This Broccoli and cauliflower soup is a comforting and filling soup, full of fresh vegetables. This recipe is healthy and light, without dairy, but the texture is creamy and satisfying. Quick enough to be made on a week night, I make this easy soup when I am trying to eat more vegetables and balance out my diet. Great to have on hand during the holiday season and during colder months!
Some other Healthy Soup recipes you will enjoy:
La Poule au Pot - the easiest way to cook a whole chicken
Vegetarian Minestrone with homemade Pesto
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Healthy Broccoli Cauliflower Soup
Many broccoli and cauliflower soup recipes add heavy cream and lots of cheese (ahem, Panera Bread). While these cheesy soups taste amazing, it is not the healthiest thing to eat. I find that the blend of potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower, when the liquid content is correct, results in a creamy soup that is just as satisfying.
This soup is an easy way to eat plenty of vegetables and is very easy to make.
Ingredient List
Simple ingredients for Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup
- 1 lb Broccoli (about 1 large crown)
- 1.5 lbs Cauliflower (1 large crown)
- 1 lb Potatoes (Golden or Yukon work best)
- 1 yellow Onion
- 6 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock (the stock should be just below the level of broccoli and cauliflower in the pot - careful not to add too much liquid while cooking)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Olive Oil (about 1 tbsp for sautéeing the onions, another drizzle at the end for presentation)
I prefer to use fresh cauliflower and broccoli but you can substitute for frozen.
If the soup is too thick you can always add more liquid at the end. It is always easier to add more liquid at the end.
Equipment Needed:
Large Stock Pot (like this one that I use: 8 QT Le Creuset Stock pot) or Dutch Oven (5.5 Quart Round)
Immersion blender (stick blender). I use this one: Kitchen Aid Immersion Blender
You can also use a Food processor or blender.
This recipe can also be made in a slow cooker or instant pot.
Instructions
This Soup is very simple to make! Within a half hour you can have a delicious, comforting dish.
- Wash the broccoli and separate into florets. Discard the base of the stalk.
- Peel the potatoes and chop into large chunks.
- Peel and chop the onion into large pieces. This is your "Mise en place" or preparation.
- Turn the heat on to medium.
- In your stockpot or dutch oven, heat your olive oil over medium heat then add the diced onions.
- Allow to sautée just a couple minutes, being careful not to burn.
- Add in the broccoli, cauliflower and potatoes as well as 6 cups of chicken broth and the salt.
- Allow to simmer for 25 minutes until the potatoes are soft and break apart easily.
- Mix well with an immersion blender until the soup is very well blended and smooth (likely 5 minutes - longer than you think you need to!)
- Adjust the liquid if needed. If your soup is too thick, add ½ cup of hot water. Be careful to add only a little bit of water at a time and blend between each addition of water to make sure the consistency is as you like it!
- Serve with a light drizzle of olive oil.
- Bon Appétit!
Le Chef's Wife Tip: Make sure not to add too much liquid to the soup! Start with less - you can always add more if needed when mixing. The Broccoli takes up a lot of space in the pot so you don't need to fully cover with water - it will reduce in size as it cooks down.
Vegan Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup
If you would like to make this soup vegan - simply use vegetable broth as the base of the soup. So simple and so tasty!
How to serve Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup
I like to simply serve this soup with a light drizzle of olive oil.
If you like a little spice, I recommend sprinkling some red pepper flakes over the top.
A drizzle of heavy cream is also a nice touch to finish the soup.
Fresh herbs, such as parsley and thyme are a great way to add some additional freshness to the soup.
Variations
Broccoli and Blue Cheese Soup
This Broccoli and Blue Cheese soup is a creamy, comforting soup with a just a bite of blue cheese that adds a certain "je ne sais quoi" to the dish. Simple enough to be made on a week night, but special enough to serve at a delicious lunch or dinner party
Broccoli and Cauliflower Cheese Soup
Add 1.5 cups of grated cheddar cheese for a rich, cheesy soup. Stir in the cheese after you have blended the soup.
What to serve with Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup
Fresh Baked Baguette is perfect with this soup. Tearing into crusty bread and dipping it into the soup will make you feel like you are seated at a French Bistro. Oh la la!
You can also make croutons with goat cheese or mozzarella to dunk in the soup. Yummy!
Storage instructions
After the soup has cooled, I like to divide the leftovers into an individual portion sized airtight container.
I place half the leftovers in the fridge to be eaten during the next 3-4 days as an easy lunch and the other half in the freezer so that I always have a healthy meal on hand for busy nights.
This soup keeps beautifully for 3-4 days in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer.
