This Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe is creamy, cheesy, and loaded with all your favorite veggies like onions, carrots, celery, and loads of fresh broccoli. A little lighter than my broccoli cheddar soup, it’s made with whole milk rather than heavy cream but is equally delicious and just as comforting.
Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe
Cold, rainy, and grey, soup is a popular lunch and dinner option when wintertime rolls around. I love all soup, but I am especially fond of creamy soup. From broccoli soup with smoked gouda to healthier versions like this roasted cauliflower and broccoli or this roasted broccoli carrot, there are so many delicious and yummy ways to dish up broccoli soup.
This cheese soup is rich, creamy, and PACKED with broccoli…and cheese. Easily customizable, this is one of my very favorite easy recipes and pairs perfectly with a side of crusty bread or homemade croutons – the whole family will beg for seconds!
How to Make Broccoli Cheese Soup
For the full list and amounts of ingredients, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
1. Cook the vegetables (mirepoix).
Add the olive oil and butter to a large pot or Dutch oven set over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, for 4-5 minutes or until the onions turn translucent. Add the carrots and celery and continue to cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring often. In the last two minutes stir in the minced garlic and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix well to combine.
What is Mirepoix?
Mirepoix is a mix of aromatics made from finely diced vegetables (the mix of vegetables will often vary by country and cuisine) that are cooked in butter or oil, low and slow as to sweeten the ingredients rather than caramelize them. These slow-cooked aromatic vegetables form the first layer of flavor to many recipes.
The mirepoix includes onions, carrots, celery, and minced garlic in this recipe.
2. Add the Broccoli.
Add the broccoli florets to the cooked vegetables and cook until the broccoli is softened (if necessary, add 2-3 tablespoons of water to the pot to prevent the vegetables from burning). If you prefer a chunkier soup, remove 2-3 cups of cooked and softened vegetables, give them a good chop, and set aside.
3. Simmer.
Add the broth (chicken, vegetable, or bone broth) and season with salt, black pepper, and thyme. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Whisk together the all-purpose flour with 2 cups of whole milk as the soup simmers and shred the cheese. If you prefer a richer, creamier soup, swap all (or part) of the milk with heavy cream or half and half.
4. Temper the flour mixture and add it to your soup.
To prevent the milk from curdling, slowly whisk boiling broth from your soup pot (1 tablespoon at a time) with your flour mixture. Once the flour and milk mixture is warm, remove the soup from the heat and slowly whisk the flour mixture into your soup.
5. Blend.
Use an immersion (hand) blender, standing blender, or food processor to blend the soup. For a smooth soup, blend the whole thing, or, for extra chunky soup, simply blend half the pot.
6. Add the cheese and serve.
Stir in the cheese, and any reserved chopped vegetables (optional), and season with additional salt and pepper, to taste. Serve garnished with additional shredded cheese and cooked broccoli florets, if desired.
How Can You Make Broccoli Cheese Soup Thicker?
I’ve found that this soup is quite thick the way it is thanks to all of the added vegetables. If you’re looking to really pump up the thickness, however, I recommend trying one of the following,
- Add more cheese (because who doesn’t love an excuse to add more cheese?)
- Make a roux by mixing together equal parts flour and fat. This will form a thick paste. To add this to your soup, simply whisk in some broth until thinner paste forms. Be sure to whisk until no lumps remain.
Can Broccoli Cheese Soup Be Made in the Slow Cooker?
Absolutely. One important difference, however, is that you’ll want to wait until the very end to add the milk and cheese.
For full instructions on how to make broccoli cheddar soup in the crock pot or Instant Pot, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the page. You’ll find the instructions in the “notes” section.
Storage and Leftovers
Broccoli cheese soup stores really well in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. First allow your soup to cool at room temperature before transferring the entire covered pot to the refrigerator for easy reheating later on, or to smaller single-serving storage containers.
Can Broccoli Cheese Soup be Frozen?
In most cases, I advise against freezing any kind of soup containing dairy (in this case milk and cheese). Freezing causes soups that contain milk or cream to separate and results in a grainy, unappealing texture upon reheating. Instead, hold off on adding any kind of milk, dairy, or cheese until you plan to reheat your soup.
Tips and Tricks
- I haven’t been to Panera Bread in over a half-decade and can hardly remember what Panera’s broccoli cheese soup tastes like, so it would be unfair for me to compare this recipe to theirs or qualify it as a “copycat”. That said, I suspect that this one may be on the healthier side as it includes no cream or half-and-half. Check out my broccoli cheddar soup recipe if you prefer a richer, creamier soup.
- For best results, shred your own cheese. Pre-shredded bagged cheese melts strangely and actually costs more.
- If you’re short on time, par-cook the carrots, celery, and broccoli in the microwave before adding them to your stockpot to finish softening.
- If you want to get really fancy, serve your soup in a bread bowl and garnish with a dash of cayenne (for heat) or paprika (for color).
Shop This Recipe
- Dutch oven or a stainless steel Dutch oven – If you’re ever wondering what my favorite/most-used pots are, it’s these two. I love my Lodge Dutch oven (7.5 quarts!) and couldn’t live without my Calphalon stainless steel multi-purpose, use-for-everything Dutch oven.
