I want you to understand something right now. I love this effing soup. Love love love love it. It’s easy to make and it would be delicious with any sort of meat. I think next time I’m going to make it then add pulled rotisserie chicken to it. It’s my new best friend. My soup friend.
I need to talk something over with you. Because I’m becoming one of those stressed out brides. Which is why we booked a destination wedding in the first place: so it wouldn’t be stressful. But I can’t help but start to feel that way now that it’s only 3 months away. I think I’m just nervous that I’m going to forget something that’s important and since we’ll be in Jamaica, I won’t have it available. And since 3 months comes so effing quickly, I have to start figuring out the little things. Like a veil and gifts for guests and a playlist and swimsuits and makeup and outfits and jewelry and what the guys are wearing…and what MY guy is wearing. They are totally little things that aren’t worth stressing over, but I can’t help but feel that way.
I’ve even started stressing out about looking my best in my wedding dress. I haven’t felt that way or stressed out about my weight/body in a looooong time, but I can’t help but worry about it. My dress isn’t exactly forgiving and I want it to look just right, so I keep finding myself worrying about it. Which is stupid because I’ve been working out HARD for the past 6 years. There’s really nothing different I could do at this point to change anything. Or want to change anything. What’s wrong with me!? I’m getting married to a man I completely adore, in a beautiful place with only a handful of guests who are our close friends. I need to get a massage or something…because eating an entire cake to relieve that stress is just not an option right now. Damnit.
Enough about annoying insecurities, those are the worst, let’s talk about fun girly stuff. I’m playing dress up today with Cassy from Fed and Fit in San Antonio! Being in this warmer, sunny weather is really helping me change around my attitude. I’m serious. Anywho, we are wearing girly little numbers and all kinds over-the-top jewelry during a photo/video shoot today. She’s the best. Have you ever met this girl? She has the absolute best taste in style. Whenever I hang out with her, I end up going home and buying a bunch of clothing that I wouldn’t have worn otherwise because she showed me how it could stylish. She’s wonderful. And her personality is even better. Can’t wait to show you what we are working on!
But enough about girly crap, go make this soup.
Creamy Cauliflower Shrimp Chowder
- Yield: 5-6 1x
Ingredients
- 1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
- 1 1/2 pound bacon (I used peppered bacon for extra flavor), cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp
- 2 large carrots, peeled and diced
- 4 stalks of celery, diced
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (may use more depending on salt in the bacon and broth)
- 6 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
- for garnish: olive oil and fresh parsley
Instructions
- Steam cauliflower then set aside.
- Place a dutch oven over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until crispy. Remove then set aside on a paper towel. Remove excess bacon fat from dutch oven leaving behind 2-3 tablespoons.
- Pat shrimp dry and sprinkle with salt. Add shrimp to the dutch oven and cook on both sides, about 2-3 minutes until shrimp is pink. Remove and set aside.
- Add carrots, celery, onion, and garlic cloves to the pot and use a wood spatula to scrape the bacon of the pan and toss the veggies. Once onion becomes translucent, add garlic powder, smoked paprika, dried oregano and thyme and salt. Stir for about 1 minute in the veggies.
- Add chicken broth and bay leaves to the pot.
- Add cauliflower to a high speed blender and blend until completely smooth. Scoop out cauliflower puree into the dutch oven along with 1/2 the bacon. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.*
- Remove bay leaves and add fresh parsley then use an immersion blender to puree soup until smooth and combine. Lastly, add the shrimp back to the back to the pot to heat through.
- Top each bowl of soup with fresh parsley, bacon and a swirl of olive oil.
Notes
*I pureed the cauliflower first instead of doing it with an immersion blender later because it gives it a much smoother consistency. You could always puree the cauliflower later with everything else, I just prefer the consistency of the high speed blender.
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I am totes making this soup! No matter what you forget or what you don’t do your wedding is going to be perfect! Enjoy the journey, it only happens once. And let’s be real… All you need is your wedding dress and and swim suits! Boom planning done!
I just made this soup and I’m sitting here waiting for my husband to get home so we can eat it!! It’s really yummy and I can’t wait for him to try it… I have walked down the aisle twice but only got to plan the second one…they were both stressful but I am a list person so that helped!! I just remember how I kept thinking about finally being alone with my new husband and that helped me make it through the stress… You will be alright!!
I’m making this soup tonight!!!!
As for your wedding, it’s completely normal to feel that way. I too had a destination wedding this past summer and I can honestly say that I had to learn to accept that if we all get there and the flowers don’t show up, the food sucks, well at LEAST we are hanging with our loved ones in paradise. I think accepting ahead of time there will likely be little bumps will help. In the end, no one really remembers what the food was, what China you used, they just remember how stunning and happy you two were. And I guarantee once you get there, you’ll be so much more relaxed. Paradise has a way of doing that to us 🙂 You got this, let the waves of stress come and then go kick some a$$ in the gym to get it all out! Oh and I agree, theknot might make you feel more stressed/anxious. I stayed away from Pinterest after a while because it made me think I needed one million little details. Screw the little details, ENJOY PARADISE 🙂
Oh. My. God. This might be the best soup ever. I can’t get over how good it is. Whoa.
that’s how i felt?! i wish i had it in my house every single day!! so glad you liked it too!!
Quick question…what brand of Dutch oven do you recommend? I’ve tried making do with other pots and such, but I really need to break down and get one. Thanks!
i use le creuset. best investment i’ve ever made!
This soup looks amazing, I’m making it tonight! One piece of unsolicited advice- don’t do gifts for your guests. I totally thought I had to since I had tons of people flying from California to Switzerland for my wedding. But half the people forget to even take them home and no one really cares. Let’s be honest, what do you remember from the weddings you’ve been to? You remember if you danced, drank and had a good time. That’s pretty much it. No one remembers or cares what color the tablecloths were or what the flowers looked like. That’s all. Everything will come together perfectly…and you are looking amazing, so definitely don’t stress about that! Xx
About wedding planning, here is something important to remember: IT’S YOUR DAY! Do what ever the hell you want. I wanted to have giant jenga, beer pong, a beautiful cake, flip cup racing, be outside, and just party. AND I DID. I tried all the blogs and stuff and it just stressed me out. You, oh-paleo-recipe-wizard are clearly adept in planning and carrying out plans to your liking. It’s your day; celebrate it how you guys want to.
What an original recipe. It looks great, especially for a winter time meal. Can this be easily reheated as leftovers without over cooking the shrimp?
i reheated mine and the shrimp still were good, even a couple days later. just definitely not as fresh as tender as the day of
Love this and I really want to make it, but have no immersion blender. Would a regular blender or food processor do alright?
i think so, you may just need to do it in batches to not overflow it!
I made it last night!!! I subbed 1# chicken thighs for the shrimp, seared them as I would have seared the shrimp, then added them to the dutch oven for the 15 minutes to make sure they cooked through. Removed them, shredded, and topped the soup with the chicken, 1/2 the bacon, and cilantro when I was done. Blender handled it just fine in batches. DELICIOUS!
OMG. I made this last night- I’m pretty sure it is my favorite soup ever now! The flavor combinations are so perfect!