Broccoli Cheddar Soup
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This Broccoli Cheddar Soup is thick, smooth, and on the table in about half an hour. Three cups of sharp cheddar for the flavor and a cup of Velveeta for the texture, which is a trick I picked up a long time ago. No blender, no straining, no grainy disappointment.
What Makes This Broccoli Cheddar Soup So Creamy
This is the broccoli cheddar soup I actually make. Not the one with 7 kinds of cheese, a 2 hour simmer, or a blender situation that involves 3 extra dishes.
Years ago I picked up a trick on a cooking show. A little Velveeta in a cheese sauce makes it smooth and keeps it smooth. I’ve used it ever since, including in my Nacho Cheese Sauce, and it’s the reason this soup never goes grainy.
Real cheddar brings the flavor, and there are 3 cups of it in this pot. But cheddar on its own will split the second the heat gets away from you, and then you’re serving something that looks curdled and tastes fine, which is its own kind of sad. The cup of Velveeta melts into the broth and holds the whole thing together. Glossy instead of grainy.
One pot. About 30 minutes.
Why Velveeta Makes Broccoli Cheddar Soup Smooth
Cheddar gets grainy when it gets too hot. The cheese tightens into little bits, the fat leaks out, and a smooth soup turns sandy.
Velveeta doesn’t do that. You can heat it and keep heating it and it stays smooth.
So I use both. Three cups of sharp cheddar for the flavor, 1 cup of Velveeta so the pot stays smooth even if your burner runs hot. One cup out of 4 isn’t much. This is still a cheddar soup.
You can skip the Velveeta if you’d rather. Use 4 cups of cheddar instead, grate it from a block, turn the heat off before it goes in, and stir slowly. It works. You just have less room for error.
Ingredients in Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Butter (6 tablespoons, unsalted): The start of the roux, and 6 tablespoons is not a typo. This is a thick soup.
- Onion (1, chopped): Cooked until it’s soft and just starting to brown. That little bit of color matters more than you’d think.
- All purpose flour (6 tablespoons): Goes in with the butter and gets 2 full minutes of cooking so there’s no raw flour taste left.
- Half and half (2 cups): Creamy without being heavy. Milk makes it thinner, heavy cream makes it very rich. Half and half sits right in the middle where I want it.
- Chicken broth (6 cups, low sodium): Low sodium on purpose. The Velveeta and the cheddar are bringing plenty of salt with them.
- Salt (1 teaspoon) and white pepper (1 teaspoon): White pepper instead of black so you don’t get dark flecks all through a pale orange soup. Season at the end, after the cheese.
- Nutmeg (¼ teaspoon): A quarter teaspoon. Nobody will taste nutmeg and everybody will notice it’s missing.
- Broccoli florets (1 head, about 1 pound): Fresh or frozen, both work. Cut the florets small enough to fit on a spoon, because nobody wants to perform surgery on their lunch.
- Velveeta (1 cup, cubed): The smoothing agent. Cube it so it melts fast.
- Sharp cheddar (3 cups, shredded): Two cups go in the soup and 1 cup goes on top. Grate it from a block. Bagged shredded cheese is coated in starch to keep it from clumping, and that starch is the enemy of a smooth soup.
- Parsley (2 tablespoons, chopped): On top at the end, for something green in a bowl that badly needs it.
How To Make Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Cook the onion: Melt the 6 tablespoons of butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook until it’s softened and lightly browned. Don’t rush past the browning, that’s where a lot of the flavor comes from.
Make the roux: Sprinkle the 6 tablespoons of flour over the onion and whisk it together. Cook it for 2 full minutes, until it smells nutty rather than floury. Two minutes feels long. Do it anyway.
Build the base: Slowly whisk in the 2 cups of half and half, then add the 6 cups of chicken broth. Whisk until it’s completely smooth and scrape up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot.
Season and add the broccoli: Stir in the 1 teaspoon of salt, the 1 teaspoon of white pepper, and the ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg. Bring it to a boil, add the broccoli florets, and simmer for 10 minutes until they’re tender.
Add the cheese: Turn the heat to low or take the pot off the burner entirely. Stir in the 1 cup of cubed Velveeta and 2 cups of the shredded cheddar until everything is melted and silky. This is the one step where patience pays. No boiling from here on.
Finish: Ladle it into bowls, top with the remaining 1 cup of cheddar and the 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley, and serve.
How To Keep Broccoli Cheddar Soup From Getting Grainy
Heat. It always comes down to heat.
Once the cheese goes into the pot, the soup should never boil again. Not a gentle boil, not a few bubbles at the edge. Turn the burner to low or shut it off completely and let the residual heat do the melting. It takes 2 or 3 minutes and it’s worth every one of them.
The second thing is the cheese itself. Grate it from a block. The pre shredded bags are dusted with starch or cellulose so the shreds don’t stick together, and that same coating turns a smooth soup sandy.
Third, add it gradually and stir gently. Dumping 3 cups in at once drops the temperature unevenly and makes clumps you then have to chase around the pot.
And if it does break on you, it’s not ruined. Take it off the heat, add a splash of half and half, and stir slowly until it comes back together. Works more often than it doesn’t.
Tips For The Creamiest Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Cook the roux a full 2 minutes. Undercooked flour tastes like paste and no amount of cheese covers it.
