Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup

Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup – Calling all Panera broccoli cheese soup lovers! I’m popping in with a healthy recipe for an easy Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup that takes less than 10 minutes to prep. This is one of the best crock pot recipes to make you feel just as warm and toasty as the Panera original.

I originally posted this recipe on the last day of a trip I took to Charleston, South Carolina with this guy. (If you’re heading to Charleston soon, be sure to check out my Charleston restaurant and activity guide.)

I decided to reshare the recipe today, because it’s become a true reader favorite, and because I’m once again in the midst of a crazy travel spree, which is exactly how this easy Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup recipe was inspired.

When I think back on our trip to Charleston, the first thing that comes to mind is ALL THE FOOD.

We chose the city based on its reputation as a foodie paradise, and it did not disappoint. If you followed along on Instagram, you witnessed a portion of the mass seafood/soul food havoc the two of us wreaked.

I say “portion” because, by the end of the trip, the culinary consumption reached a level I was embarrassed to continue posting.

For me, eating and drinking is, quite literally, my favorite way to gain a taste for a city. While I loved every bite and sip of our trip, whenever I return from vacation, it’s with an acute craving for wholesome foods and green veggies.

I also return to an inbox stuffed with unread emails and a dresser devoid of clean underwear. Reality, we have arrived.

Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup—The Perfect Healthy Meal

This easy Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup recipe is perfect when you are in need of a healthy meal but have zero time to cook it, a position I’m in now. I’ve been out of town the past two weekends and leave again this Thursday. I adore traveling, but whenever I am out of town back-to-back weeks, the “no time to cook” song becomes a refrain. I suspect that, on many a busy weeknight, it’s one you sing too.

Nearly every broccoli and cheese soup recipe I’ve found calls for the initial step of making a base cheese sauce on the stove, including recipes designed for the crock pot.

Because I know we don’t always have time to fuss with this kind of prep, I decided to see if I could create a slow cooker broccoli and cheese soup entirely via the “dump and go” method: dump the ingredients into your crock pot; walk away; return hours later to a dinner that’s ready to serve (the reason I love all my crockpot soups).

I almost made it.

Although you can skip the cheese sauce and I’d still bet my last spoonful that this is the easiest broccoli and cheese soup recipe you’ll find, you do need to blend the soup with an immersion blender or food processor prior to serving.

It’s a small extra step that’s well worth the effort for the texture and body it provides.

The flavor of this soup is a dead-ringer for Panera’s broccoli cheese soup, and although its texture is a bit thinner than I’d originally envisioned (a result of skipping that fussy cheese sauce base), I still found it to be plenty cheesy and satisfying.

Recommended Tools to Make Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup

• 6-quart programmable slow cooker
• Immersion blender: it makes pureeing soups like this one easier (and safer) than transferring the piping hot soup mixture to a blender or food processor in batches.
• If you prefer a food processor, or are in the market for a new one, I have used and loved this one for almost nine years.

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Slow Cooker Broccoli and Cheese Soup

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time:

15 mins

The most easy and healthy recipe for Broccoli and Cheese Soup you'll find! Made with lots of fresh veggies, cheddar, and your crock pot does all the work.

Ingredients

• 5 cups chopped broccoli florets — about 16 ounces
• 1 cup grated carrots, — you can grate yourself or use bagged, pre-cut julienne carrots
• 1 medium yellow onion — finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic — minced
• 2 ounces reduced fat cream cheese — do not use fat free
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 1/2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth — or vegetable broth
• 1 can 2% evaporated milk — (12 ounces)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated* — (1 block)

Instructions

1. Place the broccoli, carrots, onion, and garlic in the bottom of 5-to-6-quart slow cooker. Top with the cream cheese, oregano, nutmeg, and chicken broth. Stir to evenly distribute the ingredients. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours or low for 4-6 hours, until the broccoli is tender.
2. Remove the lid and stir in the evaporated milk. With an immersion blender, puree about 3/4 of the soup, so that it is mostly smooth but still has a few chunks of broccoli remaining. Alternatively, you can puree the soup in 1 cup-sized batches in a food processor or blender. (Be careful—it's hot and prone to splatter!)
3. Recover the soup and let cook on low for 10 minutes until warmed through. Stir the salt, pepper, and grated cheese. Taste and add additional salt and pepper as desired. Recover and cook on high until the cheese is fully melted and the soup is hot, about 5 additional minutes. Serve warm.

Recipe Notes

The type of cheese you use is very important to this recipe. I highly advise grating your own from the block, as many brands of pre-grated, bagged cheese are coated with starch to prevent sticking. While convenient, this starch can prevent the cheese from melting smoothly. I also recommend using regular, not light cheese for this reason—reduced fat cheese sometimes does not melt as well.

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Easy Homemade Soup Recipe, Slow Cooker Broccoli and Cheese Soup

All text and images © Erin Clarke / Well Plated.

Nutrition Information

Amount per serving (1 of 6 (about 1 1/2 cups)) — Calories: 272, Fat: 16g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Cholesterol: 59mg, Sodium: 806mg, Carbohydrates: 16g, Fiber: 1g

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