Cauliflower Potato Soup is silky smooth and so comforting. Adding the garlic butter shrimp topping makes this simple soup taste and look so fancy. All it needs to serve is a slice of crusty Sourdough Bread to make it a meal.
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Creamy Cauliflower Potato Soup Recipe
This Creamy Cauliflower and Potato Soup with Shrimp is amazing! My cousin Lena shared this recipe with me years ago, and I have loved it ever since. It brought me back to Mexico and all the gourmet soups we tried on our honeymoon. It’s where I first fell in love with creamy soups.
This creamy soup has the WOW factor and your dinner guests will agree. Can you imagine juicy shrimp and creamy deliciousness taking over your palate? Seriously this cauliflower potato soup is a keeper for your regular soup rotation, along with Zuppa Toscana and Chicken Tortilla Soup – yum!
Ingredients for Cauliflower and Potato Soup:
- Potatoes – peel and chop these. Removing the skins is best so they don’t add unwanted texture to the soup. We used waxy red potatoes. Yukon gold is also a great option.
- Cauliflower – you’ll need half a head of cauliflower chopped into florets. I also include the tender parts of the stem.
- Onion – a yellow onion, sweet onion, or even white onion will work. I would avoid purple onion since it changes the color.
- Olive oil – we use extra light olive oil to sautee the onions, potatoes, and cauliflower.
- Heavy whipping cream – adds a luxurious creaminess to the soup
- Seasonings – we use simple spices: cayenne pepper, salt and pepper.
Ingredients for Shrimp Topping
- Shrimp – we like large 20-24 count shrimp that are peeled & deveined and. Medium-sized or just about any size will do. Start with raw, thawed shrimp.
- Butter and Olive Oil – combining the two helps to keep the butter from burning. The butter sauce is also used to garnish and drizzle over the soup bowls, so don’t reduce it.
- Garlic – fresh garlic cloves add the most flavor
- Parsley – adds vibrance and fresh flavor
How to make Cauliflower Potato Soup with Shrimp:
- Add 1/2 cup of olive oil to a medium soup pot and turn the heat to medium. Add diced onions and saute them for a minute.
- Next, add chopped cauliflower and potatoes to the pot with onions and cook until onions become transparent.
- Pour in four cups of water along with 2 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of pepper, and 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper, then bring everything to a boil.
- When water boils, add one cup of Heavy Whipping cream. Cover and let it cook until potatoes are cooked through (15- min). In the meantime, prepare shrimp.
- After the cauliflower potato soup has finished cooking, remove the pot from the heat and, using an immersion blender, puree until smooth consistency. Or just use whatever blender you have on hand to puree soup until smooth. I like the first method better because everything is done without removing soup from the pot.
How to Make Shrimp Topping for Soup
This shrimp is similar to our Shrimp Scampi. You could substitute with that if you wanted to.
- Preheat the skillet over medium/high heat. Add 1 Tbsp oil, butter, peeled shrimp and garlic. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and parsley. Saute until cooked through, about 3-4 min.
How to Serve Cauliflower Potato Soup
Pour in the desired amount of creamy cauliflower and potato soup in the bowl. Top with 5-6 buttery shrimp on top and enjoy. It pairs well with these sides:
Make-Ahead and Storage
Before storing soup, be sure to cool it fully to room temperature. This soup keeps and reheats just as well as the day you made it.
- Refrigerator – Store the soup in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
- Freezer – You can freeze the soup in freezer-safe containers or zip bags, leaving a little room at the top for expansion. Freeze for 3 to 4 months.
- To Reheat – Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat gently over low heat, stirring frequently.
More Comforting Soup Recipes
You’ll find some new favorites here if you are looking for some fantastic soups to add to your soup rotation. These are some of our most popular and best-reviewed soup recipes, perfect for cooler weather.
- Split Pea Soup
- Borscht
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Chicken Pot Pie Soup
- Tomato Soup
- Creamy Sweet Potato Soup
- Taco Soup
Cauliflower Potato Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 red potatoes potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 head cauliflower, chopped into florets and stems
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 4 cups warm water
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 lb raw shrimp, medium or large size, peeled & deveined
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 garlic cloves
- 3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley, or 1 Tbsp dried parsley
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
How to Make Cauliflower Potato Soup
- Add 1/2 cup of olive oil to a 6 Qt soup pot or Dutch oven and turn the heat to medium. Add diced onions and saute them for a minute.
- Next, add chopped cauliflower and potatoes to the pot with onions and cook until onions become transparent.
- Pour in four cups of water along with 2 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of pepper and 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper. Than bring everything to a boil.
