Ham and Cheese Cauliflower Soup
Comforting, creamy, and cheesy cauliflower soup is so easy to make any day of the week. This soup features cauliflower, ham, some cream and white cheddar cheese. It’s also great way to use up leftover holiday ham.
Table of Contents
Cauliflower is a wonderful vegetables! It’s not just full of vitamins and nutrients it also has a distinct but mild flavors. It’s great at adopting flavors of the dishes you add it to while still providing it’s own distinct flavor.
Personally, I am a huge fan of cauliflower. I make everything with it from soups like this one and cauliflower cheese soup, to cauliflower mac and cheese, cauliflower pizza crust, to simple roasted cauliflower.
Cauliflower soup is really easy to make! The whole process will take you about 40 minutes to make. All you have to do is chop up and measure the ingredients and then start cooking. You will have a comforting, creamy cauliflower soup in no time.
Ingredient Notes and Tips
Cauliflower – check your cauliflower thoroughly before buying. Try to avoid cauliflower heads that have any dark spots or soft spots. You can also get pre-cut cauliflower florets if needed, you will need about 18-20 oz of florets.
Ham – this cauliflower soup is a great way to use up leftover holiday ham or ham leftover from a big dinner. You can also get some ham specially for this soup. (Note, it’s okay if your dinner ham has a little glaze still on it, you can simply scrape it off if it’s to much. A little sweetness will not ruin the soup.)
Chicken Stock – chicken stock is best for deeper, richer flavor, but if you need to, you can substitute vegetable broth or chicken broth if needed. When using store-bought broths and stock, try to get “low sodium” or “no salt added” kind. Try to also get bone broth if available, it will have a richer flavor.
Flour – all purpose flour works well for thickening soups. If you need to, use gluten free all-purpose flour. (Try to use 1:1 gluten free all purpose flour, not almond or coconut.)
Cheese – for a nice rich flavor, you want to stick to cheeses like sharp cheddar cheese. You can also add some parmesan cheese if you’d like or asiago. It’s best to choose white cheddar because it doesn’t have the yellow dye in it.
Garlic – note that fresh garlic will tastes do MUCH better than pre-minced in a jar.
Heavy whipping cream – for the best rich and creamy texture, do use heavy whipping cream and nothing less. (If you need to keep it lactose free or dairy free, use lactose free half and half and some lactose free sour cream. There are some plant-based whipping cream options if needed, check your grocery stores.)
See recipe card for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
How To Make Ham and Cheese Cauliflower Soup
This is a pretty fast moving recipe, so it’s best to prepare all you ingredients before starting to cook!
Dice onion and ham into small pieces and set aside. Cut cauliflower florets off the stem and discard the stem. Dice florets onto small pieces. Set them aside as well. Peel and press garlic and measure out remaining ingredients.
Preheat a Dutch oven over medium heat with some oil. Sauté diced onion (1) until transparent and add ham (2). Cook for a few minutes and add pressed garlic (3), mix, and cook until fragrant.
Add prepared cauliflower, mix well and cook for a few minutes (4). Sprinkle flour over veggies and ham and mix well (5).
Pour in chicken stock (6), while slowly stirring. Add the seasoning (7), stir, and bring to simmer. Once simmering, lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 20-25 minutes.
Stir in heavy whipping cream and grated white cheddar cheese (8). Cook for a few more minutes and serve (9).
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! There is only one simple ingredients to substitute and that is the flour. To make this soup gluten free, use gluten free all-purpose flour. Note, it’s best to use 1:1 substitute all purpose flour. Do not use almond or coconut or any other similar flours.
Remaining ingredients should already be gluten free but double check the labels, especially on ham.
If you’d like to add some move vegetables, you definitely can. Just note that the more other vegetables you add, the more other flavors you will add, and possibly overtaking cauliflower flavor. Feel free to add some carrots, leeks, broccoli, or another mild tasting vegetable you like.
Absolutely! You can add or substitute ham with some leftover turkey meat or rotisserie chicken. Just make sure to check the meat for bones and discard the skin. Dice the meat into small pieces and follow the recipe for the soup.
Yes, technically you can. It doesn’t take as good as fresh but you can use frozen cauliflower florets. Just make sure to thaw them completely first, drain off all the accumulated liquids, and dice.
I don’t recommend using riced cauliflower because of the small texture (unless you don’t mind the texture).
Storing Leftovers
You can store the leftover cauliflower soup in an air-tight food storage container, in the refrigerator. Properly stored, it should last 3-4 days.
It’s easy to reheat individual portion either in the microwave or in a small sauce pot on a stove. In the microwave, make sure to use proper bowl and reheat the soup in 30 second intervals just until heated through. On stove-top, reheat as much as you wish in a small pot over medium-low heat.
Freezing Cauliflower Soup
While you can freeze this soup, I highly recommend that you do it without cream and cheese. Cream and many soft cheeses don’t stand up to freezing and thawing well because they tend to separate after thawing.
Cook the soup up to the point to adding cream and cheese. Take the pot off the heat and cool it to room temperature. (To cool it faster, you can set the pot of soup into a larger pan with ice and stir as it cools.)
Transfer cooled soup into a freezer container or a freezer zip-top bag. Make sure to only fill it about 2/3 of the way, allowing the soup to expand as it freezes. Get as much air out as you can, seal, label, and freeze. You can freeze cauliflower soup for up to 2 months.
Thaw slowly, in the refrigerator, for up to 24 hours.
Reheat the soup in a pot and once reheated, you can add in cream and cheese as per the recipe.
More Soup Recipes To Try
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Ham and Cheese Cauliflower Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp vegetable or avocado oil for cooking
- 1 small yellow onion
- 3/4 lb ham
- 4-5 garlic cloves pressed
- 2 lb head of cauliflower
- 3 Tbsp all purpose flour*
- 1 tsp dried sage
- Salt
- Fresh cracked black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 4 oz sharp white cheddar cheese grated
Instructions
- Dice onion and ham into small pieces and set aside. Cut cauliflower florets off the stem, discard the stem, and dice florets onto small pieces. Set it aside as well.
- Preheat a Dutch oven over medium heat with some oil. Sauté diced onion until transparent and add ham. Cook for a few minutes and add pressed garlic, mix, and cook until fragrant.
- Add prepared cauliflower, mix well and cook for a few minutes.
- Sprinkle flour over veggies and ham and mix well until all evenly coated.
- Pour in chicken stock, while slowly stirring.
- Stir in bay leaf and the seasoning and bring the soup to simmer. Once simmering, lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 20-25 minutes.
- Stir in heavy whipping cream and grated white cheddar cheese. Cook for a few more minutes and serve.
Video
Notes
- *Gluten Free Notes: To make this soup gluten free, use gluten free all-purpose flour. Note, it’s best to use 1:1 substitute all purpose flour. Do not use almond or coconut or any other similar flours. Remaining ingredients should already be gluten free but double check the labels, especially on ham.
- Storing: You can store the leftover cauliflower soup in an air-tight food storage container, in the refrigerator. Properly stored, it should last 3-4 days.
- Freezing: instructions on how to freeze this soup are in the post above.
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in December 2016.
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Categories:
Cauliflower Recipes, Dinner Recipes, Fall Recipes, Gluten Free Recipes, Healthy Dinner Ideas, Holiday Leftover Recipes, Lunch Recipe Ideas, Most Popular Recipes, Soup Recipes,All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
Great flavorful soup
What is the serving size in cups please?
Each serving is approximately 1½ cups if you make it into 4 servings.
Great comforting recipe on a winter day! Wouldn’t change a thing. Thanks!
I am so glad you liked it, Marcia!