Broccoli Cheese Soup

By MiMaRee

This classic Broccoli Cheese Soup recipe is simple to make, lightened up with milk instead of cream, and chocked full of the delicious broccoli and cheddar we all love!

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter or olive oil
• 1 small white onion, peeled and finely diced
• 2/3 cup diced carrots (about 1 large carrot, peeled)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3 cups good-quality vegetable or chicken stock
• 2 cups milk (I used 2%, but any kind of milk will work)
• 3-4 cups chopped broccoli florets (about 1 medium head of broccoli)
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 8 ounces freshly-grated* part-skim sharp cheddar cheese, plus more for serving

Details

Servings 6
Preparation time 10mins
Cooking time 35mins
Adapted from gimmesomeoven.com

Preparation

Step 1

Heat butter (or olive oil) in a large stockpot over medium-high heat until melted.  Add onion and carrots and saute for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until both are cooked through and the onion is translucent.  Stir in the garlic and saute for an additional 1 minute, then stir in the flour and saute for an additional 1 minute.

Whisk in the chicken stock until it is evenly combined.  Stir in the milk, broccoli, mustard, salt and black pepper until combined.  Continue cooking, stirring every few minutes, until the soup reaches a simmer.  Reduce heat to medium and continue to simmer the soup for another 6-8 minutes, until the broccoli is cooked through and soft.  Stir in the freshly-grated cheddar cheese until it is completely melted and evenly mixed into the soup.

Serve immediately, topped with extra cheese if desired.

*Be sure to freshly-grate the cheddar (yourself) from a block of cheese for this recipe.  The store-bought shredded bagged cheeses have a coating on them that makes it difficult for the cheese to smoothly melt, so it’s better to grate the cheese yourself.  If you don’t have a grater, you can also just dice the cheese into small cubes which will also melt well.