Panera’s Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Panera’s Broccoli Cheddar Soup is comfort food at its best and tastes just like Panera. This soup is an easy dinner that hits the spot and quick enough for a weeknight.
This broccoli cheese soup competes for the #1 soup recipe on this blog with this crockpot potato soup.
BROCCOLI CHEDDAR SOUP
I know this Panera’s Broccoli Cheddar Soup recipe has made the rounds around the blogs but my job is to share recipes that I really love and this is one of them.
The reason I know that this recipe tastes just like the delicious Broccoli Cheddar soup at Panera is because I ate this at least once a week during my last pregnancy.
It was the ONLY thing that I looked forward to eating and I’m sure the peeps at Panera knew me by name. They serve this Panera’s Broccoli Cheese Soup with a warm crusty baguette. Oh my goodness.
It almost makes me want to get pregnant again.
I once was in charge of making soup for 250 women. Guess which soup went first? Nope. Not the chicken noodle.
Yes, you guessed it. The Broccoli Cheddar soup. I mean who doesn’t like broccoli and cheese? Not only is it a healthy broccoli cheese soup recipe, it’s only 417 calories a serving.
You’ll need about 3 cups of broccoli chopped into bite sized pieces. You’re supposed to julienne a carrot. I cook a lot and I do not have the patience to do that.
They sell “matchstick” carrots in the produce section. Save yourself some sanity and time and just buy those.
It’s important to use sharp cheese here in this Panera’s Broccoli Cheese Soup recipe as it gives it more flavor than a milder cheese.
Then eat a couple of bowls of this delicious broccoli cheddar soup. After all, it is the first day of fall today.
Is this Panera’s Broccoli Cheddar Soup gluten-free?
Part of the thickening agent in this soup is the flour in the roux. There’s only 1/4 cup and you can definitely leave it out but your soup will not be as thick.
You can thicken it at the very end if needed by creating a cornstarch slurry.
Add a couple tablespoons of cornstarch to a small bowl and add water until it forms a paste. Whisk in this mixture at the end of cooking to thicken up the soup.
HOW TO MAKE PANERA’S BROCCOLI CHEDDAR SOUP
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Met the 1/4 cup butter and sautee the onions in it until soft. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat for 1-2 minutes.
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Whisk in the half & half and chicken stock.
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Add the broccoli and carrots. Cook over low heat for 20-25 minutes or until the broccoli and carrots are tender.
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Add salt and pepper. You can leave the soup chunky or blend about 1 cup of the soup and stir it in for a smoother soup (that’s what I do). Return to low heat and add the cheese. If your heat is too high your soup can get grainy. Stir in the nutmeg if desired.
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Serve with crusty bread.
OTHER SOUP RECIPES:
- Cauliflower Soup
- Creamy Potato Soup
- Easy Tomato Soup
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Sausage and Tomato Cauliflower Soup
- Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup
- Zuppa Toscana Soup
- Egg Drop Soup
- Buffalo Chicken Soup
Panera's Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 1/2 medium chopped onion
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 cups half-and-half cream
- 2 cups chicken stock or broth
- 1/2 lb broccoli, (about 3 cups), chopped into bite size pieces
- 1 cup carrot, , julienned (can buy matchstick carrots in produce section)
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, (optional but brings out the flavor)
- 8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese, (2 cups)
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Melt the 1/4 cup butter and sautee the onions in it until soft. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat for 1-2 minutes.
- Whisk in the half & half and chicken stock.
- Add the broccoli and carrots. Cook over low heat for 20-25 minutes or until the broccoli and carrots are tender.
- Add salt and pepper. You can leave the soup chunky or blend about 1 cup of the soup and stir it in for a smoother soup (that's what I do). Return to low heat and add the cheese. If your heat is too high your soup can get grainy. Stir in the nutmeg if desired.
- Serve with crusty bread.
This recipe was excellent, just like Panera! I took the soup off of the heat before adding the cheese and it melted perfectly. I used half mild and half sharp for the cheese. I’ll be making this recipe again, thank you Christy!
Thank you!
Excellent recipe! I’ve never had the Panera version but this is amazing.
Thank you!
I added some diced ham.
Thumbs up from my husband and kids!!!!
Thank you!
As written, absolutely delicious!
Can you use frozen broccoli?
yes
Like many others, I changed it a bit. I threw celery, carrots and onion and garlic in my food processor- then added a can of cream of chicken soup and followed everything else and it was perfect!
This receipe was good, but doesn’t taste like Paneras.
Something is missing 🙁 If you put the two side by side there is a big difference.
So delicious!:) I made a double batch
I would have given 5 stars but the cream is unnecessary fat. I uses 1% milk instead and it was great.
Delicious!
