An easy, creamy, cheesy, chicken broth based broccoli soup that gives star attention to the broccoli.
Cream of Broccoli Soup
A reader asked on Twitter if I had a broccoli soup recipe, and while I had not put one up on the blog yet, I tweeted the basics to them, hoping I didn't forget anything. (I did. I forgot the garlic!)
Then, well, all I could think of the rest of the day was broccoli soup - so of course I had to make some!
Here's how.
I'm using a fairly large 1-pound head of fresh broccoli. Trim, rinse and cut it up into bite sized pieces which should yield about 5 cups broccoli.
Shred carrots. Now, you can certainly buy and use the pre-shredded carrots, although I find them to be less tender personally than shredded fresh carrots and I always have those in the produce drawer. I'm using 2 medium sized carrots which amounted to about a cup shredded. Y'all would not believe how handy this rotary shredder is!
Bring chicken stock to a boil in a soup pot. I'm using a salted version. Add the broccoli and carrots, reduce to a simmer and cook just until tender, about 10 minutes.
Transfer broccoli and carrots to a colander set over a bowl; set aside, reserving both the vegetables and the stock. I've strained mine into my Easy Greasy colander set over an 8 cup Pyrex cup to catch the stock.
Melt a stick of butter in the soup pot for the roux. I'm using unsalted.
Stir in the flour, a little at a time until fully incorporated.
Once incorporated, cook, stirring constantly, for about 3 or 4 minutes, just long enough to cook the flour.
Add the chopped onion and celery to the roux.
Cook, stirring often, until tender, but not browned, about 4 minutes.
Add the garlic and stir in, cooking another minute.
Add water to the reserved chicken stock to return it to 4 cups. Slowly begin stirring the stock into the roux until fully incorporated and bubbly.
Stir in half and half or milk.
Set aside about 1/3 of the broccoli and carrot mix and place the rest in the soup pot. Heat through, stirring regularly over medium about 5 minutes. Some of the broccoli will begin to break down. Reduce heat to low and stir in the remaining broccoli and carrots.
Stir in cheese, 1/2 cup at a time until fully incorporated. I already had a bag of pre-shredded "Fiesta" blend opened, so that's what I used.
Taste, season with salt as needed and add pepper. Between the salted broth and the cheese, I didn't use any added salt. Taste again and adjust seasonings as needed. Toss in a few red pepper flakes if you like!
For more of my favorite soup recipes, visit my page on Pinterest!
If you make this or any of my recipes, I'd love to see your results! Just snap a photo and hashtag it #DeepSouthDish on social media or tag me @deepsouthdish on Instagram!
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