Lightened-Up Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Name: Lightened-Up Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 tbsp light butter (used: Land 'O Lakes light butter with canola oil); 1 cup onion (pureed, measured 1 cup once pureed); 1 cup carrots (pureed, measured 1 cup once pureed); 2 cloves garlic (minced); 6 cups broccoli florets (chopped small (without stems); equivalent to 4 small-medium heads of broccoli); olive oil spray; 1/4 cup all purpose flour; 6 cups low sodium chicken broth; 1 tsp onion powder; 1 tsp garlic powder; 1 /2 tsp kosher salt; fresh cracked pepper; 1 cup half and half; 2 tbsp corn starch; 2 tbsp water; 4 oz reduced fat cheddar cheese (used: Cabot 75% reduced fat cheddar cheese)

January 12, 2022 By Steph 55 Comments

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Your favorite creamy, indulgent soup but lightened up: Broccoli Cheddar Soup. This lightened-up broccoli cheddar soup is creamy, satisfying, and packed with vegetables, so you can feel good about eating it. Serve this soup on its own, or alongside a sandwich, wrap or salad for your own “you choose two” combo at home. Store this soup in mason jars in the fridge for an easy meal prep lunch for the week.

All about this broccoli cheddar soup

Broccoli cheddar soup is a menu staple at lots of restaurants; this is because of its creamy, hearty consistency, great texture, and delicious flavor. This soup is so simple to make, with basic ingredients, and allows the main ingredients to really shine. Made with inexpensive and easy-to-find ingredients, this is a delicious, family-approved and simple recipe. It is perfect to make for busy weeknight dinners, for meal prep lunches, or an easy make-ahead dinners. This broccoli cheddar soup is lightened-up, but it doesn’t taste like it! It is packed with vegetables, from the carrots, onion and garlic to flavor the base of this soup, to the cups of broccoli used as the star of this soup. This soup is thickened with half and half, and then finished with reduced fat cheddar cheese stirred in. The serving size of this soup is 1 heaping cup, which makes it a filling lunch on its own, but can also be paired with a sandwich, wrap, or salad for a complete meal.

What you will need to make this lightened-up broccoli cheddar soup

Here is the ingredient list for this recipe:

carrots
onion
garlic
fresh broccoli florets
- I have not tried this with frozen broccoli, only fresh.
all-purpose flour
low-sodium chicken broth
kosher salt
garlic powder
onion powder
half and half
corn starch
water
reduced fat cheddar cheese
- I use the Cabot 75% reduced fat cheddar, but you can use any brand you enjoy!

How to make lightened-up broccoli cheddar soup

This soup is so easy to make; just a few simple steps and you’ll have a delicious meal prepped in no time. The key to starting this soup is to puree the carrots and onion in a food processor (stick with me here). Pureeing these vegetables into a small pieces like this allows for the soup to have a creamy consistency, rather than having chunks of vegetables (aside from the broccoli) in the soup. Pureeing the carrots also helps add a nice depth of color to this soup, making it golden in color. After the vegetables are pureed, melt the butter in the Dutch oven or pot, and add the pureed vegetables into the pot. Cook the vegetables for about 10 minutes, and then add the minced garlic. Cook the garlic for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add more olive oil spray to the pan, and then sprinkle the flour in the pot. Stir the flour into the vegetables to incorporate it. Then, add the broth. Stir the broth to incorporate it with the flour and vegetables, and bring the liquid to a boil. Chop the broccoli florets into small pieces, and add them to the broth. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the broccoli is tender.

Add the salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Stir to combine. Combine the corn starch with the water and add it to the soup, followed by the half and half and the grated cheddar cheese. Taste for seasoning.

How-To Video

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