A Bowl of Comfort: The Best Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Creamy broccoli cheddar soup that is delicious, incredibly comforting, and perfect for chilly days.
It's creamy, cheesy, and full of comforting flavor. The combination of broccoli and cheddar cheese is truly a classic!
No surprise, my go to item from Panera is broccoli cheddar soup. This home made recipe is so much better in my opinion and I also get to have more of it the next day.
Now I'm wondering why I waited this long to make broccoli cheddar soup myself. In high school, I worked at Subway, where they also serve broccoli cheddar soup. It was just as good or even better than Panera's. Subway at that time only offered the soup a certain time of the year, and that was the one item I looked forward to eating there the most. I used to love topping my broccoli cheddar soup with Old Bay seasoning. It was so good!
Making soup in the winter months is one of my favorite things to cook. It's naturally a one-pot meal because you simply just throw all the ingredients together and let it simmer. Broccoli cheddar soup doesn't require a whole lot of time to simmer, which is also why I love it.
gather your ingredients
I got a sourdough bread bowl last minute to do a quick toast in the oven. Something about dipping the crispy buttery bread into the soup made the soup extra cozy.
My family and I did a quick stop at Sam's club for some last minute Sunday feast groceries. I already had an idea to make broccoli cheddar soup for us to indulge as a first course, plus I was excited to make it for my husband to try for the very first time. I originally wasn't serving it with bread. Not sure what I was thinking considering soup is so much better eaten with a side of saltine crackers or toasted baguette. Thanks to Sam's club bread bowl, I had to grab some for the soup. It was fun and yummy serving broccoli cheddar soup in a bread bowl, like a Panera soup experience.
A Bowl Of Comfort: The Best Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Broccoli cheddar soup that is delicious and incredibly comforting, perfect for chilly days. It's creamy, cheesy, and full of comforting flavor. The combination of broccoli and cheddar cheese is truly a classic.
Ingredients
- 2 cups broccoli florets, chopped including the stems
- 2 medium size carrots, shredded about 2 cups
- ½ medium onion, diced white or yellow
- 3 cloves garlic, minced or 1 TBSP garlic powder
- 8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 cup milk or half and half
- 6 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt more or less to taste
- cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare the vegetables; broccoli florets, carrots, garlic, and onion and set aside. Shred the cheddar cheese and set side.
- In a medium size simmering pot, melt butter on a medium heat. Add in chopped onion, and minced garlic or garlic powder. Cook for 5 minutes or until onion is translucent. Add in flour and continue to cook for 3 more minutes.
- Pour in chicken stock. Bring it to a boil on medium-high heat then lower the heat to medium heat and combine chopped broccoli and shredded carrots. Let the soup simmer on medium heat for 20 minutes allowing the broccoli and carrots to soften.
- Add in milk and shredded cheese then let the soup simmer for 2 more minutes. Season the soup with salt, pepper, and smoke paprika. Stir real well.
- Serve with a toasted baguette or a bread bowl. Enjoy!