I followed your recipe to a T. My soup turned out delicious!! Thank you for another great recipe!!
Def missing something
Turned out extremely bland so I added extra cheddar and some chicken base/salt.
So delicious, healthy and easy to make:) thank you fir this recipe!!!
So DELICIOUS! Even my husband loves it and he never eats soup. Thank you for this amazing recipe.
Thank you!
Good, but next time I will use mild cheddar instead of sharp to give it more of a taste like Panera’s. It was much too sharp of a taste with sharp cheese and I tried adding more half and half and chicken stock to offset it, but it didn’t work. Otherwise it was really good!
This is so delicious. I didn’t use half and half – I used a 348ml can of 2% evaporated milk and topped up the rest with light cream (5%). I also omitted the nutmeg. Otherwise I was faithful to your recipe. A huge hit!
My soup looked great until I added the cheese. Used high quality block cheddar, added it in slowly over residual heat only. It totally curdled and ruined the soup. Now we’re eating ramen for dinner. I wish I was joking. Any idea what could’ve gone wrong?
I’m so sorry. Sounds like the cheese was too hot?
I like one of the previous reviews that said that “recipes are suggestions, and not gospel”. I just finished making a double batch of this recipe and it came out as expected. The key to a consistent texture is to make sure you continue to stir the roux until it is thickened. A couple of changes I made: (1) I added four cloves of garlic to the onion and butter, a tablespoon of bacon fat, along with salt and pepper; (2) when I added the half and half and broth, I also added a little of each paprika, sage, poultry seasoning, and chopped crispy bacon; (3) instead of sticking strictly with cheddar, I also added two cups of a taco cheese – both of which were room temperature (it melted easily this way). At the end, I added just a sprinkle of McCormick’s Sriracha Seasoning – it was just the little bit of heat needed…if you haven’t tried this dry seasoning, you really should!
Made it family like it a lot
If I’m being honest, I knew this would be incredibly bland as written for my family. So I decided I’d use 8oz extra sharp, 8oz double cheddar, 8oz mild cheddar, and 8oz smoked Gouda. For seasonings, I used smoked paprika, cayenne, dry mustard, nutmeg, season salt & pepp, as well as garlic powder, and a tablespoon of chicken bouillon. I also tossed in a dash of worcestershire sauce, it took much longer than 20min to simmer the veggies semi soft. I emulsified some of the soup and served with fresh baked sour dough. It was a perfect comfort food tonight here in IL, as we got a little bit of snow fall finally.
holy pretentious…could’ve omitted the first sentence. I don’t give a hoot what kind of fancy cheese your family prefers. Most of us are here because we love Panera’s version, which this recipe is a ‘copycat’ of.
This soup reminds me of a snowy Winter day in Chicago, a fire in the fireplace, warm, crusty sourdough bread, jazz on the stereo, a glass of wine. The only thing I changed when making this delucious soup was to use half sharp/ half extra-sharp cheddar, and fresh-grated nutmeg. (Also, julienninng the carrots by hand is half the fun!) 😊 Many, many thanks for this superlative recipe! ❤️
Could’ve used more cheese and spices!!
Never had the Panera soup but decided to give this a try and the results were fantastic ! The nutmeg added a mysterious spice and I kicked it up with some Bacon Bits. Thanks for posting.
Very Good. I change it up due to health issues. Double veggies, add chopped celery and if I have leftover cauliflower I toss that in. I use 4 cups broth. After blending add 1/4-1/2 c heavy cream and 1-1-1/2 c shredded sharp cheddar. Thin as needed with additional broth. My version probably isn’t as Panera-ish but better for me😊
Soup was ok…a little too much broccoli and not enough sharp cheddar for our taste. Also a little too thick.
I made this soup today and it came out perfectly smooth. I added some garlic to it because I love garlic. I’m always looking for recipes to try and this one was quick and I enjoyed making it. Yummy….
How many servings does this make? I did not see that information.
It’s in the top left corner of the recipe card. This serves 6
I made this as written and it was delicious. Devoured by three grown men and a toddler.
Thank yoU!
I think of recipes as suggestions, not gospel. I made this soup tonight but added onions, potatoes and sage. Also, I’m sure some other spices were sitting on the counter and I threw them in too. I am never going to eat a bland food. Wake up cooks. We got this one life, why not make it the best? By the way, the soup was MARVELOUS. My family raved!
My family and I LOVE this soup. It is our go to favorite on a cold day. Broccoli/cheddar soup is definitely comfort food, and that’s exactly what it does! It makes us feel cozy on a blustery day. Scoop out a bowlful and go sit by the fire! Yum! This recipe for broccoli/cheddar is easy and the best one out there! Enjoy!
Thank you!