Make Ahead

Caldo Verde (Portuguese Soup with Cauliflower)

September 24, 2009
4
20 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom
  • Serves 6 to 8
Author Notes

This is a riff on the classic Portuguese Caldo Verde, a deceptively simple soup of olive oil, potatoes, Linguica sausage, and kale. I got the idea to substitute cauliflower for the potatoes from a mashed-potato alternative of cauliflower, fennel seed, and white beans my father used to make. I roast the cauliflower with smoked paprika and cumin for added depth of flavor. —Chris Hagan

Test Kitchen Notes

WHO: Bogre is new to the cooking game. His style? Hitting the ground running.
WHAT: A deceptively creamy, comforting bowl of soup.
HOW: Roast cauliflower, purée with stock, and do the soup thing.
WHY WE LOVE IT: Where potatoes take up residence in the traditional version of this soup, Bogre ingeniously swaps in roasted -- then puréed -- cauliflower. What you get is a richness that's earthy without being heavy, or, the soup we'd be happy to eat every single day. —The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 2 pounds cauliflower florets (from 1 medium head)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin, or to taste
  • 1/2 tablespoon smoked paprika
  • 2 pinches salt and pepper, plus more to taste
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for roasting
  • 1 Spanish onion, chopped
  • 4 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 8 cups chicken stock
  • 1/2 pound smoked turkey kielbasa, sliced (Wellshire Farms brand is particularly good)
  • 1 bunch mustard greens, shredded
  • 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
  • 1/2 lemon, juiced
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 450 F. Toss cauliflower florets with cumin, smoked paprika, and liberal amounts of salt, pepper, and olive oil. Spread in a single layer in a roasting pan or baking dish and roast in the oven for 30 minutes.
  2. Remove florets and set aside. Deglaze the roasting pan with 1 cup of the chicken stock, stirring to scrape up browned bits. Mix in with the remaining stock.
  3. Sauté the onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-medium high heat until tender and translucent and beginning to brown. Add garlic and pepper flakes and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add cauliflower and stock and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer about an hour. Remove from heat and purée.
  4. Return the puréed soup to low heat. Add sausage and cook about 10 minutes. (You can brown the sausage beforehand if you like.) Add the mustard greens and parsley and simmer another 5 to 10 minutes until the greens soften a bit. Remove from heat. Stir in the cilantro and the lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with a sprinkle of smoked paprika and a drizzle of olive oil.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • h.wong
    h.wong
  • Sabine Gagnon
    Sabine Gagnon
  • Paulo Lemos
    Paulo Lemos
  • Suma Chandrasekaran
    Suma Chandrasekaran
  • Adrienne
    Adrienne

70 Reviews

mx April 7, 2024
I'm sorry, but this is not Portuguese.
There's no cauliflower in it. What you have is just sliced cabbage.
In the end just through in a couple of chouriço slices.

E.g.
https://www.cozinhatradicional.com/caldo-verde-tradicional/
 
h.wong August 31, 2022
Absolutely loved making and eating this. It has all the depth of flavor of a meat stew but without the effort. The pureed cauliflower started off a bit thin but once I simmered it with the kielbasa it thickened up nicely. Subbed mustard greens for rainbow chard which wilted beautifully. Squeeze a fresh lime over your bowl and it'll add some nice acidity. Next time I'm going to toast some cumin and coriander with the onions (posole verde style) to get more flavor into the soup. I had the soup with brown rice and my husband had it with lentils. Really good either way. Adding this to our regular rotation with the colder weather coming soon!
 
ms June 27, 2022
hey
 
ms June 27, 2022
wow
 
Tardis February 14, 2020
This was okay, but a lot of work for not a lot of flavor payoff. The cauliflower roasted perfectly but I think all the umami got lost when it was blended into the soup. Even with a flavorful Portuguese sausage, it was fairly bland. Not worth the effort but not bad either, just kind of mediocre. If you like adventurous food and strong flavors, keep looking.
 
Leslie April 29, 2019
The perfect balance of rich and bright. I added sautéed shiitakes. The family loved it!
 
NatashaL January 12, 2019
Whole Foods has no mustard greens, so I opted for arugula, what do you think? making tomorrow. Same kind of bitter...
 
