Plant part used: fruitPlant part used: fruitBrassica oleracea · cruciferous family
A veggie-packed broccoli cheese soup that achieves total velvet-creaminess with zero heavy cream in sight. Instant Pot, Crock-Pot and stovetop methods all included.
It is currently -2°F outdoors, and Kansas City appears to be on approximately our ten-thousandth snow day — and I am…done,lol. I ache for Barcelona's gentle winters with embarrassing intensity right now. Our survival strategy for the Midwestern freeze? The new fireplace burning nonstop, a fortress of cozy blankets, an escalating hot-tea stash, and soup after soup after soup.
The crown jewel of our recent rotation? This creamy, vegetable-loaded broccoli cheese soup. ♡
brassica — Confession time: this recipe began as a covert operation to smuggle vegetables past our toddler, who has gone off anything green lately. But once blended into a silky, vivid emerald soup and topped with crackling croutons, it became a complete triumph! I loaded in a serious quantity of vegetables and stole a trick from my friend Kathryne — a starchy potato puréed into the pot for thick, creamy body (heavy cream? replaced). The verdict: bursting with real broccoli flavor, gloriously cheesy, and the ultimate rescue for a day far below freezing.
Three cooking paths are documented here: Instant Pot, Crock-Pot, or classic stovetop. And as reported below, customization options run wild — extra vegetables, alternate seasonings, your call. I will, however, die on one hill: buy a quality block of sharp cheddar and shred it in yourself. That single choice makes or breaks a great broccoli cheese soup.
To everyone else currently battling polar-vortex conditions — stay warm out there. And let's make some life-changing soup!
Flash briefing on every broccoli cheese soup ingredient you will need to stage this creamy comeback:
Further remixes for this broccoli cheese soup? These are cleared for action:
brassica — After another wholesome vegetarian pot of soup? Our most beloved cases:
Each leaf is coloured by the plant part the ingredient comes from: root brown, seed black, leaf green, vine orange, bloom magenta.
Warm the pan with a slick of olive oil and the hardier aromatics first - onion, fennel seed, crushed chilli.
Add the roots before the leaves; each layer needs its own head start on the heat.
Finish with the raw crown - torn herbs, edible flowers, a squeeze of citrus off the flame.
Plate low and wide so the growth order of the dish reads at a glance, root to bloom.
Brush the soil from the roots and leaves under cool water - keep the skins on anything grown below the line.
