Instant Pot Loaded Cauliflower-Baked Potato Soup (Pressure Cooker or Stove-Top Recipe) (2024)

A few weeks ago, we booked a spur-of-the-moment trip to Niagara Falls. Dustin had some extra hotel points we could use and we had enough airline miles to get us there and back home. Dustin also had a guaranteed week off work.

Piper’s been asking to go to Niagara Falls for quite a while now, so we figured why not?

Since winter weather can be unpredictable, we agreed to keep the trip a surprise for the kids. We wanted to reserve the right to cancel last minute.

We checked the weather in the days leading up to the trip, and all looked great.

Last week, on Sunday morning, we woke up bright and early and announced, “We have a surprise for you! Get dressed, let’s go!”

The kids were too tired for the surprise to set in, until we pulled up to the entrance of the airport. Instantly, Piper perked up, “We’re going on a plane?”

Of course, like any good parents with a secret surprise, we played it off, “Why would we be going to the airport? What? We have suitcases in the back? Why would we have suitcases?”

Eventually, we told the kids the surprise involved a plane trip. To which Piper remarked, “Peru? The Grand Canyon? New Zealand?”

As the list grew, we replied, “Niagara Falls!” He was excited to say the least.

We arrived in Buffalo, New York on Sunday afternoon and made our way to the Canada/US border and then to our hotel. We ventured out that afternoon, in the freezing cold, to witness the splendor of the Falls. I actually didn’t realize Niagara Falls is divided into multiple Falls and there’s a Canadian and American Falls.

The original plan was to leave Wednesday evening. That way Dustin could get back to work and the kids could return to school by Thursday, or so we thought.

By Tuesday, it became apparent that we were about to experience one of the coldest winter events in years. The polar vortex hit and the temperatures dropped to beyond frigid conditions. This also meant that the entire Buffalo airport, where we were supposed to catch our return flight, was placed under a travel ban and the airport shut down.

By the time we got word of our canceled flight, the flights for the next few days had filled up. There we were, stuck in Canada, in a history-making cold event, unable to get a flight home.

We were eventually able to find an opening for the last few seats on a Friday night flight from Buffalo to Tampa, which we immediately took.

With warmer Florida temps on our minds, via a flight on Friday, we returned back to Buffalo on Thursday (once the travel ban was lifted from the city). That’s when the night of sick children hit. I’ll spare you of the details, given this is a recipe chat (we’ll get to the soup in a minute).

Fearing that we would have to cancel our flight, and knowing the next available flight wasn’t until Monday night, I scrambled to find activated charcoal from a drugstore and also called the kids’ pediatrician in Florida.

Thankfully, by Friday afternoon, the kids were over their bug or food poisoning or sickness—whatever that was—and we headed to the airport.

All that said, I’m grateful to be back in Florida. I now realize that I have no right to complain about any kind of “cold” Florida weather. I have mad respect for all my friends in the north and cold weather climates. You all are amazing! You’re rock stars! The fact that you live through such frigid temps–digging out your car from the snow and spending so much time layering your garments to just venture outside your front door– makes you an all star in my book.

While I can’t ship a palm tree and warm weather your way (although I hear it’s going to warm up soon), I can share a delicious soup to keep you warm.

Today’s loaded baked potato style soup is made using the Instant Pot (or the electric pressure cooker of your choice), although you can definitely make this soup on the stove-top.

The appeal of making this soup in the Instant Pot is the one-pot, no-fuss nature. Yes, a soup pot on the stove-top is also one-pot, but you’ll need to do a bit more stirring and also regulating of the temperature (bringing the soup to a boil, then a simmer, etc.).

If you go the stove-top route, simply follow the directions provided, but instead of bringing the soup to pressure in the pressure cooker, you’ll want to bring the soup to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. I’m guessing you’ll want to simmer the soup for about 20-30 minutes before the soup is ready to blend. Then add the cream.

Of course, I’m biased to the Instant Pot. Soup is one of my favorite foods to make in the electric pressure cooker. If you’re new to the Instant Pot, I think soup (or eggs or beans) is a great “first food” to make.

One thing to note about this creamed cauliflower and potato soup recipe…

You’ll notice that dairy is added at the very end of the cooking process. This is for good reason. Dairy and the Instant Pot don’t mix. Dairy can scald in the Instant Pot, when using the pressure cooker setting, causing the Instant Pot to post a burn notice. In this recipe, and most dairy recipes, cream (or whatever the dairy product may be) is added at the end of the cooking process. You can read about all my tips for successfully using the Instant Pot in this post.

One last note, I’ve added cauliflower to this traditional baked potato soup recipe, because I’m always looking for ways to increase the veggies at mealtime. Since cauliflower currently abounds at the farmers’ market, why not add cauliflower to a soup that’s traditionally just potato based? I promise you won’t notice the cauliflower, once it’s blended up, so even the cauliflower haters (or supposed haters) will ask for seconds.

Okay, I think I’ve covered everything. Now, let’s make some soup.