Slow Cooker Cauliflower Chowder
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Simply throw everything into the crockpot, blend and top with bacon and cheese. Healthy, hearty, easy and effortless!
Is it still soup weather? Because I promise you – it was pushing close to 90 degrees F today here in LA.
Needless to say, I still need a piping hot bowl of cauliflower chowder in this heat wave because I’ll take any excuse to consume bacon and cheese.
I just sprinkle on a little more than what’s appropriate for a “topping” portion.
See, even Butters agrees.
Just throw everything into your crockpot and let it do all the hard work for you. When ready to serve, blend (using a blender or immersion blender if you have one handy) and serve with desired (or really, extra) toppings, to taste.
Slow Cooker Cauliflower Chowder
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon, diced
- 1 head cauliflower, roughly chopped
- 2 leeks, whites only, thoroughly washed and sliced
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ cup half and half*
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate; set aside.
- Place cauliflower, leeks, onion, celery and garlic into a 6-qt slow cooker. Stir in chicken broth, thyme, bay leaf and 2 cups water; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 3-4 hours, or until vegetables are tender. Remove bay leaf'; puree with an immersion blender.
- Stir in cheese and half and half.
- Serve immediately, garnished with additional cheese, bacon and chives, if desired.
Notes
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Yum! Very tasty and easy to prepare! Will make again!
Could I use coconut milk in place of the cream?
This was so easy and so good! I swapped out the half-and-half with cashew milk and it worked out perfectly! My kids were big fans which is another bonus 🙂
Absolutely simple and fantastic to eat. Even my kids liked it.
I have made this soup twice now and each time I had to cook much longer than what the recipe suggests… Does anyone else have this issue? Flavour is awesome though so it’s worth the wait.
Great soup but like others, had to finish on stovetop since it didn’t cook thoroughly on the crock pot. Everyone loved it though!
Just yum
This soup is fabulous! Every time… buy fresh, quality ingredients and spice it up. Everyone loves it so much I make “extra” on a Sunday to have for lunch a couple times the following week. Thank you for sharing
I had yellow cauliflower from my CSA. I used to really like it but not too much anymore. This was amazing. It started out in the crockpot but didn’t cook after 5 hours so I finished on stove top. I served it with home made rosemary bread. So delicious, my eldest ate it all but the middle kid I don’t think liked the texture. I didn’t have a leek or celery so used just an onion and carrots. Simply delicious for a cool fall night.
Made this soup for the family including the picky kids and everyone loved it!!
I made this today. It’s very good.but my cheese is not a very good melting cheese. I used kraft shredded. Is there some other chs I should have used. Still very good and will make it again.
Shredded cheese has a coating that keeps it from clumping…which also keeps it from melting the way you want it to, unfortunately! If you try grating the cheese yourself, you’ll have better results!
Question: I’m supposed to make a soup for Lenten Supper at my church. If I omit the bacon and switch out the chicken broth for vegetable broth, how much does that effect the flavor? It can only have seafood, no meat otherwise.
Marjorie, the flavors will change quite a bit with your modifications. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
I made this tonight without the leeks and I added seasoning salt to boost the flavor, it was quite delicious. My husband had seconds.
Wow. Had this tonight and was delighted and according to an article I just read on the health benefits of cauliflower this needs to be a regular in our meal rotation.
Thanks for sharing.
Trying this soup out today and will not have the time to eat or be served immediately. Do you have a suggestion on how to keep it and reheat? Thanks so much!
You can reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop. 🙂
Butters is adorable, and such a good boy for not stealing that bacon in front of him! 🙂 And I love his Adidas gear!
This soup recipe is awful I had to doctor it up by putting in some roasted red pepper corn lots more cheese some chicken bouillon I finally got it to where it can taste good but the original recipe is awful
Debbie, I’m sorry that this recipe did not turn out the way you had imagined. I only post recipes that have been successfully tested in my own kitchen, and as you can see from the dozens of comments here, many of these readers have had great outcomes in the final dish as well. However, I understand that we all have different taste preferences, and I really appreciate your honest feedback.
This really fills up a 6 qt slow cooker?
Yes, it sure does. 🙂
Made this last night for the first time. My sous chef (aka hubby) didn’t notice that the cooked bacon was to be added at the end, so he added it to the crock with the rest of the veggies at the beginning and it was pureed with everything else. Now every bite is infused with bacon-y goodness. This may be our go-to method from now on! Seriously, this soup is REALLY good. It’s great as-is, but I’m thinking about adding corn next as one of the other commenters noted, and maybe a small potato to give it a little more body. A great base for experimentation!
I made this for my daughter’s 4th grade class for a winter potluck they loved it! Since it has the seal of approval from 26 nine year olds, I am making it again tonight for a potluck at my office!
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I am eating your soup right now, and Its delicious! I followed your directions exactly, except I omitted the leeks since I didn’t have them. Very flavorful!