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This Panera Bread copycat Broccoli Cheese Soup is a thick, rich, and creamy soup with tender broccoli, shredded carrots, and a hint of nutmeg, all cooked together with melted cheese. It’s so delicious and easy to make!
Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy to Make: This soup is easy to make. Get your ingredients in the pot and let it do its thing.
- Convenient: I love getting this soup when I go to Panera Bread, but I don’t like what it does to my wallet! This way, I can make a big batch that doesn’t break the bank.
- Comfort Food: There isn’t much better than eating a warm bowl of soup with homemade rolls and a crisp salad on a cold day.
Ingredients in Broccoli Cheese Soup
This soup is so easy and delicious. Try topping your soup with extra cheese, crumbled bacon or ham, and some chives for a full broccoli cheese soup experience.
- Butter: I used unsalted butter in this recipe.
- Onion: You can use a white or yellow onion for this soup.
- Flour: The flour is used along with the butter to create a roux. The roux is what will make your soup thick and creamy.
- Half-and-half: The half-and-half makes your broccoli cheese soup ultra-thick, rich, and creamy. You can also use heavy whipping cream instead.
- Chicken Stock: This adds flavor to the base of the soup.
- Broccoli: I use fresh broccoli for this recipe. If you use frozen, cook it in the microwave first and add it to the soup once the veggies are done sauteing.
- Carrot: I buy shredded carrots to save myself time!
- Nutmeg: This secret ingredient adds so much flavor!
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese: This adds color and flavor to this classic soup.
- Salt and Pepper: Just a pinch is enough.
How to Make Broccoli Cheese Soup
This broccoli cheese soup comes together super easily, and it’s a great meal to make ahead of time and eat for lunch or dinner.
- Make a Roux: Sauté the onion in 1 tablespoon melted butter and set aside. In a large pot, stir the melted butter and flour over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes.
- Whisk: Slowly whisk in half and half of the chicken stock. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes.
- Add Vegetables: Add the broccoli, carrots, and onions. Let them simmer on medium-low for about 25 minutes until the broccoli and carrots are tender.
- Add Seasonings and Cheese: Add nutmeg, salt, pepper, and sharp cheddar cheese. Let the cheese melt, and then serve. For a smoother soup, puree the soup.
Can I Use Different Cheeses
Yes! You can try out all sorts of varieties of cheese in this recipe, depending on your taste preference. Here are a few that I recommend:
- Cheddar Cheese
- Colby Jack Cheese
- Swiss Cheese
- American Cheese
- White Cheddar Cheese
- Velveeta Cheese
- Parmesan Cheese
Variations and Substitutions
This copycat Panera Bread Broccoli Cheese Soup is so delicious; there are ways to change it up to fit your needs!
- Fresh or Frozen Broccoli: Fresh broccoli is preferred, but frozen broccoli will also work. Frozen tends to cook faster because it is already blanched.
- Change the Broth: If you want to make this recipe vegetarian or don’t have chicken broth, vegetable broth also works well.
- Want some heat? Add in a pinch of cayenne or red pepper flakes to the broccoli cheese soup recipe.
- Cream Substitute: You can substitute the half and half for heavy cream or even whole milk. Heavy cream will make the soup a bit thicker, and whole milk will make it a bit thinner.
- Shred Cheese from the Block: Pre-shredded cheese has a coating on it that makes it more difficult to melt. When you shred your cheese directly from the block, it gives the soup a very creamy and smooth consistency with no lumps.
Can I Make Broccoli Cheese Soup in the Slow Cooker?
Yes! Sometimes, this is the best option when you aren’t around to make this right away. The soup can heat up, and it’s ready to serve whenever you need it to be!
- Make a Roux: Make a roux by whisking together the flour and butter.
- Combine: Add all of the ingredients to your slow cooker, but leave out the cheese and milk.
- Cook: Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 5-6 hours.
- Add in Dairy Ingredients: About 20 minutes before the soup is done, add in the milk and cheese to the slow cooker. Cook everything together for about 20 minutes. It’s ready to serve when the cheese is all melted.
Storing Leftover Brocolli Cheese Soup
Leftover broccoli cheese soup is so delicious (almost better!) the next day. Here is how you can properly store it for as long as possible.
- In the Refrigerator: Let your soup cool, and then place it in an airtight container and store it in your fridge. It will last 4-5 days.
- In the Freezer: Let the soup cool and pour it into a ziplock bag. Label it with the date and lay the soup flat in the freezer. It will last about one month.
- Reheating: To reheat your broccoli cheese soup, place it in a saucepan over low to medium heat for about 4 to 5 minutes or microwave it in 1 to 2-minute increments. Stirring slowly each time until it is warmed through.
Serve it with Bread
Serve up your delicious broccoli cheese soup with any of these breads. They are perfect for dipping, and then you have the most delicious meal on any cold, wintery day!