- Brown the onion a little. It’s 2 extra minutes and it’s the difference between flat and savory.
- Grate your own cheese. I’ll keep saying it.
- No boiling after the cheese. The one rule that matters.
- Cut the florets small. Spoon sized. You’ll thank yourself.
- Taste at the very end. Velveeta and cheddar are both salty, so season after they’re in, never before.
Broccoli Cheddar Soup Variations
- Frozen broccoli: Works fine. Add it straight from frozen and give it 2 or 3 extra minutes.
- Make it thicker: Whisk 1 tablespoon of cornstarch into 2 tablespoons of cold water and stir it in before the cheese goes in. Or just use 1 cup less broth.
- Different cheese: Gruyère in place of some of the cheddar is excellent. Smoked cheddar is very good. Skip anything low fat, it splits.
- Add carrots: A cup of shredded carrot in with the onion adds color and a little sweetness.
- Make it vegetarian: Swap the chicken broth for vegetable broth. Everything else stays.
- Add bacon: Crumbled on top with the cheddar. I don’t need to explain this one.
What To Serve With Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Bread, and plenty of it. A hollowed out round loaf turns this into a bread bowl situation, which is a legitimate dinner and I won’t hear otherwise. No Knead Bread if you thought ahead, Quick Yeast Dinner Rolls if you didn’t.
A grilled cheese on the side is almost too much cheese. Almost. French Onion Grilled Cheese over on All My Cravings if you want to go all the way.
Something sharp and green helps. A simple salad with a lemony dressing cuts right through it.
And if you’re stocking up on soups for the season, Chicken Rice Soup on Craving Home Cooked and my own Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup are the 2 I make most once it turns cold.
How To Store And Freeze Broccoli Cheddar Soup
In the fridge, up to 4 days in an airtight container. It thickens a lot overnight, which is normal. Loosen it with a splash of broth or half and half when you reheat.
Reheat it low and slow on the stove, stirring now and then. The microwave works but go in 30 second bursts and stir between each one, because microwaves heat unevenly and uneven heat is exactly what breaks cheese soup.
You can freeze it for up to 2 months, but it probably won’t come back quite the same. Cheese and cream tend to separate when they thaw. Reheat it low and whisk as it warms and it usually pulls back together. It’ll taste right even if the texture isn’t perfect. A little extra Velveeta in the pot helps it hold together better in the freezer.
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Broccoli Cheddar Soup
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Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons butter (unsalted)
- 1 large onion (chopped)
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups half and half cream
- 6 cups chicken broth (low sodium)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 head broccoli (about 1 lb, cut into small florets)
- 1 cup velveeta (cubed)
- 3 cups cheddar cheese (shredded)
- 2 tablespoons parsley (chopped)
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Melt the 6 tablespoons of butter in a Dutch oven (5.5 quart or larger) over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook until softened and lightly browned.
- Sprinkle the 6 tablespoons of flour over the onion and whisk to combine. Cook for 2 minutes, until it smells nutty.
- Slowly whisk in the 2 cups of half and half, then add the 6 cups of chicken broth. Whisk until smooth, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Stir in the 1 teaspoon of salt, the 1 teaspoon of white pepper, and the ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg. Bring to a boil. Add the broccoli florets and simmer for 10 minutes, until tender.
- Reduce the heat to low or remove the pot from the burner. Stir in the 1 cup of cubed Velveeta and 2 cups of the shredded cheddar until fully melted and silky. Do not let the soup boil once the cheese is in.
- Taste and adjust the salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and top with the remaining 1 cup of cheddar and the 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley. Serve warm.
Notes
- The Velveeta: One cup out of 4 cups of total cheese. It keeps the cheddar from splitting and the soup from going grainy. To leave it out, use 4 cups of freshly grated cheddar, add it with the heat off, and stir slowly.
- Grate your own cheese. Bagged shredded cheese is coated with starch to stop it clumping, and that coating makes the soup sandy.
- No boiling after the cheese goes in. Low heat or no heat. This is the step that decides whether the soup is silky or gritty.
- Sodium: This is a salty soup by nature between the Velveeta and 3 cups of cheddar. The broth is already low sodium. If you’re watching it, hold back the added teaspoon of salt and season only at the end, after tasting.
- Thicker: Use 5 cups of broth instead of 6, or stir in a slurry of 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cold water before the cheese.
- Storage: 4 days in the fridge. It thickens overnight, so loosen it with broth or half and half when reheating, and reheat gently.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use frozen broccoli?
Yes. Add it frozen and give it an extra 2 or 3 minutes. The texture is a little softer, which some people prefer anyway.
Do I have to use Velveeta?
No, but it’s the easiest path to a smooth soup. Use 4 cups of freshly grated cheddar instead, add it off the heat, and stir patiently.
Can I use pre shredded cheese?
You can, and it’ll be grainier. The anti clumping coating on bagged cheese doesn’t melt the way cheese does.
Why did my soup turn grainy?
It got too hot after the cheese went in, or the cheese came out of a bag. Take it off the heat, add a splash of half and half, and stir gently to bring it back.
How do I make it thicker?
Use 1 cup less broth, or stir in a slurry of 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cold water before the cheese goes in.
Can I make it vegetarian?
Yes, just swap in vegetable broth.
Do I need to blend it?
Not for this one. There’s no blender anywhere in this recipe and that’s the whole idea.
