southern summer days! Thank you very much for sharing it with us!!!
Easy and delicious.
Can (or how) would you make this in a crockpot?
I am not sure but I bet you could google something similar.
Serving with your brown butter old bay wings tonight, and TWO non-cauliflower eaters will be enjoying this soup. We appreciate all your masterpieces!
I’ve made this soup three times already and my picky kids love it, too! I haven’t had the chance to try freezing it yet because the leftovers haven’t lasted long enough. Do you know if it freezes well? If so I’ll double the recipe next time so I’ll have some to freeze.
It should!
Excellent soup. Easy to make with little prep, which is important for a single adult who hates to cook. XD I didn’t realize that it needed to go into a blender/food processor at the end, so I can testify that it still tastes pretty good without that step.
We loved it! My husband asked for 2 refills!
This was one of the best soups I’ve had since starting keto 2 years ago. Thanks for your hard work on your recipes.
This was absolutely delicious! I made it on the stove top however and it came out perfect. It’s such an easy and quick recipe. I’ll be surely making this again.
This soup is absolutely delicious!! Thank you for sharing.
So, so good! And the texture is so creamy – not grainy at all. Love this soup, and so will DH if there’s still some left when he gets home.