My easy Broccoli Soup is a simple Cream of Broccoli Soup that’s thick and creamy with an extra hit of flavour from cheddar cheese! Essentially just throw it all in a pot, and you’re just 20 minutes away from a creamy, cheesy bowl of comfort under 300 calories.
Don’t forget warm crusty bread for dunking!
Broccoli Soup
I’m long overdue for a “green” recipe!! And there’s plenty of green in this recipe, with two giant heads of broccoli in it…..though there’s a decent wack of CHEESE to! 😉
But seriously, I joke about this being cheesy and there definitely IS cheese flavour in this. But because of the way I make this, it’s creamy and cheesy but it’s still rather healthy, clocking in at 280 calories if you make this without cream, and just 360 calories with.
A little different to the usual…
You’ll find many creamy broccoli soups are made with a roux, being melted butter mixed with flour which thickens the soup, then broccoli pieces are tossed in and cooked in that thickened soup.
I prefer making broccoli soup by cooking the broccoli until soft then blitzing it up to make a naturally thick and creamy soup. This way you actually get lovely broccoli flavour in the soup, rather than a generic creamy broth with bits of broccoli in it. Bonus is that it’s healthier!
What you need for creamy Broccoli Soup
Here’s all you need:
broccoli – fresh or frozen (lots – 700g/1.4lb!)
butter, garlic and onion – flavour base
chicken or vegetable broth/stock + water – for simmering / soup broth
cheese & cream for finishing
Cream is optional! Does it make it tastier? Of course it does! Anyone who tells you otherwise is outright lying. It adds a layer of richness that you don’t get if you skip it or use milk instead.
But I make it without cream most of the time because cream isn’t part of my standard weekly shop. Still delicious, still creamy, still cheesy – just better for your waistline!
How to make it
And here’s how to make it. A quick saute of garlic and onion to create the flavour base, then tip everything else in a simmer away: chicken or vegetable stock/broth, water, broccoli and potato.
When the broccoli is very tender (a good 15 minutes or so) blitz away until it all purees into a thick, creamy soup. Then stir in the cream and cheese (the heat melts it super quickly) and serve.
The hit of cheddar cheese in this broccoli soup adds flavour and an element of tasty naughtiness into an otherwise very healthy soup. 😈
I stir most in the soup but I like to reserve bit to sprinkle on top. Because by the time the soup gets to the table, that extra cheese starts to ooze so when you dunk the bread into it, it looks like this…..
There really is something about dunking crusty bread into thick and creamy soups, isn’t there??? Luckily, I have a decent selection of soup dunkers around these parts!!
Soup Dunkers
So – if I haven’t convinced you already, one more reason to make this Broccoli Soup is that it freezes 100% perfectly and lasts for days and days in the fridge. It’s creamy and comforting, filling and yet HEALTHY and full of nutrition.
Win, win, win! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Easy Broccoli Cheese Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp (15g) butter (or olive oil)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 onion , diced (brown, white yellow)
- 4 cups (1 litre) chicken broth / stock , low sodium (or veg stock)
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 700g / 1.4lb broccoli florets (2 large broccoli + diced peeled stem, Note 1)
- 2 potatoes , peeled and diced into 1.5cm / 2/3" cubes
- 3/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese , shredded (or other cheese of choice)
- 3/4 cup cream or milk
To Serve (optional)
- Cream, for drizzling
- Extra grated cheese
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large pot over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic, saute for 2 minutes until onion is softened.
- Add broth/ water, broccoli, potato, salt and pepper. Bring to simmer, then place the lid on, turn the heat down to medium high and cook for 20 minutes or until the broccoli is soft.
- Turn stove off (but leave on stove). Puree using a stick blender until smooth (Note 2).
- Stir in cream, then add cheese a handful at a time, stirring in between to melt.
- Taste and add more salt if desired.
- Ladle into bowls. Drizzle with cream and top with extra grated cheese, if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published 6 January 2016, updated 21 October 2019 with new photos, step photos, new video and most importantly, Life of Dozer section added!
