Broccoli Cheddar Soup Recipe

This easy-to-make Broccoli Cheddar Soup Recipe is jam-packed with flavor and is the perfect soup to serve to family and friends during the fall and winter months. You will be blown away at how tasty and simple to prepare this is.

We are a soup family and make and eat it at least 2 times a week during the winter. If you or your family are similar, you must try my Avgolemono or Lentil Soup.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Broccoli Cheddar soup is a simple broth-based soup with simmered vegetables, and most importantly, broccoli is pureed, creamed, and finished with cheese. This features few ingredients and can be made relatively quickly, making it a great soup. It’s hearty enough to be served as a main entree and elegant enough to serve as a course to a meal.

This soup is great if you’re trying to get rid of an abundance of broccoli, and not-too-mention, an amazing way to get kids to eat vegetables, like my daughter. She even claims this Broccoli cheddar soup recipe is better than Panera Bread. I will take it.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Fat – I use unsalted butter. However, you can use your favorite oil or even pork lard.
• Onion – A combination of onions, leeks, and garlic is used. You can use yellow, white, or sweet onions.
• Broccoli – Fresh broccoli is best to use. However, you can use frozen.
• Flour – All-purpose flour is needed to make a roux.
• Stock – You can use chicken stock or vegetable stock in this broccoli cheddar soup.
• Cream – Heavy whipping cream is used in my recipe. You can use whole milk or half and half.
• Cheese – Shredded sharp orange cheddar is what you will need.
• Seasonings – I use sea salt, pepper, Worcestershire, and Tabasco sauce to season the soup.

How to Make Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Add the butter to a large pot over medium heat. Once melted, add in the onions, garlic, and leeks and cook until lightly browned and translucent, which takes about 8 to 10 minutes while frequently stirring.

Next, stir in the flour until combined in to make a roux.

Add in the broccoli and chicken stock, boil, and cook the broccoli until al dente or slightly crunchy.

Using a hand blender, pulse the soup until it becomes slightly chunky or until the desired chunkiness or smoothness is achieved. After that, ensure the soup is thick. If not, you may need to make a separate roux or slurry and whisk it in.

Pour in the heavy cream and stir in to combine.

Mix in the cheddar cheese until combined and melted.

FInally, finish by seasoning with sea salt, pepper, Worcestershire, and Tabasco sauce.

Serve with extra shredded cheese.

Make-Ahead and Storage

Make-Ahead: You can make this soup up to 1 day ahead of time. When you are ready to serve, reheat it on the stovetop in a pot.

How to Store: Cover and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. This will freeze well and be covered for up to 6 months. Thaw the soup in the refrigerator for 1 day until it is thawed before reheating.

How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of broccoli cheddar soup to a pot and heat up over low heat until it is hot. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper and add a ¼ cup of chicken stock if it is too thick and needs to be thinned out.

Chef Notes + Tips

• Try adding aged white or yellow cheddar for a more intense cheese flavor.
• If you do not have a hand immersion blender, add half the soup to a blender and pulse it a few times on high speed to help smooth out some of the soup but still have some chunkiness.
• This soup serves many people, so feel free to cut it in half.

More Soup Recipes

• Zuppa Toscana Recipe
• Chicken Dumpling Soup
• French Onion Soup
• Mulligatawny Soup
• New England Clam Chowder

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Broccoli Cheddar Soup Recipe

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5 from 48 votes

This easy-to-make Broccoli Cheddar Soup Recipe is jam-packed with flavor and is the perfect soup to serve to family and friends.

Servings: 12

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 peeled and small diced yellow onion
• 6 finely minced cloves of garlic
• 3 thinly sliced leeks, rinsed
• 1 cup of all-purpose flour
• 6 heads of trimmed fresh broccoli
• 16 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups of heavy whipping cream
• 2 pounds of shredded cheddar cheese
• sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
• Worcestershire and Tabasco sauce to taste

Instructions

• Add the butter to a large pot over medium heat. Once melted, add in the onions, garlic, and leeks and cook until lightly browned and translucent, which takes about 8 to 10 minutes while frequently stirring.
• Next, stir in the flour until combined in to make a roux.
• Add in the broccoli and chicken stock and bring to a boil and cook the broccoli just until al dente, or slightly crunchy.
• Using a hand blender pulse the soup until it becomes slightly chunky or until the desired chunkiness or smoothness is achieved.
• At this point ensure the soup is thick. If it’s not, you may need to make a separate roux or slurry and whisk it in.
• Pour in the heavy cream and stir in in to combine over low heat.
• Mix in the cheddar cheese until combined and melted in.
• Finish by seasoning with sea salt, pepper, Worcestershire, and Tabasco sauce.
• Serve with extra shredded cheese.

Notes

Make-Ahead: You can make this soup up to 1 day ahead of time. When ready to serve, reheat on the stovetop in a pot.

How to Store: Cover and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. This will freeze well and be covered for up to 6 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating.

How to Reheat: Add the desired amount to a pot and heat up over low heat until hot. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper and add a ¼ cup of chicken stock if it is too thick and needs to be thinned out.

For a more intense cheese flavor, try adding in aged white or yellow cheddar.

If you do not have a hand immersion blender, add half the soup to a blender and pulse it a few times on high speed to help smooth out some of the soup but still have some chunkiness.

This soup serves many people so feel free to cut it in half.

Nutrition

Calories: 720kcalCarbohydrates: 47gProtein: 37gFat: 45gSaturated Fat: 25gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0.003gCholesterol: 130mgSodium: 1068mgPotassium: 1463mgFiber: 9gSugar: 13gVitamin A: 3617IUVitamin C: 276mgCalcium: 733mgIron: 4mg

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American, French

Author: Chef Billy Parisi