This amazing Broccoli Cheese Soup is delicious and creamy. One of the best soup recipes for home cooks. It is a simple one-pot soup from scratch with multiple options to make it your way.
You can make it with cheddar cheese or mix it with other cheese. You can use fresh, frozen, or leftover broccoli. You can also make it a copycat of Panera broccoli cheddar soup.
🥦Ingredients
Broccoli—fresh, frozen, or leftover
Aromatics—onion, garlic
Cheese—sharp cheddar cheese is preferred; it may be combined with others like Velveeta.
Butter and milk
Broth—chicken or vegetable
Pantry ingredients—flour, salt, pepper
Jump To (scroll for more)
- 🥦Ingredients
- 👨🍳How to Make Broccoli Cheese Soup—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
- Making keto broccoli cheese soup
- Broccoli options
- Cheese choices
- Dairy and seasoning choices
- Other recipes you will love
- Copycat of Panera's Broccoli Cheddar Soup and other variations
- Bacon Broccoli Cheese Soup
- Serving broccoli cheese soup
- Storing and reheating leftovers
- ❓FAQs
- 📖 Recipe
Featured Comments
From Lucilla: "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!"
From Savannah: "This recipe was amazing. Thank you so much for helping me find a recipe that's all in one pan."
We love this Broccoli cheese soup recipe. It is the perfect comfort food for a cool day, packed with creamy cheese and tender broccoli. We use it for lunch with family and friends.
I have combined several recipes to use only one pot and use either fresh or frozen broccoli cooked in the soup. I make a simple roux to thicken the soup and add a creamy texture, so no cream or unnecessary fat is added.
With easy step-by-step photo instructions, it's ready in 30 minutes or a bit more. It can be modified for a low-carb or keto diet. The size is easy to adjust, and it freezes well.
👨🍳How to Make Broccoli Cheese Soup—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
1. Chop broccoli and an onion.
2. Cook the onion in butter. When clearing, add 1 clove of minced garlic and cook one more minute.
3. Add ¼ cup flour, continue to cook, and stir until browning—about 3 minutes.
4. Slowly add 2 cups of chicken broth, salt, and pepper. Bring to a low boil. When it starts to thicken, slowly add 2 cups of milk and allow it to thicken.
5. Add broccoli, cover, and simmer until broccoli is tender—about 20 to 25 minutes.
6. Option: puree to your taste with an immersion blender or a potato masher.
7. Add the cheese of your choice. I like a mixture of sharp cheddar and Velveeta.
8. Simmer another 5 minutes and serve.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
Making keto broccoli cheese soup
There are only 20 grams of carbohydrates per serving, but about half is from the flour. You can skip thickening with flour and add more cheese or incorporate more broccoli with the blender. There are also low-carb thickeners available.
Broccoli options
I suggest fresh broccoli for this soup, but frozen broccoli can also be used. One large head will make about 3 cups of broccoli florets, and a 12 oz. bag of frozen broccoli will also yield about 3 cups of florets.
Previously cooked leftover broccoli can be used. It can be added after thickening a few minutes before adding the cheese. If you are not using carrots or other things that need to be cooked, add pre-cooked broccoli after thickening the soup and skip the long-simmering.
The florets should be relatively small to fit easily in a spoon. Both fresh and frozen broccoli may need to be cut into smaller chunks. Both will be cooked in the soup.
Cheese choices
Sharp cheddar cheese is the most common cheese for broccoli cheddar soup. I like to use Velveeta for part of the cheese for texture and taste, but you can select the cheeses you like.
If your cheese separates or clumps, it is your cheese, not the recipe. Usually, this will be generic, poor-quality cheese, or outdated cheese. But it rarely happens since we add and melt it at the end of cooking.
Dairy and seasoning choices
Many suggest heavy cream or half & half. I find more than enough milk fat in the cheese—I always use lower-fat milk. But use the dairy or dairy substitute of your choice.
Seasoning options: Add some flavor with an optional touch of nutmeg or paprika. Add about ¼ teaspoon at the start of simmering if you wish—one or the other, not both.
Other recipes you will love
A variation of this recipe is Crock Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup. Other classic soups are Chicken Noodle Soup, Vegetable Beef Soup, or Tomato Basil Soup. This recipe is part of our Our Best Soups.
For other comfort food, try Meatloaf in a Convection Oven, Salisbury Steak Recipe with Onion Gravy, or Meatloaf Burgers.
Crock Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup
Rich and creamy crock pot broccoli cheese soup is super easy to make with frozen or fresh broccoli and only a few minutes of prep before going in your slow cooker—the perfect comfort food for a cold winter day.
Copycat of Panera's Broccoli Cheddar Soup and other variations
If you want to copycat Panera Broccoli Cheddar Soup, add carrot and celery with the broccoli and use 100% sharp cheddar cheese.
