A cheese, creamy, butter flavored and freshly shredded cheddar cheese soup; is there a better way to eat broccoli? This broccoli cheddar soup is true cold weather comfort food; it’s hearty, easy, quick and perfect as an appetizer, weeknight dinners or a snow day lunch.
If you’re a fan of Panera Bread’s broccoli cheese soup, you’re going to absolutely love this one!
Even though we recommend this recipe for winter time, there is absolutely no reason not to prepare it throughout the year. It’s just that usually colder weather call for warmer foods; but feel free to have this any time of the year.
And we’re pretty certain that this recipe tastes just like its Panera Bread counterpart because it is one of our favorite dishes to get when we go there. And this broccoli cheddar soup came out just like that one!
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients that we’ll be using for this recipe. Make sure you have them all ready to go before you start cooking.
- Broccoli – Either buy a package of organic broccoli florets or buy them whole and chop off the stems to cut the florets into small pieces.
- Onion – Yellow would be our preference, but sweet or white would also work well.
- Carrots – Either buy them pre shredded or grate your own carrots if you so choose.
- Cheddar cheese – We recommend you buy 16 oz of sharp cheddar and grate half into the soup to save the rest for serving. Do not use pre shredded cheese because it will not melt properly.
- Ground mustard – This is to add flavor to the soup. We’ll need a pinch of dry ground mustard powder.
- Chicken/Vegetable broth – Feel free to decide which kind of broth you’d rather use for this recipe. We’ve chosen to go with the chicken broth.
- Heavy cream and whole milk – You could also decide to substitute these with half and half if that’s your preference.
- Other ingredients – Sea salt, unsalted butter, sugar, ground black pepper, onion powder, all-purpose flour.
This is so far only an overview of the ingredients, so don’t forget to go to the recipe card below for all the portion details.
Preparation
Let’s take a look at a quick overview of the instructions to have better idea of what’s going to take. Full detailed instructions are found on the recipe card below.
- Melt the butter over medium heat, then add the onion and cook until it gets soft.
- Sprinkle the flour over the onion and whisk until smooth, then slowly whisk in the milk.
- Add the broth, cream, veggies, and seasonings. Stir to incorporate.
- Increase the heat to medium high and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.
- Once thickened, blend the soup as much as you like (some people like a chunkier broccoli cheddar soup, some people want it completely smooth). Just note that if you puree until completely smooth, your soup may look a bit green.
- Stir in the cheese until melted and adjust seasonings to taste (you may need another shake of salt or pepper).
Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Description
Broccoli Cheddar Soup
This 30-minute broccoli cheddar soup, Panera Bread-like tasting, recipe is a FAVORITE comfort food! It results delivers a rich, creamy, super cheesy, and loaded with tender veggies deliciousness.
Ingredients
Instructions
-
Melt the butter
Place butter in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat and cook until melted.
-
Add diced onions
Add diced onion and cook until softened and translucent for about 5 minutes.
-
Sprinkle the flour
Sprinkle flour over the butter/onion and whisk until smooth and no lumps remain.
-
Add milk to the mixture
Slowly, while whisking, add milk to the mixture.
Whisk until combined and mixture is thickened.
-
Add remaining of ingredients (except for the grated cheese)
Add chicken broth, heavy cream, broccoli, carrots, salt, sugar, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and ground mustard.
Whisk until combined.
-
Cook the soup
Bring to a boil over medium/high heat while stirring frequently.
Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until thickened. -
Transfer to puree
Transfer the soup in batches to a blender or use an immersion blender to puree (preferred).
Puree as much of the soup as you would like until desired consistency is reached.
We prefer to use an immersion blender and puree about 75% of the soup, leaving some pieces of broccoli intact.
-
Add grated cheese and season some more
Add grated cheese and stir until melted (keep heat on low).
Add additional salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Equipment Used
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Servings 6
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories 553kcal
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat 48g74%
- Saturated Fat 29g145%
- Trans Fat 2g
- Cholesterol 152mg51%
- Sodium 723mg31%
- Potassium 489mg14%
- Total Carbohydrate 20g7%
- Dietary Fiber 2g8%
- Sugars 6g
- Protein 17g34%
- Vitamin A 3212 IU
- Vitamin C 56 mg
- Calcium 425 mg
- Iron 1 mg
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Note
Cheese Note
Remember to NOT use pre-shredded cheese because it will likely clump and not melt properly. Make sure to shred it yourself!
Also...
- Even though this recipe is with chicken broth, there should not be a problem to make it with vegetable broth instead for a vegetarian soup.
- It is important to cut the broccoli florets into really small pieces to make sure it blends properly. You can accomplish this by cutting them with a large knife in a mincing motion (check the broccoli photo in the gallery for an example).
