Our broccoli cheddar soup recipe is extra cheesy, packed with broccoli, and incredibly creamy!
I love broccoli cheddar soup so much, especially this one, which skips the flour and butter base common in many other recipes. Instead of extra butter and flour, we use a potato to thicken our soup and make it creamy.
Even with these smart changes, our soup is creamy, rich, and incredibly delicious! For a similar soup, take a look at our cauliflower soup made with parmesan cheese.
Key Ingredients
- Broccoli: I love using broccoli with the stems for this recipe. The stems (or stalks) taste fantastic and blend well with the potato to make this super creamy broccoli soup.
- Butter or Olive Oil: I love cooking my onion and garlic in butter, but olive oil is excellent for this soup.
- Onion and Garlic: I’m pretty generous with the onion and garlic. I love one large sweet or yellow onion with four cloves of garlic. You’ll cook them until soft and sweet so they taste mild in the soup.
- Potato: One potato makes this soup super creamy without needing the traditional flour and butter roux.
- Spices: Salt and pepper are a must, but you will also need a pinch of red pepper flakes (or gochugaru), Dijon mustard, and a bay leaf. These round out the flavor of our soup.
- Broth: I use something light, like our homemade veggie broth or chicken broth. You can even use chicken bone broth to add a bit of extra protein. I have also made this plenty of times with plain water. It works great and allows the broccoli flavor to shine!
- Cheese: I stir in about 2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese for the perfect cheesy flavor. Other cheeses work, too, but I do love the combo of broccoli and cheddar (see my cheddar roasted broccoli for proof).
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make the Best Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Tip 1: Use the broccoli stalks. In this broccoli soup, you’ll use both the stalks and the florets of the broccoli. You’ll cook onions and whole garlic cloves in butter or olive oil until soft and sweet. Then, stir in the diced potatoes and broccoli stalks. Add your broth and simmer. The potato and broccoli stalks become the base of this creamy soup.
Tip 2: Save some florets for the end. When the potato and stalks are tender, you’ll add half of the broccoli florets. Then, when they are tender, blend them into the soup so everything is super creamy and thick. As a last step, add the remaining broccoli florets and cook until they are bright green and tender. This way, the base of the soup is green and creamy, and you still get a few small bites of broccoli.
Tip 3: Add cheese and cream. Stir in lots of grated sharp cheddar cheese and, if you want it extra creamy and luxurious, a bit of cream. This is a good one!
More Creamy Soups
- Creamy Vegetable Soup
- Roasted Cauliflower Soup
- Creamy Potato Soup
- Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
- Rosemary White Bean Soup
More Broccoli Recipes
If you have some broccoli leftover, I highly recommend making our easy sautéed broccoli, broccoli salad with bacon, or this incredible broccoli slaw.
Easy Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
This broccoli cheddar soup recipe is packed with broccoli and is extra cheesy. It is made without flour and butter and gets its thick, creamy base from a potato! When shopping for this soup, look for broccoli sold with long stalks. We chop the stalks up and cook them with the potato. After a quick blend, the stalks and potato turn into a delicious, creamy soup.
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 medium garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or olive oil
2 pounds broccoli with stalks
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, omit if sensitive to spice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 medium-to-large potato, peeled and chopped
1 bay leaf
4 cups chicken broth, veggie broth, or water
1/2 cup cream, optional
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese, 8 ounces (226g)
Thinly sliced chives, for serving, optional
Fish sauce, optional
Directions
1Slice the florets from the stalks. Set the broccoli stalks aside and cut the florets into small bite-size pieces (watch our video for reference). Throw the florets into a bowl and set them aside for later.
2Grab the broccoli stalks, cut about 1 inch from the bottom of each stalk, and discard it. Use a vegetable peeler to peel away the tough outer layer of the stalks, and then slice the stalks into 1/2-inch pieces.
3Melt the butter in a large pot like a Dutch oven over medium heat. When it has melted, toss in the onion and garlic cloves. Cook, occasionally stirring, until the onions are soft and smell sweet, about 5 minutes.
4Add the chopped broccoli stalks, potato, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, Dijon mustard, and red pepper flakes (if using). Cook for two minutes, then add the bay leaf and four cups of broth or water.
5Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer. Cook, at a low simmer, until the broccoli and potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
6Stir in half of the broccoli florets to the soup, cover with a lid, and cook until they turn bright green and are tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Adding the florets in this step ensures that our soup stays green.
7Turn off the heat, remove the bay leaf, and blend the soup until smooth with an immersion blender. You can also use a blender, but be careful to blend the soup in batches, do not fill more than halfway, and hold the lid down firmly as you blend. Hot liquids can cause steam to build up in the blender, and the top can pop off.
8Place the pot back onto the burner and heat over medium heat. Stir in the remaining broccoli florets, cover the pot again, and cook until they turn bright green and are tender, 3 to 5 minutes.
9Stir in the cream and cheese. When the cheese melts into the soup, taste it, and then adjust with additional salt and pepper. For a pop of flavor, add a few dashes of fish sauce. Serve with chives scattered on top.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Store leftover broccoli cheddar soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Freezing is an option, but it risks the soup separating. Freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat gently on the stovetop, stirring frequently. If the soup does separate, a quick blend can restore its smoothness.
