Broccoli Cheese Soup

Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe Video – scroll down for recipe card

If your only experience with broccoli cheese soup is eating it from a warmed-up can, you’ve got to give homemade broccoli cheese soup a chance. Unlike its blobby, flaccid, overcooked counterpart, homemade broccoli cheese soup is creamy and rich — sure — but also fresh and bright.

My broccoli cheese soup is just made with vegetables, milk or half-and-half, and some Cheddar cheese. There’s no roux; it’s thickened instead with potato, making it quick and simple. By cooking the stems for a longer time and the florets for just a few minutes, we keep it pretty and green.

Top the soup with croutons if you like: Cut stale bread into cubes. Heat a couple tablespoons of butter in a skillet over medium heat until foamy. Add the bread and stir. Cook for several minutes, stirring or shaking occasionally, until the bread cubes are toasted. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, paprika or any dried herbs or spices you like. Cool and serve on soup or salad.

Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe

broccoli cheese soup

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Broccoli Cheese Soup

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  • Author: Hilah Johnson
  • Cook Time: 20 mins
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 pound fresh broccoli
  • 1 medium potato
  • 1 stalk celery
  • 34 cloves garlic
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 cups vegetable stock
  • 1 cup half and half or whole milk
  • 2 ounce Cheddar, cubed
  • Optional: fresh dill or parsley, croutons

Instructions

  1. Separate broccoli florets from stalks and set aside. Peel the stalks and dice. Peel the potato and dice. (You should have about 2 cups broccoli cubes and 1 cup potato cubes). Dice celery. Mince garlic to make 2 teaspoons.
  2. Melt butter in a large pot and add cubed stalk, potato, celery and garlic. Saute a minute or two until the garlic is fragrant. Add the stock. Cover and bring to boil. Boil 5 minutes until tender.
  3. Add florets and cover. Cook another 5 minutes until tender but still bright green. Blend soup to preferred texture.
  4. Add half and half and cheese cubes and warm over low heat, stirring, until cheese begins to melt.
  5. Serve with fresh herbs and/or croutons if you like

Notes

Nutrition info is without croutons

Nutrition

  • Calories: 240
  • Fat: 14
  • Carbohydrates: 21
  • Protein: 10

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14 Comments

  1. Debbie on September 22, 2016 at 9:40 pm

    Can you freeze it?

    • Hilah on September 23, 2016 at 10:00 am

      I don’t know, sorry

  2. Beth Anne on September 23, 2016 at 8:53 am

    I’m going to try this! Making the Roux always confuses me and I never know if I’m doing it right.

    • Hilah on September 23, 2016 at 9:59 am

      Perfect! This is the soup for you, then! 🙂

  3. Rachel on September 23, 2016 at 8:06 pm

    I only have chicken stock on hand. Is it okay to use that instead of vegetable stock? Sorry for the newbie question 😀

    • Hilah on September 24, 2016 at 8:04 am

      Totally fine, Rachel!

  4. Nancy Woolsey on September 25, 2016 at 2:05 pm

    Can I use low sodium vegetable broth instead of stock?

    • Hilah on September 26, 2016 at 9:27 am

      Of course! Just taste at the end and add salt if necessary

  5. SandyToes on October 5, 2016 at 4:15 pm

    I made this for dinner tonight; so easy, super fast and incredibly delicious. I’m a tinkerer, but for this soup I wouldn’t change a thing, unless it’s use the cheese (shredded) as a garnish, just so it’s easier to stir in. We loved how bright and fresh the flavor was, with the broccoli, celery and garlic playing perfectly well together. It feels like health food, making it the perfect partner for a big fat grilled cheese sandwich. Not that we did that. Just saying.

    Thanks, Hilah! This one’s a keeper.






  6. April Quackenbush on November 24, 2016 at 5:36 pm

    Hi Hilah! I was wondering if could use sweet potatoes instead of potatoes?

    • Hilah on November 29, 2016 at 6:05 am

      Hi April!
      The texture would probably be pretty similar, but I don’t know that the flavors would go together as well.

  7. Amanda on March 23, 2017 at 4:17 pm

    Love it!

  8. Amanda on September 19, 2018 at 9:41 pm

    Do you have another way of mixing this without the tool that you used? I don’t have a blender/food processor or anything like that, but I do have a Kitchenaid…not sure if that would blend it well enough??

    • Hilah on September 20, 2018 at 1:21 pm

      Nothing will get it totally smooth like a blender or food processor but you could try a potato masher or a sturdy spoon to mash it. Maybe a kitchenaid but you’d probably have to scoop all the solids out, into the mixing bowl, whip them up then add back to the liquid in the pot

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