Broccoli Soup Thick Creamy

Don’t forget warm crusty bread for dunking!

Broccoli Soup

I’m long overdue for a “green” recipe!! And there’s plenty of green in this recipe, with two giant heads of broccoli in it…..though there’s a decent wack of CHEESE to! 😉 But seriously, I joke about this being cheesy and there definitely IS cheese flavour in this. But because of the way I make this, it’s creamy and cheesy but it’s still rather healthy, clocking in at 280 calories if you make this without cream, and just 360 calories with.

A little different to the usual…

You’ll find many creamy broccoli soups are made with a roux, being melted butter mixed with flour which thickens the soup, then broccoli pieces are tossed in and cooked in that thickened soup. I prefer making broccoli soup by cooking the broccoli until soft then blitzing it up to make a naturally thick and creamy soup. This way you actually get lovely broccoli flavour in the soup, rather than a generic creamy broth with bits of broccoli in it. Bonus is that it’s healthier!

What you need for creamy Broccoli Soup

Here’s all you need:

broccoli – fresh or frozen (lots – 700g/1.4lb!) butter, garlic and onion – flavour base chicken or vegetable broth/stock + water – for simmering / soup broth cheese & cream for finishing

Cream is optional! Does it make it tastier? Of course it does! Anyone who tells you otherwise is outright lying. It adds a layer of richness that you don’t get if you skip it or use milk instead. But I make it without cream most of the time because cream isn’t part of my standard weekly shop. Still delicious, still creamy, still cheesy – just better for your waistline!

How to make it

And here’s how to make it. A quick saute of garlic and onion to create the flavour base, then tip everything else in a simmer away: chicken or vegetable stock/broth, water, broccoli and potato. When the broccoli is very tender (a good 15 minutes or so) blitz away until it all purees into a thick, creamy soup. Then stir in the cream and cheese (the heat melts it super quickly) and serve.

The hit of cheddar cheese in this broccoli soup adds flavour and an element of tasty naughtiness into an otherwise very healthy soup. 😈 I stir most in the soup but I like to reserve bit to sprinkle on top. Because by the time the soup gets to the table, that extra cheese starts to ooze so when you dunk the bread into it, it looks like this…..

There really is something about dunking crusty bread into thick and creamy soups, isn’t there??? Luckily, I have a decent selection of soup dunkers around these parts!!

Soup Dunkers

So – if I haven’t convinced you already, one more reason to make this Broccoli Soup is that it freezes 100% perfectly and lasts for days and days in the fridge. It’s creamy and comforting, filling and yet HEALTHY and full of nutrition. Win, win, win! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

Originally published 6 January 2016, updated 21 October 2019 with new photos, step photos, new video and most importantly, Life of Dozer section added!

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