Broccoli Cheddar Soup — The First Thing I Make When It Finally Feels Like Fall
It Is September, and I Am Ready for Soup
The minute the air turns even a little bit, this broccoli cheddar soup is the first thing I make, and my crowd knows it. It is completely from scratch — butter, onion, shredded carrot, a good bit of garlic, and a flour roux that turns milk and chicken broth into the creamiest base you have ever tasted. Then in go the broccoli and the cheese, and about thirty minutes after I started, everybody is at the table with a slice of bread in hand. You can skip the Panera Bread run entirely, and you do not need one special ingredient to do it.
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Watch me make this broccoli cheddar soup from start to finish — or scroll down for the full printable recipe card.
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Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Start CookingIngredients
- 6 Tbsp salted butter
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 2 Tbsp minced garlic or 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 6 Tbsp all purpose flour
- 3 ¼ cups milk
- 14-16 oz chicken broth
- 3 cups broccoli chopped
- 2 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
- ⅓ cup grated Parmesan
- ½ cup heavy cream
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- cayenne pepper to taste
Don’t Want to Plan? I Got You.Every Saturday I share a full week of dinners, sides, and a dessert — with the grocery list already done. Come grab this week’s Weekly Meal Plans!Equipment
Method Start Cooking
- Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium heat.
- Add the chopped onion and shredded carrot. Let cook about 5 minutes, until softened.
- Add the garlic and the flour. Stir around and let cook about a minute.
- Pour in the milk and the chicken broth, stirring to combine.
- Add the chopped broccoli. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne.
- Stir until the soup thickens and comes to a boil. Stay close to the pot — you are working with flour and milk, and it will scald to the bottom if you walk away.
- Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Remove from the heat. Add the heavy cream, the cheddar, and the Parmesan. Stir until everything is blended and melted.
- Serve warm with bread.
Nutrition
Video
Notes
Four Weeks of Family-Friendly FoodWhen people gather, I cook. Four weeks of the dinners my crowd asks for — planned, tested, and shopped for. Come see what’s in the cookbook →Why This Broccoli Cheddar Soup Works
There is no trick to this one, and that is exactly the point. Broccoli cheddar soup gets a reputation as a restaurant thing, like it takes some technique you do not have at home, and it really does not. You soften an onion and a cup of shredded carrot in butter, you stir in garlic and flour and let it cook about a minute, and then you pour in milk and chicken broth and watch it thicken. That is a roux, and if you have ever made a pan of gravy you have already done it.
I am not going to tell you this is a Panera Bread knockoff, because I do not know that it is that similar. What I will tell you is that my family really enjoys it, the same way we really enjoy Panera, and it costs a fraction of what feeding seven people out of a bread bowl would run. I make the whole thing in my 4.5 quart Lodge Dutch oven, which holds the heat steady and is heavy enough on the bottom that a milk-based soup has a fighting chance of not scorching.
The other thing I love about this broccoli cheddar soup is how forgiving it is once you understand the two rules. Do not walk away from it before it boils, and do not put the cheese in while the pot is still on the burner. Get those two right and it comes out creamy every single time, whether you are making it on a Tuesday for your own people or doubling it for company.
A Few Things That Make Broccoli Cheddar Soup Even Easier
- Chop the broccoli fairly small. I like mine cut down so every spoonful gets some, but you chop yours however you like it. A sharp chef's knife and two minutes on the cutting board is the whole job, and smaller pieces also cook through in the six to eight minutes the soup simmers.
- Shred your own cheddar if you have a minute. Bagged shredded cheese is coated so the shreds do not clump in the bag, and that same coating is what makes a cheese soup go gritty on you. Grating a block of sharp cheddar takes about sixty seconds and it is the single biggest difference between silky and grainy.
- Stay by the pot until it boils. You are dealing with flour and milk, so it will scald to the bottom if you walk off. I stand right there and stir until it comes up to a boil, then I turn it down to a simmer, cover it, and go do something else for six minutes.
- The cheese goes in off the heat. Pull the pot off the burner, stir in the heavy cream first, then add the cheddar and Parmesan a handful at a time and let each one disappear before the next goes in. Cheese added to a boiling pot will break and turn stringy, and there is no fixing it once it does.
- Save your Parmesan rinds. If you have a rind in the fridge, drop it in with the broth and fish it out before you add the cheese — it gives the whole pot a savory backbone for free. That is exactly the kind of thing I talk about in my Tuesday Tip on Parmesan rinds. And go light on the cayenne pepper the first time. You can always pass more at the table.
Broccoli Cheddar Soup FAQ — The Questions I Get Every Time
How long does broccoli cheddar soup take to make?
About thirty minutes start to finish — ten minutes of prep and twenty minutes on the stove. The prep is chopping one onion and a head of broccoli, and the cook time breaks down to about five minutes softening the onion and carrot, a minute for the flour, a few minutes to come up to a boil, six to eight minutes at a simmer, and a couple more to melt the cheese in. If you buy your carrots already shredded, you can shave a few minutes off the front end.
Why did my broccoli cheddar soup turn out grainy?
Almost always one of two things: the cheese went in while the pot was still hot and boiling, or it was bagged pre-shredded cheese. Those shreds are coated with anti-caking agents to keep them loose in the bag, and The Kitchn explains how that coating works against you the moment you try to melt it into a sauce. Take the pot off the heat, add the cream, then stir the cheese in gradually and it will come together smooth.
Can I make broccoli cheddar soup ahead of time?
You can, and it reheats better than most cheese soups do. Make it through the simmer, then cool and refrigerate it before you add the cream and cheese if you have the option — that way the dairy goes in fresh when you warm it back up. If you make the whole thing ahead, reheat it low and slow and stir often. Do not let it come back up to a hard boil or it will separate on you.
Can I freeze broccoli cheddar soup?
I do not recommend it. Milk, cream, and cheese all turn grainy after a freeze and thaw, and no amount of stirring brings the texture back. This one keeps beautifully in the refrigerator for up to four days, which is usually plenty at my house — we rarely have it that long. If you truly need a freezer soup, make a broth-based one instead.
Can I make it vegetarian?
Swap the chicken broth for a good vegetable broth and everything else stays exactly the same. The soup gets most of its flavor from the butter, the onion and carrot, and the cheese, so you are not giving up much. Taste it before you serve and you may want a little extra salt, since vegetable broths tend to run milder than chicken.
How do I make my broccoli cheddar soup thicker or thinner?
For thicker, let it simmer uncovered a few extra minutes before the cheese goes in, or start with the full three and a quarter cups of milk and hold back a little of the broth. For thinner, stir in warm milk or broth a splash at a time after the cheese has melted. It also thickens up considerably in the refrigerator overnight, so leftovers usually want a little liquid when you reheat them.
How do I scale broccoli cheddar soup for a crowd?
This pot makes about eight generous bowls, which feeds my family of seven with a little left over. Doubling works fine, but move up to a bigger pot so you have room to stir without sloshing, and give it a few extra minutes to come up to a boil. Double the butter and flour right along with everything else — that ratio is what makes it thick, and shorting it is the one change that will cost you.
Every step of this broccoli cheddar soup, start to finish, in about half a minute.
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Ingredients
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Equipment
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Broccoli Cheddar Soup — About Stephanie’s Recipes
Stephanie Longstreth is the home cook, mom, and storyteller behind StephanieCooksForACrowd.com. She cooks for a family of seven in Florida — five kids, two cats, and one husband who appreciates a good meal. Four of her children came home through adoption, and family stories are woven into everything she makes and shares. Find her crowd-friendly recipes, weekly meal plans, and real family life on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest @stephaniecooksforacrowd.