Chris H. January 16, 2019
Sorry, just seeing this now...how did it turn out? I'm not sure if I'm still able to edit the recipe at this point, but any kind of sturdy, bitter(ish) winter green would work--kale would be the best bet, but I could see beet greens being good as well. Chard and arugula could also be good, although I would cook them for less time, as I would think they would wilt and take on a spinachy consistency.
 
Leslie April 29, 2019
I used shard. It was great!
 
Sabine G. October 26, 2018
Made this tonight and it was excellent! Loved how it was heavy on flavors but light ingredients! All around win!
 
Paulo L. October 18, 2017
Please don´t call it "caldo verde" since it has nothing to do with it. No cauliflower, cumin, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, chicken stock, smoked turkey kielbasa, mustard greens, parsley, cilantro and lemon are present in the original receipt. From here just salt and onion. Add potatoes, water, cabbage and chouriço and you get it right.
 
Rita August 9, 2018
Agreed! I imagine this is a very nice soup, however, I learned to make caldo verde from my mother who was born in the Azores. She used potatoes, kale, and linguica along with diced onion and garlic. Sometime she used stew meat and sometimes no meat at all.
 
Chelsea S. November 23, 2018
Agreed, nothing about this recipe mirrors a true Caldo Verde. Ingredients do sound lovely though, so perhaps a different name!
 
Suma C. October 17, 2017
Loved this! Also did it with kale. If you needed a vegetarian option would still be a hearty soup if you omitted the kielbasa.
 
Adrienne March 29, 2017
This one was in my collections for a long time before I finally got around to making it and I'm so glad I finally did. For the first try, I followed the recipe exactly. It was amazing! A sublime mix of flavours and textures. I bet it will only get better over the next day or two.
 
Rachel March 16, 2017
Used this recipe as a jumping off point and everyone in my family, kids and all, loved it. Garlic broth instead of chicken broth, arugula for the greens, and fresh shrimp instead of sausage, no parsley or cilantro (ran our of time to prep them) . Outstanding!!!!
 
Lisa Y. March 6, 2016
This is a keeper, and seems pretty malleable. I added hedgehog mushrooms - -half went into the blender, and half got chopped and sauteed and tossed in with the mustard greens. And I used chicken/turkey andouille sausage.
 
aimee H. January 21, 2016
I am obsessed with this soup. My 4yr daughter loved it too. I used local pork and and beef kielbasa as many have mentioned and sub'd dino kale for the mustard greens. Also used half bone broth and half veggie broth because it was all I had on hand. I didn't have to cook my cauliflower the full time, but every oven is different. Definitely a keeper!! Thanks a million.
 
Meleyna N. November 19, 2015
Really excellent. I forgot to add the spice to the cauliflower, so I just added it while sautéing the onion. I also used kale because that's what I had on hand, and crisped chicken andouille (I don't much care for kielbasa).
 
Kinsey November 6, 2015
Kevyn - what you said and what the recipe says are not the same. Recipe specifies 1/4 of leaves, which are then chopped. Your formulation says chop 1st and then scoop up 1/4 cup (which is a lot more herbs in the dish)
 
kevyn November 5, 2015
I'm assuming that it's 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley and 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro (and not as written - 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped and 1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped). Correct?
 
Cowpscowper May 1, 2015
This recipe is fantastic! I made it as is, though used pork kielbasa (mm!) and found the flavors to be out of this world. Love the smoked paprika flavor. It's pretty low key too, not too much investment. Other than a bit of chopping, for the most part there is a lot of downtime. Makes it easy to take care of other things while cooking which I'm always a fan of. This recipe is a keeper! Thanks, Bogre!
 
cucina D. February 25, 2015
I adore this recipe but I am NOT a fan of Kielbasa (always very salty to me) so I also prefer to use homemade italian pork sausage or a delicious Spanish spicy chorizo. So yummy!
 
Sixblade K. February 25, 2015
Made this 2 nights ago. Was excellent and easy to make. Had never worked with mustard greens before and i overcooked them. The stem and leaf seem to cook at different speeds so i may separate them add in at different times next time. I also didnt like kielbasa, will try it with spicy sausage instead next time.
 
Azbarracuda February 2, 2015
I made this tonight. All the cauliflower in my garden came in about the same time. Finding new ways to use it up led me to this recipe. What a great find. Delicious. Thank you!
 