You will need about 1 cup of carrots. Matchstick-cut carrots are available in most produce departments. Or one large or two smaller carrots can be diced, julienned, or shredded.
The second component is one rib of thinly sliced celery.
Bacon Broccoli Cheese Soup
Everything is better with bacon. This is my wife's obsession. Chop three strips of bacon into ½ inch squares and fry until done. Drain and add along with the cheese.
Diced leftover ham also works well to make Ham and Cheese Broccoli Soup.
Cauliflower Cheese Soup
Several commenters want to use cauliflower to replace broccoli, but cauliflower may take a few minutes more to cook. So, use the same volume, and the endpoint of the cauliflower is tender, and you should be fine.
Serving broccoli cheese soup
Fancy it up by serving in a bread bowl or go classic with a combination os soup with a tossed green salad or a sandwich: a grilled cheese, cold ham & cheese, a BLT, or other sandwiches.
Served with crackers and a nice bread—try Healthy Biscuits, Cheddar Bay Biscuits (Red Lobster Copycat), or Julia Child's French Bread.
Storing and reheating leftovers
It stores well in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. But at our house, it never lasts more than two days (we eat it).
It will freeze well in an airtight container like a freezer Ziplock bag for 3-4 months.
Reheat on the stovetop with medium-low heat or in a microwave. Thaw first if frozen.
❓FAQs
A single recipe makes about 7 to 8 cups of soup, and you need some working room in the pot to make the roux and mix.
For a single recipe, a four-quart or larger soup pot or Dutch oven. For the suggested double recipe, use a 6 ½ quart Dutch oven.
For a vegan version, swap out the butter, milk, and cheese for plant-based products, but I have some concerns about the quality of plant-based cheese.
For gluten-free diets, like the keto diet, wheat flour should be eliminated, so skip the roux. Substitute half the volume of corn starch by making a slurry with cold water and add it after the broccoli is tender. Simmer until thickened before adding the cheese.
📖 Recipe
Broccoli Cheese Soup
Video Slideshow
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Ingredients
- 1 head broccoli large head - or 12 oz bag of frozen broccoli
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 onion - small
- 1 clove garlic
- ¼ cup flour
- 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups shredded cheese of choice - assume 4 oz. equals 1 cup if not shredded cheese. Sharp cheddar and Velveeta mix is preferred.
For Panara copycat soup-add with broccoli
- 1 cup carrot - matchstick, shredded, or diced
- 1 rib celery
Instructions
- Rinse and spoon-size chop one head of fresh broccoli, or use 12 oz of frozen broccoli. Trim any larger florets into spoon-size chunks.
- Mince a small or ½ of a medium onion. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add 1 clove of minced garlic and cook one more minute.
- Decrease the heat to medium. Add ¼ cup flour and continue to cook and stir continually until browning some—about 3 minutes.
- Slowly add two cups of chicken or vegetable broth and stir to mix in the flour mixture. Add ½ teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of black pepper. Allow to thicken some, then slowly add 2 cups of milk. Bring to a low boil and allow to thicken.
- Add broccoli, cover, and turn down the heat to simmer. Simmer until broccoli is tender—about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Option: Some people like to puree with an immersion blender through the soup at this point. I only want a little blending, so I suggest a potato masher.
- Add 2 cups of sharp cheese of your choice. I like a mixture of sharp cheddar and Velveeta.
- Simmer another 5 minutes and serve.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- Choose the cheeses you like. I prefer half Velveeta and half shredded sharp cheddar, but 100% cheddar is also great.
- Frozen broccoli works fine but may take a few minutes longer to cook but will eliminate about 10 minutes of prep time for fresh broccoli.
- If you want to copycat Panera, then add 1 cup of matchstick-cut carrots and 1 stalk of 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 ½ 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 months.
Keto Broccoli Cheese Soup
There are only 20 grams of carbohydrates per serving, but half is from the flour. You can skip thickening with flour and add more cheese or incorporate more broccoli with the blender. There are also low-carb thickeners available.Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Based on combining Pioneer Woman with an Allrecipes recipe.
Editor's note: This recipe was originally published on December 19, 2015. It has become one of my go-to recipes, and it is now updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigate.
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
Judy says
So if you were making a double batch in the pictures how many servings is that? Has anyone tried this in the crockpot?
DrDan says
Hi Judy,
A single batch is 4 good servings but no seconds for anybody. I did this last weekend for lunch for 4. I made a double. I had to buy that much broccoli and wanted some leftovers. My wife and I had two more good size meals. So truly 8 servings in the double batch.
Crock pot - probably not too good. You need to make the initial roux for thickening and that just can't be done in a crock pot. Since you already have the pan dirty doing the roux and adding the broth and milk to thicken, I see no good role for a crock pot.
Also, this freezes well.
