My all-time favorite soup is broccoli cheddar, possibly because two of my all-time favorite foods are broccoli and cheddar cheese! Seriously, though…even bad broccoli cheddar soup is better than a lot of other soups in my little world! Of course, eventually I had to decide I wanted to make it at home, and I tried a bunch of recipes. And of course, the second time I made it, I couldn’t remember which of the numerous broccoli cheddar soup recipes I had on my Pinterest page was the one I made until I was halfway through making a completely different one, so there was that. What I ended up doing was taking a little from one, and a little from another, and an idea of my own, and came up with the following.
Is it as good as Panera? I don’t know that I’d go that far (you might, and if you think it is, please feel free to say so and give me an ego boost), but it’s darn good and you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you made it yourself – or you can look at how much money you’re saving making it yourself, or you can feel happy that you took care of the people you love by making them homemade soup). If any or all those deeper needs don’t convince you to make this, all I can say is that it definitely will satisfy your need for a warm bowl of broccoli cheddar deliciousness!
Broccoli Cheddar Soup – serves 4
1/2 onion
1 carrot
1 clove garlic
1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups chopped broccoli
4 cups vegetable stock
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups finely shredded cheddar cheese
Dash cayenne (red) pepper
Dice onion and carrot. Mince garlic. Heat oil over medium heat in large soup pot. Saute onion, carrot, garlic and salt, stirring frequently, until onion and garlic have softened but not browned, about 3-5 minutes. Add broccoli and 4 cups vegetable stock. Turn heat up to medium high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add heavy cream, cheddar cheese and dash of cayenne. I’ve mentioned this before, but I usually add a dash of cayenne to any cheese-based recipe – it doesn’t make the final product hot and spicy, it just brings out the “cheesiness”. Stir continuously until cheese is melted. Serve immediately.
Note about reheating this: it will reheat, but I find it reheats much better on the stove top than in the microwave.
Enjoy!
