Ever since I posted about Bread Bowls, I've been craving them with Broccoli Cheese Soup. Its one of my favorites. I've been making this recipe of it for some time now and really like it. I originally found it when I was searching for a restaurant type copy cat recipe. I was wanting something like what you get at McAllister's Deli. This recipe is actually supposedly like Panera Bread's. I haven't ever eaten Panera Bread's, but whether it is or isn't, it is a really good soup! Hope you like it as much as we do, in a bread bowl or just on its own!
Broccoli Cheese Soup
1 Tbs butter
½ medium onion, chopped
¼ cup butter
¼ cup flour
2 cups half and half (see notes below)
2 cups chicken stock
½ lb (250g) fresh broccoli, chopped finely
1/3 cup carrots, grated
salt and pepper to taste
¼ tsp nutmeg
8 oz grated cheese
Saute onion in 1 Tbs butter. Set aside. Melt butter and add flour using a whisk over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Stir constantly and slowly add the half and half. Add the chicken stock whisking all the time. Simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add the broccoli, carrots, and onions. Cook over low heat until the veggies are tender for 15-20 minutes. Add salt and pepper. The soup should be thickened by now. Pour in batches into blender and puree. Return to pot over low heat and add the grated cheese; stir until well blended. Stir in the nutmeg and serve.
Notes:
I usually put about 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1 1/2 cups milk in place of the half and half. It would also probably work fine with evaporated milk as part or all. If all you have is whole milk, just use that! It will lose a little thickness and richness, but that's okay!
My favorite cheese for this is cheddar, by far. The sharper the better! I've also used gouda. One time I just had some Campbell's condensed cheese soup someone had sent or brought and I used about half the can. There have been other times that all I used was 6-8 slices of processed sandwich cheese. Make do with what you have available!
When I first made this, we were going for something like McAllister's Deli, which is a little chunky, not pureed. So I just finely chopped all my veggies and skipped the blender part. Sometimes I blend some of it but not all of it. Sometimes, smoother sounds good and I blend it all. We've liked it every way we've tried it.
My husband especially loves Panera Bread Broccoli Cheese Soup. I tried this and he could not stop saying how good it was! I did it along with the bread bowls. Amazing!! Definitely a winner! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYeah, Sarah! Glad he liked it! Brian loves it, too. And glad to know it lives up to being like Panera Bread's! Someone else I made this for once also loves theirs and thought it was a pretty close version of it, too.
ReplyDeleteI just made your broccoli cheese soup in the bread bowls for supper...wow, you hit it out of the park! So good, I don't even really like broccoli very much! Thanks for sharing. :)
ReplyDeleteSoooo good. I LOVE having these recipes all online in one easy spot. Really. You are the best blogging sister ever.
ReplyDeleteThis was good -- but really rich! (I do confess for the "half and half" I used half heavy (whipping) cream and half whole milk...) I actually really liked the taste before adding the cheese (I used extra-sharp trader joe's cheddar we brought back from the states haha), and found I needed to re-salt and pepper it after adding. I might make it without cheese sometime! Or add more chicken broth next time. Anyway, a keeper for sure. Didn't make the bread bowls but did serve it with homemade bread :)
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