Disclaimer: I received Stonyfield product for creating this recipe, but all opinions are my own. I love Stonyfield and buy it with my own money to eat regularly. 
I don’t know what it has been like in your neck of the woods lately, but last week in Omaha it was HOT. The kind of hot that made you not want to do much of anything. When Josh and I weren’t at work, we were inside in the air conditioning. When it came to food for the week we wanted to make something cool and refreshing. Enter: chilled cauliflower bisque.
We first got the idea for a soup like this from our first wedding anniversary dinner. Josh got a chilled cauliflower soup that was so good we vowed to recreate it at home. With the heatwave this week, it seemed like as good a time as any.
Chilled Cauliflower Bisque Recipe
Makes 16 servings (Yes, this makes a lot of soup!)
Ingredients
- 2 heads cauliflower, chopped into large chunks
- 1 Large bulb of garlic
- 1 bulb of fennel, sliced (Save the greens for another recipe – they’re great in salads!)
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 large sweet onion, quartered
- 1 ounce fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon zest
- 2 quarts vegetable stock
- 1 small container (5.3 oz) Stonyfield Plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup skim milk
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
- Salt (to taste)
- Pepper (to taste)
- Cinnamon (to taste)
- Smoked paprika (to taste)
- Cayenne pepper (to taste)
- Ground cardamom (to taste)
- Extra virgin olive oil
Directions
Preheat oven to 375.
On a baking sheet, arrange the cauliflower and onion. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake for 45 minutes, or until cauliflower starts to brown.
Remove from oven and set aside.
Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees.
Cut the top off of the bulb of garlic, drizzle with olive oil, and wrap in aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour.
Remove garlic and set aside to cool.
In a small pan, heat the carrot, fennel ginger and saute until everything is tender (about 5 minutes).
Remove from heat and set aside.
In a large stock pot, combine the cauliflower, fennel onion, ginger, and carrot, and add the vegetable stock, along with your desired spices.
Unwrap the garlic, scoop all of it out of the bulb, and add it to the soup.
Bring to a simmer and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes, or until the cauliflower easily breaks up with the back of a spoon.
Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until everything is relatively smooth.
(If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can transfer the soup to a regular blender and puree it, but it may take several batches)
Once everything is blended, remove the soup from the heat and add the milk, Greek yogurt, parsley and lemon zest, and blend until everything is smooth.
Add the apple cider vinegar and blend that in, too.
Allow the soup to cool, then transfer to a large vessel and chill in the refrigerator overnight.
Serve and enjoy!
Action Shots
The finished product
The result was a delicious chilled soup that was exactly what I was craving on a hot summer day. And the day after, and the day after. It didn’t taste anything like the one we had at the restaurant, but I didn’t mind. I can go back and order that soup. And I can make this one at home. 🙂
Questions of the Day: Are you a cold soup fan? What’s your favorite soup? How do you keep cool on hot days?
P.S. If you live in Omaha and like wine, you’re really going to want to check out the giveaway happening on my Instagram today.
Yum! That looks delicious! I love soups – hot and cold but I haven’t made one in a long time. Thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome Christine! I was really happy with how tasty it was!
I love soup! Although I’m only a hot soup girl. I’m sure this would taste great either way.
It actually does taste really good hot too! Josh tried it that way one night and loved it!
this looks really good! i’ve only had cold soup once (cucumber!) and i really liked it – may have to try this!
Mmm I love cucumbers!
I’ve not made cold soup other than gazpacho but that looks delicious!
It’s so tasty!
This soup looks fantastic! How much can you taste the fennel? Do you think it would be lacking without it? Fennel and I are… not close friends. 🙂
The fennel was a mild taste but you could definitely do without it if you don’t like it! It won’t really change the recipe!
This sounds delicious!!! I love cauliflower!
It’s so good!
I’ve never had cold soup before, but it sounds great for hot days! We’ve been hitting 105 for the past 4 days. I am hoping for a cool down!
Oh no! I hope it cools down soon!
I’ve never tried a chilled cauliflower soup before, it looks really good I should try it! It would probably be a good recipe to freeze the extra – I know I’d be sick of it after 8 servings, never mind 16!
Yes! Definitely freeze the leftovers. Josh went a little crazy at the store and bought all.the.cauliflower. 😉
Aren’t immersion blenders awesome? I LOVE mine! They are the best for making soups the lazy way 😉
Yes! Josh introduced me to it and now I love it!
When did you become a professional chef? Looks SO good 🙂
Josh is the brainchild behind most of these recipes. I help and try not to screw things up. 😉
And this is so delicious! We need to have a soup night!
This looks amazing. I’m always looking for new ways to incorporate cauliflower in things. Will definitely have to try this.
Yay! Let me know what you think!
I’m not a huge cauliflower fan but I’ve been meaning to eat more of it for some reason that I forget right now- I probably read about it’s many benefits somewhere haha
Since I love soup, this’ll be a great re-introductory recipe. Thanks for sharing!
I hope you love it! My husband is obsessed with cauliflower so he always wants us to eat it. haha
That looks amazing!!!!
It was so yummy!
Looks delicious! I have been making more soups for lunch now that I have a Vitamix-this would be perfect!