Enjoy your favorite cafe-style easy Broccoli Cheese Soup at home for less money. I’ll show you how easy it is to make with both stovetop and Instant Pot directions!
This is one of our favorite recipes to use a lot of milk.
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Broccoli Cheese Soup has long been a favorite of mine. I don’t know exactly when my love affair with this creamy, cheesy, hearty soup began, but I well remember it being a part of my early parenting years.
When my husband would send me off on my Saturday Mornings Off, I would spend the morning shopping sans children, inevitably capping off my time with soup and sandwich combo at Panera. Specifically, Broccoli Cheese Soup and an Asiago Roast Beef Sandwich. It was the ultimate comfort food.
This soup is like that one. Only it’s much cheaper and super simple to make at home. I’ve been making it for years, but recently decided to play with it a little bit. For one, I used dill Havarti cheese which added a great flavor and creaminess to the soup.
But, ultimately, I wanted to make this soup easily portable. My purpose: to take it to potlucks and be received like a rockstar.
It’s that good.
How Do You Make Broccoli Cheese Soup?
Making the soup in the electric pressure cooker allowed me both a convenient cooking vessel as well as a way to keep the soup hot at the event until it was time to eat. I made the soup at home, secured the spill-proof lid for transport, and then kept it warm on slow cooker mode at the event.
Don’t worry. You can make this soup completely on the stovetop, but if you’ve been wondering how to use your Instant Pot, this Broccoli Cheese Soup is one reason to add to your list.
As I was testing this recipe in the electric pressure cooker, I pondered the question of using two cooking vessels. This is how I’ve always prepared Broccoli Cheese Soup; one pot for the cheese sauce and one for the vegetable/broth mixture.
How Do You Thicken Broccoli And Cheese Soup?
This soup will thicken because of the flour used in the cheese sauce.
And while I considered using a beurre manie to thicken the soup and hope the cheese didn’t get weird, I decided in the end that two vessels were the way to go. Trust me, this is delicious and well worth the extra pan to wash. Especially if you want to be received like a rockstar.
You can always add some delicious garlic breadsticks to the mix to really ensure rockstar status.. It’s one of my tips for making soup night a success.
How to make this good and cheap:
Here are some of the strategies you can use to make this recipe more economical:
- Stock up on ingredients when they are on sale. This ensures that you’ll have your ingredients at the lowest possible price. Load up on onions, carrots, celery, and broccoli next time you see a sale.
- Price match. Check your grocery store fliers to see who has the best price on the items on your list.
- Make your own chicken stock. It’s practically free!
Tools I use to make this recipe easy:
This is a pretty straight-forward dish. You don’t need any fancy equipment. However, having some good basic kitchen tools can really make your time in the kitchen more enjoyable. Over time, I’ve honed my collection so that they are perfect for my needs. Here are the tools that I like to use in this recipe.
- 6-quart electric pressure cooker or heavy stock pot
- medium saucepan
- whisk with sealed barrel
- plastic cutting boards
- Ergo Chef chef’s knife
- wooden spoon
- ladle
- immersion blender
Easy Broccoli Cheese Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 rib celery chopped for 1 cup
- 3 carrots chopped for 1 cup
- ½ onion chopped
- 4 cup vegetable broth or chicken stock
- 2 head broccoli chopped for 4 cups
- ⅔ cup butter
- ⅔ cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
- 4 cup milk
- 4 oz cheddar cheese (shredded) (1 cup)
- 4 oz dill Havarti cheese (shredded) (1 cup)
- salt
- black pepper
Instructions
- In the pot of an electric pressure cooker, heat the oil. Add the celery, carrots, and onion, and saute until the onions go clear, about 7 minutes. Alternatively, you can do this in a pot on the stovetop over medium heat.
- Add the chicken broth and broccoli. If you are using the pressure cooker, attach the lid and turn on the pressure valve. Turn the machine on and set it to manual for 4 minutes. If you are cooking this on the stove, bring the pot to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.
- While the veggies are cooking, prepare the cheese sauce. In a medium saucepan on the stove, melt the butter. Add the flour, and cook, whisking for two minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk, stirring to combine. Allow the mixture to simmer, stirring, until slightly thickened. Whisk in the cheeses.
- When the vegetables are done cooking, blend them slightly with an immersion blender. It’s best to leave some chunks, but go with the texture you prefer.
- Stir the cheese sauce into the vegetable mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
Katie Wurm
Very creamy!
Diane
This was a big hit with the whole family. I only make cream soups occasionally, as my husband doesn’t like them, but he liked this one because blending the veggies gave it a more substantial texture. This is going in the meal rotation!
Angie S
Yummy easy lunch for a snowy Saturday. 🙂 I didn’t have the dill Havarti so used all cheddar and added a smidgen of dill because I like the flavor. That worked well, though next time if I plan ahead I’d like to try it with the Havarti.
Adrienne
I subbed 1 tsp of xantham gum for the flour to make it gluten free. I subbed half n half for the milk (cup for cup) to make it low-carb. I blended it in the blender. Very yummy!
Lauren
Soooooo good! I’ve made it a few times on the stove top in the past but finally got an instant pot and tried it! So easy and so yummy! I used regular cheddar but might try to find the dill havarti at aldi next week!
Tracy
I made this tonight with gluten free flour, cashew milk instead of regular milk, and a pound of frozen broccoli. It was fabulous! I love dill and I love havarti, but I don’t partuclarly like dill havarti. That being said, I did use it in the soup and I don’t think the soup would be as good without it. It added really nice flavor. I might pair it with sharp cheddar next time instead of mild.
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Jessica Fisher
Thanks for the feedback. Glad to hear it worked well with those adaptations!
Lauren
So easy and so yummy!! Everyone loved it!! Definitely making this again…and again and again!!
Jessica Fisher
Yay! So glad to hear it!
Erin C
I have made a number of your recipes but this is the first time I have ever commented. I have now made this soup 3 times (in my Instant Pot) and it is a winner. Easy, fast, and my kids gobble it up. Because of where I live, I use cheddar cheese. Thanks!
Jessica Fisher
Yay! So glad you enjoy it! Thanks for sharing. 😉
Alice E
Have you ever tried this with Monterey Jack or Swiss? They would be easier for me to obtain. I’m assuming that Havarti is a good melting cheese, like Swiss and unlike cheddar, and that is why it improves the soup. How strong is the dill flavor of the cheese? If I didn’t have the dill Havarti, would you suggest adding some dried dill and if so how much?
Jessica Fisher
I have made it with cheddar, but I’m pretty sure either of those will work well also. The dill flavor is very subtle. You could just add 1/4 teaspoon, I would think.
Pat
We love broccoli cheese soup! I can’t wait to try this recipe next week. I already made a vegetable beef soup with my left over pot roast from the freezer today
Jessica Fisher
Did you try it? Be sure to come back and leave a review. I’d love to hear how you like it!
LeslieT
Sounds yummy! Just wondering where you get the Dill Havarti, and do you use fresh broccoli or frozen?
Jessica Fisher
My ALDI carries the dill havarti, though I think I’ve seen it at Trader Joe’s as well. You can use more cheddar if you prefer. I use fresh broccoli, but you can use frozen if that’s what you buy.