Cauliflower Lobster Soup
This easy cauliflower lobster soup combines a thick and creamy puréed cauliflower soup with tender lobster and savory lobster dumplings for an elegant supper that’s ready in just 40 minutes!
Jump to:
- 🔎 A quick look at this recipe
- ⭐️ Why this recipe works
- Ingredients you need 🦞
- Ingredient notes and substitutions 📝
- How to make this recipe 👩🏻🍳
- Recipe FAQs 🧐
- Equipment we used for this recipe 🥣
- What to serve with this recipe 🍽️
- Cauliflower Lobster Soup
- 💫 Variations on this recipe
- Other soup recipes we love! 🥰
- We want to know what you think! 🤔
🔎 A quick look at this recipe
- What It Is: Thick and creamy puréed cauliflower soup filled with tender lobster meat and easy homemade lobster dumplings.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Servings: 4 servings
- Calories: 355 per serving
- Cooking Method: Stovetop
- Good For: Elegant dinners, cozy soup suppers, special occasions and celebrating National Seafood Bisque Day. 🦞🥣
⭐️ Why this recipe works
- 🥣 Cauliflower makes the soup naturally creamy: Puréed cauliflower gives the soup a thick, velvety texture without a drop of cream.
- 🦞 Lobster makes it extra special: Tender lobster meat adds sweet seafood flavor and turns a simple soup into an elegant supper.
- 🥟 The dumplings are a delicious surprise: Easy breadcrumb dumplings filled with lobster and thyme cook right in the simmering soup.
- ⏱️ It’s surprisingly speedy: This impressive-looking soup is ready in just 40 minutes.
- 🍲 Everything cooks in one pot: The vegetables, broth and dumplings all come together on the stovetop for easy preparation and cleanup.
- ✨ It’s cozy and elegant at the same time: This soup is comforting enough for a chilly weeknight but special enough to serve to company.
Ingredients you need 🦞
Ingredient notes and substitutions 📝
- Cauliflower: You can use a whole head cut into florets or buy about five cups of precut florets. Frozen cauliflower will also work; thaw it in a strainer and drain it well before using.
- Lobster: You need two cups of cooked, chopped lobster meat for the entire recipe. Frozen lobster meat works beautifully, or ask the seafood counter to steam a lobster for you so all you need to do is shell and chop it.
- Bread crumbs: Fresh bread crumbs make especially tender dumplings—just whirl a slice or two of bread in your food processor. Plain dried bread crumbs will also work.
- Chicken broth: Regular or low-sodium chicken broth is fine. Seafood broth is another delicious option if you want to emphasize the lobster flavor.
- Sweet onion: Vidalia or another sweet onion gives the soup a gentle savory flavor. A regular yellow onion will work too.
- Thyme: Dried thyme flavors the lobster dumplings, and an extra sprinkle makes a pretty garnish. You can substitute one tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme for the dried thyme.
- Butter: Salted or unsalted butter will work. If you use salted butter, taste the soup before adding any additional salt.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities and nutritional information.
How to make this recipe 👩🏻🍳
STEP 1: Melt four tablespoons of butter in a large pot over low heat. Add the chopped onion and cauliflower florets and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to soften. Add the chicken broth and salt and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the cauliflower is completely tender.
STEP 2: While the cauliflower is simmering, make the lobster dumpling mixture. Combine the bread crumbs, one tablespoon of softened butter, beaten egg, thyme, salt, pepper, milk and ½ cup of the chopped lobster meat in a mixing bowl.
STEP 3: Roll the mixture into small, firm balls about ½ inch in diameter. Add a little more milk if needed to help the dumplings hold together.
Pro Tip: A small cookie scoop makes it easy to portion the dumplings evenly before rolling them into balls.
STEP 4: Purée the cauliflower mixture until smooth using an immersion blender right in the pot. You can also carefully transfer it to a regular blender and purée it in batches.
STEP 5: Bring the soup back to a gentle simmer. Add the lobster dumplings and cook for three to five minutes. Don’t worry if a few fall apart a little—they will still taste delicious!
STEP 6: Divide the remaining chopped lobster meat among four soup bowls.
STEP 7: Ladle the hot cauliflower soup and lobster dumplings over the lobster meat, sprinkle with a little extra thyme and serve immediately.
Recipe FAQs 🧐
Yes! You will need about five cups of frozen cauliflower florets. Thaw them in a strainer and drain them well before adding them to the pot.
You can make and purée the cauliflower soup up to two days ahead and store it covered in the refrigerator. Reheat it gently on the stovetop, then make and cook the lobster dumplings just before serving. Add the remaining lobster meat to the bowls at the last minute.
Absolutely. Thaw it completely, drain off any excess liquid and pat it dry before chopping. Make sure you are using fully cooked lobster meat.
Roll the mixture into small, firm balls and add a little more milk if it seems too dry to hold together. Keep the soup at a gentle simmer after adding the dumplings—a vigorous boil may cause them to break apart. And don’t worry if a few do crumble; they will still taste delicious!
