Broccoli Cheddar Soup

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.

1. Melt the butter over medium heat, then add the onion and cook until it gets soft.
2. Sprinkle the flour over the onion and whisk until smooth, then slowly whisk in the milk.
3. Add the broth, cream, veggies, and seasonings. Stir to incorporate.
4. Increase the heat to medium high and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.
5. 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.
6. Stir in the cheese until melted and adjust seasonings to taste (you may need another shake of salt or pepper).