This creamy, cheesy, easy broccoli cheddar potato soup comes together quickly on the stovetop for a crowd-pleasing weeknight meal that everyone will love.
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“Surprisingly easy and quick. Turned out great! Really nice winter dinner when broccoli, potatoes and onions were all on sale.” -Judith, FoodieCrush reader
This Soup Is Made in One Pot, with 10 Ingredients, in Just 30 Minutes!
Right alongside French Onion Soup and Chicken Noodle Soup, I’ve loved broccoli cheese soup since I was a kid. Yes, even the broccoli bits because cheese with broccoli is masking magic.
As an adult, I sought a version that was a healthy-ish revision of my childhood fave. One that didn’t sacrifice flavor in its ingredient modifications. I’m proud to report this easy broccoli cheddar soup recipe does the job.
It’s lightened up with a few simple swaps — whole milk instead of heavy cream (I swear you’d never know), and like in my simple Potato Soup recipe, I’ve cooked it with potato and then blended part of it for extra creaminess, less butter, and less cheese — but no less flavor.
Fret not, this broccoli potato cheese soup is still supremely creamy and cheesy.
Heidi’s Tip: How to Prevent the Cheese From Clumping Up
There’s a trick to adding the cheese so the broccoli potato cheddar soup doesn’t break and turn into a chunky mess.
- First, toss your freshly shredded cheese in a bit of flour
- Add it to the soup in small batches
- Stir each batch until completely melted before adding another.
If you dump all of the cheese in at once, that’s what you’ll have…dumpy soup instead of creamy soup. And what kid of any age is gonna want to eat that?
You’ll Need These Basic Ingredients
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Butter — Just 1 tablespoon adds a nice buttery flavor without having to go overboard.
- Yellow onion — My favorite flavor foundation for most soups.
- Potatoes — Spoiler: there’s no cream in this recipe, just milk and chicken stock. The creamy factor to the broth is thanks to potatoes cooked in the broth that have then seen the bottom side of my immersion blender before the broccoli goes in.
- Chicken broth — You can use vegetable broth to make it vegetarian.
- Kosher salt and pepper — If your soup tastes at all bland after it’s simmered away, it likely just needs more salt.
- Broccoli florets —I used fresh broccoli, but if you keep a prepared freezer stocked with frozen broccoli and you have potatoes and cheese on hand, this is a great recipe to pull out of your magic hat when you’re not sure what to cook for dinner tonight.
- Whole milk — This has a good amount of fat, which will make this soup super creamy and flavorful. In a pinch, you could probably get away with 2% milk, but I don’t recommend using milk with less fat than that.
- Shredded cheddar cheese — I prefer medium cheddar, use sharp cheddar cheese if you prefer a stronger cheese flavor.
- Flour — I always toss the cheese with flour before stirring into soups to keep it smooth and melty.
How to Make Broccoli Cheddar Potato Soup in 30 Minutes Flat
- Sauté the onion in a little butter. It’s always a good sign when any recipe starts with butter and onions.
- Sauté the potatoes until fork-tender. Then, blend the mixture with an immersion blender to make it smooth.
- Add the broccoli and milk to the soup and cook until the broccoli is al dente.
- Add the cheese to the soup 1 cup at a time, stirring until melted between additions.
Heidi’s Tip: This broccoli potato soup is best enjoyed immediately. I like to garnish my bowl with a twist of freshly ground black pepper and an additional sprinkle of cheese.
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.
Broccoli Cheddar Potato Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 medium yellow onion , chopped
- 3 large white potatoes , peeled and cubed
- 4 cups chicken broth (use vegetable broth to keep vegetarian)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 cups broccoli florets*
- 3 cups whole milk
- 3 cups shredded medium cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 4-5 minutes, until softened, stirring occasionally.
- Add the cubed potatoes, chicken broth, and kosher salt and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a rolling simmer and cook the potatoes for about 8 minutes or until soft and easily pierced with a fork. Whiz the potatoes and broth with an immersion blender to the consistency you desire (I like to leave some chunks of potato), or mash with a potato masher.
- Add the broccoli florets and the milk and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cooking for 5-7 minutes or until the broccoli is al denté.
- Toss the cheese with the flour and add to the soup 1 cup at a time, stirring until melted before adding the next batch of cheese. Season with black pepper and more salt to taste.
Notes
Nutrition
Side Dish Suggestions
Want to Freeze This Soup? Here’s Why I Don’t Recommend It
In general, soups made with a dairy-rich base don’t freeze very well. The cheese and milk mixture tends to split once frozen, and once reheated the texture isn’t very appetizing.
More 30-Minute Soup Recipes You’ll Love
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Sebastian
Just made this soup. It is delicious. Followed every step and didnt have to add to much extra seasoning, a little salt and pepper with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese . Scrapping the side of the bowl delicious.
Ashley @ Foodie Crush
Thanks so much Sebastian!
Liza
Just made this soup and it was great! Added carrots and celery seeds to the onions. Used broccoli and the stems and reduced the milk by 1/2 cup. I also used Cabot sharp white cheddar and left out the flour. To top it all off I cut brunoise potatoes and crisped them in the oven to get a nice and crunchy topping.
