Cold winter nights call for hot soup. This cauliflower watercress soup is healthy and light, with a perfect creamy texture from the cauliflower.
Cauliflower Watercress Soup
Great served with a crispy whole grain piece of bread and a drizzle of olive oil on top, yet it’s light enough to serve with a sandwich or a first course. We were hit with a snow storm yesterday, and we’re expecting another tonight. After shoveling myself out of my parking spot and coming in from the cold last night, this soup hit the spot. A few of my other favorite creamy winter soups are Cream of Asparagus Soup, Creamy Carrot Ginger Soup, and Instant Pot Tomato Basil Soup.
This recipe was inspired from someone who tweeted me the idea to add watercress to my Dad’s cauliflower soup. Such a great way to incorporate watercress into soup which is considered a superfood. It’s rich in fiber, anti-oxidants, vitamin C, beta-carotene, folate, potassium, calcium, phosphorous and iron and adds a bright green color to this soup.
More Soup Recipes You May Enjoy:
- Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Turkey Chili Taco Soup
- Beef, Tomato and Acini Di Pepe Soup
- Baked Potato Soup
- Broccoli Cheese and Potato Soup
Cauliflower Watercress Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup chopped onions
- 1 tbsp unbleached flour, all purpose is fine too
- 4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth, vegetarians can use vegetable broth
- 1 medium head cauliflower, chopped (about 1 1/2 lbs florets)
- 4 cups watercress, 3 oz
- kosher salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium nonstick saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.
- Add the onions and saute until soft, about 3 minutes.
- Add the flour and stir about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the chicken broth and cauliflower and increase heat to medium-high.
- Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer over medium-low until vegetables are tender (about 20 minutes.)
- Add the watercress until wilted, about 1 minute and puree with an immersion blender until smooth.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
My husband is not a fan of pureed soups, so I pulled out a few small cauliflower florets just before blending the of the soup. After the soup is blended smooth, then I just add back the withheld florets back in the soup. When serving , I put a couple of slices of avocado on top of the soup and finish with some sliced green onion and minced cilantro for garnish. Satisfied my husband and made the soup even better.
I made this with a bag of riced cauliflower. It was delicious and hit the spot on a cold and dreary Michigan winter evening.!
Protip: do not confuse watercress with upland cress. They may look the same, but upland cress is way more bitter, much like the way I felt after accidentally making this soup with upland cress.
First thought: Oh, immersion blender. Sounds like another expensive kitchen gadget, sigh. Googled it, found out I already have one, LOL – it's a hand (stick) blender! Doh.
I made this with baby spinach and it was DELICIOUS!!!!
This is really good! It will definitely be made over and over again in my household. 😀