Last Updated on March 24, 2022
This is a very substantial and satisfying soup, perfect for these last cold days of winter. Thickened by pureed cauliflower and potato, it is luxuriously creamy without any cream. The sausage, greens, and paprika give it heat, and the cauliflower florets give it crunch. Serve this soup with garlic bread and a nice green salad and you’ve got a meal in a bowl.
Hands-on time: 35 minutes
Total preparation time: 45 minutesIngredients
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
10-ounces chorizos or andouille sausage, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced (about 1 cup)
1 medium head cauliflower (about 2 pounds)
1 small Yukon gold potato (about 4 ounces)
4 cups canned chicken broth or Chicken Stock (Sara’s Secrets for Weeknight Meals, page 32)
1 bunch mustard greens, kale, or spinach, or a mixture, rinsed, dried, and
thinly sliced
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, or to taste
Kosher salt and freshly milled black pepper
Paprika, preferably smoked for garnish
Grilled or broiled slices of homemade-style bread, rubbed with a cut garlic clove, optionalHeat the oil in a large saucepan over high heat until hot. Reduce the heat to medium, add the chorizo, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pieces are lightly browned on both sides, about 5 minutes. Transfer the chorizos with a slotted spoon to a plate. Add the onion to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, cut 2 cups of small florets from the cauliflower and chop the rest. Peel and thinly slice the potato. When the onion has softened, add the chicken broth, chopped cauliflower, and potato to the saucepan; bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 8 minutes or until the cauliflower and potato are very tender. Transfer to a blender in three or four small batches and puree until very smooth.
Measure the pureed soup and return it to the saucepan. Add water, if necessary, to make 7 cups. Stir in the cauliflower florets and simmer for 4 minutes or until they are almost tender. If you are using mustard greens or kale, add them to the soup with the florets. When the florets are just tender, stir in the chorizo and lemon juice; add salt and pepper to taste. If using spinach, stir it in with the chorizo. Ladle the soup into bowls; sprinkle each with some paprika and serve with garlic bread, if desired.
Sara – I went to a local farm just a couple of days ago, and they had the freshest, most colorful, largest heads of cauliflower that I have ever seen for sale. White, rich yellow, deep purple, big moist green leaves, and an audible snap if you broke a little bitty part of a bud off. I bought one white and one yellow head and did double time to my mother’s house to share them with her. We were both saying we wished we had a really great recipe for cauliflower soup now that the weather is to crisp and chilly. And like a little angel over our shoulders, here you are to share this marvelous with us. Thanks so much!!! It’s the perfect recipe for such fresh veggies, and I’m going back for more!!!
This is my all time FAVORITE soup! I’m planning on making it this week.
This soup works well with soy chorizo now available in most major food markets..Its lower calories without lost of flavor.Swapping out the chicken broth with veggie type as I did for my vegetarian wife works well. Good soup!And for those of us who like rappini(broccoli rabe yum yum yum.
After watching you make this on TV today, I checked and had all the ingredients, and made the soup. It was delicious. I plan to make this a regular.
Fantastic soup! I like my soup chunky so did only 2 batches to blend in the blender. A favorite!
This soup is excellent. My family loved it. As cauliflower harvesting season is here, do you think this soup without the sausage would freeze well?
I think it would freeze fine with or without the sausage.
I followed the Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Chorizo and Greens to a tee. However, after the addition of 3 T of fresh lemon juice, the broth was extremely lemony. (I only had to add less than a cup of water to make 7 cups). After a couple of hours of letting the soup cool. The extreme lemon flavor decreased and the addition of a generous amount of smoked paprika when serving helped, but there was still a bit too much lemon.
Was the lemony flavor a result of the temp being a bit too high when it was added or should I have added less than 3 T of fresh lemon juice? OR…? Thank you so much for your delightful presentations of healthy and scrumptious recipes!!
Pamela,
Because of your comment I just adjusted the recipe to 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or to taste. Lemons really vary in acidity so there should be a range. Thanks for the heads up!