Copy-Cat Zupas Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup

Have you ever heard of Zupas?!

If not, you need to look it up right now, find the closest one to you and make it a goal to get there at some point.  It is my favorite little sandwich, salad and soup restaurant.  Whenever I go home to visit my parents, its the place that me and my old girlfriends from growing up will meet up for lunch.  We love it.

One thing in particular I love from this restaurant, is their Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup.  Oh. My. Heck.  It is amazing.  I am always a little sad when I hear my spoon hit the bottom of the bowl.  I love it so much!

I saw this recipe floating around from Butter with a Side of Bread, and knew I had to give it a go! I adapted the original recipe slightly to my taste and the end result was DELISH!  How on earth could I pass up the opportunity to partake of this goodness in my very own home?!  I have to say, it was pretty darn close to the real deal and my whole family loved it!


Copy-Cat Zupas Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup
 
This recipe is AMAZING! So close to the real deal!
Recipe type: Entrée
Ingredients
  • 3 Tbsp. butter
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • ¼ cup flour
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 1 cup half and half
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1½ cups water
  • 1 (14.5 oz) can chicken broth
  • 2.5 lbs cauliflower
  • 1 tsp. Dijon Mustard
  • 1½ cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
  • ½ cup pepper jack cheese, shredded
Instructions
  1. Melt butter and chopped onion together in a large sauce pan and sauté for approximately 10 minutes over medium heat until onion gets golden in color.
  2. Add flour and stir to make a roux. Heat while stirring for a couple of minutes.
  3. Slowly add half and half along with the milk. Gradually add and stir the entire time. Following the milk, gradually add water and chicken broth and stir constantly.
  4. Add chopped cauliflower and heat until boil.
  5. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until cauliflower is tender. This will take approximately 15 minutes.
  6. Place contents of sauce pan into blender and blend until smooth. Remove center part of blender cover to allow steam to escape.
  7. Return cauliflower mixture to saucepan; heat over medium heat until hot, stirring occasionally. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in mustard and cheese until melted and smooth.
  8. Serve soup topped with a little cheese for garnish.

Enjoy!

(recipe adapted slightly from: Butter with a Side of Bread)

If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #chefintraining and/or #chefintrainingblog. I would love to see how these recipes take shape in your kitchens.

Filed under: dinner, soup

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Comments

  1. Hayley @ The Domestic Rebel

    Wow, this looks really yummy! I never would have thought to roast cauliflower but if it makes a soup as creamy and delish as this, I'm all over it.

  2. JSmith

    @Hayley... Try roasting cauliflower in the oven at 400F with whole cloves of garlic, shallots (optional), salt, pepper and olive oil for 20-30min. So good... You could even include that in this recipe before blending.

  3. Averie @ Averie Cooks

    I grew up in MN, pretty darn close to WI, and cheese is quite a staple and have been having a craving for cheese soup, this week! Great timing with this recipe! Looks fab!

  4. Deborah

    We go to Zupas at least once or twice a month - and this is definitely one of my favorites!! I can't tell you how happy I am to have this11

  5. Beth

    I love cauliflower soup.! Making this tonight! Thanks, this looks wonderful!

  6. Amanda LeDoux

    Okay.. this looks amazing! Could you substitute the heavy cream and milk for skim or 2%?! &Maybe leave out the butter? I've been in such a soup fix this looks delicious! Definitely on my to do list!

  7. Alese

    I posted a round up of soups today on my blog http://2crafty4myskirt.blogspot.com/ I included this soup in the round up. If you are not ok with that please just let me know I will remove yours from the post. Thanks!

  8. Chris Simpson

    This looks amazing. I roasted the cauliflower before cooking it in the soup. Then I followed the instructions exactly. Verdict: My husband, who dislikes cauliflower liked it, but it was a little bland. The texture was like gruel. It was a healthy change but I probably won't cook it again. 2 out of 5 of the kids liked it. Bye bye cauliflower.

  9. Amanda

    I made this recipe, and the soup became very thick after it sat for a few minutes so I added a little extra chicken broth to thin it out.... All of my kids ate it, but they did not like it at all. :( My husband and I thought it was excellent at first, but then we found ourselves heavily consuming bread to get the rest of the food down.
    Three stars; I'm not sure if I would make it again...

  10. Jazmin

    I found this recipe on Pinterest and I was super excited to try this out! I used sweet italian red onions and I have to say that it was a slight mistake :/ My husband and daughter love love loves Zupas version so I was a little leery of serving this to them. BUT THEY BOTH LOVED IT! The difference in onion was big for me but the other soup lovers couldn't tell, phew! I did use a little more salt and a pinch of garlic powder. I think the onion smell was just overwhelming for me. Great recipe besides my little onion issue :) Here's a tip to make it a little easier for the lazier people like me: Use a hand blender/smart stick in the pan your using instead of transferring it to a blender (if you have one) and use a BIG pan or pot b/c this makes A TON! Love it! Can't wait to try it out with a white onion next time. Thanks so much!

  11. Amy

    I made this soup tonight and my entire family LOVEof it, even my picky 9 year old daughter! The only thing I did different was I used 1 cup medium cheddar and 1 cup cheddar jack and added a couple of slices of jalapeno to the soup while the cauliflower was cooking because that's what I had on hand. It was fabulous!! Thank you!

  12. dud

    drop the mustard and the milk use real cream and 1/21/2-add celery and garlic to the saute--deglaze with white wine (good one)-a little whipped cream cheese and puree until silky...drop Step 2 and add roux at the end , simmer out slow 25 min stirring all the time tenderly

  13. collins

    About How many servings does this make?

  14. Brandy

    This soup is delicious!!! Thank you so much for getting my daughter to eat a vegetable!!!! :)

  15. Kelsey

    I just made this and holy moly it is so yummy! I can't stop eating it. Haha! Thanks for sharing.

    Kels
    storiesofkel.blogspot.com

  16. Karli

    Thank you so much for this post. I have made this a handful of times in the last year and LOVE it. My favorite soup ever!

  17. RJ

    This really doesn't taste anything like the Zupa's soup, sadly. It is, however, quite tasty. Just thought this blog needed that opinion, since it was the one I was looking for when I stumbled across this. LOL

  18. kristen

    Do you have a recipe for Zuppas tomato basil???

  19. Paloma

    this recipe is fantastic!!! so close to zupas! its exactly like t maybe use cream for a richer, creamier soup :)

  20. Erik

    I work at cafe Zupas. Sorry to break the news, but this recipe is WAY off

    1. Meghan

      Erik, will you please share your recipe or at least what ingredients were in it then?? Please? :)

      I haven't made this yet, trying to find a good copycat for the zuppas one.

  21. Charli

    How many people will this serve?

  22. Dene

    I would love to have this for my lunches. I was thinking of making it, and then freezing in single size servings. Do you think it will freeze well?

  23. Melissa

    I can't see your recipe anymore! The rest of the post is visible

    1. Chef in Training

      so sorry. This one should be fixed now. If you see another one that is not showing up, just comment and let me know and I will get it fixed asap. Thanks so much :)

  24. Jayne Smith

    this recipe looks so delicious!! I've been searching for this recipe and I'm really excited to try it out!