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White shallow bowl filled with broccoli cheddar soup topped with blanched broccoli florets.
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4.91 from 20 votes

Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe

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.
Find Slow Cooker and Instant Pot instructions in the Notes below.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Course: Soup
Cuisine: American
Diet: Vegetarian
Keyword: Broccoli Cheese Soup, Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe
Servings: 6 servings
Author: Jessica Randhawa
Cost: $10

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
US Customary - Metric

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.

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

  1. Omit the butter and olive oil.
  2. Add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, broccoli, vegetable broth, salt, pepper, and thyme to the slow cooker.
  3. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or HIGH for 3-4 hours.
  4. 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.
  5. Add the cheese and mix well to combine. Cover and continue to cook until the cheese is melted.
  6. Blend using your desired method and to your desired texture. Season with additional salt and pepper, to taste, and serve!

Instant Pot Instructions

  1. 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.
  2. 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). 
  3. Still whisking, slowly add the vegetable broth until fully combined with the roux and no clumps remain.
  4. Add the broccoli florets, salt, pepper, and thyme. Remove from sauté mode.
  5. 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.
  6. Remove the lid then stir in the milk and cheese.
  7. Blend using your desired method and to your desired texture. Season with additional salt and pepper, to taste, and serve!

Nutrition

Calories: 551kcal | Carbohydrates: 69g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 53mg | Sodium: 1980mg | Potassium: 2861mg | Fiber: 23g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 7191IU | Vitamin C: 729mg | Calcium: 771mg | Iron: 7mg
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