Creamy Cheddar Broccoli Cauliflower Soup

Creamy, cheesy soup loaded with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery, and onions. Using basic pantry ingredients, this soup is so easy to make and comes together in less than an hour.

Maybe it’s my unending love for soups or just that I’m way too busy with a 9 month old crawling everywhere, but it seems that making one pot of soup to eat continuously all week long is the season I am in. And I’m not mad about it one bit. My fresh bread consumption is also positively correlated to my soup consumption and I’m not mad about that either.

I’ve never been a “Put Cheese On Everything” person, but I certainly married one. My husband’s love of cheese (& cream sauces) means we have an overflowing drawer of cheeses in the refrigerator at any given time. This ends up being a bonus, because I get to try different cheeses in many different recipes. I chose both white cheddar and sharp yellow cheddar for this soup. And the result is nothing short of a cheese-lover’s dream.

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Helpful tips to make the best Broccoli Cheddar soup

• Cut small veggies: I like to chop my veggies into small pieces so that they cook perfectly and quickly.
• Shred Your Own Cheese: Prepackaged cheeses are often coated with cellulose powder to keep them from clumping together. For this reason, I prefer to purchase block cheese and grate it myself.
• Use white and yellow cheddars: There is an extra level of flavor when you use two different cheeses. My favorite white cheddar is called Unexpected Cheddar and comes from Trader Joe’s.
• Add cauliflower: The earthy, subtle flavors from the cauliflower give an added flavor to regular Broccoli Cheddar soup. Broccoli and cauliflower were made for each other in vegetable heaven, so keep them together.

Immersion blender tip: If you want to puree this soup, but you also love having a few larger vegetables too, use a mesh strainer to scoop out half of the vegetables right after they are fully cooked, but before you add in the cheese. This way you can puree some of the vegetables into the soup with an immersion blender and still have larger pieces to eat as well. Add the strained out vegetables after blending soup to your desired consistency.

Ingredients List

• Dairy: butter, heavy cream, white & yellow cheddar cheeses
• Vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery, onion, garlic
• Broth: flour, chicken broth, water
• Seasonings: Salt, pepper, paprika, dijon mustard

How to make Creamy Cheddar Broccoli & Cauliflower Soup

Here is a brief overview of how this creamy soup is made, please view the recipe card below for full instructions. This will not yield an overly thick soup unless you choose to use a traditional blender or immersion blender to puree the soup into a thicker consistency. For a really thick soup, double the butter and flour or add in another cup of cheese.

1. Melt butter over low heat. Add the onion and simmer. Add the garlic.
2. Sprinkle the flour over the buttery onions and whisk.
3. Slowly pour the chicken broth into the flour mixture. Continue whisking while pouring the heavy cream and water. Whisk until a creamy (no-lump) consistency is achieved.
4. Add celery, carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower to the soup and stir. Season the soup with salt, pepper, paprika, and dijon mustard.
5. Bring to a boil on medium heat then reduce to simmer on low. Cook for 15-20 minutes, until the vegetables, especially carrots, are fork tender.
6. Once the vegetables are cooked to your liking, turn off heat. Slowly, add the grated cheddar cheese while stirring continuously to melt it in to the soup. Adjust soup seasonings as desired, adding more salt and pepper if needed.
7. If you prefer your soup to have a smooth texture, you can puree it in a blender or use an immersion blender to achieve your desired consistency. I like this soup to not be overly thick, so I leave mine the way it is written in this recipe.