Print

Thick and Creamy Cheddar Broccoli Soup

Print Recipe

This super thick and creamy cheddar broccoli soup is perfect for a chilly day. Serve it with some warm bread and greens for a comforting meal.

Ingredients

Scale

Sautéed Portion

  • Olive oil (As needed if bacon grease is insufficient)
  • 2 slices bacon (About 100 g)
  • 1 onion (Finely diced (About 155 g)
  • 3 cloves garlic (Minced)
  • 1½ loosely packed cups shredded carrot (About 115 g)
  • 1 large celery rib (Cut in half and sliced very thin (About 75 g)
  • 3 loosely packed cups broccoli florets from two small broccoli crowns (Chopped to about ¾ inch – About 225 g)
  • ½ loosely packed cup broccoli stems from two small broccoli crowns (Chopped to about ¼ inch – About 65 g)
  • ½ tsp dried thyme (Can omit)
  • ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (Omit if sensitive to salt)
  • ½ tsp black pepper

Soup Base

  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 5 tbsp all-purpose gluten free flour blend (I’ve used Bob’s Red Mill, Krusteaz, and Better Batter)
  • 2½ cups whole milk (2% also works)
  • ½ cup water (Add more if you prefer a thinner soup)
  • 3 loosely packed cups sharp cheddar cheese (About 250 g)

Instructions

  1. Wash, chop and shred produce and cheese

Sautée the Vegetables

  1. Fry the bacon in a medium or large saucepan until most of the fat is rendered. Remove the bacon from the pan, crumble it, and set aside for later.
  2. Sauté the onions, carrots and celery in the bacon fat for about 10 minutes over medium heat. If you run low on oil, you can add olive oil to supplement.
    NOTE: I used a non-stick pan for this, so extra oil wasn’t necessary for me, but you might need it in a stainless or aluminum pan.
  3. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant (About 2 minutes).
  4. Add the broccoli florets and stems. Sauté, stirring periodically so that nothing burns, until the florets are done to your liking. For me, this was 20 minutes on medium-low heat when there was still some crispness left to the broccoli

Prepare the soup base

  1. I recommend starting the roux around when you begin sautéing the broccoli florets
  2. Mix the water and milk together
  3. Melt the butter in a separate large saucepan or stockpot (Large enough to combine all ingredients)
  4. Add the gluten free flour a little bit at a time and fully incorporate into the butter (Standard all purpose flour is fine if you do not need to have gluten free)
  5. Let the roux cook for about 3 minutes, stirring frequently
  6. Start adding milk a bit at a time and stir the roux until the milk has been fully incorporated. As you add more milk and stir, the mixture will thin out, although in my experience it remained fairly clumpy until about 1 cup of milk was added. Once all of the milk has been incorporated, the mixture should be quite smooth, but thick. At this stage, feel free to thin the mixture out further if you prefer a thinner soup.
  7. Add the shredded cheddar cheese a little at a time. Stir frequently until the cheese melts and incorporates fully

Combine and finish

  1. Once all the cheese has been mixed into the soup base, add your sautéed vegetables and crumbled bacon. Stir thoroughly to combine
  2. Serve with gluten free bread (Or glutinous bread if you can have it!)

Notes

Photos of the soup base preparation are included in the Preparation & Photos section above.

Looking for substitutions? Click here for that section of text.

I used Diamond Crystal kosher salt for this recipe. Which type of salt you’re using is pretty important to avoid an overly salty dish – I’ve reviewed that here

Nutrition

Find it online: https://myglutenfreephd.com/thick-broccoli-cheddar-soup/