My easy Broccoli Soup is a simple Cream of Broccoli Soup that’s thick and creamy with an extra hit of flavour from cheddar cheese! Essentially just throw it all in a pot, and you’re just 20 minutes away from a creamy, cheesy bowl of comfort under 300 calories.
Don’t forget warm crusty bread for dunking!
Broccoli Soup
I’m long overdue for a “green” recipe!! And there’s plenty of green in this recipe, with two giant heads of broccoli in it…..though there’s a decent wack of CHEESE to! 😉
But seriously, I joke about this being cheesy and there definitely IS cheese flavour in this. But because of the way I make this, it’s creamy and cheesy but it’s still rather healthy, clocking in at 280 calories if you make this without cream, and just 360 calories with.
A little different to the usual…
You’ll find many creamy broccoli soups are made with a roux, being melted butter mixed with flour which thickens the soup, then broccoli pieces are tossed in and cooked in that thickened soup.
I prefer making broccoli soup by cooking the broccoli until soft then blitzing it up to make a naturally thick and creamy soup. This way you actually get lovely broccoli flavour in the soup, rather than a generic creamy broth with bits of broccoli in it. Bonus is that it’s healthier!
What you need for creamy Broccoli Soup
Here’s all you need:
broccoli – fresh or frozen (lots – 700g/1.4lb!)
butter, garlic and onion – flavour base
chicken or vegetable broth/stock + water – for simmering / soup broth
cheese & cream for finishing
Cream is optional! Does it make it tastier? Of course it does! Anyone who tells you otherwise is outright lying. It adds a layer of richness that you don’t get if you skip it or use milk instead.
But I make it without cream most of the time because cream isn’t part of my standard weekly shop. Still delicious, still creamy, still cheesy – just better for your waistline!
How to make it
And here’s how to make it. A quick saute of garlic and onion to create the flavour base, then tip everything else in a simmer away: chicken or vegetable stock/broth, water, broccoli and potato.
When the broccoli is very tender (a good 15 minutes or so) blitz away until it all purees into a thick, creamy soup. Then stir in the cream and cheese (the heat melts it super quickly) and serve.
The hit of cheddar cheese in this broccoli soup adds flavour and an element of tasty naughtiness into an otherwise very healthy soup. 😈
I stir most in the soup but I like to reserve bit to sprinkle on top. Because by the time the soup gets to the table, that extra cheese starts to ooze so when you dunk the bread into it, it looks like this…..
There really is something about dunking crusty bread into thick and creamy soups, isn’t there??? Luckily, I have a decent selection of soup dunkers around these parts!!
Soup Dunkers
So – if I haven’t convinced you already, one more reason to make this Broccoli Soup is that it freezes 100% perfectly and lasts for days and days in the fridge. It’s creamy and comforting, filling and yet HEALTHY and full of nutrition.
Win, win, win! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Easy Broccoli Cheese Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp (15g) butter (or olive oil)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 onion , diced (brown, white yellow)
- 4 cups (1 litre) chicken broth / stock , low sodium (or veg stock)
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 700g / 1.4lb broccoli florets (2 large broccoli + diced peeled stem, Note 1)
- 2 potatoes , peeled and diced into 1.5cm / 2/3" cubes
- 3/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese , shredded (or other cheese of choice)
- 3/4 cup cream or milk
To Serve (optional)
- Cream, for drizzling
- Extra grated cheese
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large pot over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic, saute for 2 minutes until onion is softened.
- Add broth/ water, broccoli, potato, salt and pepper. Bring to simmer, then place the lid on, turn the heat down to medium high and cook for 20 minutes or until the broccoli is soft.
- Turn stove off (but leave on stove). Puree using a stick blender until smooth (Note 2).
- Stir in cream, then add cheese a handful at a time, stirring in between to melt.
- Taste and add more salt if desired.
