This Cheesy Broccoli Potato Chowder is crazy delicious. Say hello to my new favorite soup!
Every so often I’ll create a recipe that completely takes over my blog.
I have a feeling this might be one of those recipes.
And if I’m totally jinxing myself here then so be it; that means more soup for me!!!
Just a few bites into this lusciously loaded broccoli cheese soup and I was completely head over heels in love. I immediately had to take photos because, hello, #foodblogger so I gave Paul the teeniest little sample bowl of soup and threw myself into the studio to snap some shots of the final product. I’m pretty sure I took an hour’s worth of photos and I’m 100% certain I annoyed the pants off my poor husband by not allowing him to have another bite until I had finished.
I probably would’ve been in agony too had I not the self-preservation to reward myself with spoonfuls of soup for a job well done.
#photographerperks
#edibleart
#souperstar
Guys I thought we talked about these hashtags!!! Stop letting me get away with this nonsense. On to the recipe!
Cheesy Broccoli Potato Chowder
I think it goes without saying that this deliciousness is already on the menu again for next week!
This rockin’ recipe yields 8 cups or 4 larger bowls of soup. Whether it’s served up as a side dish with a salad or grilled cheese/panini or the main course stealing the show, this soup is sure to reach bowl-licking status with your friends and family.
Cheesy Broccoli Potato Chowder
Ingredients
- 3 cups chopped broccoli (approx. 10 oz florets + stalks)
- ½ cup chopped onion
- ½ cup chopped celery
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 TBSP unsalted butter (divided)
- ¼ cup flour
- 2 russet potatoes (13-16 oz total)
- 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 2 cups milk (2% or whole)
- ¼ tsp sea salt or season to taste
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ⅛ tsp paprika
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg and/or allspice (optional)
- 2 cups freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- ½ cup heavy cream (optional)
TASTY TOPPINGS
- extra grated cheddar cheese
- crumbled bacon or vegetarian bacon bits
- chopped green onion
- red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Chop your veggies and measure out your ingredients. Steam or blanch your broccoli until tender and set aside. For the potatoes, peel and dice into cubes.
- In a large pot or dutch oven, melt 1 TBSP butter over medium-high heat.
- Add your chopped onion and celery and cook until tender. Reduce heat to medium and add remaining butter and garlic, sautéing briefly until fragrant.
- Add flour and stir into onions. Continue to stir, allowing the raw flour to cook off for 20-30 seconds or so.
- Add your broth, milk, and potatoes. To prevent sticking, stir constantly as the soup bubbles and thickens.
- Season with salt, pepper, paprika and optional nutmeg allspice. I added 1/8 tsp of each but if you’re not a nutmeg fan, totally skip it! Reduce heat to low (I set mine to 2), cover, and simmer for 10-15 minutes until potatoes are tender.
- Remove from heat and stir in your broccoli and grated cheeses until melted. At the end I stirred in 1/2 cup of heavy cream (I couldn’t help it – so good!) so feel free to follow suit if you’d like! The soup is fantastic with or without. Sometimes I’ll even break up some of the potato with a spatula to make the soup even thicker!
- Ladle soup into bowls and top with all your favorite toppings. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
I used my handy dandy dutch oven to make this cheesy broccoli potato chowder but a plain pot works great too! Since I know y’all are going to ask, I’ll be sure to do a slow cooker test run with the next batch and update this post with the instructions if it goes great!
special diets and swaps
Only have (or prefer to use) chicken broth? It totally works in place of the veggie broth here!
Some of my friends are rather opinionated about nutmeg. If you’re not a fan typically feel free to skip it! Ground allspice can be used in its place if you’d prefer to swap vs. skip.
Vegetarian? Fabulous! Skip the optional bacon topping or snag some vegetarian bacon bits and you’re good to go.
Gluten-Free? I’ve used my favorite all-purpose GF flour (King Arthur is my jam!) in place of the conventional flour and it works great for the roux that thickens the soup! Feel free to follow suit.
hungry for more?
- Broccoli and Cheese Soup <– the inspiration for today’s recipe!
- Crock-Pot Veggie Loaded Baked Potato Soup
- Classic Broccoli Salad
- Corn Chowder via Simply Recipes
- Chipotle Sweet Potato Salad
If you get a chance to try this easy Cheesy Broccoli Potato Chowder, let me know! Leave some love in the comment form below or tag your photos with @peasandcrayons on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creation.
Can you make in the instant pot and do you have those instructions?
Thanks!
Hi Rosemary! Sounds like the perfect excuse for me to eat this soup again. (so good!) I’ll try to start experimenting and see how it does! xo
Just made this soup! It is awesome! I didn’t have milk so I used a can of evaporated milk watered down drastically and turned out great!
Oh my…wow. Right up there with chocolate.
Made this last night for the East Coast Spring snow, and it hit the spot. I used chili powder instead of paprika and added corn to bulk it up some more. My boyfriend was asking when I was going to make it again halfway through his first bowl. Highly recommend this soup and looking forward to making more recipes from this blog 🙂
Ahhhh yay!!! So happy to hear it – thank you! Love that you added extra veggies to the mix, you rockstar you! 🙂
This soup looks amazing! Pinning for later!
I could legit eat it forever! Thanks Karly!
I want to bathe in this soup.
Also I love the new layout and header. Super snazzy dah’ling.
Doooo it! Thank you dear! Hope you get a big bowl of this delicious soup in your face, STAT!