Broccoli Cheese Soup
Broccoli Cheese Soup ~ creamy, loaded with bites of broccoli and plenty of cheddar cheese. Delicious, comforting Panera Bread copycat recipe – ready in 30 minutes!
Servings: 5
Calories:
Equipment
- soup pot or dutch oven
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 small onion diced
- 1/2 cup celery diced
- 1 cup carrots diced
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 2 1/4 cups half and half
- 2 cups chicken stock can sub vegetable stock
- 4 cups fresh broccoli cut in bite size pieces
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese freshly grated (8 ounces)
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Melt butter in a soup pot then drop in the onions, celery and carrots. Season with salt and pepper.
- Cook over medium heat 2-4 minutes or until the onions are soft then sprinkle flour over the top. Stir to combine and cook one minute.
- Whisk in the chicken stock then add half and half and broccoli. Cover and cook over low heat 15-18 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
- Blend in the cheese a little at a time then season with salt and pepper. NOTE: I start with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper (add more to your own taste).
- The soup is ready to eat at this point but if you like a smoother blend (shown in photos), use an immersion blender and pulse in several areas of the pot until it’s the consistency you like then eat right away.
- NOTE: if you don’t have an immersion blender transfer about one cup of the soup to a standard blender, puree then return to the pot.