I love Broccoli Cheddar Soup (and soup season in general). It’s such a classic soup and it reminds me of childhood. I remember when I was in junior high going to Panera Bread for a quick dinner after tennis practice and the broccoli cheddar soup (in a bread bowl) always hit the spot!
Our broccoli cheddar soup recipe is simple and can be made in just 30 minutes. It’s super flavorful and has the perfect balance of a salty, cheesy soup base with loads of perfectly cooked broccoli goodness!
How to Make Our Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Ingredients
- Place large pot over medium heat and melt butter. Add onion and sweat, about 5 minutes.
- Add flour to butter and onion mixture.Stir together and cook for about 2 minutes. This will remove the raw flour flavor.
- Stir in chicken stock and season generously with salt and pepper. You want to make sure that no flour lumps are left after adding the stock.
- Add celery and broccoli.
- Stir together and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Let simmer until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
- Stir in milk and continue to simmer until soup is thick enough to just coat the back of a wooden spoon, 2 to 3 minutes. The soup should still have a thinner, ‘soupy’ texture.
- Remove pot from heat and stir in cheddar in small handfuls, waiting until cheese melts to add more cheese. Adding the cheese slowly will help to create a smooth soup in the end.
- Continue to add more cheese to the soup until the soup has thickened and has a smooth velvety texture. Season with salt and pepper and top with more cheddar. Serve.
Tools You Will Need
Tips to Make the BEST Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Our broccoli cheddar soup recipe is very easy to make but there are a couple important factors to make it successfully.
- Make sure you’re grating your own cheese and not using pre-shredded cheese! Pre-shredded cheeses have anti-caking agents in them for preservation and causes the end product to be gritty!
- It’s important to remember that low and slow for adding the cheese is key. Remove the pot from the heat and add the cheese in small handfuls. Removing the pot from the heat will ensure your soup doesn’t separate, while still maintaining enough heat to melt the cheese.
- Also make sure the added shredded cheese fully incorporates and melts into the soup before adding more. This will guarantee the soup stays creamy and smooth. If the cheese is added too quickly you run the risk of your soup becoming gritty.
Does this Taste Just Like the Version at Panera Bread?
Yes and no! Our version is VERY similar to the one they serve at Panera, but we omitted the carrots. Why? Because we really wanted the focus to be on the broccoli and the cheddar…that’s why it’s called broccoli cheddar soup! It’s such a delicious and classic combination of flavors we didn’t want anything “fighting” the flavors if that makes sense.
If you want carrots in your soup, no problem! Just add 1 peeled and diced carrot to the onion and celery (making a mirepoix) OR peel and cut 1 carrot into julienne strips and add them to your soup when you add the broccoli!
Make Ahead Instructions for Our Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Make Ahead
Our soup can be made up to 3 days ahead of time, stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Reheating Leftovers
To reheat, pour soup into a pot and place over medium-low to low heat. Stir soup occasionally to ensure it heats back up evenly. It’s important that the soup comes back up to temperature slowly so that it stays thick, creamy and smooth. Reheating the soup too quickly can make the soup gritty and lose its body.
If you find that your soup still gets too thin after its been heated scoop 1/2 cup of the warm soup into a small bowl and whisk together with 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch until smooth. Pour mixture back into the pot, stir together and simmer until soup slightly thickens.
Can I Freeze This Soup?
We really don’t recommend freezing this recipe because the consistency will be very thin and the texture will be off (gritty) once it’s thawed and heated back up. The cornstarch slurry trick also doesn’t work nearly as well for when the soup has been frozen.
Best Way to Serve Our Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Our favorite way to serve this soup is to ladle it into a crusty, sourdough bread bowl! The last bits of the soup absorb into the inner crust of the bowl and it’s so satisfying to tear away pieces of the soup soaked bread bowl and scarf them down as you finish up the soup.
More Delicious Soup Recipes You Will Love
Easy Broccoli Cheddar Soup
INGREDIENTS
soup
- 5 tbsp unsalted butter
- ½ onion chopped
- ⅓ cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups unsalted chicken stock
- 1 celery stalk finely diced
- 2½ cup broccoli chopped into bite sized pieces
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 cups shredded cheddar
- salt and pepper to taste
garnish
- 1 cup shredded cheddar
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place large pot over medium heat and melt butter. Add onion and sweat, about 5 minutes.
- Whisk in flour and cook for about 2 minutes.
- Stir in chicken stock and season generously with salt and pepper.
- Stir in celery and broccoli and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Let simmer until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
- Stir in milk and continue to simmer until soup is thick enough to just coat the back of a wooden spoon, 2 to 3 minutes. (soup should still have a 'soupy' texture)
- Remove pot from heat and stir in cheddar in small handfuls, waiting until cheese melts to add more cheese.
- Season with salt and pepper and top with more cheddar. Serve.
NOTES
- It’s important to remember that low and slow for adding the cheese is key. Remove the pot from the heat and add the cheese in small handfuls. Removing the pot from the heat will ensure your soup doesn’t separate, while still maintaining enough heat to melt the cheese.
- Also make sure the added shredded cheese fully incorporates and melts into the soup before adding more. This will guarantee the soup stays creamy and smooth. If the cheese is added too quickly you run the risk of your soup becoming gritty.
Did you make this recipe? We want to see!
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Delicious soup recipe, tastes excellent!
Quick and easy and super delicious. thanks for the recipe!
I just finished a bowl of this soup. I’m so pleased with the simplicity of the recipe! I substituted shredded carrots over the celery. It was so tasty I didn’t even need the better than bouillon vegetable boost! my favorite recipe for broccoli and sharp cheddar by far! my sister will love it. I’m not a big fan of half and half it’s so heavy, I actually finished a whole bowl! I’m so pleased your recipe does not call for half and half! I’m going to look at your corn chowder now! thank you!