Broccoli Cheddar Soup
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Dip into a warm bowl of comforting Broccoli Cheddar Soup with this easy 30 minute recipe! If you love Panera’s version of this soup, then you’re really going to love this recipe, because it’s even better than the restaurant favorite.
This soup is creamy, cheesy and so delicious. It’s a comfort food meal that the entire family will love!
Table of contents
This is one of those recipes that as we were eating it, my husband asked if we could have it again next week. It’s just that good, you’ll want to eat it over and over again!
A classic, broccoli cheddar soup, is so creamy and comforting. It’s the perfect winter meal. But honestly, we eat it year-round, because we love it so much! And it’s so easy to make. It’s a wonderful weeknight dinner.
In just 30 minutes, with only 15 minutes of hands-on time, this soup cooks together in one pot on the stove-top for the perfect comfort food meal. It’s cheesy, delicious and perfect served with crusty bread for dipping right in the soup!
Ingredients
For the full detailed ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Unsalted butter – I prefer to use unsalted butter, so that I can determine how much salt I want to add to the recipe. If using salted butter, reduce the added salt in this recipe by 1/2 teaspoon.
- Onion – I recommend a yellow onion for it’s neutral flavor.
- Garlic – I always recommend fresh-minced garlic for the best flavor.
- Cornstarch – this ingredient is used to thicken the soup.
- Chicken broth – or use vegetable broth to make this recipe vegetarian. I’ve made this recipe with both over the years, and while the version with chicken broth is slightly more flavorful, they’re both delicious.
- Hot sauce – you can’t taste the hot sauce in the recipe, and it doesn’t make it spicy. But this is an old chef’s trick used to enhance the flavors of the cheese. The richness of the cheese will be enhanced by adding just a few dashes of hot sauce to the cheesy soup.
- Salt + black pepper + paprika – to season the soup.
- Mustard powder – the acidity and tanginess of the mustard powder helps balance out the richness of this soup. It’s a secret ingredient that you should always add to your broccoli cheddar soup! You may also see mustard powder labeled as dry mustard or ground mustard at the grocery store. They’re all the same and you can use them interchangeably. If you don’t have mustard powder, 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard can be used in it’s place.
- Broccoli florets – you’ll want 3 cups of broccoli florets for this recipe. These can be purchased in a bag at the grocery store, or removed from a head of broccoli. The florets should all be small-to-medium bite sized pieces, so they cook evenly, and are easy to eat in the soup. Feel free to use fresh broccoli or frozen broccoli in this recipe.
- Half and half – for an extra creamy soup, use heavy cream instead.
- Sharp cheddar cheese – I always recommend sharp, over mild or medium cheddar cheese because of it’s rich and robust flavor that really shines through in the soup. For this recipe, you’ll want to freshly grate an 8 ounce block of cheese, which will give you about 2 1/4 cups shredded cheese.
- Julienned carrots (optional addition) – if you want to make an exact copycat of Panera’s broccoli cheddar soup, you’ll want to mix in 1/2 cup julienned carrots with the broccoli. I’m not a huge fan of the carrots in the soup, so I leave them out. Just a personal preference, feel free to make it either way!
Instructions
I’ve included step by step photos above to make this broccoli cheddar soup recipe easy to follow at home. For the full detailed recipe instructions, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Cook onions and garlic. Melt butter in a large pot, or dutch oven, on the stove over medium-high heat. Add diced onions and cook for 4-5 minutes, then add minced garlic and cook for an additional minute. Sprinkle cornstarch over the onions and garlic, and stir to combine everything until the cornstarch and onions begin to turn golden brown. This should take around 2 minutes.
- Add broth and season. Pour chicken broth into the pot, then season with hot sauce, salt, pepper, paprika and mustard powder. Stir to combine everything.
- Add broccoli. Add broccoli florets to the soup and bring the liquid to a boil. Cover the pot, reduce the temperature on the stove to medium-low heat and simmer the soup for 15 minutes. This will cook the broccoli and make it tender.
- Make it creamy! After 15 minutes, remove the lid from the soup, stir in half and half, and shredded cheddar cheese. Stir until the cheese has completely melted and the soup is smooth and creamy.
Serve immediately, topped with more shredded cheddar (if you’re feeling really cheesy!) and a baguette, garlic bread or crackers on the side. You can also serve the soup in a sourdough bread bowl, just like Panera!