- When water boils, add one cup of Heavy Whipping cream. Cover and let it cook until potatoes are cooked through (15- min). In the mean time prepare shrimp.
- After soup has finished cooking, remove the pot from heat and using immersion hand blender puree until smooth consistency. Or just use whatever blender you have on hand to puree soup until smooth. I like the first method better because everything is done without removing soup from the pot.
- To Serve – pour the desired amount of creamy soup in a bowl. Top with 5-6 buttery shrimp on top and enjoy 🙂
How to Make Shrimp Topping
- Preheat the skillet over medium/high heat. Add 1 Tbsp oil, butter, peeled shrimp and garlic. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and parsley. Saute until cooked through, about 2-4 min then remove from heat.
Hi Natasha, I have enjoyed many of your recipes and am anxious to try this soup.
Would it work if I roast the cauliflower AND can this soup be frozen?
Hi Clori! Think it would be fine to roast the cauliflower. I haven’t tried to freeze this. Soups with any kind of cream or milk base tend to separate with freezing and they get grainy when reheated. Let us know if you experiment.
I love this recipe! I did swap the shrimp for some sautéed broccoli because that’s what I was craving but the base of the soup was incredible! This recipe will be made for company in the future. Thank you Natasha and family!
Hi Josephine, good to know that the substitution that you used worked great in this recipe. Thank you for sharing!
I used some left over filling from your savory crape recipe instead of the shrimp – Once again, absolutely amazing recipe. It really was very easy and quite quick. Ill be adding this to my dinner rotation
Sounds great! Great to hear that you liked this recipe, thanks for sharing.
I used some left over filling from your savory crape recipe instead of the shrimp – Once again, absolutely amazing recipe. It really was very easy and quite quick. Ill be adding this to my dinner rotation
Nice! I’m glad that worked out great, Dustin. Thanks for your wonderful review and feedback.
Hi Natasha,
This looks delicious! Is it possible to use 2% milk instead of heavy whipping cream? Or possibly a healthy roux with 2% milk (or any other suggestion)? Trying to watch my saturated fats for cardio reasons.
Thanks!
Hi Joey, I haven’t tested it that way but I think it should still work since you will be blending it, it will just be a little less rich.
Can I make this a day ahead, if so how? The whole thing or hold off on shrimp until right before?
How do leftovers hold up?
And, if I double the recipe, do I double all ingredients? Thanks.
Hi Betsy, this does reheat well and leftovers hold up great. I would double everything if doubling, but cook times may be slightly longer and I would cook shrimp in 2 batches so they don’t crowd the pan and steam cook. You can make the shrimp ahead also, just reheat over low heat until warmed through so you aren’t re-cooking them or they can turn rubbery. I hope you love the recipe!
I have a bag of cauliflower “rice” in my fridge. Would that work and if so, how much would I use? 2 cups? 4 cups?
Hi Lori, I have only tried this with fresh cauliflower. If you experiment with that, I would love to know how you like the recipe 🙂
Natasha- is this something that would go well with sausage instead of shrimp? I’ve been looking for a good creamy potato and sausage recipe.
Ooooh I think it would go very well with sausage instead of shrimp. I hope you love it! Thanks for the idea 🙂
Made the soup last night and it was seriously delicious!! I added some parsley, thyme, and a tiny mid of lemon juice to the soup for some added flavor and it was DIVINE! Thank you Natasha!
Wow I love the sound of those add-ins! Thank you so much for sharing and I’m so happy you loved the soup 🙂
My new favorite soup ❤️ So good !
Oh I’m so happy you love it. I absolutely love this one too. It’s so easy and tastes gourmet :). Thanks for the awesome review!
Have you ever used sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes?
HI Zhanna, I haven’t in this recipe but it might be a good experiment :). We sure love our sweet potato soup though and so do our children: https://natashaskitchen.com/2014/12/01/creamy-sweet-potato-coconut-soup-recipe/
Loved this amazing Soup. I am also a shrimpaholic so this soup was on point! It was so creamy and delicious. Thank you soooo much for this amazing recipe.
Thank you for the great review Rufina and you are welcome 😀.
This soup is unique, delicious and beautiful!
My husband thought it was a little thick but to my taste – perfect! Love this new way of enjoying shrimp! Mm-mmm!
Also, don’t have a blender other than bullet (small) so blended only a cup to see if it tastes different in chunks- it does! As a purée its a mysterious blend of flavors but as chunks, well you taste everything separately a bit so I say blending it as a must!
Perfection! Thank you. 🙂
I’ll have to try it your way! Thank you so much for sharing your awesome review! 🙂