Making a creamy, homemade Broccoli Cheddar Soup is easy to do using simple ingredients! Learn how to make the BEST healthy soup without heavy cream and have a delicious dinner on the table in just 35 minutes!
Creamy soups are the best kind of soups, if you ask me. This Broccoli Cheddar Soup is up there with my favorite creamy soup recipes. It has a creamy texture and is deliciously cheesy too!
It’s also a great way to get those picky eaters to eat their veggies and like them too! Not only does this soup contain loads of broccoli, but I sneaked in some grated carrot too (and onion). With all the tangy, cheesy flavor, even picky eaters can overlook the vegetables in here.
This homemade broccoli cheese soup is very easy to make and uses simple ingredients you likely already have on hand. I keep this broccoli soup lightened up by using regular milk instead of heavy cream. Heavy cream isn’t something I like to cook with and this simple swap doesn’t affect the creamy texture. Believe me, when you add the grated cheese, it thickens up nicely.
The end result is a delicious vegetarian broccoli cheddar soup that is sure to become a new dinner favorite for the entire family! Served up with a hunk of crusty bread, it is perfect for those cold days when you just want a soup to warm you up.
Why we love this Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- It’s full of delicious cheddar flavor. I mean, who doesn’t love a recipe loaded with cheesy flavor?
- It has a good amount of vegetables in each serving! Not only is there loads of broccoli in the soup, but I also snuck in some grated carrots too. This is a great way to entice picky eaters to want to eat their vegetables.
- There is no need to use any heavy cream for this healthy broccoli cheddar soup. It is thickened with all purpose flour so you can use regular milk.
- The recipe is made with simple ingredients. It is made with whole foods and doesn’t involve any processed cheeses. Just real cheese here!
- The recipe is easy to make in just 35 minutes!
- You can make a homemade soup that rivals Panera’s broccoli cheddar soup with wholesome ingredients.
- This soup makes a great vegetarian meal that is sure to satisfy the whole family.
- It is the ultimate comfort food! Like a warm hug in a bowl.
Ingredients in Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Butter: You can use salted or unsalted butter to saute the onions for the soup. The butter and onions get sprinkled with flour, creating a roux which will thicken the cheesy broth. I love the added flavor from the butter but if you wish to, you could also substitute olive oil.
- Yellow onion: finely chopped.
- Flour: As mentioned above, all purpose flour is used to create a roux and thicken the broth.
- Vegetable broth: You can use a store-bought broth or make your own vegetable stock at home. If you aren’t vegetarian, you can use chicken broth instead.
- Broccoli florets: Chopped into small pieces. I use about 2 small heads of broccoli and then remove the stalk, leaving just the florets. Removing as much of the stalk as possible will give you tiny florets that are perfect for scooping up with a spoon.
- Carrot: Shredded. I like to add carrot to the soup to sneak in more vegetables. You don’t really taste the carrot but it adds to the nutrition in the soup. Another way I sometimes sneak in more vegetables to my creamy soups is to add some shredded (peeled) zucchini. It disappears into the soup and since it is peeled, it isn’t easily spotted.
- Milk: You can use any time of milk for this. Whole milk, 2% or 1%, for example.
- Cheddar cheese: Freshly shredded cheddar cheese is what makes this soup so good! I opt for a sharp cheddar cheese which gives it the best flavor but you can use any type of cheddar you prefer. In order to achieve a smooth, creamy texture, freshly shred your own cheese and avoid using pre-shredded cheese. The pre-shredded cheese is coated in a powder that prevents it from clumping together. This can make the broth grainy.
- Seasoning: salt and black pepper, to taste.
**Note: Ingredient quantities and full instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post.**
How to make vegetarian Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Saute the onions. In a large soup pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until it begins to soften, about 4 minutes.
- Make a roux. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir, cooking for 1 minute.