Simply head to the bakery section at your grocery store and look for a sourdough “mini boule or baby boule”. These small rounds of sourdough bread make the perfect bread bowls. Cut a round hole, 3-4 inches wide, in the middle of the bread, being careful not to cut through to the bottom of the loaf. Remove the middle piece of bread.
Place the bread bowl in the oven at 375°F for 10 minutes to heat it up, then ladle the soup right into the hole in the middle of the bread. Use the middle piece of bread that you removed from the sourdough round to dip right into the soup, then as you eat the soup, you can tear off the bread around the edges of the bread bowl and eat it too!
Recipe tips
- If you really love broccoli, feel free to throw in an extra cup of florets. You can also add a cup of cauliflower florets to mix up the veggies in the soup.
- If you’d like to add a protein to the soup, add 1 cup of cooked, shredded chicken when adding the broccoli. This can be chicken pulled from a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, or you can use this easy recipe for Instant Pot Shredded Chicken.
- This recipe is naturally gluten free using the ingredients shown above, and listed in this recipe.
- To make this recipe vegetarian, use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
How to store and reheat
Broccoli cheddar soup makes great leftovers! Simply store any leftover soup in the refrigerator, in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Reheat the soup in a microwave-safe container in the microwave for 2 minutes. Or reheat it in a pot on the stove over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
What to serve with it
This broccoli cheese soup is delicious simply served with a baguette, garlic bread or crackers for dipping in the soup. It’s also great as part of a soup and salad, or soup and sandwich combo, just like at Panera! Try it with any of these salads or sandwiches, including another Panera copycat favorite!
- Fuji Apple Chicken Salad (Panera copycat recipe)
- Healthy Cobb Salad
- Blue Cheese Salad
- Eggplant Salad
- BBQ Chicken Salad
- Chicken Caesar Salad
More soup recipes
Stay cozy with these other popular soup recipes!
Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 cups chicken broth, or vegetable broth
- 3-4 dashes hot sauce, like tabasco
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder, or dijon mustard
- 3 cups broccoli florets
- ½ cup julienned carrots, optional addition – see notes below
- 2 cups half and half
- 8 ounce block sharp cheddar cheese, grated
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large pot on the stove over medium-high heat.
- Add the onion and cook for 4-5 minutes, add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.
- Sprinkle the cornstarch over the onions and garlic and stir to combine until browned, 1-2 minutes.
- Pour the chicken broth into the pot and stir to combine everything.
- Season with the hot sauce, salt, pepper, paprika and mustard powder, stir to combine.
- Add the broccoli (and optional julienned carrots, if adding them) and bring the liquid to a boil.
- Once boiling, cover the pot with a lid, reduce the heat on the stove to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Remove the lid after 15 minutes and stir in the half and half and shredded cheddar cheese.
- Stir until the cheese has melted and the soup is smooth and creamy.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- Julienned carrots (optional addition) – if you want to make an exact copycat of Panera’s broccoli cheddar soup, you’ll want to mix in 1/2 cup julienned carrots with the broccoli. I’m not a huge fan of the carrots in the soup, so I leave them out. Just a personal preference, feel free to make it either way!
- To serve the soup in a bread bowl – head to the bakery section at your grocery store and look for a sourdough “mini boule or baby boule”. Cut a round hole, 3-4 inches wide, in the middle of the bread, being careful not to cut through to the bottom of the loaf. Remove the middle piece of bread. Place the bread bowl in the oven at 375°F for 10 minutes to heat it up, then ladle the soup right into the hole in the middle of the bread.
- If you really love broccoli, feel free to throw in an extra cup of florets. You can also add a cup of cauliflower florets to mix up the veggies in the soup.
- If you’d like to add a protein to the soup, add 1 cup of cooked, shredded chicken when adding the broccoli. This can be chicken pulled from a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, or you can use this easy recipe for Instant Pot Shredded Chicken.
- This recipe is naturally gluten free using the ingredients shown above, and listed in this recipe.
- To make this recipe vegetarian, use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
- Store any leftover soup in the refrigerator, in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Reheat the soup in a microwave-safe container in the microwave for 2 minutes. Or reheat it in a pot on the stove over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Nutrition Facts
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