broccoli cheddar soup.
the broccoli cheddar soup for the people who don’t like broccoli cheddar soup: light on the cheese, heavy on the broccoli, and full of delicious texture.
Makes: 2-4 servings Prep time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes
I have to admit it, I never liked broccoli cheddar soup. It was not appealing to me at all — too cheesy, like a broccoli fondue. Not my thing, and not my kind of soup!
However, that changed when I tried the soup at the local bakery café. Theirs wasn’t so thick, not at all: in fact, I’d describe it as brothy, and the cheddar was far from being the main ingredient.
“This is fire,” I told Chef. He looked unimpressed.
“All I added was salt and pepper.” His explanation was all I needed to feel inspired to create my own, though I was sure the soup was a little more complex than a pinch of salt.
It really isn’t complex, though
This really only takes about 15 minutes to cook. The batch is fairly small, but can serve 4 people with some good hearty sandwiches or sides paired with it. The prep is chopping a few vegetables, one of which is a simple grate or julienne of a carrot. Don’t bother julienning a carrot if you don’t have the tool for it — just grate it so it’s super thin and wispy.
The star of the show
You can use frozen or fresh broccoli. I prefer fresh, but I totally understand using frozen, it’s easier to store and takes up less space that way. The recipe doesn’t really change for using frozen, since it is cooked the same way as fresh broccoli and for around the same amount of time.
And the cheese
Regularly the star of the show, I know. It gets a small demotion here. But honestly, you can do it up with a whole brick of cheese if that what you want. I wrote this recipe for just a cup, which is about half of a standard “block” of cheese. More on all these ingredients below.
broccoli cheddar soup ingredients
butter: We start the recipe with a roux mixed into the vegetables. A popular way to make a roux with veggies involved is to soften the vegetables in the butter, then add the flour which dissolves into the veg, making a roux with the butter still hanging out in the pot. That is, a paste that thickens the soup. You really need butter for this, but you can substitute any cooking fat in a pinch — yup, including olive oil.
celery: I know it doesn’t seem like it, but celery has a great flavor, especially when cooked into carrots and onions. Use it, promise it’ll make a good difference. And it’ll get mostly blended down later on.
onion and garlic: The aromatics. Use a yellow or sweet onion, the kind with the light brown skin. You could also swap for shallots for something a little sharper. And garlic — you know the drill. Use as much as your heart desires.
flour: So, if you don’t use flour here, it won’t thicken quite like a broccoli cheddar soup should, even with this recipe being a “brothy” version. I recommend using it, or swapping for gluten free flour if needed. I’ve never had a problem using GF for soups.
stock or broth: You can use vegetable broth to keep it vegetarian or swap for chicken broth to amp up the flavor. Either option is totally fine, and in a pinch, you can use water. If you use stock or water instead of broth, make sure to taste as you go and salt accordingly, maybe more than you’d expect. Especially with water, you’ll be missing a lot of flavoring properties.
broccoli: Frozen or fresh both work perfectly here, no need to opt for one or the other. Both boil up in about the same amount of time. If you’re cutting florets fresh, make sure to cut off any thick stems, cutting all the way up to the funky leafy part for many pieces. You can leave some bigger and cut others super small — usually when I’m chopping broccoli I just let it fall apart naturally and see what I get.
carrots: Okay, this is where I confuse you. I want the carrots to stay unblended, so I add them after blending, sliced or grated super thin so they cook through quickly. I recommend this, but feel free to sauté and blend the carrots into the soup instead. Don’t sit there julienning the carrots, either — use a cheese grater and grate into small whispy pieces. Or buy a nifty little julienne tool.
cheddar: Hard to swap this one out, but I can tell you which cheddar to pick and why. Mild cheddar, in my opinion, is creamier and tastier in a soup like this, so go for mild cheddar at the store. And buy the full block of cheese to grate yourself. Promise, the extra few minutes grating your own cheese will make all the difference. Pre-shredded cheese has a coating on it that makes it… less melty. It’s how it stays un-clumpy in the bag, but therefore, also won’t melt into the soup quite right. You can use it in a pinch, but you’ll like the fresh stuff better.
broccoli cheddar soup pairing options
This soup makes 4 small portions or 2 large portions. As with many soups, it goes a lot farther when paired with salads or sandwiches.
Bacon, lettuce, tomato sandwiches
Garlic bread
Kale and butternut squash salad
Sauvignon blanc