- Simmer the veggies and broth. Add the broth, broccoli florets, and carrots to the large pot and simmer over medium high heat until the broccoli is tender, about 8-10 minutes.
- Add the milk and cheese. Stir in the milk and bring back to a simmer. Then remove it from heat. Add the cheese and keep mixing until the cheese melts.
- Season and serve. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with extra shredded cheese, if desired.
How to thicken the soup more
While I find this soup thickens up nicely with the roux and all that melted cheese, if you do want to make it thicker, you can do this a few different ways.
- Puree some of the soup. You can use an immersion blender, regular blender, or even a food processor to blend some of the soup. Then add it back to the pot. Just be sure to let the soup cool a bit if using a traditional blender or food processor as blenders and hot liquids could lead to hot soup flying all over your kitchen (and you-yikes)!
- Use heavy cream instead. As I mentioned before, I don’t use much cream in my kitchen but that is a personal choice. If you wish to make this soup richer, you can use heavy cream instead.
- Use a corn starch slurry. If you have made your soup and want to thicken it a bit more, you can make a corn starch slurry by stirring 2 tablespoons of corn starch with a little cold milk until it dissolves. Then stir the slurry into the pot of soup, stirring consistently while it heats up and thickens.
Tips for making the best soup
This creamy broccoli soup is so easy to do but there are a few things to consider to make sure you have the best broccoli cheddar soup you can make.
- Chop your broccoli into small pieces. Not only does this make it easier to eat the soup, but smaller pieces will also cook quicker! If you do a good job of removing as much of the stem as possible, you will naturally end up with small florets. If you do end up with some bigger pieces, give them a chop.
- Add the milk towards the end of the cooking process. I add the milk after the broccoli is tender and the soup is almost finished. Then it is gently heated up and removed from the heat. This will prevent it form curdling.
- Add the cheese at the end and remove it from heat. This is done for the same reason that I add the milk at the end. Adding the cheese too early could result in curdling and give your soup a grainy texture. Who wants that?
- Use your favourite cheddar cheese. I don’t know about you, but for me, the best part of this soup is the cheesy flavour! If you love cheddar and want a good cheesy flavour, choose a sharp cheese. The beauty of this is you can choose mild, medium, or sharp cheddar to suit your taste so go with what you like!
Storing leftovers and reheating
Once cooled completely, leftovers of this cheesy broccoli soup can be placed into an airtight container and kept in the fridge for a few days.
To reheat the soup, place it into a pot and heat it over medium-low heat until warmed through, stirring occasionally. You may need to add a little milk or broth when you reheat it to account for some of the thickening while it cooled.
We love making a big pot of this creamy broccoli cheddar soup during the colder months. We love to warm up with a bowl of soup and some crusty bread, crackers, or Herb Biscuits (if you really want more cheese flavor, you can also serve these with Cheddar Chive Biscuits).
I hope you enjoy this soup as much as we do!
-Cathy
You may also like:
Creamy Asparagus Soup
Shrimp & Corn Chowder
Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
Broccoli Cheddar Soup – Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 yellow onion finely chopped
- 4 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 3 cups vegetable broth You can use chicken broth if you aren't vegetarian
- 3 cups broccoli florets chopped into small pieces (about 2 heads of broccoli)
- 1 carrot shredded
- 2 cups milk
- 2 1/2 cups cheddar cheese shredded + more for serving, if desired
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large soup pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until it begins to soften, about 4 minutes.
- Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir, cooking for 1 minute.
- Add the broth, broccoli florets, and carrots to the large pot and simmer over medium high heat until the broccoli is tender, about 8-10 minutes.
- Stir in the milk and bring back to a simmer. Then remove it from heat. Add the cheese a little at a time and keep mixing until the cheese melts.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with extra shredded cheese, if desired.
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
Oooh can you make an adaptation of your broccoli cheese soup for the vita mix?
Unfortunately, I don’t have a vitamix. If you give it a try, I’d love to hear how it went!