Yes. Let the soup cool slightly, purée it in batches and never fill the blender more than halfway with hot liquid. Remove the center cap from the lid and cover the opening loosely with a folded kitchen towel so steam can escape.
The puréed cauliflower soup can be frozen without the lobster or dumplings for up to three months. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator, reheat it gently and add freshly made dumplings and lobster before serving.
Pop your question in the Comments section under the recipe card and I will answer pronto!
Equipment we used for this recipe 🥣
These are some of my favorite kitchen tools! These are Amazon affiliate links, which means I get a little something if you buy through my links at no extra cost to you. (Which helps pay for all that bacon I keep buying! 😄) And I only share things I use and love. I’m so grateful for your support!
- Cookie Scoop: This scoop makes dumpling-making so much easier…and it’s also great for these flavor-packed rum raisin cookies.
- Immersion Blender: This time-saving appliance lets you blend whatever you are blending right there in the pot!
- Ladle: We love this perfectly shaped one for scooping out soup or stew.
- Large Pot: We have a lot of these but this is our fave!
What to serve with this recipe 🍽️
Add some warm sheet pan focaccia or a helping of cheesy Southern spoonbread for soaking up every last drop of this creamy soup.
Serve some chilled sesame spinach on the side for a fresh veggie contrast, then finish with a slice of banana cake with cream cheese frosting for one elegant and cozy supper! 🦞🥣🍰
Let’s grab our soup bowls and ladle up some creamy, dreamy lobster elegance! 🦞🥣✨
Cauliflower Lobster Soup
This easy cauliflower lobster soup combines a thick and creamy puréed cauliflower soup with tender lobster and savory lobster dumplings for an elegant supper that’s ready in just 40 minutes!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Lunch
- Method: Stovetop
Ingredients
- SOUP
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 sweet onion, peeled and chopped
- 1 head cauliflower cut into florets
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups cooked and chopped lobster meat
- LOBSTER DUMPLINGS:
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme, plus extra for garnish
- 1/2 cup chopped cooked lobster meat (from the lobster listed above)
- 2 tablespoons milk
- Pinch each of salt and pepper
Instructions
- Melt four tablespoons of butter in a large pot over low heat. Add the onion and cauliflower and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to soften.
- Add the chicken broth and salt. Simmer for 20 minutes, or until the cauliflower is completely tender.
- While the cauliflower is simmering, make the dumplings. Combine the bread crumbs, one tablespoon of softened butter, egg, thyme, salt, pepper, milk and ½ cup of the chopped lobster meat in a mixing bowl. Roll the mixture into small, firm balls about ½ inch in diameter, adding a little more milk if needed to help them hold together.
- Purée the cauliflower mixture until smooth using an immersion blender. You can also carefully transfer the soup to a regular blender and purée it in batches.
- Bring the soup back to a gentle simmer. Add the lobster dumplings and cook for three to five minutes. Don’t worry if a few fall apart a little—they will still taste delicious!
- Divide the remaining lobster meat among four soup bowls. Ladle the hot soup and dumplings over the lobster, sprinkle with extra thyme and serve immediately.
Notes
-
- Cauliflower: Look for this good and good for you veggie in the produce section. You can either buy a whole cauliflower (and here is a great tutorial on how to cut up a cauliflower) or you can sometimes find it already cut up into florets.
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- Lobster: We use frozen lobster for this recipe when we can find it, but you can also get one lobster and ask your seafood counter to steam it for you, so all you need to do is shell and chop it.
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- Bread Crumbs: We like to use fresh bread crumbs for this recipe (whirl a slice or two of bread in your food processor for instant crumbs) but dried bread crumbs will also work.
💫 Variations on this recipe
- 🦀 Try crab instead: Replace the lobster with cooked lump crabmeat for an equally elegant seafood soup.
- 🍤 Make it with shrimp: Use finely chopped cooked shrimp in the dumplings and add more cooked shrimp to the serving bowls.
- 🌿 Change the herbs: Swap the thyme for fresh chives, tarragon, parsley or dill.
- 🌊 Boost the seafood flavor: Replace some or all of the chicken broth with seafood or lobster broth.
- 🥛 Make it extra rich: Stir in a splash of heavy cream after puréeing the cauliflower.
- 🌶️ Add a little heat: Sprinkle in a pinch of cayenne pepper or Old Bay seasoning.
- 🥟 Skip the dumplings: Leave them out and add all the lobster directly to the soup for an even speedier supper.
- 🥔 Change the vegetable: Replace up to half of the cauliflower with peeled and chopped potatoes for a slightly heartier soup.
Other soup recipes we love! 🥰
We want to know what you think! 🤔
If you try this recipe, we would love to hear how it came out for you! I’d be super grateful if you could leave a star rating (you pick how many stars! 🌟 ) and your thoughts in the Comments section below the recipe card.