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Broccoli Cheddar Soup

A thick, smooth broccoli cheddar soup that stays velvety instead of grainy: a light roux, small florets simmered just tender, and sharp cheddar stirred in off the heat.

Prep
15 min
Cook
30 min
Makes
Serves 6
Jump to the recipe
A pot of broccoli cheddar soup with a spoon lifting a floret
Photo: Terrance Barksdale / Pexels

Broccoli cheddar soup goes grainy for one reason: the cheese got too hot. Cheddar is fat and protein held together in an emulsion. Heat it past its comfort point, or drop it into a pot at a rolling boil, and the proteins clump while the fat separates, leaving a soup that looks curdled and feels sandy on the tongue. The cure is simple and has nothing to do with the recipe's ingredients: take the pot off the heat before the cheese goes in, and add it a handful at a time.

The second rule is to grate the cheese yourself. Pre-shredded cheddar is tossed in potato starch or cellulose so the shreds do not stick together in the bag. That coating stops it melting smoothly and is half the reason a bowl turns gritty. A block of sharp cheddar and a box grater take two minutes and make a visible difference.

Sharp or extra-sharp cheddar matters for flavor as well. Mild cheddar melts beautifully but disappears once it is diluted in five cups of broth and milk. An aged cheddar keeps its tang. A little Dijon mustard and a pinch of cayenne push the cheese flavor further without tasting of either.

The base is a roux: butter and flour cooked together for a minute before the liquid goes in. It is what gives the soup body and, just as importantly, it stabilizes the cheese. Starch coats the proteins and keeps them from clumping, which is why a cheese sauce built on a roux is far more forgiving than cheese melted into plain cream.

Broccoli wants a short simmer. Small florets, cut no bigger than a bite, are tender in eight to ten minutes; much longer and they turn khaki and start to smell of cabbage. Do not throw away the stems. Peeled and diced small, they are sweet and tender, and they go into the pot with the onion so they have time to soften.

Texture is up to you. Some people like a fully smooth soup, some want visible florets. A good middle ground is to blend about a third of the pot with an immersion blender, which thickens the body and leaves plenty of broccoli to bite into. If you blend everything, the soup turns a uniform pale green, which is fine but less appealing in a bowl.

Serve it with crusty bread or in a bread bowl. For a lighter companion, crunch salad cuts through the richness. On a soup night, French onion soup is the other cheese-topped bowl, spinach tortellini soup is a creamy bowl that eats as a full meal, and vegetable beef soup is the heartier, brothier choice.

A bowl of broccoli soup topped with shredded cheddar
Photo: Shameel mukkath / Pexels

The broccoli cheddar soup card

A thick, smooth broccoli cheddar soup that stays velvety instead of grainy: a light roux, small florets simmered just tender, and sharp cheddar stirred in off the heat.

The pot, then the cheese

For the soup

  • 4 tbsp (55 g) unsalted butter
  • 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and grated
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • ¼ cup (30 g) all-purpose flour
  • 3 cups (710 ml) chicken or vegetable broth
  • 2 cups (475 ml) whole milk
  • 1 lb (450 g) broccoli, florets cut bite-size and stems peeled and diced
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • ½ tsp fine salt, plus more to taste
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper
  • Pinch of ground nutmeg

To finish

  • 3 cups (300 g) sharp cheddar, grated from a block
  • ½ cup (120 ml) heavy cream (optional, for a richer soup)

Roux, simmer, cheese off the heat

  1. 1 Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and diced broccoli stems and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the carrots and garlic and cook 1 minute more.
  2. 2 Sprinkle in the flour and stir constantly for 1–2 minutes, until it coats the vegetables and smells toasty rather than raw.
  3. 3 Slowly pour in the broth, whisking, then the milk. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring often, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
  4. 4 Add the broccoli florets, Dijon, salt, pepper, cayenne and nutmeg. Simmer gently until the florets are tender but still green, 8–10 minutes. Do not let it boil hard.
  5. 5 For a thicker body, blend about one third of the soup with an immersion blender, or ladle a third into a blender, purée and return it to the pot.
  6. 6 Take the pot off the heat. Stir in the cheddar a handful at a time, waiting for each to melt before adding the next. Stir in the cream, if using.
  7. 7 Taste and adjust the salt. If the soup needs rewarming, do it over low heat only, stirring, and never let it bubble.

Rescuing grainy soup, freezing and bread bowls

  • Grainy soup: if it does turn, take it off the heat and blend it smooth with an immersion blender. It will not be perfect but will be much better.
  • Make ahead: refrigerate up to 4 days. Reheat gently over low heat, stirring, with a splash of milk to loosen it.
  • Freezing: cheese soups can separate when frozen. If you plan to freeze it, freeze before adding the cheese, then stir the cheese into the reheated soup.
  • Frozen broccoli: use 1 lb (450 g) frozen florets, added straight from frozen and simmered 6–8 minutes.
  • Bread bowls: hollow out 6 small round sourdough loaves, toast the bowls at 350°F (180°C) for 8 minutes so they do not leak, and fill just before serving.

Graininess, thickness and the right cheddar

The cheese overheated, or it was pre-shredded and coated in starch. Add freshly grated cheddar off the heat, a little at a time, and never boil the soup once the cheese is in.

Blend part of the soup, which uses the broccoli itself to thicken it. Or simmer it a few minutes longer before adding the cheese. A slurry of 1 tbsp cornstarch in 2 tbsp cold water also works.

Sharp or extra-sharp cheddar grated from a block. A mix of cheddar with a little Gruyère or Monterey Jack melts even more smoothly and keeps the tang.

Yes. Skip the roux, simmer the soup, then blend half of it to thicken. The soup will be a little less stable, so be even more careful to add the cheese off the heat.

Yes, and you should. Peel off the tough outer layer, dice the stems small and cook them with the onion. They are sweet and soften completely.