Cauliflower Chowder

A hearty winter warmer.

Daniel and I were heading out on a rare date night together. It meant I wasn’t home to cook a meal for the kids and Catherine (our current workawayer staying with us). Rather than have them all eat instant noodles for dinner, I decided to make this cauliflower chowder for them before Daniel and I headed out.

I’ve had to develop a bit of a love affair with cauliflower. Having five heads of cauliflower in the house at any one time is too much for most. For me, it was a challenge I accepted.

I’ve had cauliflower soup in cafes before. It’s full of flavour, warming and delicious. I wanted to do something a little more hearty than a pureed soup so settled on making this chowder. One thing I love about this cauliflower chowder recipe is that it uses milk rather than cream but without the soup losing its creamy consistency.

Cauliflower Chowder - roughly cut half of the cauliflower, the other half use a food processor to turn into cauliflower rice.
Cauliflower Chowder – roughly cut half of the cauliflower, the other half use a food processor to turn into cauliflower rice.

This verdict is that this soup was a winner with everyone. It was so delicious I had to have a small bowl of it before getting ready to go out. I even made a loaf of fresh bread for Catherine and the kids to enjoy. I find that with soup, the kids both love to dip their bread into it. Since some soups can be quite messy to serve to toddlers, I often break up a slice of bread into the soup and let it soak up the liquid making it easier for young ones to eat it without a massive mess. Since this soup had a thicker consistency, I gave them bread on the side so they can “dip dip”.

Cauliflower Chowder - a more chunky soup than a typical cauliflower soup.
Cauliflower Chowder – a more chunky version of the typical cauliflower soup.

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Cauliflower Chowder - a more chunky version of a typical cauliflower soup.

Cauliflower Chowder

A hearty low-fat low-carb soup that's full of flavour. A wonderfully cozy soup for those chilly nights that uses the humble cauliflower and is packed with heartwarming flavour and goodness.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 4 serves

Ingredients
 

  • 5 slices bacon, diced
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon thyme, dried
  • 2 teaspoons parsley flakes, dried
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup low-fat milk
  • 1 Cauliflower, large - half roughly chopped, half riced in a food processor
  • black pepper, freshly ground to taste
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions
 

  • Heat a large pot over medium high heat.
  • Add bacon, onion, garlic and butter. Saute until it just starts to caramelise and turn golden.
  • Add into pot the roughly chopped cauliflower, the riced up cauliflower, thyme and parsley. Mix it all together.
  • Add in the flour. Whisk this in until all mixed together with other ingredients in the pot and is lightly browned, about 1 minute.
  • Gradually whisk in the milk and chicken stock, stirring constantly until slightly thickened.
  • Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until cauliflower is tender, about 12-15 minutes.
  • Before serving, mix in the parmesan cheese.
  • If the chowder is too thick, add more milk as needed until desired consistency is reached.
  • Serve immediately, garnished with a little more grated parmesan, bacon and/or parsley, if desired.

Notes

  • Other variations would be to include finely diced carrot and finely chopped celery. Add these at the same time as the cauliflower.

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