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
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Video Slideshow
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
© 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.
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
Can I freeze this soup?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
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
Kellyb says
I have made this recipe several times over the last couple years. It's my go to favorite soup.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Kelly,
Welcome to the blog.
This is one of our favorites and I have a head of broccoli that needs to be uses in the next couple of days.
Thanks for the note and rating.
Dan
Lucille says
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 says
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 says
How would this be putting it on top of baked potatoes?
DrDan says
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 says
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 says
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 says
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 says
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 says
Awesome! Easy to follow directions, measurements, etc.
DrDan says
Hi Richard,
Welcome to the blog.
Glad it worked well for you and thanks for the note.
Dan
Elizabeth says
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 says
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 says
Hi there! 4 tablespoons equals 1/4 cup :)
Sarryanna says
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 says
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 says
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 says
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 says
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 says
Interesting soup easy and quick recipe. I first time tried a broccoli cheese combination. This soup is very delicious.
DrDan says
Welcome to the blog.
I do love this soup. Glad it worked well for you.
Dan
Michelle says
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 says
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 says
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 says
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 says
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 says
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!
Kim says
I want to make homemade soup, but I am all’s trying to eat Keto, what can I use instead of cornstarch or flour to thicken the broth?
DrDan says
Hi Kim,
Welcome to the blog.
About half the carbs are from the flour. The usual thickening products used in cooking are all basically carbohydrates. Due to all the cheese, this will still be fairly thick even without the flour and you can always add more cheese.
Hope that helps.
Dan
Sarah says
Would it be ok to make this on the stove then transfer to a crockpot to keep warm? I’m wanting to take it to a get together with some friends.
DrDan says
Hi Sarah,
Welcome to the blog.
It will be a little tricky. You need to keep it about 140 degrees but not higher than 155 or so. If higher, it continues to cook and if lower for 2 hours, you should assume it is not safe. "keep warm" on crock pots is very non-specific.
It does reheat well and just reheating there would be safer. Keep below 40 degrees during transport.
Dan