Instant Pot Cauliflower Bacon Chowder is a low carb chowder with great flavor. Pressure cooker Cauliflower Bacon Chowder. It is rich, creamy, and so very delicious!
Instant Pot Cauliflower Bacon Chowder
When the Earth turns herself away from the heat of summer, and leans into Fall, I'm immediately in "Soup Mode." It just happens naturally, and is always a fun phase of the year for me as a cook.
My Instant Pot® has made making soup so much fun! I hardly ever make in on the stove top any more.
If you are looking for a low carb soup, and you like bacon, then this may be the soup recipe for you!
As inspiration, I go for the ingredients that are in season, or on sale. I like to buy cauliflower when the price is good.
A few tips for making this cauliflower chowder
• Use a 2 pound to 2 ½ pound head of cauliflower.
• Thick cut bacon works best, and find a good smoky bacon.
• Use arrowroot to thicken if you are low carb (otherwise corn starch is fine).
• An immersion blender will make this soup super smooth.
This low carb Instant Pot Cauliflower Bacon Chowder is my favorite! The close second is my Instant Pot Smoky Creamy Cauliflower Soup, a great vegetarian alternative to this soup, actually.
There are so many wonderful meals that cauliflower fits into. Mashed, roasted, pureed, pickled, I love it all!
Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
Instant Pot Dill Pickle Soup
Instant Pot Split Pea Soup
Instant Pot Chicken Corn Chowder
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If you make this tasty low carb cauliflower bacon soup, please leave a comment with a star rating below. I'd like to know how you liked it!

Instant Pot Cauliflower Bacon Chowder is rich, smoky, and delicious! This is a great soup for a starter, or serve with some crusty bread as a main dish.
- ½ lb Thick Cut Bacon, (about 5 slices) chopped in bite sized pieces
- 2 Tbsps Butter
- 1 med Onion, chopped
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 4 cloves Garlic, pressed or finely minced
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt (or ½ tsp table salt)
- ¼ tsp Pepper
- 4 cups Chicken Broth, low sodium
- ½ cup Heavy Cream
- 2 ½ lbs Head of Cauliflower, roughly chopped
- 1-2 Tbsp Arrowroot (or use corn starch, or potato starch)
- 1-2 Tbsp Cold Water
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Turn on the Sauté feature of your pressure cooker (med/normal heat). Add the bacon and cook until done. Transfer to a paper towel and discard all but 2 tsps of the fat.
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Add the butter, onion, and bay leaf to the pot and cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot, until the onion turns translucent. You might need to splash in a little bit of broth to help get all of the brown bits off the bottom of the pot (deglaze).
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Add the garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook for 1 minute, or less if it gets fragrant, stirring constantly. Don't let the garlic burn.
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Stir in the chicken broth.
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Add the cauliflower and ⅔ of the reserved bacon (saving ⅓ for garnish). Stir.
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Place the lid on the pot and lock in place. Set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
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Cancel the Sauté function.
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Press the Pressure Cook (or Manual) button, or use dial, and then the + or - to choose 4 minutes. When cooking cycle finishes, let the pot sit and enter the Natural Release (Keep Warm) phase for 10 minutes.
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Turn the steam release knob to the Venting position to release the remaining pressure from the pot (on the Ultra, push the button). When the pin in the lid drops down, open the lid and stir the soup.
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Remove the bay leaf.
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Stir in the arrowroot slurry.
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Use an immersion blender to puree the soup. If you don't have one, use a potato masher to mash up the cauliflower pieces.
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Stir in the heavy cream.
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Taste and adjust salt, if needed.
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Serve hot, garnished with the reserved bacon.
RESOURCES TO MAKE pressure cooker Cauliflower Bacon Chowder recipe and more
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Heather
Yum! This was so good! I used apple wood smoked bacon and it was awesome!
Jennifer
Looks tasty! Could this be made with precooked bacon and riced cauliflower?
Sandy
Hi Jennifer. I actually have some riced cauliflower in my freezer and was going to try making soup with it, just to see what might be different. I think it would work fine, as long as you can get the equivalent of a head of cauliflower so your ratios aren't thrown off. You might lose some flavor using precooked bacon as you won't have any fat to sauté the veggies in, but It would still be good, I'm sure.
Anna
I did use frozen riced cauliflower & frozen cauliflower florets, my bacon was left over from breakfast so I used the bacon grease in my fridge I always save. This was so delicious! Thank you Sandy for all the fantastic recipes.
Laurie Plattes
Maybe my favorite soup of all ever! Yum and easy!