Dan
Katelyn says
AMAZING! Instead of milk, I used half and half. I only had 1% milk and I was worried I wouldn’t have the same creamy text and taste. It came out amazing with the half and half sub. I definitely recommend! Will be making this often for my family!
DrDan says
Hi Katelyn,
Welcome to the blog.
Glad it worked well for you. I use the milk I have which is almost always fat-free. There is lots of fat in the butter and cheese so it works well. But I will never argue with more cream. It can only make it better.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Shauna Guymon says
Oh my heck This is so good and so easy!!! The only thing I did was add a pinch of thyme and about 1/2 a tsp. of brown mustard.
DrDan says
Hi Shauna,
Welcome to the blog and sorry for the late reply.
I do love this recipe. But I always love simple things.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Kim says
Dr Dan Thank you. This is great soup. Will have to try more later. 😍.
Vickie says
I wander if I could use a can of Campbell’s cheddar cheese soup if I have no velveeta cheese
DrDan says
I would just use a more cheddar or other cheese. I'm not a fan of the cheese soup in a can but it is up to you if you want to try it.
Dan
Michelle says
I found this recipe surfing around on Pinterest,figured it was easy so I tried it. Let me tell ya this is now my go to recipe. It is quick and easy and DELICIOUS! Thanks for a pin win !!!
Rondi says
This soup is very, very good. Pretty fast from start to table. I always feel like I am making something so good and nutritous for us when I make this soup. Your recipe is easy to follow. Perfect quantities of ingredients. It also freezes well. I look forward to following more of your recipes.
DrDan says
Hi Rondi,
I do love this soup. I have totally lost count of the number of times I have done this. I had another similar soup on the blog and last week I deleted it and redirected all the traffic to this recipe.
Thanks for the note and have a look around the blog. Let me know if you have any questions.
Dan
Rhonda says
Love the recipe it's so good. Try with a little cayenne pepper it give it just a little more flavor and heat
DrDan says
Hi Rhonda,
I like the cayenne idea.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Sara says
Great soup easy and quick to whip up with ingredients you have to use up in your kitchen and fridge. Thanks a bunch it's gonna be dinner for my family and I tonight ❤❤❤
DrDan says
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Jean Green says
Great soup, I doubled the recipe using broccoli and shallots from my garden
And Half and half with my 1% milk. It was delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
Melissa Morgan says
Made this tonight, first time ever making broccoli cheddar soup which I love. Some changes were required. I didn't have chicken or veg broth so I used water w/ some soy sauce. (Advice from the internet) I used fresh broccoli and sharp cheddar. It was simple to follow and came out really good. Next time I will not add 1/2 tsp. salt as it seemed too salty. Could have been the soy sauce. It was a success nevertheless, I will make it again. Thank you for sharing.
DrDan says
Hi Melissa,
Yep, probably the soy sauce, it is loaded with sodium.
Glad it worked for you and thanks for the note.
Dan
Marcy says
Dr. Dan, this soup is delicious! Had a fail with another recipe and glad I was brave enough to try again. Sooo good! I have made many of your recipes over the years and they are all excellent! I have learned a lot from you. Thank you.
DrDan says
Hi Marcy,
I consider this one of my best recipes. I love simplifying recipes like this. I just add the bacon option for my wife last week.
Thanks for the note, enjoy the site and let me know if you have any questions.
Dan
Jamie Walsh says
Easiest broccoli cheese soup ever. I made this the day after we had a fondue party so I used two different cheese fondues that were leftover. One was a beer cheese fondue & the other was a non-alcoholic Gruyere & Swiss. It turned out amazing! By far the best I’ve ever had. I had also blanched the broccoli for the fondue so cook time was much shorter.
I made it a second time with just sharp cheddar & it wasn’t even close. The quality of the cheese makes all the difference. I also use a blend of evaporated milk & 2%.
By far the best & easiest soup recipe.
Links to the fondue recipes below.
https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/beer-cheese-fondue
https://www.melskitchencafe.com/classic-fondue-recipe/
Lisa says
Made this today and was delicious. I think it was just as good as Panera.
Dave Bolger says
Picture shows a bag of sugar. Went thru the recipe 3 times looking for when you add the sugar. Guess it's supposed to be a bag of flour :)
DrDan says
Over a million page views on this recipe and you are the first to pick it up. I keep empty bags for these pictures. A total opps. Photoshop to the rescue soon.
Thanks
Dan
Update. Fixed and you get the one in a million badge
Rebecca Weller says
This sounds absolutely Delish! But my Question is could I substitute with Cauliflower? My Husband is not a fan of Broccoli. Let me know your thoughts. Thank you!
Blessings & Merry Christmas
Rebecca
DrDan says
Yep the cauliflower should work but I think it may take a little longer to cook so cook until tender then add the cheese.