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Is there really anything better than a hot bowl of broccoli cheddar soup on a blustery winter day? I say no. You can’t even feel too bad about eating it – even with all its creamy cheesiness – because it has SO many veggies.
Win-win in my book!
About this Recipe:
I wasn’t a big fan of soup for many, many years. (I didn’t like “drinking my food”.) Luckily, I’ve expanded my horizons in recent years and now I eat soup all the time.
But even back “then”, I couldn’t resist a bowl of broccoli cheddar soup. Even picky eaters can get on board with a bowl of cheesy goodness!
How I’ve made this recipe “my own”:
I’m always looking for ways to “hide” veggies in my cooking. Not that I don’t like veggies – I actually enjoy most vegetables – but if I can “hide” them, why not!
One of the easiest places to hide veggies is in soups. So I bulk up the veggie content of this soup by adding cauliflower and carrots. The cauliflower blends in and you hardly notice it, while the carrots add a fun pop of color.
Another way I fancy-up this recipe is by using not one, but TWO cheeses! Obviously, we have to use cheddar because it’s broccoli cheddar soup. But I also love using smoked Gouda. It’s creamy, smooth, with a touch of smokiness, and it balances really well with the traditional sharp cheddar.
While the pre-shredded cheeses in the dairy aisle will work, I find that freshly grated cheeses melt better and have a better flavor. So I usually get a couple small blocks of cheese from the cheese counter at my grocery store and shred them myself. It’s an extra step, but worth it in recipes like this where cheese is featured. (About 2/3 to 1 lb of cheese is enough for this recipe.)
Budget Tip: I like to stalk the “under $5” basket in the cheese area of the deli at my grocery store for the little odds-and-ends blocks that are discounted. Usually there’s some form of Cheddar and Gouda in there 🙂
Prep Tips:
I 100% recommend using a food processor to mince up the vegetables. In order for the soup to be smooth and creamy, the veggie pieces need to be very small. Chopping them up by hand can take a LONG time. And even then, you most likely won’t get everything chopped to a uniform size.
Not to mention… broccoli makes a huge mess when you chop it up by hand. Those little green dots fly everywhere.
Therefore, I find that the easiest thing to do is to throw the veggies (cut into reasonably sized chunks) into my Ninja food processor and let it do all the hard work. It saves me time, helps me keep my kitchen cleaner, and makes uniformly minced veggies for an evenly textured soup. Win-win all around!
Look how easy that is!
Click here to see my favorite Ninja Food Processor on Amazon.
If you don’t already own a food processor, I definitely recommend the Ninja! The link above is to the exact Ninja system I own. It has a large blender-style “pitcher”, a processor bowl, and two smoothie cups. It’s probably my second most-used kitchen appliance, after my Crock-Pot.
Speaking of Crock-Pots!!
I absolutely cannot live without Crock-Pots. I have so many of them in my basement – all shapes and sizes for every conceivable function. Seriously, I think I have eight of them.
(Yes, they’re all different in some way, shape, or form. No, it’s not too many. Yes, I use them all.)
Anyways, my “go-to/everyday” Crock-Pot is 6 quarts with a programmable digital timer and a warm setting. The programmable timer is the secret to life, for real. Just set the timer and let it do its thing! When the timer runs out, it switches to “warm” until you turn it off. You can start your dinner before work and not worry about it burning or overcooking your food. No more dry dinners with this baby!
Click here to see my favorite Crock-Pot Digital Slow Cooker on Amazon.
This one is almost identical to the one I have (I couldn’t find my specific model anymore since it’s at least 6 years old). Mine just doesn’t have those nifty lid-latches for safe transport. When mine dies, I’m definitely replacing it with this one because those lid-latches are LIFE SAVERS!!
Backstory:
I once was transporting a big batch of biscuits and sausage gravy for a breakfast event at work, and half of the gravy spilled in my trunk because it didn’t have these lid-latches.
Cream gravy. Fabric-lined trunk. It was awful. I cried. (I was pregnant, so I guess I can blame that part on the hormones.)
