Published November 16, 2022.This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This easy-to-make Broccoli Cheddar Soup Recipe is jam-packed with flavor and is the perfect soup to serve to family and friends during the fall and winter months. You will be blown away at how tasty and simple to prepare this is.
We are a soup family and make and eat it at least 2 times a week during the winter. If you or your family are similar, you must try my Avgolemono or Lentil Soup.
Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Broccoli Cheddar soup is a simple broth-based soup with simmered vegetables, and most importantly, broccoli is pureed, creamed, and finished with cheese. This features few ingredients and can be made relatively quickly, making it a great soup. It’s hearty enough to be served as a main entree and elegant enough to serve as a course to a meal.
This soup is great if you’re trying to get rid of an abundance of broccoli, and not-too-mention, an amazing way to get kids to eat vegetables, like my daughter. She even claims this Broccoli cheddar soup recipe is better than Panera Bread. I will take it.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Fat – I use unsalted butter. However, you can use your favorite oil or even pork lard.
- Onion – A combination of onions, leeks, and garlic is used. You can use yellow, white, or sweet onions.
- Broccoli – Fresh broccoli is best to use. However, you can use frozen.
- Flour – All-purpose flour is needed to make a roux.
- Stock – You can use chicken stock or vegetable stock in this broccoli cheddar soup.
- Cream – Heavy whipping cream is used in my recipe. You can use whole milk or half and half.
- Cheese – Shredded sharp orange cheddar is what you will need.
- Seasonings – I use sea salt, pepper, Worcestershire, and Tabasco sauce to season the soup.
How to Make Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Add the butter to a large pot over medium heat. Once melted, add in the onions, garlic, and leeks and cook until lightly browned and translucent, which takes about 8 to 10 minutes while frequently stirring.
Next, stir in the flour until combined in to make a roux.
Add in the broccoli and chicken stock, boil, and cook the broccoli until al dente or slightly crunchy.
Using a hand blender, pulse the soup until it becomes slightly chunky or until the desired chunkiness or smoothness is achieved. After that, ensure the soup is thick. If not, you may need to make a separate roux or slurry and whisk it in.
Pour in the heavy cream and stir in to combine.
Mix in the cheddar cheese until combined and melted.
FInally, finish by seasoning with sea salt, pepper, Worcestershire, and Tabasco sauce.
Serve with extra shredded cheese.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead:You can make this soup up to 1 day ahead of time. When you are ready to serve, reheat it on the stovetop in a pot.
How to Store:Cover and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. This will freeze well and be covered for up to 6 months. Thaw the soup in the refrigerator for 1 day until it is thawed before reheating.
How to Reheat:Add the desired amount of broccoli cheddar soup to a pot and heat up over low heat until it is hot. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper and add a ¼ cup of chicken stock if it is too thick and needs to be thinned out.
Chef Notes + Tips
- Try adding aged white or yellow cheddar for a more intense cheese flavor.
- If you do not have a hand immersion blender, add half the soup to a blender and pulse it a few times on high speed to help smooth out some of the soup but still have some chunkiness.
- This soup serves many people, so feel free to cut it in half.
More Soup Recipes
- Zuppa Toscana Recipe
- Chicken Dumpling Soup
- French Onion Soup
- Mulligatawny Soup
- New England Clam Chowder
Video
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Broccoli Cheddar Soup Recipe
5 from 46 votes
This easy-to-make Broccoli Cheddar Soup Recipe is jam-packed with flavor and is the perfect soup to serve to family and friends.
Servings: 12
Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour hour
Total Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes
Ingredients
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 peeled and small diced yellow onion
- 6 finely minced cloves of garlic
- 3 thinly sliced leeks, rinsed
- 1 cup of all-purpose flour
- 6 heads of trimmed fresh broccoli
- 16 cups chicken stock
- 2 cups of heavy whipping cream
- 2 pounds of shredded cheddar cheese
- sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
- Worcestershire and Tabasco sauce to taste
Instructions
Add the butter to a large pot over medium heat. Once melted, add in the onions, garlic, and leeks and cook until lightly browned and translucent, which takes about 8 to 10 minutes while frequently stirring.
Next, stir in the flour until combined in to make a roux.
Add in the broccoli and chicken stock and bring to a boil and cook the broccoli just until al dente, or slightly crunchy.
Using a hand blender pulse the soup until it becomes slightly chunky or until the desired chunkiness or smoothness is achieved.
