A rich, thick, creamy, and cheesy Broccoli Cheese Soup. So filling it works as a stand alone meal. What could be more satisfying on a cold evening"

When I go to Panera Bread I love to do the You Pick Two with soup and salad. My favorite soup is the Cheddar Broccoli Soup. Judging by the number of copycat recipes of it on Pinterest, it’s most people’s favorite. And what’s not to love about broccoli and cheese"

As good as Panera’s soup is, homemade Broccoli Cheddar soup is so much better. It has a much fresher taste and I find that a broccoli and cheese soup is the one soup that tastes best served just after it is made.

Three Types Of Cheese

Three kinds of cheese (and lots of them!) make this soup fantastically cheesy. There’s fontina, white cheddar (you could use yellow), and cream cheese which really adds a wonderful creaminess.
There’s no need to cook the broccoli ahead of time, that just adds an extra step. Cut it into small pieces and let it cook in the soup instead. Once it’s cooked I like to take a potato masher and break the broccoli up some. It helps thicken the soup and it’s easier to eat when you only have small pieces of broccoli in the soup.

Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe Tips

You can make this soup vegetarian by using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

Be sure to turn the heat to LOW before adding the cheese or it may separate and give the soup a gra...