- Ladle into bowls. Drizzle with cream and top with extra grated cheese, if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published 6 January 2016, updated 21 October 2019 with new photos, step photos, new video and most importantly, Life of Dozer section added!
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Life of Dozer
Such focus and determination……for a cherry tomato of all things!! 😂
Made this broccoli soup today it taste amazing thankyou.
Delicious will make again
Quick, easy and absolutely delicious. This is fast becoming a weekly favorite in our house. Thank you, Nagi!
Second time making this, stuck to your recipe apart from extra water,fantastic, thank you .
This sounds delicious, especially with both the cheddar and the cream. I have made something similar and I like your choice of ingredients. Perfect soup for this time of year.
Made this today to take to share with my friend who is home after having an operation. Loved it.
Healthy, very delicious and super quick to make. I omitted the cream because the potato and cheese made it creamy enough for us. Another winner added to the catalogue.
We had excess broccoli that needed to be cooked and this recipe was a winner. I knew Nagi wouldn’t let us down. Delicious and super easy.
Oh my goodness. We are almost inhaling this here! What a fantastic and economical soup. Perfect consistency, fabulous flavour, gorgeous colour. Thanks once again Nagi for an incredible recipe! (Almost all our meals are now “Dinner By Nagi”)
I was just looking for an easy Friday night dinner and up popped this – so easy and flavourful – perfect timing Nagi – thank you!
Having read comments about the soup being watery, I leftout the extra water. It was still very watery, and a rather non descript flavour. I added extra cheese and salt and pepper plus a load of frozen mashed potato to try and thicken it up.
I added frozen peas to this during the last few minutes of simmering to yield a more appealing green colour. I did not add cream or cheese, but I did add 1/2 cup of milk and 2 tbsp of light margarine. It was delightful blended with a kenwood triblade hand mixer. The extra aeration you can achieve with a stick blender creates a highly creamy, smooth, velvety consistency which is easily the best part of enjoying soup.
I garnished with roasted cashews, and it was a huge hit.
Can you recommend any other garnishes for this?
Thank you!
Really tasty used milk instead of cream and 1/3 cup Of Parmesan cheese instead of cheese, so yum would definitely make again
This is a fantastic recipe. Super easy to make, fresh and comforting. I left out the cheese to make it a bit lighter on the stomach as I’m pregnant and it was still absolutely great!!
Absolutely delicious. Followed the recipe to the letter. I used cream not milk and an aged cheddar cheese. I also made your easy artisan bread for the first time to dip in the soup. Will definitely be making this soup again.
I needed to add a lot of cheese to make the consistency nicer. Just “meh” overall in terms of flavour. I served with garlic bread which did help though, it was a tasty dipper.
Hi Nagi, I made this soup today for lunch because I had broccoli to use up. It turned out wonderfully and I was able to freeze the rest. The cheese really adds a little something to this soup. Thanks so much for sharing a great recipe!
Winner winner broccoli soup dinner! Just want I needed for a easy Meat Free Monday dinner and with the change of season here in Canberra.
I used the scale, to scale down the Soup for two and noted the comments. I used 2 cups of chicken stock (I didn’t have low salt so I omitted adding any salt) nor did I add any extra water. I did add plenty of pepper, one medium potato, and two cloves of garlic (one can never have too much garlic). No cream or milk needed.
I love that the whole broccoli can be used 🥦🥦 No wastage. Next time, I’ll add some jalapeños to give a little kick
Made this tonight with a couple of changes. Both of us loved it.
I used 4 potatoes as mine were only medium and we like potatoes. I didn’t have cream so used canned milk, The cheese was Tex-Mix mix from Costco. But the main change was that has He prefers thick soups, I did not blend it but left it chunky. That left the broth rather thin so I did thicken it a bit. I often use instant potatoes for this.
This recipe is so easy and so delish… I also added a heap of baby spinach as my daughter needs her iron… used smoked cheddar as the cheese & sprinkled with crispy bacon bits on the top… so so good!