At this point ensure the soup is thick. If it’s not, you may need to make a separate roux or slurry and whisk it in.
Pour in the heavy cream and stir in in to combine over low heat.
Mix in the cheddar cheese until combined and melted in.
Finish by seasoning with sea salt, pepper, Worcestershire, and Tabasco sauce.
Serve with extra shredded cheese.
Notes
Make-Ahead:You can make this soup up to 1 day ahead of time. When ready to serve, reheat on the stovetop in a pot.
How to Store:Cover and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. This will freeze well and be covered for up to 6 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating.
How to Reheat:Add the desired amount to a pot and heat up over low heat until hot. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper and add a ¼ cup of chicken stock if it is too thick and needs to be thinned out.
For a more intense cheese flavor, try adding in aged white or yellow cheddar.
If you do not have a hand immersion blender, add half the soup to a blender and pulse it a few times on high speed to help smooth out some of the soup but still have some chunkiness.
This soup serves many people so feel free to cut it in half.
Nutrition
Calories: 720kcalCarbohydrates: 47gProtein: 37gFat: 45gSaturated Fat: 25gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0.003gCholesterol: 130mgSodium: 1068mgPotassium: 1463mgFiber: 9gSugar: 13gVitamin A: 3617IUVitamin C: 276mgCalcium: 733mgIron: 4mg
Course: Soup
Cuisine: American, French
Author: Chef Billy Parisi
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76 comments
- Kaye McNamara
This is absolutely amazing soup!!!
- Reply
- Amy
It’s a cold day outside and this soup hit the spot! So easy and delicious, especially with crusty bread we had. Another one out of the ballpark Billy!!
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- Irene Connelly
Fabulous! I had a ton of broccoli and som leeks frozen from my summer garden, so this was the perfect day to try this soup recipe. As I had different cheeses leftover from a charcuterie board, I ended up using a mixture of Gouda, havarti and mostly cheddar. Slight adaptation to a wonderful recipe!!
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- Lorraine Lauer
Made this Broccoli Cheddar soup last week. It is delicious, and so easy to make. Followed suggestions for storage both in fridge and freezer… both ways left the soup just as delicious as it was the day I made it. It now has a permanent place in my Recipes on Repeat folder!
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- Angela Watkins
Delicious just like every recipe I’ve tried on his site!
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- Diana
Absolutely delicious! Served it with a crusty sourdough bread.
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- sue😁😋
Gosh I love soup also thank you ChefBilly sooooo tasty 😋 😁🤩👋
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- Judy Konop
So much better than commercially available options. Though I do like the broccoli a bit well done, do like the process you use.
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- Karen
First time making soup…it was incredible. Thank you Chef for the recipe and the excellent instruction! Happy New Year!
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- Laurie Moore
I made this Broccoli cheddar soup, it was so delicious and very easy to follow along with the recipe. I rate this 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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- Chef Billy Parisi
thank you!
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- Lisa Wilcox
Super easy and delicious. Thank you again Chef. Great recipe !
- Reply
- Chef Billy Parisi
Thank you for trying!
- Reply
- Em
Delicious. And so easy.
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- Chef Billy Parisi
Thank you!
- Reply
- Sylvia Abrego
Made this yesterday! So delicious!!!
- Reply
- Chef Billy Parisi
Thanks!
- Reply
- sue
😁😋yes 🥣
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- Chef Billy Parisi
Glad you enjoyed it!
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- Linda Peo
Love this creamy texture, delicious!
- Reply
excellent!
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- Charlotte Walton
Delicious ! absolutely delicious – flavours are awesome…..it’s my new fave soup
- Reply
amazing!
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- Peggy Levins
Great easy delicious recipe
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many thanks!
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- Melanie
This recipe Broccoli Cheddar soup is hands down the best of the recipes that I have made! Thank you for the recipe.
- Reply
love it!
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- Linda Peo
Amazing! The family loved this one.
- Reply
perfect!!
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- MRS
I would like to sub cauliflower for broccoli to make cauliflower cheese soup. I think it will work.. Any suggestions? Thank you. Love your website.
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Give it a shot!
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- Barbara
This soup is the bomb. I had a recipe previously that I always used to use but I tried this one and, oh my gosh, what a difference. This is my go to now for broccoli cheddar soup. Thank you so much Chef for your great recipes.
