One pot, one hour, one great soup. And oh so easy with these easy step by step photo instructions. Better than restaurant quality broccoli cheese soup for your family or company. You will love this soup.
Editor’s note: Originally published December 19, 2015. This has become one of my go-to recipes and is being updated with re-edited photos and text.
I longed for this soup for several weeks but had just been too busy. In fact, there was almost no food in the house. Not good for a food blogger. So on the way home from the hospital this morning I made a 10-minute grocery run.
For lunch, I presented my wife with this wonderful homemade broccoli cheese soup with grilled ham and swiss sandwich. She is a happy wife now.
This is the second soup in my “Week of Soups”.
Pre-Week of Soup Recipes
Week of Soups Recipes
My Rating
A solid 5. One of my top recipes.
Pro Tips: Recipe Notes for One Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup
I have researched for several weeks and had a couple of inspiration recipes. I combined Pioneer Woman with Allrecipe.
I wanted one pot. I wanted to cook the broccoli in the soup and not separately. And I didn’t want to use any cream. I don’t ever have cream, and although this is not low-fat, there are some things I just won’t do.
Nothing matched my needs, so I combined. The results are better than I ever expected.
The Cheese: I fess up. I like Velveeta. So here I used sharp cheddar and Velveeta. But choose the cheeses you like. Most will want a mixture of different cheddars.
Copycat Panera’s Broccoli Cheese Soup
If you want to copycat Panera’s Broccoli Cheese Soup, then just add one cup matchstick-cut carrots and one stalk thinly sliced celery at the same time as the broccoli.
Make it Bacon Broccoli Cheese Soup
Everything is better with bacon. This is my wife’s addition. Chop 3 strips of bacon into 1/2 inch squares and fry until done. Drain and add along with the cheese.
Can I use frozen broccoli?
Yep. Measure by volume. A good size head of broccoli will make about 2 cups. You can up the broccoli a bit if you want. Also, the frozen broccoli may take a few minutes more to get tender, so cook to tender and not by time if using frozen.
Other “Comfort Food” Soups
Old Fashion Vegetable Beef Soup
These are double batch pictures. The recipe discussion below is a single batch, and the ingredient list is for a single batch, but pictures are for a double batch.
Rinse and spoon size chop one head of fresh broccoli. I discarded the broccoli stalk. This should be about two cups.
Mince a small or 1/2 of a medium onion. Over medium-high heat melt four tablespoons butter. Add onion and cook until clearing. About 3 minutes. Add one clove minced garlic and cook one more minute.
Decrease heat to medium. Add 1/4 cup flour and continue to cook and stir continually until browning some. About 3 minutes.
Slowly add two cups chicken or vegetable broth continuing to stir. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Allow to thicken some then add two cups milk. Bring to a boil and allow to thicken.
Add broccoli, cover and turn down heat to simmer. Simmer until broccoli is tender. About 25 minutes.
Option: Some people like to run an immersion blender through the soup at this point. I only wanted a little of that blending, so I used a potato masher.
Add 2 cups of cheese of choice. I used sharp cheddar and Velveeta. Simmer another 5 minutes and serve.
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Easy One Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup
Ingredients
- 1 head broccoli - large
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 onion - small
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 cups chicken broth - or vegetable
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups cheese - of choice
Instructions
- Rinse and spoon size chop one head of fresh broccoli. I discarded the stalk. This should be about two cups.
- Mince a small or 1/2 of a medium onion. Over medium high heat melt four tablespoons butter. Add onion and cook until clearing. About 3 minutes. Add one clove minced garlic and cook one more minute.
- Decrease heat to medium. Add 1/4 cup flour and continue to cook and stir continually until browning some. About 3 minutes.
- Slowly add two cups chicken or vegetable broth continuing to stir. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Allow to thicken some then add two cups milk. Bring to a boil and allow to thicken.
- Add broccoli and cover and turn down heat to simmer. Simmer until broccoli is tender. About 25 minutes.