Cathy November 18, 2014
I made this last night using Mexian Chorizo sausage (grilled first), and went a bit lighter on the hot pepper flakes to offset the spicey sausage. It was fantastic! Looking forward to leftovers tonight!
 
pxrising November 11, 2014
Considering that I don't care for cauliflower or bitter greens, I'm not sure what possessed me to try this soup. But OMG I'm so glad I did. It's absolutely creamy, smoky delicious. As as base for soup, cauliflower is pretty much a flavor carrier, and the bitterness of the mustard greens was tempered by the savory saltiness of the smoked turkey sausage I used. The "bunch" of greens could vary considerably in size, so I started with about 8 large leaves, or about 4 cups chopped, which was just the right amount for me. Since I'm avoiding high potassium foods at the moment, swapping out the potatoes for cauliflower worked perfectly for me. Thanks Bogre for this wonderful soup recipe.
 
Emily October 21, 2014
Super delicious. Great recipe. YUM!
 
Kinsey October 20, 2014
Had 2 cups of broth from cooking lentils so used that for part of the liquid. Also: cabbage + a couple of handfuls of arugula for the greens and juice of a whole lemon. Result was outstandingly good, especially the lentil broth addition.
 
robin June 17, 2014
I just made this soup....and I LOVE it! I did a few changes, I did not puree it.
and at the table added a bit of apple cider vinegar. It was a great finisher for this soup!
 
gillianknitsalot May 7, 2014
This soup is unbelieveable! Sooooo delicious! And really works anytime of the year on a rainy day.
 
AndiMor February 9, 2014
The first time I made this recipe we had our friends over for dinner and we were not disappointed, in fact the contrary, it was absolutely delicious!
I used curly kale instead of mustard green and Spanish chorizo that I briefly fried off first.
All in all a fab and healthy dish! :)
 
Laura February 5, 2014
I used kale plus more parsley--delicious on a winter night!
 
Cecília M. February 2, 2014
Your soup looks good, but I can't understand why you call it portuguese Caldo Verde. This soup has nothing to do with caldo verde. Not similar in anyway.
 
mmcdaniel January 19, 2014
I so a similar variation on caldo verde. Upon serving, I drizzle on a little sherry vinegar and add a pinch of toasted cumin seeds.
 
lloreen January 11, 2014
I made this with turnip greens and it was fabulous. Usually I dislike the bitterness of turnip greens, but it gave a nice little bite with the creamy cauliflower. This recipe is one for the winter rotation.
 
maya January 10, 2014
This was amazing. I was nervous while making it but the combined flavors were excellent. It came out almost like a hearty stew.
 
MariahK January 10, 2014
Wow! This soup is amazing. Definitely more than the sum of its parts. I used spinach (pulsed in the food processor to shred it) instead of mustard greens and andouille sausage instead of kielbasa, but next time I'm going to make as directed. I'm sure it would have been incredible with the mustard greens!
 
cherylb January 8, 2014
thanks for input. I, too, subbed but rainbow chard for the mustard green, hot turkey kielbasa, reg paprika plus liquid smoke. I had trouble shredding greens, though. Next time I will chop them finely. (the long strips kept slapping me in the face).The soup is wonderful.
 
Sandra January 7, 2014
I made this last night with a few minor substitutions. I used kale instead of mustard greens and chicken sausage instead of the turkey. All in all, it was great. I will be making this again and again! Thank you!
 
cherylb January 5, 2014
smoked paprika comes in sweet, bittersweet, and Hot. Which is recommended for this recipe?
 
Chris H. January 6, 2014
I'd go with sweet, or a combination to taste of sweet and a little bit of hot, bearing in mind that the soup already gets a little bit of zip from the crushed red pepper.
 
Carol M. January 5, 2014
Veg head, thanks for answering my questions!
 
veghead December 22, 2013
This soup is really good. I am vegetarian and made it with veggie stock and vegan sausage. Perfect for a snowy Colorado evening. Thank you for this recipe. It will go into my regular rotation.
 
megs February 5, 2014
I was thinking of doing the miso hunger stock from trader joes (one of my fav. New finds) plus nutritional yeast and sherry roasted wild mushrooms in place of the sausage (not a fan of the meatless knockoffs). I think the spicy mustard greens are appropriate here. What a powerfully healthy meal (even if you add the meat)!
 
megs February 5, 2014
*miso ginger* autocorrect !
 
