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Nothing beats a good soup recipe that takes 30 minutes to prepare, and this broccoli cheese soup fits the bill! It’s quick and easy to prepare, and the ingredients are simple, perfect for the busy cook.
Homemade Broccoli Cheese Soup From Scratch
This broccoli cheese soup is a homemade versions with no Velveeta. While I do love a good Velveeta recipe, this is just as easy and more decadent when you make a homemade roux cheese sauce for it. While I personally can’t eat broccoli (allergies), my husband and kids are huge fans and this Broccoli Cheese Soup recipe is absolutely delicious!
Ingredient Tips
The Broccoli: you can use frozen or fresh broccoli, the fresh will take longer to cook. Frozen will come in the bag already cut up small, which does save you time! You can use the stalks if you like, simply peel them and then cube them into little squares. I used to love the stalks the best, in the good ol’ days when I could eat broccoli. Just make sure that they are small so they cook alongside the florets.
The Cheese: the stronger the cheddar flavor, the better the soup will taste! Use a good old, aged cheddar and grate it. You can use the bagged, pre-shredded cheese but be warned that is a completely different texture and taste and doesn’t melted as nicely sometimes. Use a quality cheese!
The Broth: chicken is usually the broth that is used, but use a vegetable broth to make this soup vegetarian. You can also use more broth at the end if your soup is too thick and creamy. (yes,this happens, it’s all up to your personal preference, we like a stick-to-your-spoon soup). Use low sodium to cut down on the salt!
The Cream: Use fat- free half and half to cut calories, but still have that creamy texture!
Making a Roux
If you aren’t using a creamy cheese like Velveeta which will thicken the soup, you have to make a roux. The roux is a butter, flour and milk mixture that you thicken, then add cheese to for the flavour. There are a few things to keep in mind while making a roux:
- Just keep stirring, just keep stirring.. (be the Dory of soup.). It is important to stir constantly throughout all the stages of the roux. If you don’t stir the butter and flour, it can burn to the bottom of the pot.
- When adding the milk to the flour mixture, do it very slowly! At first, the mixture will be gummy and smooth. Then slowly it will become thinner and thinner. You must stir and add milk, fully incorporate it, then add some more. Always mix in the first amount completely before adding the next!
- Patience is key. This is the only part of the recipe that has any level of difficulty to it, and even then, it’s easy when you take your time!
The Singer Method of Making a Roux
I have been using this method all of my cooking life and have only JUST now found out it’s a French technique! The word “singer” is a French term that refers to the method of thickening a soup or making a roux that consists of sprinkling of flour over ingredients that have already been cooked in fat/butter. In this recipe you cook the onions and the garlic in a large amount of butter and THEN you add in the flour. When you combined the flour with the hot fat in the vegetable mixture, the two form your roux base as fat + flour = roux. You then treat it like a normal roux and cook it for a few minutes, then add the liquid as you normally would to make the soup or sauce.
Well, well, my lazy technique that I have always used to avoid using multiple pots for frying up the veggies first (that I would then have to wash!) is actually a tried and true French cooking technique! I learn something new every day!
More Cream Soups
- Creamy Cauliflower Leek Soup
- Cream of Celery Soup
- Cheesy Cream of Cauliflower Soup
- Creamy Potato Hamburger Soup
Cream soups don’t freeze that well, so this is smaller recipe that you should be able to eat in a few days. Just keep it in the fridge.
What’s better on a cold day (or a rainy one in the summer) than a nice hot bowl of soup? Not a whole lot I tell you. Enjoy and remember to share any pics of the soup you make on Instagram and tag me! I’d love to see how it turns out!
Happy cooking!
Love,
Karlynn
Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 25 minutes
- Course
- Soup
- Cuisine
- American
- Servings
- 8 servings
- Calories
- 514
- Author
- Karlynn Johnston
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 cup of diced white onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1 cup vegetable or chicken broth
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- 4 cups broccoli florets cut into small pieces
- 1 large carrot washed, peeled and grated
- 3 cups sharp cheddar cheese extra to top
- pinch of nutmeg if desired
Instructions
- Gather all of your ingredients and have them ready to go. (vegetables chopped, cheese grated, etc.)
- Melt the butter in a large, heavy bottomed soup pot over medium high heat. Add in the chopped onions.
- Fry the onions until they are soft and translucent. Make sure that they are as soft as you want them, as onions can stop cooking when you add another ingredients to them.
- Add in the garlic to the pot and cook for 1 minute or until it is are browned and fragrant , stirring the entire time so that it doesn't burn or stick to the pan.
- Next, you use the Singer method to make a roux. Sprinkle the flour over the fried vegetables. whisking and mixing into the butter, ensuring that there are no lumps ( excepting the onions and garlic, of course). Stir and cook for 3-4 minutes, allowing the flour to cook properly and thicken up with the butter.
- Once the flour is cooked, very slowly pour in the chicken stock, little by little, whisking continuously, making sure that there are no lumps. Stir until the flour has dissolved into the the broth and the broth is a smooth mixture now.
- Once the chicken stock has been added and the mixture is smooth, add in the milk and heavy cream, stirring continuously.
- Add and stir in the mustard powder, the cayenne and the nutmeg if desired.
- Turn down the heat to medium-low.
- Add in the broccoli and carrots and simmer on lower heat until the broccoli florets are soft.
- Stir in the shredded cheese and mix until the cheese has melted throughout the broth and is creamy and smooth.
- If desired, you can thicken this soup even more by pureeing 1/3 of the soup, then returning it to the pot. I also use an immersion blender and simply blend it in the pot for 5-10 seconds, making sure not to blend the entire soup, leaving some broccoli chunks.
- Serve in bowls topped with shredded cheese, salt and pepper.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days. Cream soups do not freeze well.
Recipe Notes
- Do not boil the soup, just heat gradually and let simmer on low. Simmering will be steamy, not rolling with bubbles!
- If you are using a weak flavored chicken or vegetable broth, you can add powdered bouillon to make it stronger and enhance the soup, this is where a lot of the flavor comes from so don’t skimp.
- If the soup is too thick, thin it out with additional broth. Wait until the very end however to do this, or you might thin it too much!
Nutrition Information
All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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Nancy says
I made it his earlier this week and shared with a couple of friends. We all enjoyed very much. My only tweek is that I used a little less flour as not to be too thick. I did use the singer method and added a little chopped celery.
Lori Spaidal says
I made this yesterday and it tasted awesome! Yum!
Lori Spaidal says
Can I do this in the crockpot after the prep work?
Tim says
Made this last night. Delicious!
Karlynn says
Glad you enjoyed it!