Before I developed this recipe, I had never tried to make homemade broccoli cheddar soup. Broccoli is (one of) my favorite vegetables, so it was about time! I made some tweeks to my recipe, and thus named it white cheddar broccoli cauliflower soup.
For me, making a dish healthy is not about subtracting “bad” ingredients, it’s about adding more “good” ingredients. Therefore, I tried to load my recipe with lots of vegetables to balance with the the fat from the dairy.
I chose onion and celery as my aromatics to make a base. I added cauliflower and broccoli stems to the base and blended it in to make the soup ultra creamy.
Finally, I cut the broccoli florets so they were bite sized and added them late so they would add texture, along with a small amount of carrots for color.
Tips and Tricks for the White Cheddar Broccoli Cauliflower Soup:
- Use a quality cheddar. I chose to use a Vermont sharmp white cheddar. It is high quality, without the price tag of some artisanal cheese. Quality cheese means you can use less of it because it is more flavorful.
- On a budget? Often I find frozen store-brand cauliflower is much cheaper than buying fresh, and frozen works just as well in this recipe.
- Stick with fresh broccoli. It will yeild the best texture with crunchy-tender florets. You could use part frozen broccoli and blend it in, using a smaller amount of fresh broccoli for texture in the final soup.
- 1 TBS olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups cauliflower florets and stems
- 3 ½ cups broccoli florets and stems (from ½ lb, or 2 small heads)
- 2 cups broth
- ½ cup water (if needed)
- 1 medium carrot, sliced (about 1 cup)
- 1 cup 2% milk (Whole milk can also be used)
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp fine black pepper
- 1 cup shredded white cheddar cheese
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- Saute onion and celery in olive oil until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic, cauliflower, and 1 ½ cups broccoli, and broth. (I used all the broccoli stems here and only added as many florets as needed to yield the 1 ½ cups.) Bring to a boil and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes
- Transfer to a blender and puree, adding the water if necessary to make it smooth.
- Transfer the puree back to the pot. Add carrot, milk, salt, pepper, and remaining broccoli. Bring to a boil and simmer under the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat. Stir in cheddar cheese and lemon juice. Taste test and add more salt as needed.
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