Chris H. February 11, 2014
Megs--
Will you let me know how that turns out if you do get a chance to try it? I'm especially curious about how the sherry-roasted mushrooms would play. Thanks.
 
Ghazzzit December 15, 2013
This was delicious!! I used mixed chili pepper flakes including habanero - a really nice kick without being overpowering thanks to the cauliflower base.
 
EmilyC November 25, 2013
I made this last night and it was a big hit! Simple to prepare and really complex in flavor. I took your suggestion and browned the sausage first, then proceeded with sweating the onions, etc. It added a nice layer of flavor. I'm excited about leftovers!
 
Maria L. November 22, 2013
I made it last night and we didn't enjoyed it. I followed the recipe step by step but the flavors didn't come up nicely. I will give it another go to see what happens!
 
Exbruxelles November 15, 2013
I just finished a bowl of this for lunch. It's fantastic.
The smoked paprika is key…if you have troubling finding it, order it from The Spanish Table. www.thespanishtable.com Search for smoked pimenton.
 
loubaby October 29, 2013
This is my new most favorite soup...it is so delicious and to be low carb---I am in heaven...thank you so much for experimenting and your depth of flavor with the smoked paprika and cumin paid off....Fantastic recipe.
 
Ameranco October 29, 2013
Oh my gosh, congrats! This looks yummy, just in time for the weather we're having. You've done AU and Bender proud :)
 
Meatballs&Milkshakes October 24, 2013
Congrats, sounds delicious!
 
Chris H. October 24, 2013
Thank you! Couldn't help but notice your username...if you're a fan of meatballs, may I humbly suggest you try making mine some time?: http://food52.com/recipes/823-hungarian-meatballs
They're kind of a project, but I promise the pay-off will be worth it. They are melt-in-your-mouth tender.
 
cucina D. October 24, 2013
I adore this recipe as the flavors are very similar to what we use in Italy and love the addition of mustard greens (so good for you!). I am adding this recipe to my fall and winter file for my famiglia and amici to enjoy
 
Chris H. October 24, 2013
Grazie mille! Spero che la tua famiglia e gli amici, godere il piatto! Di dove se? Ero uno studente a Fiesole molto anni fa. Ho voluto tornare lì da allora.
 
lpcooks October 24, 2013
This was delicious! Easy, healthy, and satisfying! And I don't even like soup.
 
gmmercury October 23, 2013
First time commenting and I all I have to say is touche! Delicious. I substituted with Tuscan Kale. Yummm. TY

 
Amy D. October 23, 2013
I'm always looking for quick but imaginative dishes to serve mid-week to my book club. Do you think this could be made through step 3 and refrigerated or frozen? Then step 4 on the day I want to serve it? To get the meal on the table quickly, is what I'm thinking...
 
Chris H. October 23, 2013
Yes, definitely!
 
olygirl October 21, 2013
Oh my gosh I could take a bath in this soup! Just made it for dinner tonight and I LOVE it! My only substitution was kale since the store was out of mustard greens, but man, it was so tasty and hearty! I will definitely keep this one in the front of my recipe box.
 
Kate October 14, 2013
This was good! I made it with dandelion greens (shopping error), and it still turned out well. I didn't love biting through the skins on the kielbasa, so I would probably remove them next time. I think it would be good with chickpeas added, too (for cheap volume). Good luck!
 
lakelurelady October 13, 2013
We had this soup tonight and I applaud you for the complex and lovely flavor in this soup. Good luck in the contest.
 
Chris H. October 16, 2013
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
 
Celia October 13, 2013
http://www.all-about-portugal.com/caldo-verde-recipe-a-portuguese-soup/
 
Midge October 11, 2013
Sounds amazing. Congrats on being a finalist.
 
lakelurelady October 11, 2013
This is a genius recipe. I will be making it this weekend.
 
savorthis October 10, 2013
That soup looks great. Roasted cauliflower is such a great starting point to build on and you could put just about anything in there with it, but the sausage and greens sound so soulful.
 
EmilyC October 10, 2013
Congrats on being a finalist -- this looks so good! Love the step of deglazing the roasting pan, as well as using mustard greens in place of kale.