More creamy soups without cream
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Life of Dozer
Such focus and determination……for a cherry tomato of all things!! 😂
Another great recipe from Nagi! Super simple and easy to make, and tastes absolutely delicious
WOOT! Thanks Jessamine – N x
Made this for a family diner and it came out amazing!!! My kid who is not a veggie lover took 2 servings! and my very-hard-to-please father-in-law actually gave me a compliment for this soup!! Thanks so much for this Nagi 🙂
WOOT! You nailed it Lilly ❤️
On a rainy and dreary day in Toronto I just made this for my lunch. Even without the milk or cream it was delicious and very satisfying. Another winner 🙂
A delicious soup. I added a small piece of leftover brie and cheddar… now keep a bag of any left over bits of cheese in my freezer… perfect for adding to this soup 😋 Thx Nagi
That’s great Ydnas!!
Been a weekend of making nothing but Nagi’s recipes. Yesterday was the brisket , today with this soup. This was Incredibly easy and so danged good. Although I’m sure the cream would have made it more decadent , I used the 1 percent milk I had in fridge and it was still weak in the knees good!
Delicious soup, mine isn’t as thick as yours looks though.
I’ll leave out the water next time.
I love all of your recipes, thank you so much.
Hi Jan, you can always add slightly more potatoes to make it more thick if you prefer 🙂
I made this soup but with sweet potatoes… Not the best combo. I’m giving a five star because I’m SURE if I used regular potatoes it would have been awesome! I would love a soup with sweet potatoes ( I prefer the nutrients of a sweet potato better). Do you have any?
I thank you for inspiring me!
CC
Made this for supper tonight & loved it! Was a little short on that much broccoli so added some celery to make up the difference. Very tasty soup that is adaptable to other veg. Every recipe I’ve tried from your site has been wonderful!
As you know, I love your recipes. Use at least 2-3 every week. I also LOVE your videos. They are so beautifully recorded and the music is alway wonderful. Kudos to you and Dozer.
Hi!!! There, i just wanted say THANK YOU so much. I’ve been using many many many of your recipes and my kids LOVE and say they are all so delicious. They love the chicken baked one so much I’m actually making that for them today and came across this recipe and want to include it for their dinner as an appetizer! I’m wondering about the cream though, is that Sour Cream or a different one??
We have really cool evenings now and the soup is very very welcome..was reading this recipe just before turning off the TV not sure if you keep abreast of our politics we just finished a federal election “cliff hanger ” the Liberals the party I support came in for a second term as a strong minority. .just thought I would keep you updated ☺ give Dozer a woof woof from Luca
I’ve been following you for some years now and I must say, your recipes just get better and better, Nagi. Thank you.
P.S. My Beloved now follows you and cooks your recipes himself.
Oh yes – recipe in the kitchen already ! There is always broccoli in my crisper -: am simply not the biggest soup eater ! But since it keeps so well – what a tasty bonus for lunches ! Yes for using the stick and no for the cream and yes for freezing also 🙂 !
Haven’t made this yet Nagi, but just wanted to touch base and let you know I’m loving all the recipes, we’ve had several meals using them and I find your recipes and directions so easy to follow and most of all delicious. Keep up the great work…Judith
Perfect. I got broccoli cheap at the markets on the weekend (world’s best bananas too). Now I know what to do with it. Ahhh Dozer you make every day perfect 🙂
Love broccoli soup, no cream for me too. Add couple of ripe pears, yum. Dozer is full of energy.
Here I thought Dozer was aiming to nab a tasty red candy bomb and it turns out to be a cherry tomato!! Probably best.
As to soup…I am going to try your method on a whack of celery I have on hand adding some spare fennel and zucchini as well. Liked one reader’s comment about spinach to boost the colour.
This looks wonderful and I think I’m going to make it for my birthday dinner this week. 🙂 I have a technique question for you. I’ve noticed on many (all?) of your recipes, you saute the garlic and onion together, usually on medium high heat. If I do this, my garlic will burn before the onion softens. So I always soften my onions before adding the garlic. Do you not have this problem? Maybe there’s a difference between med. hi. in Australia and med. hi. in North America? Just curious what your thoughts are on this.
Do you have to emulsify all the broccoli or would it work ok to leave it whole? If you could leave it whole, would you have to modify the cooking time?
Hi Nagi, does the broccoli soup freeze well?
If I’m trying to stay off carbs as I’m doing Keto, can I just skip the potatoes?
You could try subbing the potato with cauliflower. It will change the flavour a bit but will cut out carbs and still add the creaminess which would have been the purpose of the potatoes.