Ashley @ Foodie Crush
Those sound like great modifications. Thanks for sharing, Liza.
Stacy
This soup is delicious!! I had a small stalk of fresh broccoli that I wanted to use and 3 large russet potatoes so I searched for a soup recipe with broccoli and potatoes- so glad I found yours! Also, since there are just two of us, we finished the soup for lunch today, 4 days after I made it – and it held up perfectly. We love soup- thank you for a great recipe!
That’s awesome Stacy! So glad you liked it!!! And yes, leftovers are always good at our house too.
Kristel
This recipe was fantastic! My husband really enjoyed there flocked and the thickness of this soup! I added corn to this recipe to give an additional veggie. Thanks for sharing!
Ashley @ Foodie Crush
Yum! Thanks for sharing the corn tip
Sheree
We love broccoli, we love cheese. This recipe was so easy to make and tasted delicious. I used Fontina and Asiago cheeses. Smooth and silky. Da Bomb
Tim Carroll
My wife is a vegetarian so I am wondering if using vegetable broth was seriously (and negatively) impact the taste
Ashley @ Foodie Crush
It definitely would be a good sub to make this vegetarian!
John
Made this and got big smiles! Served with toasted sandwiches. Great easy supper.
Kayel
I added a tad bit of bacon grease and some bacon to this recipe and it was hands down the best soup I’ve ever had. Super excited fall is coming and I can make this soup again. Great recipe with baguettes.
Kayel, so glad you liked it. Bacon is a great idea to add, perfect pairing with broccoli and potatoes. :)
Elizabeth
I noticed you had the servings up there, but not calories…do you know the calories per serving? I’d like to know just for reference…even though I ALWAYS end up eating more than one bowl of this! It is SUPER yummy and always turns out great for us. My husband literally eats 3 bowls every time.
Charles D
is it ok to eat progresso cheesy broccoli potato soup soup cold/straight out of the can
Bee
Wowwwww! I adore broccoli soup AND potato soup… but it never occurred to me to combine them! I bet the potato gives a lovely creamy texture. I want to try this soup recipe next week, thanks so much!
Ashley @ Foodie Crush
You’ll love it! More filling too!
Trissy Castagna
Made this soup last night, and everyone loved it. I used my immersion blender at the end, after I mashed the potatoes earlier with the masher. I used half broccoli, since that was what I had on hand, and subbed half chicken broth/half beef broth. My family loved it!! Will make again.
Ashley @ Foodie Crush
I am so happy to hear that!! Thanks Trissy.
Eve
Does anyone have any thoughts for me on how to adapt this recipe to make it in the Instant Pot? I just got one and this will be the first recipe I attempt that hasn’t specifically been written for it. Thank you in advance!
Kim
This was SO good!! The only thing I did different was use 6 large potatoes because I already them peeled and then added sour cream to my bowl. The tast was exactly what I was looking for when I went searching for a potato and broccoli soup recipe! Thank you!
Ashley @ Foodie Crush
Thank you so much Kim! I am glad that this was just what you were looking for
Angela
Can this soup be made without cheese I’m lactose intolerance
Matt
I used coconut milk. There are cheeses without lactose you could put in there but not sure which ones.
Jen
What adjustments would you make, if any, for crock pot cooking?
Michelle Gauthier
Thank you! So simple to make even on a week day! Hubby loved it & only change I made was to add some bacon per his request. So filling & great for a rainy fall dinner
C.L.
Has anybody tried using a nut milk for this? I don’t have an aversion to dairy, but I do have some almond milk that needs to be used soon!
M.
This soup was absolutely delicious! The only tweaks I made were using veggie broth + 1/4 of a veggie bouillon cube, and added 1 large garlic clove. This is going to be a staple in my home. Thx!
Ashley Sorenson
Those adjustments sound delicious! Thanks M!
Teresa Harshaw
Awesome recipe and so easy make! Loved it and so did my husband.
Ciana
Hey!
I love your blog! Pics look so tasty mmmm. I would like to cook all these lovely recipes.
Camille barry
I made this tonight. I had leftover mashed potatoes so it was super fast to make! I added ham that I still had from Easter brunch. I used fresh broccoli and a mixture of half and half and 1% milk as I wanted to use up (I didn’t use quite 3 cups because I didn’t want it too thin). Cheese melted perfectly-used an old cheddar. No dumpy soup!
Suzie
Very good recipe, thank you for posting. It works for my meat eaters and the single non-meat eater in my household – I cooked up some bacon to add to the top for those who wanted it.
Cristina
Have made this soup today. Absolutely delicious! Followed the recipe but, being a thrifty person, I also added some of the broccoli stem to the potatoes. Will definitely make this again. Thank you very much!
Hi Christine, and so smart to use ALL of the broccoli. They add more body, have all the nutrients, and so no need to waste, right??! Thanks for the comment!
anagonzalez
I made this soup today, and I don’t regret it, the soup was so delicious! I really recommended it, very easy to do too.