Broccoli Cheese Soup with Chicken

Depending on how long you’ve been following us this may look familiar. I posted this recipe almost a year ago in one of our first posts ever. Since our style has changed a bit since then and I never even showed a picture of it in the bowl, I figured I’d go ahead and share this with you again, or for the first time.

We really love this soup and it’s relatively easy to make once you get the hang of it. We add chicken for some added protein, but you can make it vegetarian if you prefer or if you don’t have any chicken on hand! I got inspired to learn how to make this after going to Panera for lunch way too many times. Their broccoli cheese soup is pretty good and I decided I needed to try to make it at home. I actually searched for their recipe and found this one from cd kitchen. I have tweaked it about over the last year and will link to my version of the recipe at the end of this post.

It all begins with prepping the veggies: the carrots and the broccoli. I julienned the carrots and cut the broccoli into tiny pieces. I have also used the food processor for this step in the past, but I prefer to do it by hand if I have the time.

I also cut up an onion and got that going in some butter.

I double the recipe every time I make this soup since we like it so much! I make it on our large stock pot, which is not the most photogenic. Once the onions start to get translucent, add the flour and then the cream/half n half/milk (whatever you decide to use) and make a roux. Than add the chicken stock.

After this simmers for 20 minutes, add the broccoli and carrots and let those cook in the simmering soup for another 20 minutes.

At that point, it’s time to add the cheese! We went with a New York sharp cheddar.

Add the cheese and stir it in until it’s all melted and combined into the soup.

The final step is to add salt, pepper and nutmeg.

While all of this was going on, I also cooked some chicken. I baked 3 chicken breasts and shredded them up.

I put some chicken in the bowl first, but you could add it to the pot of soup if you’d like at this point. Up to you.

The soup is creamy and full of flavor. It’s hearty enough for a meal, especially with the chicken in it, and reheats well too.

Recipe for Broccoli Cheddar Soup with Chicken