- No stalks: If you cannot find broccoli with the stalks/stem still attached, use 2 pounds of broccoli florets.
- Make the soup more green: For an even more vibrant green color, just before you plan to blend the soup, add a couple of handfuls of baby spinach leaves and allow them to wilt into the soup slightly (30 to 45 seconds).
- Fish sauce: This is optional but adds a lovely flavor to sauces and soups like this broccoli cheddar soup. Two to three dashes season the soup nicely. Think of fish sauce as salt on steroids. It doesn’t make the soup taste fishy but makes the flavor pop.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
Just made this today for my elderly mom who ihas been sick , and she ate a whole bowl! We all enjoyed it. I’ve made several of your recipes and it’s always one of the first sites I go to when looking for something homemade, healthy and delicious. Great instructions! Thank you !
We are so happy you enjoyed it and we wish your Mom well!
This recipe is delicious! I love that it uses the whole broccoli and that it is part of the actual broth. It is perfect as is but we also like to add shredded carrot for more veggies.
This soup is divine – creamy, flavorful, and loaded with goodness. To minimize the cooking time, I blended both the florets and the onions, then microwaved them for 8min in a bowl. My only suggestion is to add and sprinkle bacon bits (in a jar) on top to beautify the food. My partner loves this and can’t get enough : ] one of my fav recipes ever!!
Making this soup again, 5th time, because it’s wonderful. I add a few twists. My son likes it without cream or cheese, so he gets a big bowl first before I add cheese (it’s that good). I also tend to add a few carrots and celery with the potatoes because the more veggies the better and I am old fashioned and it’s the classic soup base. One of my favorite things about this recipe is using potatoes instead of flour! That’s so easier. Thanks again for sharing your recipe. Looking forward to trying the potato leek soup recipe.
Adding 5 stars because I missed that when I submitted a review. Best soup recipe ever!
I am getting ready to make this soup for the third time! I love it; especially the fact I can use a potato instead of four and butter (I fail about half the time making roux, sigh). My son loves it without the cheese or cream so we serve it up for him first and then add cheese. Best and easiest soup recipe ever in my opinion. Thank you so much for sharing.
So happy you enjoy it so much, Julia! Thanks for coming back and letting us know.
I am definitely going to make this!
Love broccoli and chedddar soup! Also, I love the way you select accessible ingredients, explain different cooking methods, and simply I hope you continue succeeding at this cooking venue! I am very excited about Inspired Taste, may God bless you and your successes, and loving your recipes. Keep up the great work!
I am definitely going to make this!
Love all your recipes and websites. Keep up your amazing work.
So kind of you, thank you!
We made this and really liked how it was balanced. The fish sauce really did add something special. Next time we’ll add more potatoes to get it a little thicker but won’t change anything else. Thank you!
Awesome! Sitting down to my first bowl as I write this!
FYI, I added salt but I also used homemade broth and worth mentioning I love me some salt!
Great recipe!
Thank you so much for sharing your recipes. Easy to follow and delicious.
Love this as is and it’s also very easy to change up the flavour profile. Perfect for those with Celiac Disease as it’s gluten free.
Can’t wait to try this. I love that it is thickened with potato instead of flour. I’ll be making it now and freezing some to enjoy in the colder months which are right around the corner. Thank you.
I have made this soup many times now. It is a perfect recipe. I lblend everything together and don’t keep the florets in the end. I prefer the mouthfeel.
This is the best broccoli cheddar soup Ive ever had! My parents, who criticize everything, went crazy over it. I am a good cook, but when I gave them this, I got praise that I don’t get easily from them — haha. It tastes bright and fresh, with a wonderful depth of flavor. I do add the fish sauce and think it adds to the complexity and just yumminess. Also freezes very well. Thanks for this recipe.
I just made my first broccoli and cheddar soup using this recipe. It is a hit! I recommend using Yukon gold potatoes for the higher starch content and creaminess. Next time I will use chicken broth and see how that tastes.
This was delicious but just a word of caution; I only used 1/4 tsp fine sea salt and 4 cups of tetrapak chicken stock. It was way too salty so if you’re using chicken stock it would be wise to use low sodium. I would even cut the sea salt out entirely until you’ve tasted it at the end!
Thank you so much for the feedback! You’re absolutely right – salt levels can vary drastically with different brands of stock. I appreciate you sharing your experience so others can adjust accordingly. It’s a great reminder to always taste as you go!
Loved the Broccoli/Cheese Soup. Thank you!
Can you freeze this soup?
Absolutely! Once your soup has cooled to room temperature, you can freeze it in freezer-safe containers or freezer bags. Then, thaw it completely in the refrigerator the night before you want to enjoy it.
This recipe is easy to make and tastes delicious! We love the simple ingredients. It’s really good on a cold day.
Delicious! I didn’t use half and half and it was plenty thick.
Delicious broccoli soup. Thank you
Will try the soup.Thank you😊
REALLY GOOD RECEIPES
Delicious broccoli soup. Thank you
Sounds wonderful I will try it this weekend, just one question can we freeze this soup.
Absolutely! Once your soup has cooled to room temperature, you can freeze it in freezer-safe containers or freezer bags. Then, thaw it completely in the refrigerator the night before you want to enjoy it.