See Also5 Satisfying Paleo Recipes- Reply
Excellent!
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- Margaret
Made it, whole family loved it. So I made it again without the cheese and cream and froze in quart jars. Yesterday I thawed a qt. Added cream and cheese. Easy delish meal. Thank you!
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my pleasure!
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- Kathy Ryan
Love, love, this soup!!
My all time favorite!!- Reply
so good!!
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- Brenda
Just awesome for a rainy day💕😋
- Reply
so good!!
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- J. Carral
One of my favorite soups. I’m not a good cook, but this turned out so delicious! Loved it!
- Reply
Excellent!
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- TJ MCCUE
Easy and delicious
A frequent go to for us- Reply
Awesome!
- Reply
- Noah Morfitt
Easy and awesome!
- Reply
thanks for giving it a shot!!
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- Peg
Best soup I’ve ever tasted five stars ⭐️ thank you chef.
- Reply
Wow!!
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- Jan
This is one of my very favorites. Not to mention, I love making soup too.
- Reply
so good!!
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- Jennifer Hutchison
Been following Chef Parisi for many years now. He demonstrates tips & demystifies anything one hankers for–and as we know it’s going to taste better because it’s homemade. Thank you Chef for all you do!
- Reply
Appreciate the support!
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- Pam V
I love broccoli cheddar soup. This recipe is one of the best I’ve ever tried. Very easy to make. Results are delicious.
- Reply
thanks for giving it a shot!!
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- Peggy Levins
I have been following a chef Parisi since the pandemic I love all of his recipes. This is my favorite soup recipe.
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- Valerie
Oh my goodness, my new favourite soup! Simply delicious❤️
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- Vivian Soul
Made this earlier today, it was a great success. Everyone loved it, even had 2nds.
Thank you
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- Sue Peters
Easier to make than I thought it would be. Tastes GREAT!
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- Susan Schindler
Loved this one; so easy to make and super flavor!!
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- Laura
I just made this and it is PHENOMENAL! Even our 12 year old son devoured it 🙌🏻 I cut the recipe in half and left it pretty chunky but did use the immersion blender a tad. I love thick and creamy soups. And though it was creamy I still added a slurry. Perfect recipe once again. Served in homemade bread bowls. Thank you so much for making cooking and baking not seem so intimidating!
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- Lynnea
This turned out soooo good – it’s soup weather! I improvised a bit and added some things from the fridge that needed using (like some baby spinach), lots of broccoli, a bit of jalapeno, lots of fresh garlic. Home-made organic chicken stock. Cooked a cup of dried organic navy beans (they’re good for you!) which added thickness. Extra sharp cheddar and heavy whipping cream. A little rose wine was added for good measure. Our Cuisinart variable-speed immersion blender brought it to perfect creaminess! Thank you for your great recipes!
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- Catrina Watkins
Looking forward to making this
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- Billy Allen
You make recipes look Easy. People in my restaurant want vegetables 🥦 soup .
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- Franki Tollefson
Just a touch of humor. We loved this soup! There is just my husband and me now, so I started off by cutting the recipe in half. We ate for two nights, but had so much still left over that we froze it. A couple of weeks later we heated it up again and it fed us for two more nights. That’s half recipe, four meals for the two of us.
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- Linda
I watched this yesterday. I used what I had on hand: leeks, garlic, potato, carrot, cabbage and milk. I added s& p, celery salt, cayenne, nutmeg and cheese. It was wonderful. Thanks for the inspiration.
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- Pamela
De-lish! Not having an immersion blender, I used a potato masher which worked well. The addition of the worcestershire sauce is the secret ingredient. So Good!
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- Renée Heldrich
Can this soup be frozen?
Just my husband & I retired now.
He lives the Panera broccoli cheddar.
Thanks
Renee- Reply
yes
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- Sabrina
This won my whole family over! So delicious!!
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lol glad you all are digging it my friend!
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- Ashley F
This is one of our favorite soups. So hearty!
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- Aimee Shugarman
My family’s favorite soup recipe. Turns out so good every time!
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- Courtney
This soup was so easy and full of flavor – going into our weekly rotation!
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- Kimberly
Broccoli-cheese is one of my all-time favorites and I love the addition of the leek, so much flavor!
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- Robin Jones
how can it be called “roasted” when the broccoli is not roasted at all??
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We call that pan roasted in the culinary world 🙂
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