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More Winter Soups
Spicy Chicken & Cauliflower Soup
Spicy chicken and cauliflower soup is one of those quietly comforting meals I come back to again and again. It’s simple, wholesome, and full of gentle heat that warms you from the inside out. Tender chicken, soft cauliflower, and a lightly spiced broth make it perfect for cooler days or whenever I need something soothing and satisfying. I often make a big batch to keep in the fridge – it reheats beautifully and always makes me feel looked after.
Ingredients
- 2 tbps olive oil, divided
- 1 head of cauliflower, leaves removed and broken into florets
- 500g chicken thigh on the bone
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 inch ginger, grated
- 3-4 tbsp Thai green curry paste (more or less, according to taste)
- 1 tsp palm sugar
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp lemongrass paste
- 400g light coconut milk
- 4 cups chicken stock
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C, and toss the cauliflower through 1tbsp of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Transfer to a baking tray and bake in the hot oven for 20 minutes.
- Once the cauliflower is golden brown, remove them from the tray and set it aside.
- In the same tray, coat the chicken thighs in the remaining oil and salt, and then bake on the same tray for 25 minutes in the hot oven.
- As the chicken cooks, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large pot over medium heat, and then cook the onions for 5 minutes, or until just turning soft.
- Next, add the garlic and ginger and stir through the onions for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant.
- Stir through the Thai green curry paste, for 1-2 minutes or until sizzling hot.
- Add the palm sugar, fish sauce, lemongrass, coconut milk, stock and cauliflower. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes.
- Remove the soup from the stove and use an immersion blender, or stick blender, to blitz the mixture until smooth and creamy.
- Once the chicken is cooked, pull the chicken from the bone and then roughly chop it before adding to the creamy soup and serving.
What I Cook With
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 608Total Fat: 35gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 167mgSodium: 2320mgCarbohydrates: 39gFiber: 8gSugar: 15gProtein: 41g
Please note, this nutrition information is to be used as a guide only. Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.
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Spicy Chicken & Cauliflower Soup
Not Your Nan’s Chicken Soup
Chicken and cauliflower soup always seemed like something you’d find bubbling away on a stovetop in a damp British kitchen. Something mild. Something beige. Something that, if I’m honest, never really did it for me. I always thought it needed… more. More oomph. More flavour. More of a reason to actually make it again.
So this week I decided to do something about it! If you know me, you know I love a challenge and think most things can be done better. Instead of writing off the classic altogether, I gave it a much-needed makeover. I asked myself, how do I make it better? How do I make it mine? And because I live in a country that adores fusion flavours and a good kick of spice, I decided to go all in and give it a Thai-inspired twist.
Enter my Spicy Chicken and Cauliflower Soup. Think roasted cauliflower and chicken for that extra depth and richness, a generous spoon of Thai green curry paste for heat, and the mellow sweetness of coconut milk to smooth it all out. The result? A soup that is bold, bright, and anything but bland. It’s creamy without being claggy. Spicy without blowing your socks off. And somehow manages to be comforting and invigorating all at once. This isn’t the soup your nan made when you were sick. This is the soup you make when you want to feel alive again. Or at the very least, warm from the inside out.
A Little Bit of Alchemy
One of my favourite kitchen tricks (and possibly my most-repeated piece of advice) is this: roast it first. If you’re making soup and want it to taste like you’ve simmered it lovingly for hours, roast your ingredients. I do it nearly every time, especially when it comes to soups involving vegetables or chicken. For my Spicy Chicken and Cauliflower Soup, roasting does everything. It deepens the flavour, adds that slightly caramelised edge, and brings out a nutty richness in the cauliflower that you just don’t get from boiling it to oblivion.
The Maillard reaction, for those of us who like to sound fancy, is basically the magic that happens when you brown food. It’s responsible for that irresistible umami flavour in roast chicken, toasted bread, or seared steak. And it’s why this soup is so much more delicious than it has any right to be. By roasting the cauliflower and chicken first, we capture those golden, rich, toasty flavours and then let them soak and swirl through the soup. It’s alchemy. Delicious, slightly smug-making alchemy.
And I’ll be honest, it also means I get to stand around in a warm kitchen, sipping wine while the oven does all the hard work. Which I consider a win. Because when it’s cold and grey outside, and I’m trying to convince myself to do anything at all, the least I can do is make a soup that practically cooks itself.
Spicy, But Not Reckless
Now let’s talk spice. Thai green curry paste is no joke. It’s fiery, fragrant, and has a bite that will make you sit up straight. But it’s also what gives this soup its entire personality. And no, you don’t need to be reckless with it. But you do need to be a little brave. The coconut milk helps take the edge off, turning the heat into a gentle (but insistent) hum rather than a screaming burn. Think of it like the friend who’s had just the right amount of wine at dinner: bold, maybe a little cheeky, but still totally in control.
The key is balance. You don’t want to kill your tastebuds, but you also don’t want to end up with a soup that just vaguely suggests it might once have known what flavour is. I go in with a decent spoonful of the curry paste, taste, and adjust. And don’t forget to season it properly. The paste brings its own salt, but a bit of extra fish sauce or lime at the end can lift everything. Honestly, it’s one of those soups that makes you go back for a second spoon before you’ve even finished your first. It’s addictive like that.
Whether it’s raining outside (hello, Scotland) or blazing sunshine (hi again, Australia), this soup works. It’s not heavy. It doesn’t feel like a winter-only meal. It’s just warm, spicy, and full of personality. Much like me on a good day.
Ingredients Breakdown
This soup starts with roasted cauliflower, which adds a nutty, savoury backbone that plays beautifully with the spice. Chicken thighs on the bone get the same roasting treatment, giving them a golden edge that melts into the broth and adds incredible depth. Thai green curry paste is the fiery heart of the dish, supported by the zing of garlic, grated ginger, and the fresh sharpness of diced onion. It’s all cooked off in a base of olive oil before being brought together with chicken stock and the creamy richness of coconut milk.
Lemongrass paste, fish sauce, and a little palm sugar add that essential sweet-salty-sour balance that Thai food is famous for. The fish sauce lends umami, the palm sugar a subtle sweetness, and the lemongrass that unmistakable citrusy brightness. Salt and pepper round everything out, and the amount of curry paste is entirely up to you. Start small and build your way up until the heat is exactly where you want it. Just remember: brave, not reckless.
It’s a short and sweet list of ingredients, but each one plays its part in creating a soup that’s layered, flavourful, and completely moreish. The result is something that feels both comforting and exciting, like a well-worn jumper with a spicy secret. Honestly, once you’ve made it like this, you’ll never look at plain chicken and cauliflower soup the same way again.