Needless to say, I went out and got a Crock-Pot with lid-latches after that horrific experience. But even that one is not my go-to/everyday Crock-Pot because it doesn’t have the programmable settings (it just has the manual dial).
All this is to say… you can believe me when I say 1.) I love this Crock-Pot, and 2.) I recommend the lid-latches.
Check out the notes at the bottom of the recipe card for more tips and tricks with this recipe!
I hope you enjoy my Broccoli Cheddar Soup with Smoked Gouda! If you have questions, please comment below. As always, I would love feedback and your reviews of the recipe!
Broccoli Cheddar Soup with Smoked Gouda
Is there really anything better than a hot bowl of broccoli cheddar soup on a blustery winter day? I say no. You can't even feel too bad about eating it - even with all its creamy cheesiness - because it has SO many veggies! Win-win in my book.
Ingredients
Slow Cooker
- 2 Head Broccoli
- 1/2 Head Cauliflower
- 1/2 lb Baby Carrots (about 2 cups)
- 1 Onion, quartered
- 1 T. Garlic, minced
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
- 1/4 tsp. Basil
- 1/4 tsp. Cayenne
- 1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
- 4-6 c. Chicken Broth
Before Serving:
- 1.5 c. Cheddar Cheese, shredded
- 1.5 c. Smoked Gouda, shredded
- 2 c. Heavy Cream
Instructions
- Break down the heads of broccoli and cauliflower into “florets.” Peel and quarter the onion.
- Place the veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, onion, and carrots) into a food processor and pulse until they are minced finely. Do this in batches so as not to over-fill the bowl of the food processor.
- Dump the minced veggies into the bowl of a Crock-Pot. Add all the seasonings and spices in with the veggies (everything from minced garlic down to salt and pepper).
- Pour chicken broth into the bowl. You want the veggies to be *just* covered, so that they can cook. But you don’t want to put in too much extra or the soup will be really thin and “watery”.
- Cook on LOW for 6 hours until all the veggies are soft and cooked through.
- About 20-30 minutes before serving, REMOVE THE BAY LEAF. Then, add the shredded cheese and heavy cream. Stir until the cheese has melted.
- Taste test and adjust seasonings, if needed.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Almost any cheese will work in this soup. But I recommend using a combo of Sharp Cheddar and Smoked Gouda cheeses. They play really nicely together and give the soup a smooth, creamy flavor.
- If you plan on getting blocks of cheese, about 2/3 to 1 lb of cheese is enough to make 3 cups of shredded. It doesn’t have to be exact 😉
- You don’t have to use a food processor if you don’t want – but it saves SO much time chopping up all the veggies! I highly recommend it.
- You can make this on the stove top instead of a slow cooker. Just sweat the veggies down in the pot for a few minutes (until “al dente”). Add the seasonings and broth. Simmer on medium heat for about 20-30 minutes, or until the veggies are very soft. Then reduce the heat and add the cream and cheeses.
TIPS:
- Add some protein by adding some diced ham cubes! I usually grab the package of pre-diced ham cubes from the packaged lunch meat section of the grocery store. Just heat them up in a saute pan with a touch of oil to give them a nice sear, then serve on top of the soup.
- This soup freezes really well! We usually can’t eat it all at once, so we freeze some of the leftovers for an easy dinner later. Just defrost in the fridge overnight and heat up in the microwave! (Click here to check out my FAVORITE freezer-friendly quart containers on Amazon! I seriously have 2 or 3 dozen of these in my freezer at any given point in time full of leftovers.)
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Nutrition Information
Yield 10 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 348Total Fat 29gSaturated Fat 17gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 9gCholesterol 101mgSodium 2528mgCarbohydrates 10gFiber 2gSugar 7gProtein 14g
This Nutritional information was calculated by Nutritionix.com based on the above ingredients list, and is provided as an estimation. Actual results may vary based on brands of ingredients and measurement accuracy.
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