You'll love this creamy and easy broccoli cheddar soup made on the stovetop that's quick, rich, and ultra comforting! Made with either frozen broccoli or fresh, we also add heavy whipping cream for richness and to thicken the soup instead of using flour. Low carb, gluten free, and keto friendly too!
You'll love this broccoli cheddar soup with frozen broccoli or fresh!
When you're looking for a a warm hug in a bowl, broccoli cheddar soup is hard to beat. We make ours as simple and quick as possible, but packed full of flavor. This is an easy recipe to add protein for making it a main dish soup, or you can even add in extra veggies for more minerals and vitamins.
We also have this as an Instant Pot broccoli cheese soup option if you want to be more hands off. Same savory and creamy flavor!
What you'll need
- Butter - if using salted butter reduce additional salt added.
- Onion, diced - any kind of onion will work! Red, yellow, white, or sweet.
- Garlic - fresh minced garlic is best, or you can use minced garlic from a jar or frozen Dourot cubes.
- Broccoli - A large bag of frozen broccoli florets, OR you can use fresh ones by washing them and cutting them into small florets. Save the leftover fresh broccoli stalks for broccoli rice.
- Chicken broth - use vegetable broth to make this a vegetarian soup or use chicken stock to make it higher in protein.
- Cream cheese - room temperature and cut into cubes
- Heavy whipping cream - we used full fat to keep the soup low carb.
- Cheddar cheese - fresh, shredded cheddar from the block to also keep the carbs down. Plus pre-shredded cheese clumps since it's coated with potato starch.
- Seasoning- sea salt, pepper, cayenne pepper
Variations
- Add protein - shredded chicken, leftover rotisserie chicken, kielbasa or other types of sausage slices, or crumbled bacon would all be yummy additions.
- Cauliflower is also a great addition. Substitute some of the broccoli with cauliflower for a great broccoli and cauliflower cheese soup!
- Make this like Panera and add shredded carrots
How to make broccoli and cheese soup with heavy whipping cream
- Heat a large soup pot or Dutch Oven over medium heat, melt the butter. Saute the onion until it starts to soften for 3-4 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
- Add the trimmed broccoli (frozen florets or fresh), salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and the chicken broth.
- Put the lid on the pot and simmer the broccoli soup on low until the broccoli is just cooked through to your liking and the soup is heated through.
- Wisk the cream cheese into the soup.
- Add the whipping cream and stir until the soup is heated through.
- Stir in the cheddar cheese ½ cup at a time. Make sure it's totally melted before adding more shredded cheddar. Enjoy!
Jenni's tips
- Cook the broccoli until it's just cooked through, it'll continue cooking when you add the dairy products.
- The easiest way to mix in the cream cheese is to cut it into cubes and then soften it in a microwave for 15-30 seconds.
- You can add a little xanthan gum or corn starch to thicken the soup if you prefer yours thicker.
- Leftovers will last for up to 4 days in the fridge. We don't really recommend freezing since dairy products can turn gritty in the freezer.
Reader questions
You can use half N half instead of heavy cream and this will still be a low carb. soup. The broccoli soup will be a little thinner, but it'll still taste great! Feel free to mix in a thicker, as mentioned below, if you want a thicker soup.
These are our favorite ways for making a thicker soup:
- Adding Vegetable Puree: One of the easiest methods is to take some of the broccoli out of the soup, puree it, then add it back to the pot.
- Xanthan Gum: This is a low carb thickener that works very well in small amounts. Start by sprinkling a small amount (about ÂĽ teaspoon) into the soup while stirring, and then wait a few minutes to allow it to thicken. Add more as desired.
- Mixing in more cheddar cheese
- Grate your cheese. Start with block cheese and grate it yourself. Pre-shredded cheeses often have anti-caking agents and it doesn’t melt as well.
- Before adding cheese, reduce the heat to low. Cheese can clump if you're trying to mix it in at higher heat. Plus it can become gritty too!
- Add it slowly. Gradually add the cheese, a handful at a time, while constantly stirring. This makes sure the cheese melts evenly and prevents clumping.
- Use high quality cheese. Lower quality cheese doesn't melt as smoothly since it often has fillers.
More low carb soups
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Recipe
Low Carb Broccoli Cheese Soup (No Flour)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon butter
- ½ medium onion
- 2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 4 cups broccoli (frozen or fresh) cut into small florets
- 4 cups chicken broth
- ½ cup cream cheese room temperature cut into cubes
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese do not buy pre-shredded
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- â…› teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat melt the butter.
- Add the onions and cook until they're starting to soften, which takes about 3-4 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
- Add the broccoli florets, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and chicken broth to the pot. Gently press the broccoli down into the liquid to make sure it's covered as much as possible.
- Put the lid on the pot and turn the heat down to low. Simmer until the broccoli is completely cooked and the soup mixture is heated through.
- Stir the cream cheese into the soup.
- Add the whipping cream and bring to a warm temperature over low.
- Once the soup is fully heated, in ½ cup batches stir the cheddar cheese into the soup making sure to fully melt the cheese before adding more.
- Serve warm and enjoy! Top with additional shredded cheddar, if desired.
Notes
- Make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature, it helps make it easier for the cream cheese to break down into the soup. Softening it in the microwave for 15-30 seconds speeds this process up.
- Gently whipping the cream cheese into the soup helps eliminate small cream cheese pieces.
- To thicken the soup you can add a little xantham gum or corn starch.
- Top with more shredded cheddar and pre-cooked bacon, if desired. Mix-ins like chicken or cut up sausage are great additions too.
- Make sure to buy a block of cheddar and shred it yourself to keep the carbs down. Pre-shredded cheese doesn't melt into soup as well since it is coated with potato starch. The starch also increases the carbs.
Barbara West says
Instructions call for adding salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper, but none are listed in the ingredients? Cayenne can be a very strong spice.
WholeLottaYum says
Thank you so much Barbara! I've fixed the recipe card. It's 1/2 tsp sea salt, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, and 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper.