There are so many recipes for making Panera's Broccoli Cheddar Soup at home. I've tried many of them. And no offense to anyone, but they just don't taste right or hit the spot. They are also typically very labor intensive. Lots of chopping and sauteing.
I wanted something that tastes great, is very easy to make in the crockpot, and requires minimal prep.
So I am bringing you a brand new recipe for making Broccoli Cheese soup that actually tastes like the real deal and requires zero prep!
Just toss everything into your slow cooker and let it cook.
★ Why You'll Love this Recipe ★
This cozy creamy soup will warm you up on a chilly day. It's great for dinner and leftovers make an easy-to-pack lunch to take to work.
Top this with croutons made from simply chopping up a bakery-fresh French baguette oe sour dough bread and you're in business!
This soup is made with fresh or frozen, broccoli florets and a healthy serving of carrots.
These two veggies combine with creamy cheesy chicken broth create that signature broccoli cheese flavor combination made popular by Panera years ago. It's just a cant-go-wrong combo.
Cheese, broccoli, soup. Yes, yes, yes.
We're using cream of celery soup so there's no need to make a roux, although you could. If you want to make your own cream of chicken sauce, please feel free!
★ Ingredients You'll Need ★
You'll need just 6 main ingredients!
As I mentioned, I set out to make this as easy as possible to prep and as close as possible to the actual Panera soup as you can get.
Here's everything you'll need:
- Cream of chicken. You can save time and use canned cream of chicken soup or easily make your own using milk, flour, butter and chicken bullion. Any percentage milk works. Higher fat content will result in a creamier texture and more rich flavor but will be higher in calories. Use my white sauce recipe and add chicken bullion.
- Potatoes. You can use canned or frozen diced potatoes or hashbrowns. Whole potatoes also work if you want to peel and chop them up small. They may require additional cook time.
- Chicken broth. I'm a fan of bone broth for the health benefits and it has a nice flavor too but choose any chicken stock you like or go with vegetable stock if you want to make this vegetarian.
- Broccoli. Fresh or frozen. Finely chop if desired or leave them chunky. Up to you!
- Matchstick carrots. Or peel and shred your own.
- Cheese. I like to use mild cheddar cheese.
Seasonings
If you want to season your soup, I recommend garlic and onion powder or ranch seasoning to taste.
If you are really after than Panera Bread flavor and color, add a few dashes of turmeric and a squeeze of Dijon Mustard. These are listed as ingredients in Panera's soup and are subtle but do layer in some nice flavor.
★ How to Make this Recipe ★
Basically, just add everything except for the cheese to a large crockpot, dutch oven, or soup pot on the stove.
Stir. Cover and cook. Then add cheese and sour cream. Stir. Serve!
Easy peasy.
★ Tips & FAQs ★
What does this broccoli and cheese soup taste like?
This soup is similar in flavor to Panera's broccoli cheddar soup. It's thickened with potatoes and has a creamy, cheesy taste which compliments the broccoli so well.
Want to put it in a bread bowl or dip in some crusty bread? Go for it. But you don't have to, which is nice. It eats like a meal just like it is. I like to enjoy it with sour dough bread.
Can this soup be made on the stove top?
Absolutely. Follow the same instructions, combining the first group of ingredients in one large pot. Set the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Stir until ingredients are combined. Reduce to simmer and cover. Cook for 30 minutes hour or until veggies are softened. Stir in cheese and sour cream right before serving.
How to Make this Soup Vegetarian
You might not realize this soup is not vegetarian. It is chicken-broth based.
So if you want to make it vegetarian, just substitute the chicken broth with vegetable broth and cream of chicken with a different cream-of sauce or if making your own sauce, use vegetable bullion.
Do I have to use cream of chicken?
This is my preference for the best, most Panera-like flavor. However, you can also swap out the cream of chicken with celery, onion or mushroom if you prefer.
Want to add meat?
Why not? Unless you're a vegetarian of course. But if you're not, them try adding in ham. Or chicken. Both work great with the broccoli cheese flavor.
Add pasta!
Want to add pasta to this soup? You can!
Just be sure to cook your pasta al dente which is about 1 minute less than the recommended cook time on the package.
This will allow your pasta to absorb some of the broth when you add it to the soup and will help prevent the noodles from getting too soft and falling apart.
Freezer-friendly
If you want to double or triple this recipe, you can, and then freeze some of the leftovers.
Freeze in individual sized portions and reheat in the microwave for about 3 minutes or until you've reach your desired temperature. I love my soups, just under burning my mouth, ha!
A One-pot Dinner
Everything slow cooks in your crockpot which just makes life so much easier than dealing with multiple pots and pans and steps.
Know what's even better? You can use a crockpot liner so you have zero dishes to wash!
Shop crockpot liners on amazon
★ More Recipes You'll Love ★
Love soup?
Me too! Soup is the perfect meal during the cool months of fall and winter, heck, even early spring around here. But honestly, I eat soup in the summer too. They're just fun to make, easy and make yummy leftovers.
Check out my other soup ideas!
Browse all my soup recipes (Be sure to pin your favorites for later!)
Want more easy dinner ideas?
This easy recipe for broccoli cheese soup was featured on South Your Mouth!
Broccoli Cheese Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 14.5 oz cream of chicken
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup broccoli spears chop, if desired
- ½ cup matchstick carrots
- 15 oz diced potatoes do not drain
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
Optional
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ranch seasoning to taste
Serve with
- sour dough bread
Mighty Mrs. is a #WalmartPartner.
Instructions
- Add ingredients to crockpot. Add cream of chicken, chicken broth, broccoli, carrots, and diced potatoes to your crockpot and stir.
- Cook. Set to high and cook for 2 hours or set to low for 4 hours. Stir.
- Add cheese and sour cream. Stir in cheese, sour cream and seasonings, if desired, then spoon into bowls and serve.
Notes
- Use an immersion blender to puree the potatoes, if desired. Or try using shredded hashbrowns instead of diced potatoes. The potatoes will sort of naturally dissolve though if you stir heavily.
- Stir sour cream into the soup at the end, right before serving for a more tangy flavor. This is totally optional.
- If you prefer to make your own cream of chicken, you can easily do this by using my white sauce recipe and then adding chicken bullion to taste.
- To season your soup: I recommend garlic and onion powder or ranch seasoning to taste.
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