Broccoli Cheese Soup (Instant Pot, Crock-pot)
This amazing instant pot broccoli cheese soup is the ultimate comfort food and is so easy to prepare with a pressure cooker (or crock-pot!) Broccoli cheddar soup will surely become a family favorite, plus it's low carb, keto, gluten free, and vegetarian too!
Ingredients
- 2 T butter
- ½ sweet onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- 4 cups small broccoli florets
- 4 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ cup cream cheese
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 cups medium cheddar shredded
Instructions
Instant Pot
- Melt the butter in your instant pot with the saute setting on high
- Saute the diced onions for 3-4 minutes, add minced garlic and cook for 30 more seconds
- Add the broccoli, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and chicken broth to the instant pot. Cook on manual high (or pressure cook depending on your model) for 1 minute. Immediately do a quick release.
- Stir in ½ cup of cream cheese until melted. Add the whipping cream and stir until the cream of broccoli soup is heated through.
- Stir in the shredded cheddar cheese a ½ cup at a time until melted. Make sure it's melted before adding another ½ cup. This prevents cheese clumping. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Slow Cooker
- Combine the broccoli, garlic, and onion in a crock-pot. Add the chicken stock, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Set your slower cooker to the LOW setting for 4-5 hours.
- After 4+ hours when the broccoli and vegetables are cooked through, you'll need to turn the heat to HIGH to finish cooking the soup.
- We HIGHLY recommend grating your cheese from a block and not using pre-shredded cheese. Pre-shredded cheese is mixed with potato starch and it often doesn't melt very well. You'll get much better results if you grate your own cheese.
- Mix in the shredded cheddar cheese a little at a time, if you stir it all in together cheese has a tendency to clump and stick. Take about a ½ cup of cheese at a time, and stir until it's melted before adding another ½ cup of cheese.
- Stir in the cream cheese until completely melted.
- Add the whipping cream and stir to combine. Serve immediately. You can substitute half n half if you want a soup slightly less rich.
- The broccoli cheddar soup thickens upon standing if it's thicker than you prefer simply add a little chicken broth until it's the desired consistency. Enjoy!
Notes
Whipping cream does not curdle under pressure but if you're trying to lighten the soup up a bit and want to swap half and half or milk, stir it in after pressure cooking.
To keep the soup keto friendly and low carb, look for 0 carb dairy products and be sure to shred the cheese from a block instead of buying pre-shredded.
Shredded cheese from a block works best in the recipe and melts better since pre-shredded packaged cheese is covered with potato starch and doesn't break down as well.
Feel free to swap out the vegetables for cauliflower to make a cauliflower cheese soup or change the type of cheese you're using.
Nutrition
Serving: 1servingCalories: 443kcalCarbohydrates: 5.1gProtein: 11gFat: 41gFiber: 0.3g
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