This broccoli cheese soup is seriously creamy, flavorful and delicious! Simply roast your vegetables and toss them in the blender with milk and cheddar cheese, and blend until creamy. Enjoy!
Calling All Cheddar
Is there anything better than a big bowl of creamy broccoli cheese soup? Absolutely not! Cheddar cheese creaminess + chunks of broccoli for texture and crunch, it’s just so good. You can’t go wrong!
Why cheddar cheese? We use cheddar cheese in this broccoli cheese soup because it melts easily and gives the soup a thick and creamy texture! Also, the flavor of cheddar cheese is absolutely made to go with broccoli.
Oh so creamy: Another way we added creaminess to this broccoli cheese soup is by adding potatoes! The starchy potatoes add a delicious creamy texture that only potatoes know how to do.
Ingredients You Need
There are exactly 10 ingredients in the broccoli cheddar soup. Here is everything you’ll need:
- Broccoli
- White onion
- Garlic
- Red potatoes
- Olive oil
- Garlic salt
- Black pepper
- Cheddar cheese
- Chicken broth
- 2% milk
How to Make Broccoli Cheddar Soup
There are so many ways to make broccoli cheese soup. However, there are a few steps every broccoli soup recipes requires. Get ready to:
- cook the vegetables
- cream the soup
- add cheese
- and blend!
This broccoli cheese soup recipe makes all of those steps super easy.
You will need a baking sheet, stock pot, and blender for this recipe and that’s it! Let’s break down each step.
Step 1: Roast Veggies
Rather than steaming or sautéing your vegetables, roast them! We use broccoli, potatoes (to cream the soup!), onions, and garlic as the vegetables in this soup. Roasting the vegetables before pureeing them adds an extra depth of flavor.
To roast the veggies: throw the broccoli, onion, garlic, and potatoes on a roasting pan. Drizzle them with olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast for 30-40 minutes at 400ºF (or until the potatoes are fork tender!).
Step 2: Heat Milk + Broth
When the vegetables have about 5 minutes left of roast time, it’s time to heat the milk and the broth over the stove. Why do you need to heat the milk and broth? You do this so that the cheese melts when it’s placed in the blender. The hot liquid helps aid in the process of creaming the soup.
To heat the liquid you bring the broth to a boil and then immediately remove it from the heat and slowly whisk in the milk. You do this so that the milk doesn’t burn!
don’t have shredded cheese?
Don’t have shredded cheese, but have a block of cheese? Check out our post on how to grate cheese WITHOUT a cheese grater!
Step 3: Blend Until Smooth
The final step is combining all of the hot ingredients together in a blender! But first, make sure you set aside 2 cups of the roasted vegetables before adding the vegetables to the blender. You will add those vegetables to the soup after you blend everything together.
To blend everything together, add the vegetables, hot liquid, and cheddar cheese to the blender and blend until smooth. Add in the chunks of roasted vegetables, stir, and enjoy!
Broccoli and Cheese Soup FAQs
Can I use a different cheese in this broccoli cheese soup?
You sure can! We use cheddar cheese because the flavor pairs so nicely with broccoli and it melts so well! If you are short on cheddar cheese use any of the following cheeses (or a mixture) in place of cheddar cheese. Just be sure you shred it first!
- Gruyere
- Fontina
- White cheddar
- Parmesan
Why is my broccoli cheese soup curdling?
Sometimes broccoli cheese soup will curdle because the soup has gotten too hot too quickly. The proteins have tightened in the cheese because of the sudden change in heat.
To avoid this, we removed the broth from the heat and slowly whisked in the milk so that the liquid isn’t scorching hot, but still warm enough to melt the cheese.
How long will broccoli cheese soup last in the refrigerator?
This soup will last about 5 days in the refrigerator if stored in an airtight container.
To reheat the broccoli cheese soup, place the soup into a stock pot over low/medium heat. Slowly add in an extra 1/2 cup to 1 cup of milk and stir until the soup is thinned and creamy.
Can broccoli cheese soup be frozen?
Yes, this broccoli cheese soup can be frozen! After blending the soup, let it cool completely before placing it in a freezer safe container and place it in the freezer for up to three months.
Broccoli Cheese Soup
Ingredients
- 8 cups chopped broccoli
- 1 medium white onion chopped
- 1 head of garlic cut in half
- 1 large red potato chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 5 cups shredded yellow cheddar cheese
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup 2% milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF and spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray or drizzle with olive oil.
- Next, add the broccoli, onion, garlic, and potato to the baking sheet.
- Drizzle the vegetables with salt, pepper, and garlic powder and toss vegetables until they are coated in oil and spice.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes (or until potatoes are soft), tossing the vegetables half way through.
- While the vegetables are roasting, bring the chicken broth to a boil and then remove from heat and slowly whisk in the milk.
- When the vegetables are soft remove them from the oven and remove 2 cups of vegetables from the pan and set them aside for later. These vegetables will be added to the soup right before serving for more of a chunky broccoli soup.
- Next, carefully squeeze the garlic cloves from the head of garlic into the blender (being sure discard the paper from the head of garlic) the paper on the outside of the .
- Add the rest of the vegetables to the blender along with the cheese and hot broth.
- Blend on high until all ingredients are combined and the soup is smooth.
- Finally, add in the last two cups of vegetables to the pureed soup, mix, and enjoy.
This is soup is so delicious! Because I was feeling lazy, I threw everything in a crockpot on low. I added more garlic (because I always do) and my favorite cheese (dutch spicy kaas from Trader Joes). Blended and added more cheese (duh). 100 percent recommend:)
*forgive my typing error* I was too busy shoving this soup in my face.
LOL
The soup was delicious! Plus,
I learned more about cooking through making the soup. I love cheese and can’t wait to try more of the cheese knees recipies!
YAY! So glad you loved this!
Made this over my lunch hour. It was easy and it is FULL of flavor. I always get nervous making soups because I just suck at making them. I feel like they end up flavorless. NOT WITH THIS ONE! Ugh this soup is DELICIOUS!
YAHOO!!
Loved this soup, I omitted the garlic powder since it used a whole head of garlic. I also used about 5 smallish red potatoes which made the soup really thick.
Yay! And love the idea of upping the potatoes — I bet that was delish 😀
I didn’t have a big enough blender so I used an immersion blender. It worked well! Thank you for a fun and easy recipe 🤩
Ohhh GREAT idea to use an immersion blender, Mel!