Gordon Ramsay’s cauliflower soup is silky smooth and rich, and the brown butter and sage on top make it smell like autumn the moment you pour it. It’s one cauliflower, stock, milk and cream, so it’s on the table in about twenty minutes.
This comes from Quick and Delicious, and the brown butter is honestly what sets it apart from every other cauliflower soup out there. Ramsay stirs truffle oil into it while the sage leaves are still crackling, which sounds fancy but he’s the first to say it’s “really not complicated.”
He takes a completely different approach in Sunday Lunch with his Saffron and Cauliflower Soup, where he poaches the florets in saffron milk and keeps a quarter of them whole to sauté golden as a garnish. Same vegetable, two totally different soups.
Gordon Ramsay’s Cauliflower Soup
Course: Soup, Starter4
5
minutes15
minutes380
kcal20
minutesEasy
Gordon Ramsay’s cauliflower soup from Quick and Delicious, finished with brown butter, truffle oil and sage, served with four-cheese toasts. About £5.70 to make, ready in 20 minutes, serves 4.
Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
20g (¾ oz) butter
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
Small handful of sage leaves
1 x 800g cauliflower, separated into small florets
500ml (2 cups) chicken or vegetable stock
200ml (¾ cup) whole milk
200ml (¾ cup) double cream
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- For the Brown Butter:
40g (1½ oz) butter
1 tbsp truffle oil
Handful of sage leaves
- For the Cheesy Toasts:
4 slices of baguette, finely sliced on the diagonal
120g (4 oz) grated cheese (mix of mozzarella, Cheddar, blue and Gruyère)
Directions
- Cook the base: Heat the oil and butter in a large pan over a medium heat. When the butter melts, add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes. Add the sage leaves and cook for another minute.
- Simmer the cauliflower: Add the florets and stock. Season, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour in the milk and cream, simmer for another 8 minutes until the cauliflower is completely soft.
- Make the brown butter: Put the butter in a small pan over a high heat. When it turns golden brown and smells nutty, pull the pan off the heat and stir in the truffle oil and sage leaves. Leave to cool slightly.
- Make the cheesy toasts: Grill the baguette slices for 2 to 3 minutes until golden on one side. Flip, pile the cheese on top and grill for another 4 minutes until melted and golden.
- Blend and serve: Blitz the soup with a stick blender until smooth. Check the seasoning. Ladle into bowls, spoon over the brown butter and sage, and serve with the cheesy toasts.
FAQs
Can I make this into a curried cauliflower soup?
Add 1 tablespoon of curry powder with the onion and garlic in step 1 and fry for about 30 seconds until it smells toasty, because blooming the spice in hot oil is what actually releases the flavour. Drop the sage though since it clashes with curry, and leave the truffle oil out too.
If you want to go further, swap the cream for coconut milk and squeeze some lime in at the end. That takes it in a completely different direction and it’s brilliant on a cold night.
Can I add broccoli to this soup?
You can, but they need different cooking times so add the cauliflower first and give it the full 13 minutes. Drop the broccoli in for the last 4 minutes only, otherwise it goes grey and bitter. Blend everything together and you get a creamy base from the cauliflower with bright green flecks through it.
That said, I keep them as separate soups because each has its own character. I have a full broccoli soup if you want to try that one on its own.
How much does this soup cost to make?
About £5.70 for four bowls, which is hard to argue with for something that tastes this good. A cauliflower is £1.19 from Tesco, cream and milk together about £0.75, cheese for the toasts around £1.50 and the baguette £0.85. The truffle oil is about £3.50 a bottle but you only use a tablespoon per batch so it lasts for ages.
It works well before chicken tikka masala or alongside chicken biryani for a full spread.
Do I need truffle oil?
Not at all. The brown butter and sage do most of the heavy lifting on their own, and honestly the soup is still better than most cauliflower soups out there without it. The truffle oil just adds an earthy richness underneath that makes people ask what your secret ingredient is.