Allow to thaw slightly on the counter or run the sealed container under warm water for a few minutes. Then pop the soup out into a sauce pan and re-heat over medium until the soup simmers and is heated thoroughly.
Absolutely. Frozen vegetables are quick and easy, no need to thaw them beforehand. I recommend using a little less water or chicken stock in your recipe than you would normally because frozen vegetables release a lot of water.
Other cozy Soup Recipes you will enjoy
Also, I have a collection of my favorite 15 French Soup Recipes here.
What is your favorite soup? I love to hear from you!
Le Chef's Wife
ABOUT LE CHEF'S WIFE
Bonjour! I am Anina Belle. I translate the fancy cooking of my Michelin-star trained French Chef Husband, Le Chef, into easy to make dishes that busy people with no culinary training (like me!) can make at home. We have two young kids (5 and 2) and I have a full time job in hospitality in addition to this blog. I strongly believe that even busy people deserve to eat well at home.
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Print
Healthy Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25
- Total Time: 30
- Yield: 4-6 1x
- Category: soups
Description
This Broccoli and cauliflower soup is a comforting and filling soup, full of fresh vegetables. This recipe is healthy and light, without dairy, but the texture is creamy and satisfying. A super easy soup to make!
Ingredients
- 1 lb Broccoli (about 1 large crown)
- 1.5 lbs Cauliflower (1 large crown)
- 1 lb Potatoes (Golden or Yukon work best)
- 1 yellow Onion
- 6 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock (the stock should be just below the level of broccoli and cauliflower in the pot - careful not to add too much liquid)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Olive Oil (about 1 tbsp for sautéeing the onions, another drizzle at the end for presentation)
Instructions
- Wash the broccoli and separate into florets. Discard the base of the stalk.
- Peel the potatoes and chop into large chunks.
- Peel and chop the onion into large pieces. This is your "Mise en place" or preparation.
- Turn the heat on to medium.
- In your stockpot or dutch oven, heat your olive oil over medium heat then add the diced onions.
- Allow to sautée just a couple minutes, being careful not to burn.
- Add in the broccoli, cauliflower and potatoes as well as 6 cups of chicken broth and the salt.
- Allow to simmer for 25 minutes until the potatoes are soft and break apart easily.
- Mix well with an immersion blender until the soup is very well blended and smooth (likely 5 minutes - longer than you think you need to!)
- Adjust the liquid if needed. If your soup is too thick, add ½ cup of hot water. Be careful to add only a little bit of water at a time and blend between each addition of water to make sure the consistency is as you like it!
- Serve with a light drizzle of olive oil.
- Bon Appétit!
Notes
Le Chef's Wife Tip: Make sure not to add too much liquid to the soup! Start with less - you can always add more if needed when mixing. The Broccoli takes up a lot of space in the pot so you don't need to fully cover with water - it will reduce in size as it cooks down.
Betsy-Home says
Could you sub turnips for the potatoes ?
Rachel Mitchell says
This was just delicious! Perfect for something light and healthy. I love that it can easily be jazzed up with some bacon or cheese or sour cream or something like that or can just be eaten plain with some bread! So fast, easy, inexpensive, and yummy! Made some for my lunch and enjoying it now. 😋 Thank you much for the reminder that with good, simple ingredients, it doesn’t need to be fancy to be delicious!
Mara Olmstead says
I’ll respectfully disagree with the 1-star review. I also followed the recipe to the letter and found no “doctoring” necessary. My chicken broth was “low sodium,” so I was prepared to have to add additional salt at the end; I did not have to. The soup was velvety (good advice on the 5 minutes), and remarkably creamy. The drizzle of a good olive oil is, in my opinion, essential; it brought the soup to the next level. I got a skeptical “so there are only healthy ingredients in this?!?” from my husband. I threw some blue cheese crumbles into my bowl toward the end in the interest of science (adding blue cheese can never hurt, right?). Yummy, of course, but I was happy as a clam without it. This will definitely make it onto my short list of healthy comfort foods. Thanks for sharing such painless ways to incorporate more vegetables into our diets.
Jacqueline Winkler says
I followed this recipe to a "T" and it is awful. I've never written such a review, but this was irritating because it was supposed to be for guests. I am a reasonably good cook, so I doctored it as much as possible, and it is still awful. Besides this, your website is SO slow and halting, which I have experienced here before.
lechefswife says
I am so sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy the soup. It is one of my healthy recipes (that I eat to balance out the richer dishes that I enjoy) so I apologize if that was not made clear. If Healthy Broccoli and Cauliflower soup was not to your liking I would recommend the Broccoli and Blue Cheese soup or the fancy cream of cauliflower soup that would be better suited for serving to guests. Thank you for the feedback on the site, I will look into that.