Roasted Cauliflower Horseradish Cheddar Soup with Lemon Basil Croutons

Think cauliflower is boring? Think again! This Roasted Cauliflower Horseradish Cheddar Soup is amazingly creamy and flavorful... Especially when topped with lemon basil croutons!

It’s officially April, which means soup season is just about over. Can I get an amen? Well, unless you live in Boston and were forced to walk around the city in the sleet slash hail slash I don’t know what that was yesterday. And if this is the last time I ever mention the fact that my winter coat has no hood, it will still be one time too many. Seriously. Let's not talk about winter coats again until November. #thankyouandgoodbye.

But I do admit, I will miss soup. Especially now that I discovered this delightfully creamy cauliflower soup with a kick. It's Roasted Cauliflower Horseradish Cheddar Soup with Lemon Basil Croutons- it's my newest post for the Parade magazine website and now I'm sharing it here.

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER HORSERADISH CHEDDAR SOUP RECIPE

Guys, this is cauliflower's year. At least according to everything I've been hearing. To be honest, it's really not a vegetable that I’ve ever found very exciting. It’s white and it’s not overly flavorful. And the best I can say is that it actually does make an excellent substitute for potatoes in mashed potatoes. OK, that's not true. The best I can say is that it's a super nutritious vegetable. Generally, you think of green vegetables as being healthiest, but believe it or not, cauliflower is known for its cancer-fighting properties and is packed with antioxidants and anti-inflammatories.

For me, I just need to do a little something to make it more excitement. Hence the invention of this roasted cauliflower horseradish cheddar soup. I know that's a mouthful. And that's without even talking about the lemon basil croutons. Which, FYI, are pretty essential to this soup. Anyway, once I knew I wanted to make a cauliflower soup, I knew horseradish would go perfectly with it, so I mixed in a whole lotta' Cabot Horseradish Cheddar. Correction: I tried to and then I discovered that my husband ate the entire block of cheese that Cabot had sent me. So, I went to the grocery store, bought more, and THEN mixed it in.

Since this is a roasted cauliflower soup, you start by (duh) roasting the cauliflower and garlic. Then you'll simmer it with some vegetable broth and add milk, flour, and garlic powder (because the more garlic power, the better!!).

Oh wait, we can't forget about the lemon basil croutons. Don't worry, they're super easy. You just toss cubed bread in olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and basil. And bake until crispy!

When I served the cauliflower soup, I topped it with those lemon basil croutons and a little more horseradish cheese. For good measure, obviously.

And I'm in love with this soup. It's amazingly creamy and deliciously flavorful. Not only because the cauliflower was roasted (which adds all kinds of flavor!), but also because the horseradish cheddar adds a wonderfully spicy kick to the soup. Not spicy in an "omg this is so hot!" kind of way, but in a horseradish-heat kind of way. You know what I mean?

This cauliflower horseradish soup can easily serve 6-8 as an entree, but since I live in a family of 2, that means we got to have lots of leftovers! The soup also makes a great appetizer for a dinner party.

OK, now that winter's finally winding down, I feel a little bit sad that I didn't make more soup this season. But, I mean, not that bad. Not bad enough that I want to talk about winter coats anymore. Not at all.

If you're trying to make the most out of soup season before it becomes ice cream season, you need to make this roasted cauliflower horseradish cheddar soup immediately. It might even make you a little bit grateful there's still a chill in the air. Maybe.

How much soup did you eat this winter?

If you're loving this roasted cauliflower soup recipe, check out my recipes for Loaded Baked Potato Soup, Broccoli Soup with Sautéed Mushrooms, and Chipotle Butternut Squash Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons.

I'm also really into these Roasted Cauliflower Chickpea Bowls from Spices in my DNA.

Roasted Cauliflower Horseradish Cheddar Soup with Lemon Basil Croutons

Think cauliflower is boring? Think again! This Cauliflower Horseradish Cheddar Soup is amazingly creamy and flavorful... Especially when topped with lemon basil croutons!

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Course: Appetizer, Entree

Cuisine: American, Eclectic

Keyword: Cauliflower, Horseradish, Soup

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Makes: 6 -8 servings

Author: Sues

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower
• 3 cloves garlic
• ¼ cup olive oil, divided
• 1 onion
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1 ½ cups 1% milk
• 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• 6 oz. horseradish cheddar cheese (I use Cabot brand)

Lemon Basil Croutons

• ½ loaf french bread, cut into cubes
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 ½ Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 Tbsp finely chopped basil

Instructions

• Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
• Cut cauliflower florets away from stems and place in a single layer on baking sheet. Place garlic cloves, with peels still on, on the sheet with the cauliflower and drizzle with 2 Tbsp olive oil.
• Bake cauliflower and garlic with peels on 30-35 minutes minutes; take garlic out after 20 minutes.
• Sauté onion in 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large stockpot or dutch oven until softened.
• Add vegetable broth, cauliflower, and garlic cloves and bring to a boil. Lower to simmer for about 8 minutes.
• While cauliflower is simmering, in a separate medium bowl, whisk together milk, flour, and garlic powder. Stir mixture into cauliflower mixture.
• Remove from heat and puree using an immersion blender. (If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can puree soup in batches in blender and then return to pot.) Once pureed, place stockpot back on burner over medium low heat.
• Gently stir in grated cheese until melted.
• Serve in individual bowls and top with croutons.

Lemon Basil Croutons

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Put all ingredients in a medium bowl and toss until bread cubes are fully coated.
• Place in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for about 9-11 minutes, until just crispy.

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