It’s like Panera, but healthier. Soup season is here! Lots of hidden veggies in this one — my kids eat anything doused in cheddar cheese.
It’s much easier to make any kind of creamy blended soup if you have an immersion blender. This is the exact one I have. Before I had an immersion blender, I used to transfer the soup to the food processor and it was a horrible, messy process. I highly recommend immersion blenders — I couldn’t function without one.
If you want to leave some of the broccoli chunks unblended, that’s fine. It’s a judgement call, personal preference how much you want to blend up these veggies. (I like a well-blended soup because my children are more likely to eat it.)
Also, I topped this soup with some crusty bread. At some point, soon, I’ll write my no-knead bread tutorial. We always bake our own bread so we can control the sodium content, and it’s a lot easier than you think.
Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Ingredients
- 2 carrots (diced)
- 2 celery sticks (diced)
- 2 green onions (chopped)
- 1 broccoli crown (cut into small florets)
- 1½ teaspoon olive oil
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1½ cups fat-free half and half
- 4 ounces reduced-fat cheddar cheese (shredded)
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Whisk the flour and chicken stock together; set aside
- Chop up the carrots, celery and green onions.
- Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Cook the carrots, celery and green onions for about 6 minutes, until the vegetables are tender-crisp.
- Add the flour/chicken stock mixture and the broccoli to the pot.
- Turn the heat up to medium-high, the mixture to a boil. Then, turn the heat down low and simmer for about 10 minutes until the broccoli is soft.
- Stir in the half-and-half
- Use an immersion blender to blend the soup until it is smooth.
- Stir in the shredded cheddar cheese and black pepper
