It’s been a long time coming but the snow has finally arrived. The garden is white, the branches of the trees are accented with white. Winter has arrived and, in my mind, winter is soup season. I think a meal should have a balance of colors as well as a balance of flavors. Purple-red borscht topped with a scoop of sour cream and a sprinkle of dill leaves has that balance of color and flavor as does green split pea soup with sunny carrot dice and pink cubes of ham. But, the snow reminded me of a Saturday lunch we shared last winter and I made a white dinner and to celebrate the arrival of the snow.
Last January, after our friends Kathy and Rick had spent weeks packing, snow shoveling, ice dam cursing, moving and unpacking, they invited us to lunch. We sat around the granite island in their new kitchen and savored, steamy bowls of cauliflower cheese soup. It was the first pot of soup made in their new home. I asked Kathy for the recipe, she shared it with me and said I could share it with you. Here’s how she (and I) made it:
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Cauliflower Soup from a Vermont Kitchen
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
A hearty, creamy, soup flavored with extra sharp cheddar cheese.
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp (60g) butter
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and grated
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 head cauliflower, chopped
- 2 - 14 oz cans (840ml) chicken broth
- 1/4 cup (48g) rice
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
- 1 - 12-oz can evaporated milk
- 1 cup (90g) grated cheddar cheese plus 1/4 cup (22g) for garnish
- Ground black pepper
Instructions
- Melt butter in a medium stockpot, and sauté onions, carrots and garlic for ten minutes.
- Add cauliflower, chicken broth and rice to the pot.
- Bring mixture to a boil and then lower heat to medium. Cover the pot and simmer for fifteen minutes, until the cauliflower is very tender and rice is cooked.
- Remove pot from stove, use an immersion blender to puree the soup.
- Stir in cayenne, nutmeg, evaporated milk and cheddar cheese.
- Heat soup, over low heat, stirring constantly, until the cheese has melted and the soup is steaming, do not boil.
- Add a grind of pepper and top each serving with a generous sprinkle of cheese.
Notes
- Substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth to make vegetarian soup.
- I use extra sharp Vermont cheddar cheese because I love it and I am a Vermonter, but any sharp cheddar will work.!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Soup
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 240
Hot biscuits, right out of the oven, with soft butter complemented the steamy cauliflower soup perfectly, and a bowl of tapioca pudding completed this white meal. 
Before anyone from the color patrol reaches for a telephone or computer to register a complaint, let me explain why I call this a ‘white meal’. Sure there were flecks of orange from the carrots, dots of red and black from the peppers and I admit that the cheddar and cauliflower where not absolutely pure white and yes, the biscuits had a slight golden touch; but, this dinner was as white as the snowy day with brown flecks of beech leaves, bits of red chimney pipes and the gold of Gracie’s coat as struggled to make a perfect doggy snow-angel.
If You Liked This Recipe, You’ll Love These
- Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Garlic Bread
- General Tso’s Cauliflower
- Eggplant and Cauliflower Curry with Tofu
- Cauliflower with Chimichurri and Tahini
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does this recipe add rice to the soup?
A quarter cup of rice simmers alongside the cauliflower for 15 minutes and breaks down during blending, giving the soup a naturally thick and creamy body without needing extra cream or flour as a thickener.
Can I make this vegetarian?
Yes — the notes say to simply substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth to make a fully vegetarian version with no other changes needed.
Why shouldn’t I boil the soup after adding the cheese?
The recipe instructs you to heat the finished soup over low heat while stirring constantly and specifically warns not to let it boil — boiling after adding the cheddar and evaporated milk can cause the cheese to break and turn grainy instead of melting into a smooth, velvety texture.
Does the type of cheddar matter?
The author uses extra sharp Vermont cheddar for maximum flavor, and notes that any sharp cheddar will work well — milder varieties will produce a subtler cheese flavor in a soup that relies on cheddar for most of its richness.
