Copycat Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup
Now you can make everyone’s favorite broccoli cheese soup right at home – so thick and creamy. It’s unbelievably good!
This is my all-time favorite kind of comfort food.
A cheese soup that you don’t have to feel entirely guilty about – because apparently broccoli and carrots are quite good for you.
And this is just what I needed after my very first live TV segment experience today on KTLA morning news.
I was so nervous, I couldn’t eat any of the appetizers on the table. I know, rookie mistake.
But it’s okay. I made up for it by eating the entire pot of broccoli cheese soup here.
Done.
Copycat Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup
Now you can make everyone’s favorite broccoli cheese soup right at home – so thick and creamy. It’s unbelievably good!
Ingredients
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, cubed
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 16 ounces broccoli florets
- 1 carrot, julienned
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic, onion and celery, and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 3-4 minutes.
- Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in vegetable broth, milk and heavy cream, and cook, whisking constantly, until incorporated, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in broccoli and carrot.
- Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until broccoli is tender, about 6-8 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender until desired consistency is reached.
- Stir in cheese, a handful at a time, until smooth, about 1-2 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
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Wasn’t a huge fan of this one. Not a whole lot of flavor. I’ll prob add more garlic and then garlic and onion powders next time.
I used your recipe to get me started. I did not use celery or carrot. I used chicken bouillon, 1 cup evaporated milk and 1 cup nonfat milk and Velveeta cheese, I know I changed the recipe, but it still came out tasting pretty damn good. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
I make this regularly just as written, except I only bring to a slight simmer and just cook a tad longer so as not to curdle the dairy element. Also, I double the recipe and freeze. You have to thaw completely and reheat slowly to get back the creamy consistency, but it does indeed get there.
Finally a broccoli cheese recipe that we both love! I only did a couple of things differently. I used chicken stock rather than vegetable, and I dunked the broccoli in some boiling water a couple of minutes instead of cooking it in the soup, then finely chopped most of it before adding it. I was concerned I might overcook the milk and cream and cause separating, because that’s my #1 complaint with most cheese soups, plus they get gloppy and don’t reheat well. I always grate the cheese myself, and use whole raw milk and cream. This one came out perfect!
This was absolutely delicious. My husband loved that it had such a fresh broccoli flavor. I very much look forward to making it again!
I HAVE MADE A FEW RECIPES OF THIS SOUP
AND I HAVE TO SAY THIS WAS THE BEST EVER.
ALL YOUR RECIPES LOOK GREAT. THANK YOU
PAT.
Absolutely delicious, simple to make, and very comforting. I think it makes a lot more than 4 servings, more like 6, which would push the calorie an fat counts lower. Thanks for a great recipe!
So good! Tastes just like Panera. It was also very easy to make.
Great recipe! I added a bit of cheddar jack to put my own spin on it. Can you tell me how well this freezes? I love it, but I don’t want to eat it four days in a row, lol.
did u freeze? good?
This turned out great! Very good.
I don’t usually leave reviews about anything but I had to commend you on this recipe! This was absolutely delicious and tastes very much like the Panera bread recipe. I actually used mild cheddar instead but I’m sure sharp would have tasted just as good. Thank you! I’ll be keeping this in my recipe book!
I made this recipe on Sunday night. It was delicious!!! My daughters only complaint was that there was to much broccoli…… and she loves broccoli. I made a second batch on Monday night with 2 cups of broccoli and she loved it. I have a feeling that I will be making it again before the end of the week.
Thanks for sharing!
I made the soup and it was gobbled up by my very happy coworkers. I’ll be making more this week.
Made this over the weekend with pesto chicken sandwiches. Soup was a huge hit. No changes to recipe needed. And no leftovers, either. LOL!
My family loves broccoli cheese soup so I have used this recipe to make it for them several times! It always turns out perfect!
I just made this and am scarfing it down as quickly as possible — I’ve made a lot of broccoli/cheddar soup recipes, and this turned out the best by a long shot! Excellent recipe. There’s nothing like soup this time of year.
Do you happen to know how much this makes? It says 4 servings, but I know that that varies. I’m making this for my family and I’m wondering if I need to cut the recipe in half. Thank you!! 😀
This should yield roughly 4 cups. I hope that answers your questions.
Do you happen to know if cashew or almond milk would work in place of the milk?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications. Sorry, Leanne!
Almond milk can substitute for most milk, I do however use the unsweetened Almond Milk.
Would it be okay to use chicken broth instead of vegetable broth?
Yes, of course.
I love the Panera cheese and broccoli soup, and your recipe looks even better than theirs, because you have more broccoli in it. I use frozen broccoli and other veggies in soup, etc., all the time. I let the frozen vegetable defrost completely, then blot it and add it to my recipe. I have observed no change in the results of quality doing this, and it is so much more convenient. I buy one of those really big have of broccoli florets, and use from there as needed. The bigger the bag, the more the savings.
If you purée the soup with the broccoli no way will it look anything like the cheddary yellow soup in your photo. It will also taste quite different. So even if you say that the broccoli/carrot pieces are used “simply as a garnish for photographic purposes” you may as well be talking about two different recipes.
Well mine was yellow. But who cares, as long as it tastes good.