Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe

This broccoli cheese soup checks all the boxes for a guaranteed delectable dinner: it's creamy, cheesy, and soothing.

You may either make yours chunky and enjoy properly sized broccoli florets with each bite, or you can make it smooth and mix it.

How to make broccoli cheese soup

First, melt the butter in a big pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.

Add the flour and continue whisking for a minute or so to create the roux, which helps thicken the broccoli cheese soup. After that, whisk continuously while gradually adding the vegetable broth.

Add the heavy cream, defrosted broccoli florets, onion and garlic powders, salt, and black pepper to the pot.

Then turn down the heat after bringing it to a soft simmer. Cook for ten to fifteen minutes, stirring now and then but avoid boiling it.

Add the shredded cheddar cheese right away after taking the pan off the heat.

Tips for making broccoli cheese soup

Before adding the frozen broccoli florets to the soup, thaw and chop them.

Consider adding fresh vegetables such as carrots and sliced onions among others.

Finely shred your own cheese as this enables the cheese to blend with the soup to be much more smooth.

Add additional shredded cheese and freshly cracked black pepper for garnish.

You can use half and half in place of the heavy cream, though not advisable as at higher temperatures, whole milk or any other low-fat milk is more likely to separate.

Variations

All-purpose gluten-free flour can be used in place of ordinary flour. Another option is to completely omit the flour and thicken the dish with a slurry of cornstarch and water.

In place of the onion powder, add a small, finely diced yellow onion and sauté in a teaspoon of vegetable oil until tender. Add the butter and continue with the recipe as directed from there.

Replace the garlic powder with two or more garlic cloves, sauté them in butter for approximately a minute, and then stir in the all-purpose flour.

In place of vegetable broth, you can use chicken broth or chicken stock. The dish will no longer be vegetarian if you use chicken broth.

Instead of frozen broccoli, you might use fresh broccoli but make sure you cut the broccoli into small florets so that it has enough time to soften.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter

¼ cup all-purpose flour

350 g frozen broccoli florets, thawed

3 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Salt and black pepper to taste

2 cups finely shredded cheddar cheese

Procedure

Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven set over medium-high heat. Add the flour, whisking continuously for a minute.

Slowly stir the vegetable broth into the mixture of butter and flour then add the heavy whipping cream, thawed broccoli florets, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper.

Bring the soup to a gentle simmer before reducing the heat to low.

Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and stir in the shredded cheese.

Conclusion

Broccoli cheese soup can be thick, smooth, and blended or it might have broccoli and other vegetables cut into bite-sized pieces. Using an immersion blender or your preferred high-speed blender, blending is simple and can be done in batches. Remember to puree the soup before adding the cheese.

This creamy soup is perfect with a side of warm buttery crusty bread.