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Copycat Panera Bread Broccoli Cheese Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/2 medium white onion, chopped
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 3 cups half-and-half
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 2 cups fresh broccoli florets
- 1 cup carrots, shredded
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 3 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Sauté the onion in 1 tablespoon melted butter and set aside. In a large pot whisk together the melted butter and flour over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes.
- Slowly whisk in the half and half and chicken stock. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes.
- Add the broccoli, carrots, and onions. Let them simmer on medium low for about 25 minutes until the broccoli and carrots are tender.
- Add nutmeg, salt, pepper, and sharp cheddar cheese. Let the cheese melt and then serve. For a smoother soup puree the soup.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
BETTER THAN PANERA! This recipe was great – everyone loved it. I only made a couple tweaks which was doubling the chicken stock and omitting the nutmeg (I don’t like the taste).
Did you double the stock to make it more ‘soupy’? Mine it a little too thick and my kids don’t like the texture.
I would either double the stock or lessen the roux you made.
I also added more chicken stock and added extra nutmeg 🙂
Can you freeze the Broccoli soup?
Yes, this is a great soup to freeze! Enjoy! XOXO
Do you freeze it once it’s completed or before you add cheese?
Hi Annie!
I would suggest to freeze before you add the cheese. The cheese will taste much better that way.
Thanks for following along!
I definitely want to follow you! I love Broccoli & Cheese Soup, so I will be trying this soon & look forward to whatever you post next!
Thanks for this delicious recipe. My family agrees with me that it tastes even better than Panera! I cheated and made pizza dough breadbowls, but as soon as I get a hold on some good sourdough, I’m making this again.
That is AWESOME! I do love Panera but having this soup in my pajamas on a cool night, is perfection!! I love the idea of pizza dough bread bowls! I will have to try that soon!! Thanks for sharing! XOXO
I made this for lunch today. Really good. I took a large ladle full out after step 3, used an immersion blender to puree the rest, put the ladle full back to the pot and finished. I also added a couple of sprigs of Thyme only because I had it in the fridge. It was very thick. I will add a little extra broth next time. Excellent recipe. I will add this to my “yummy”‘ recipes and make again. Thank you
Just curious if this can be made in a crock pot and if you would change it a little bit??
Yep! I have before. Just cook everything including the veggies in chicken broth first and then add the cheese and heavy cream at the end.
How long do you cook it for in the crockpot?
I would recommend 4 to 6 hours on low. You can keep it warm once it is cooked through. Enjoy! XOXO
Greet recipe for high fat, low carb eaters like me. I just replaced the flour with almond flour. Plenty of full fat cheese really brought this soup home…thanks for posting.
Oh yeah I used heavy whipping cream instead of half and half….delish =)
Anybody know nutrition info? Like carb count, etc.
Thank you so much!! I have Celiac and can no longer have Panera Soup and I LOVED it. I made this last night and it was fabulous! Gluten free flour was the only sub and who would ever notice with the great blends they have these days. This was a real treat!
Which gluten free flour did you use?
I usually don’t comment on anything, but this soup is DELICIOUS!!
Do you cook the broth and cream for 20 minutes then add broccoli for another 25 minutes like you have posted. If so then the cook time should be listed as 45 minutes not 30 minutes. And total time should be 1 hr not 45 minutes. I plan on trying this due to I love this soup.
Every once in a while, you run across a recipe that is just wonderful. I found that with this one. I made it tonight for the first time. First, thank goodness for all the comments. I replaced the nutmeg with salt, garlic powder (I didn’t have any season salt), 1/2 tsp. dry mustard, and 1/2 tsp. paprika as recommended, and about 4 cups of brocolli.
I make my own stock, but forgot to label some of it so it was either vegetable or mushroom. I used about half the cheese in the soup, and the rest on top. The recipe says 4 servings which was just enough for my wife and I. She absolutely loved this soup as did I. This is definitely a keeper. ( I have a note book so I copy and print off the recipe so I can print in in a larger font which makes it easier for these old eyes to read easily). I highly recommend this one. I
Alyssa, I have made this soup almost every way suggested in the comments and your original recipe is our favorite. Thanks so much from a busy working single mom and her finicky 13-year-old daughter who loves Panera’s soup (now loves your recipe just as much!). Thanks!
I made this soup for the umteenth time today. We love it. Definitely use a lot more broccoli , maybe 4 Cups. I use fat free 1/2 & 1/2 instead of cream, but today I used 1% milk. It is the best!
Thank you for your feedback! We love this recipe as well. 🙂
Made this recipe pretty much as written and it was awesome. Had to subsititute some milk and extra flour to make up for the cream I didn’t have but it turned out great in spite of the lack of correct ingredients. Will definitely keep making this for my family and everyone complimented me on it.
Great soup! I doubled all the ingredients except for the cheese. I only had 8 oz for a double recipe, but that was plenty. I’m glad I read the comments about halving the cheese. I also loved this because it didn’t take long to make! Even the kids ate it. Thank you for posting this! I will make again!