Creamy Paleo Cauliflower Soup with Bacon
Bacon and cashews are blended right into this Paleo Cauliflower Soup recipe which makes it super creamy and delicious. It's a low-carb and Whole30 soup recipe that everyone will love!
Two truths about January:
- The determination to eat clean and be healthy is at an all-time high.
- It's freaking cold outside and comfort food is king.
Trying to make amends with your clean eating dreams and your comfort food wants might seem next to impossible, but I've got you covered.
Why you need this paleo cauliflower soup in your life tonight:
- A big bowl of creamy soup that tastes like you've poured a carton of whipping cream into it.
- Not a spot of dairy in sight.
- Bacon. And yes, we can have a little bacon and call this soup healthy. Blended into the soup (yum!) and sprinkled on top (extra yum!)
- It's a pot of low carb (keto!) magic.
- You can dig into this cauliflower bacon soup while keeping your resolutions AND satisfying your inner cozy food cravings. The best of both worlds!
Cauliflower Soup with Bacon
Can it even be called cauliflower soup if it doesn't have bacon in it?
Ok ok technically I have shared a curried cauliflower soup recipe with you years ago and bacon was not in the ingredient list. That soup was good, but bacon makes everything better.
Where to find paleo bacon?
The only problem with bacon is that it is often cured with nitrates and sugar. Most of us who lean towards a paleo lifestyle try to avoid those two things as much as possible.
And if you're doing a round of Whole30, they're definitely out.
Luckily, it is possible to find paleo/ Whole30 compliant bacon. Often well-stocked health food stores (like Whole Foods and Trader Joes) will carry some. You'll find it less often at your regular grocery store.
Another option is to use a subscription service, like ButcherBox and have your bacon delivered to your front door. And heads up … they're having a special right now where anyone who signs up gets FREE BACON + $20 off your first order. (insert all the happy dancing emojis!)
Cauliflower Soup Paleo Magic
I'm calling this paleo magic because I've used one of my favorite tricks for making soups and sauces rich and creamy:
CASHEWS!
Yep, they're at it again. You've seen them recently in the Cashew Coconut Salmon Curry and a little farther back in the Dairy-Free Pork Chops and Mushroom Soup. They've also made an appearance in a couple of the recipes in my Sugar Free Paleo Dinner Recipes cookbook.
Blending raw cashews into the sauce (or cashew butter if you don't have a high-powered blender) mimics adding cream. It creates a sauce or soup that is truly magical!
Favorite Paleo Soup Recipes:
- Coconut Thai Chicken Zoodle Soup
- Cashew Cream of Mushroom Soup
- Curried Chicken Cauliflower Rice Soup
- Creamy Turkey Mushroom Soup
- Coconut Curried Cauliflower Soup
Creamy Paleo Cauliflower Soup with Bacon
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
Ingredients
- ½ cup raw cashews, see notes
- 10 ounces bacon, sliced into 1-inch pieces (Whole30 compliant, if needed)
- 1 white onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium head of cauliflower, chopped
- 4 cups chicken stock, Whole30 compliant, if needed
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- Sea salt, to taste
- Chopped chives and black pepper, to garnish
Instructions
- Place the cashews in a jar and cover them with hot tap water.½ cup raw cashews
- Cook the bacon until crispy in a large pot over medium-high heat, about 8 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and drain off all but 2 tablespoons of the oil.10 ounces bacon
- Add the onion to the pot and let it cook for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.1 white onion, 3 cloves garlic
- Add the cauliflower, chicken stock, thyme, and pepper to the pot and bring the pot to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the cauliflower is soft.1 medium head of cauliflower, 4 cups chicken stock, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 teaspoon black pepper
- Drain the water from the cashews and add them to your high-powered blender. Add half the bacon and half the soup and blend on high until smooth. Pour the soup into a new pot then blend the remaining soup and add it to the pot. Bring to a simmer and season the soup to taste with sea salt.Sea salt
- Serve the soup topped with the remaining bacon, some chopped chives, and a little black pepper.Chopped chives and black pepper
Great soup, loved it. Thanks for sharing.
This recipe looked so good to me, but I think all that pureed cooked bacon screwed it up completely. My puree was way too thick and grainy with the consistency of hot cereal, not soup. Perhaps omit the bacon except as a garnish. Also I think the cashew cream would come out better if you soak the cashews overnight, drain them and blend them with a little fresh water and after that add them to the soup. Was this recipe actually tested?
All of our recipes are tested several times prior to sharing them. From your description, it sounds like you used a regular blender. A high powered blender 9as indicated in the recipe) is needed to get the super creamy texture that makes this soup special. If you don’t have one, use cashew butter. See the notes in the recipe card for more info on that.
what can you substitute if your allergic to tree nuts?
Regular cream would work, too. Adding a potato with the cauliflower will help to make it more creamy, too. 🙂
Do you have any idea of the calories per serving? Soup is delicious.
The nutritional information is just below the recipe. 🙂
Loved it.
Yay!!!
I JUST started Paleo this week and I had a lot of Cauliflower in and I knew I wanted to make a soup. Low and behold your site came up and this was THE BEST SOUP I have ever had and there’s no dairy! It is delicious and easy. What’s funny about it too is that no one would ever know that it had a cashew base if you didn’t tell them. Thank you! This could win an award.
Awww that makes me so happy to hear! Using cashews for different cream sauces is one of my favorite tricks!
Hi! Looks delicious! A quick question about the nutritional information: am I correct in understanding that one serving (1/4 of recipe) has 40g of fat?
Thank you!
That is right. Cashews are high in healthy fats!
Can you freeze this soup?
This soup freezes really well!
Made it today, easy and very tasty. Thanks
I’m so happy to hear you like the recipe!
Looks delicious. I’m allergic to raw cashews, but can eat them when cooked. Do you believe it would hurt the recipe to cook the soup a little longer once the cashews have been added?
Not at all! You can definitely simmer the soup longer to cook the cashews. Or you could add them to the pot with the stock to save some time. 🙂