- Option: Some people like to run an immersion blender through the soup at this point. I only wanted a little of that blending, so I used a potato masher.
- Add two cups of cheese of choice. I used sharp cheddar and some Velveeta. Simmer another 5 minutes and serve.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- Choose the cheeses you like.
- Frozen broccoli works fine but may take a few minutes longer. Cook to the point of the broccoli is tender.
- If you want to copycat Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup, then add 1 cup matchstick-cut carrots and 1 stalk thinly sliced celery at the same time as the broccoli.
- Make it Bacon Broccoli Cheese Soup. Everything is better with bacon. Chop 3 strips of bacon into 1/2 inch squares and fry until done. Drain and add along with the cheese.
- Great as leftovers. Good refrigerated for 3-4 days and frozen for 3-4 months.
Have a question or something not clear? Ask in the comments.
If you like this recipe or find it useful, the pleasure of a nice 4 or 5 rating would be greatly appreciated.
Nutrition is for one serving. Number of servings is stated above and is my estimate of normal serving size for this recipe.
All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
Originally published December 19, 2015
Judy
Can I freeze this soup?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Judy,
Welcome to the blog.
I just added this to the recipe notes.
“5. Great as leftovers. Good refrigerated for 3-4 days and frozen for 3-4 months.”
Thanks for pointing that I wasn’t very specific before.
I do love this soup and hope you do too.
Dan
Lucille
Made this soup today and it is amazing!! Best Broccoli Cheddar soup I’ve ever had and it’s easy!! This is a keeper for sure! Thanks so much for the step by step pictures and additional add ins. This recipe is easy to tweak, too so you can easily add your personal touch. Vegetarian, no problem add vegetable stock. Low fat option, use 2% sharp cheddar, 2% Velveeta and 1% or skim milk. Want it decadent, add full fat cheeses and half and half in place of milk. You will love this soup!!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Lucille,
Welcome to the blog and so sorry about the delayed response.
This is one of my all-time favorite recipes on the site. I try to always do step by step photos so the reader can see themselves doing the cooking. I think that helps a lot for most people.
You are so right about variations. It is just make it what you want type of soup.
Thanks so much for the note and rating.
Dan
Misty
How would this be putting it on top of baked potatoes?
DrDan
Hi Misty,
Welcome to the blog.
I don’t see this as a good baked potato topping. You can make it thicker in several ways. Increasing the flour/butter roux, decreasing the milk or broth, or increasing the cheese. But I think you need a different recipe for that.
Dan
Jen
My daughter and I made this last weekend. It was amazing! It was a perfect recipe to teach her about roux, chopping, whisking, etc. Her & my son took it for lunches last week and want it again this week. 😊 Thank you for the recipe, it’s definitely a keeper!
DrDan
Hi Jen,
Welcome to the blog.
I never looked at this recipe as an education but I see it now. Also, they can make their own lunches.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Thanks for the note and rating.
Dan
Savannah
This recipe was amazing. Thank you so much for helping me find a recipe that’s all in one pan. You don’t need all that fancy pantsy ingredients to make a delicious soup. I didnt have onion but it taste good without it as well. I also didnt buy garlic, I used minced garlic (1.5 teaspoons of it). I added chopped up celery and shredded carrots to mine when I added broccoli.
DrDan
Hi Savannah,
Thank for the note(s). This is a simple recipe but I have done it over and over. To me, it is what a soup recipe should be.
Dan
Richard
Awesome! Easy to follow directions, measurements, etc.
DrDan
Hi Richard,
Welcome to the blog.
Glad it worked well for you and thanks for the note.
Dan
Elizabeth
Hi, I made this the other day and we love it.I was just wondering.What I could do to make it less thick.How much more liquid or what should I should add? I also noticed on instructions one says 4 tablespoons butter(the one in article) and the other says 1/4 cup butter(the one in recipe box).I used the 4 Tablespoons.Which is the right one?…Thankyou for sharing the recipe.
