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.
This soup is delicious! I am surprised how creamy the cauliflower made it. We will be making this again. Thanks for this recipe.
Cauliflower blends up so smooth doesn’t it! Thanks for letting us know you enjoyed the recipe, Ellen!