Broccoli Soup – Thick & Creamy!

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

World’s Easiest Yeast Bread recipe – Artisan, NO KNEAD crusty bread

Quick Cheesy Garlic Bread

Sandwich Bread WITHOUT yeast

Better-Than-Dominos Garlic Bread

Focaccia recipe (it’s incredible)

Soft No Knead Dinner Rolls

World’s best No Yeast Bread – Irish Soda Bread

Savoury Cheese Muffins

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

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats

Prep: 5 minutes mins

Cook: 25 minutes mins

Total: 30 minutes mins

Soup

4.82 from 86 votes

Servings5

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Recipe video above. This Broccoli Soup is a cream of broccoli soup that's thick and creamy, with a great hit of cheese! It's creamy whether you make it with or without cream, though the cream does add an extra edge of luxury. Don't forget the hot crusty bread for dunking!

Ingredients

CupsMetric

• ▢ 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

Cook ModePrevent screen from sleeping

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:

1. Broccoli – Cut/break florets off, then cut the thick skin off the stem and dice into small pieces, then throw them into the pot too.

2 large broccoli heads yields about 700g/1.4lb of broccoli (including stems). Can also use frozen broccoli.

2. Pureeing soup – if using a blender, blend in 2 batches and allow soup to cool slightly before blitzing (hot soup in fully sealed blender = soup exploding everywhere!). Place lid on blender but REMOVE the feeding hole lid. Fold a tea towel and cover the hole, then use your hand to hold the tea towel in place. Start on low then increase speed.

(PS If you like healthy creamy soups, invest in a blender stick. Trust me, it’s worth every penny)

3. Storage – keeps perfectly in the fridge for 4 to 5 days, and freezes 100% perfectly for months (my standard rule is 3 months).

4. Nutrition per serving. Reduces to 280 calories if made with full fat milk instead of cream.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 544gCalories: 366cal (18%)Carbohydrates: 24g (8%)Protein: 15g (30%)Fat: 25g (38%)Saturated Fat: 16g (100%)Cholesterol: 84mg (28%)Sodium: 630mg (27%)Potassium: 882mg (25%)Fiber: 6g (25%)Sugar: 4g (4%)Vitamin A: 1740IU (35%)Vitamin C: 137mg (166%)Calcium: 339mg (34%)Iron: 4mg (22%)

Keywords: broccoli cheddar soup, broccoli soup, cream of broccoli soup

Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.

Originally published 6 January 2016, updated 21 October 2019 with new photos, step photos, new video and most importantly, Life of Dozer section added!

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