This cauliflower fennel soup is so creamy, comforting and packed with flavor for a delicious lunch or light dinner. It's so easy to make on the stovetop with easy to find ingredients!
Love a cauliflower soup? Do check out my cauliflower zucchini soup and parsnip cauliflower soup for more cozy lunch ideas!
Much like my cauliflower potato leek soup, this easy lunch idea combines tasty veggies with potato to make it a little heartier, and adds lots of fresh herbs for their fragrant flavor.
To make this a really easy cauliflower fennel soup to cook up, we skip roasting the veggies and add them straight to the soup pot. Saves lots of time, and it's definitely still very delicious!
Have a peek at my celery leek soup, vegetable soup recipe without tomatoes and broccoli zucchini soup for more veggie-packed meal ideas that don't require turning the oven on!
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🍲 Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
Some notes on a few of them:
- Cauliflower - a low carb veggie, be sure to choose a fresh one without any bruising. We cut it into small florets for ease of cooking.
- Fennel - adds a lovely anise flavor to the soup. See below for how to prep!
- Potato - I suggest to use a russet potato or Yukon gold potato. Personally I don't bother to peel them, but you can if you wish!
- Herbs - while you can use dried herbs (reduce to about a third of the quantity), I suggest to use fresh rosemary and thyme for their aromatic flavor.
- Coconut milk - the type that comes in a can. We use this to make it a no cream cauliflower fennel soup and so dairy free.
- Vegetable broth - while store-bought may work for some, there's also my low histamine vegetable stock for my low histamine readers to try!
❔ How to prep fennel
Prepping fennel is very simple, and takes just a minute to do. Once washed, simply remove any tough outer layers, slice off the stalks and fronds (save the fronds for decoration if you like!), as well as the base of the harder root. Then slice the fennel bulb into thin pieces. BBC Good Food has an easy to follow tutorial on prepping fennel.
🔪 Step by step instructions
It's very easy to make this cauliflower fennel potato soup with affordable ingredients! So grab a large soup pot and let's get cooking this tried and tested recipe (my family have eaten it many times!).
All the instructions are set out in the recipe card below, but these step by step photos should help guide you.
Step 1: Cook onion and garlic
Drizzle olive oil in your soup pot or Dutch oven and cook diced onion and celery until softened, then add in minced garlic (image 1).
Step 2: Add the veggies and potato
Tip in the diced cauliflower, fennel and potato, and stir to combine. Cook for a few minutes (image 2).
Step 3: Pour in vegetable broth
Pour in vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a very light simmer, then pour in the coconut milk. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until the potato is fork tender. Add in the fresh herbs (image 3).
Step 4: Blend!
Use an immersion blender to blend the soup, or transfer batches to a food processor to blend (image 4). Season with salt and black pepper to taste preference. Ladle into your servings bowls.
💭 Expert recipe tips and notes
- Dice the cauliflower into florets of a similar size, and the potatoes into small chunks for an even cook time.
- Peeling the potatoes or not is down to preference. Personally I don't as it gives you a thicker soup.
- Check the potato is fork tender before you use the immersion blender. Give it a few more minutes of cook time, if needed.
- Adjust with more broth to the consistency you like. This is quite a thick hearty soup.
📋 Frequently asked questions
I suggest to use either russet potatoes or Yukon gold potatoes as they cook well, and help thicken the soup.
You can absolutely use chicken broth if it is suitable for you, but of course it means the soup won't be vegan.
It's very easy to freeze this soup. Simply allow to cool completely then ladle into freezer-safe containers. It can be frozen for up to three months, but my low histamine readers may wish to read the SIGHI advice on freezing.
🥣 More tasty soups
Find so many more delicious soup recipes here, including my celery apple soup and vegetable orzo soup, as well as these recent recipes:
I'm always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes! And I love to hear from you - so please do leave a star rating ⭐⭐⭐ and comment if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Cauliflower Fennel Soup
Equipment
- Soup pot
Ingredients
- 1.5 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ white onion diced
- 1 celery stick diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 cups fennel fronds and stems removed, diced
- 4 cups cauliflower
- 2 cups potato Yukon gold or russet potatoes, diced
- 3.5 cups vegetable broth
- ½ cup coconut milk
- ½ tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves finely diced
- ½ tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper optional
Instructions
- Drizzle olive oil into a soup pot or Dutch oven, then saute onion and celery for 3-4 minutes on a low to medium heat until softened. Add the minced garlic.
- Tip in the diced fennel, cauliflower and potato and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Pour in the vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a very low simmer, then pour in the coconut milk. Cook for 18-20 minutes, or until the potato is fork tender.
- Add the fresh thyme and rosemary, and season with salt and black pepper (if using). Give it a stir, then use an immersion blender to blend the soup (or transfer batches to a food processor). Adjust the seasonings to preference, then ladle into your serving bowls.
Notes
- Prep the fennel bulb by slicing off the stalks and fronds, as well as any tougher outer leaves and the hard root. Slice the remaining fennel bulb into small pieces.
- I leave the skin on the potatoes to help thicken the soup, but you can peel if you prefer.
- For a thinner consistency (this is a thicker hearty soup), use a little more vegetable broth.
- If you don't have an immersion blender, transfer batches to a food processor and blend that way.
- Nutritional information is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- garlic, which scores 1 with a note, 'In small amounts, usually well tolerated after cooking'.
- vegetable broth will depend upon ingredients used and preparation method.
- black pepper, which scores 2.
Alice says
Just made this today. Yummy! I have never used fennel before in a recipe and am so glad to have found a new flavor to add to my low histamine diet. Thank you!
Claire says
Glad you enjoyed it Alice! Fennel is one of my favorite ways to add flavor to soups, and salads too.
Sarah says
This recipe was absolutely fantastic for the whole family! Even the picky 10-year-old lives it! And as I am the one who has dietary restrictions, I’m grateful to have another lovely meal to make for myself. Thank you for sharing your recipes with us. I’m so appreciative.
Claire says
Oh, so lovely to hear that all the family enjoyed the soup! Hope you find lots more recipes to cook up and enjoy.