DrDan
Hi Elizabeth,
Welcome to the blog.
This is a thick soup. It comes from a number of places. The “best” place to adjust the thickness is with the roux. I use the butter (4 tablespoons = 1/4 cup) with flour. Just cut both in half. It will decrease the thickness by about 20%.
But lots os the thickness comes from the cheese. You could decrease that a bit. Or you could add more liquid like another cup of chicken broth. Both these will decrease the flavor a bit.
Thanks for the note. Hope that helps.
Dan
Savannah
Hi there! 4 tablespoons equals 1/4 cup :)
Sarryanna
Soup is delish! Just one question…… the nutritional info is for one serving. Is that one cup, cup and a half, half the pot (in my dreams, I know)
DrDan
Hi Sarryanna,
Welcome to the blog.
The single recipe is 6 “servings” of 1 to 1 1/4 cup. Most soup nutrition uses 1 cup servings.
When I make this (tomorrow again) usually do a double batch and freeze half. We do this for the whole meal so we get 4 large servings of per single batch. But if I did so a single for 4 people at lunch, most of the company wanted seconds so I almost stopped doing single batches for company.
Dan
Beverly
I had some leftover steamed broccoli so this soup sounded like a delicious way to use it up. Followed the recipe and used some fresh broccoli at the start and added my leftover broccoli at the end. I too love Velveeta as a cooking cheese it makes wonderful smooth and flavourful soups and sauces. The only thing I question is boiling the milf. If you were using cream no issue but the lower fat in milk will cause it to curdle, likely not too noticeable in this but still not recommended. Heat to just before boiling point when cooking with milk. Soup is delicious and highly recommended.
Martha Worley
Made your recipe several times. Just keeps getting better. Someone may have already covered this but we use the stem also. Peel the stem & cut in 1/4” rounds. Cook along with chopped broccoli. We double recipe so we can freeze future lunches. Thaw completely & heat slowly.
DrDan
Hi Martha,
Thanks for the comment and suggestions.
Most of my broccoli is like a tree so I trash the stem, or at least the main part. I have done this soup with some local farmer market broccoli and did use the stems.
It does freeze very nicely.
Dan
Punam Paul @punampaul.com
Interesting soup easy and quick recipe. I first time tried a broccoli cheese combination. This soup is very delicious.
DrDan
Welcome to the blog.
I do love this soup. Glad it worked well for you.
Dan
Michelle
Made this for dinner. So easy and delicious. Next time will add bacon. Better than Panera’s soup. Thank you. Will definitely make this a favorite.
DrDan
Hi Michelle,
Welcome to the blog.
I just had this soup again yesterday. It is a favorite of my wife’s. I use bacon if I have it.
Thanks for the note and Happy Holidays.
Dan
Erica Johnson
My husband and I are new empty nesters and I have found cooking for two to be a challenge. I came across this recipe and tried it tonight. It was perfect and just enough left over for lunch tomorrow! Thank you so much for my new favorite soup!
DrDan
Hi Erica,
Welcome to the blog.
This is one of my most favorite recipes. I do it once or twice a month. Usually I double for leftovers and the freezer.
Since you are really “cooking for two”, you might want to check out my discussion about recipe size at https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/recipes-not-two-servings/ so you won’t be too disappointed that all recipes are not for two servings.
Have a look around and let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Betty Davis
I love this recipe. I put the broccoli stock in my bullet with a little chicken broth then added it in.That made it more rich
JC
This soup is amazing! I didn’t have broth so just used water in it’s place and a couple drops of liquid smoke (I’m vegetarian and was thinking abt the bacon suggestion), then added the carrots and celery. My 11 year old son just had it and said, “this is my second favorite food of all time now even though i wasn’t expecting to like it after the strong smell of onions”, haha! He hasn’t loved any new foods for a couple years now. Our new favorite recipe. Thank you. :)
PS- 6 year old loves it, too. Wow!