- Immersion (hand) blender – This is what I used for this soup. Immersion blenders work great because you don’t have to worry about removing the soup from the pot.
- High-speed blender – What I used for years to puree and blend my soups. Works amazingly well, but take extra care when transferring hot soup and always work in batches.
- Garlic Mincer – I have owned this one for years and saves me so much time!
More Soup Recipes,
- Easy Egg Drop Soup Recipe
- Homemade Chicken Soup Recipe
- The Best Potato Soup Recipe
- How to Make the BEST Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
- Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
If you try making this Broccoli Cheddar Soup Recipe, please leave me a comment and let me know! I always love to hear your thoughts.
RECIPE CARD
Broccoli Cheese Soup
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoon butter
- 2 large yellow onions - chopped
- 5 large carrot - diced
- 3 ribs celery - diced
- 5 cloves garlic - minced
- 8 heads broccoli - (10-12 cups broccoli florets)
- 4 cups vegetable broth - (or chicken broth, chicken stock, or bone broth)
- 2 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- 1.5 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2 cups whole milk - plus more as needed
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese - plus more to garnish
Instructions
- Cook the vegetables (mirepoix). Chop and prepare your vegetables. Add the olive oil and butter to a large pot or Dutch oven set over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, for 4-5 minutes or until the onions turn translucent. Add the carrots and celery to the onions and mix well to combine. Continue to cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring often. In the last two minutes stir in the minced garlic and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix well to combine.
- Add the Broccoli. Add the broccoli florets to the cooked vegetables. Mix well to combine and cook until broccoli is softened (if necessary, add 2-3 tablespoons of water to the pot to prevent the vegetables from burning).
- (Optional) if you prefer a chunkier soup, remove approximately 2-3 cups of cooked and softened vegetables, dice them into small pieces (optional), and set them aside.
- Simmer. Add the broth (chicken, vegetable, or bone broth) and season with salt, pepper, and thyme. Mix well and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
- Make the flour mixture. As the soup simmers whisk together the all-purpose flour with 2 cups of milk. Shred the cheese.
- Temper the flour mixture. To prevent the milk from curdling, slowly whisk boiling broth from your soup pot (1 tablespoon at a time) with your flour mixture. Once warm, slowly whisk into your soup and remove from heat.
- Blend. Use an immersion (hand) blender, standing blender, or food processor to blend the soup. For a smooth soup, you may blend the whole thing, or, for extra chunky soup, simply blend half the pot.
- Add the cheese and serve. Stir in the cheese, and chopped vegetables (optional), and season with additional salt and pepper, to taste. Serve garnished with additional shredded cheese and cooked broccoli florets, if desired.
Jessica’s Notes
- For best results, don’t use pre-shredded cheese. It will not melt as seamlessly into your soup when compared to shredding your own cheese.
- Soup will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5-7 days. Reheat in the microwave or stovetop.
- While I have not tried it personally, some readers have reported good results in replacing the all-purpose flour with arrowroot flour to make this recipe gluten-free.
Slow Cooker Instructions
- Omit the butter and olive oil.
- Add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, broccoli, vegetable broth, salt, pepper, and thyme to the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or HIGH for 3-4 hours.
- Approximately 30 minutes before serving whisk together the all-purpose flour with 2 cups of milk. To prevent the milk from curdling, slowly whisk boiling broth from your soup (1 tablespoon at a time) with your flour mixture. Once warm, slowly whisk into your soup.
- Add the cheese and mix well to combine. Cover and continue to cook until the cheese is melted.
- Blend using your desired method and to your desired texture. Season with additional salt and pepper, to taste, and serve!
Instant Pot Instructions
- Set your Instant Pot to sauté mode. Add olive oil, butter, and onions, and cook until onions are soft and translucent (approximately 4-5 minutes). Stir in the carrots and celery (and a little water if needed to prevent burning) and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring often. Mix in the garlic.
- Push the vegetables aside and add an additional 1-2 tablespoons of butter to your Instant Pot, melt, and whisking continuously, add the all-purpose flour to the butter (creating a roux).
- Still whisking, slowly add the vegetable broth until fully combined with the roux and no clumps remain.
- Add the broccoli florets, salt, pepper, and thyme. Remove from sauté mode.
- Secure the lid and move the valve to the sealing position. Set to MANUAL MODE and cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 9 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally.
- Remove the lid then stir in the milk and cheese.
- Blend using your desired method and to your desired texture. Season with additional salt and pepper, to taste, and serve!
Nutritional Information
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and specific brands of ingredients used.)
Does anyone have a slow cooker recipe for pork loin? I sure would like to have it!
Hi Jessica. I love your recipes. They are simple & easy to cook & always delicious. I own a Thermomix machine & wondered if you could do some recipes using that machine. Thanks
This recipe is DELICIOUS! oh. em. gee! I’ve never had the Panera soup, but it definitely tastes like restaurant soup, even without the heavy cream you typically see added. This will be a staple in my soup recipes for sure.
Thanks for the kind feedback Mona 🙂