Broccoli Cheddar Soup

It is winter time where I am and while it has not been that cold here – I am a huge fan of soups. Especially cream soups. But never having made many soups, I wasn’t quite sure where to start. I looked at a lot of different recipes trying to figure out exactly which one I wanted to try. Finally settling on this one – I have to say it came out great. I will probably tweak it here and there the next time I make it. But everyone greatly enjoyed it as is. So, here’s my first attempt at Broccoli Cheddar Soup.

 

 

 

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Serving Size: 8

-= Ingredients =-
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup flour
4 cups whipping cream (I used half and half)
4 cups chicken stock
1 medium onion
1 pound fresh broccoli ; chopped (I used frozen broccoli – defrosted and drained)
1 large carrot ; grated
16 ounces sharp cheddar cheese ; grated (I used 2 cups of shredded Mexi-blend cheese, and some extra sliced American cheese)
salt ; and pepper to taste

 
1. In a large soup pot, melt your butter. Slowly stir in the flour to make a roux. Once it is all blended, slowly add your whipping cream, whisking constantly.

2. Then add your chicken stock, broccoli, carrots and onions. Simmer until the broccoli is cooked to tender. Use hand blender to blend until consistency you like

3. Reduce the heat to simmer and add your cheese, stirring until it is melted. Salt and pepper to taste and enjoy.

Final Thoughts:

This soup was excellent. The texture was perfect. I have a hand blender that I used to chop the broccoli finer and make the soup creamier. But I did leave some chunks as that is how I like it. If you do not have a hand blender – you can use a regular blender, but I would suggest only filling it half full, and allowing it to cool down a bit before putting it into the blender or it could explode. I also am thinking next time when making the roux I will add some minced garlic. I also think next time I will use the sharp cheddar rather than the Mexi-blend. I would also recommend using more cheese – but it will make it a thicker soup.  But for a first try – fantastic.