Simply one of the best low carb broccoli cheese soup recipes around. And it’s easy to make too!
I will be the first to admit that there is nothing sexy or elegant about this recipe. Broccoli Cheese is the workhorse among soups. It’s warming, nutritious, you get your greens into you, and if you are lucky, it also tastes good. Not all of them do, I’ve had some pretty blah broccoli soups in my day. Most notably at my first-year dorm in university, where the kitchen staff had no business messing with heavy, creamy soups. I myself have never tried my hand at it, so when I saw that the most recent issue of Cook’s Illustrated had a recipe, I wanted to give it a try.
Cook’s Illustrated is the only cooking periodical that we get right now. We’ve had other subscriptions in the past but we’ve let most of them lapse as we have a pretty large collection of back issues. Cook’s comes every year courtesy of my parents-in-law and we always enjoy it. I like the way they test different methods of making a dish to arrive at what they consider “the best” way. But I have to confess, I don’t always follow the extra steps involved to get “the best” out of the recipes. As a busy mother of three, who is impatient at the best of times, the extra steps often just feel like extra work.
But for broccoli soup, I thought it worth my while to follow their recipe almost to the letter, with a few small changes to make it lower in carbs and higher in fat. In their investigations, they found something completely counterintuitive that really worked – cook the broccoli beyond all recognition. It sounds awful because there is nothing worse than overcooked broccoli, but in this case, it works. The point is to break down the sulfurous compounds to the point that the broccoli actually tastes like broccoli again. And to speed up this process, they added a touch of baking soda. Weird, definitely, but does it work
The Results: I haven’t had broccoli soup in quite some time, so I don’t really have anything to measure it against, but I will give this a thumbs up. The flavour was definitely of broccoli, but without a trace of that overcooked, college-dorm-style broccoli. It was creamy without being heavy. And my picky eater, who actually loves broccoli and soup separately, loved it together too. It was a great starter to our dinner and a great way to get a serving of veggies into everyone. This recipe is a keeper, for certain.
Broccoli Cheese Soup (Low Carb and Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 pounds broccoli chopped into 1 inch pieces (include the stems)
- ½ cup onion chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 ½ teaspoon dry mustard powder
- pinch cayenne
- salt
- 3-4 cups water
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 2 oz parmesan grated
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot or dutch oven, heat butter over medium high heat. Add broccoli, onion, garlic, mustard, cayenne and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir frequently and cook until fragrant, about 6 minutes.
- Add 1 cup water and baking soda and bring to a simmer. Cook until broccoli is very soft, about 20 minutes.
- Add broth and 2 cups water and increase heat to medium high. Bring to a simmer and cook another 5 minutes. Add cheeses and blend soup with an immersion blender (alternatively, you can transfer soup to a blender and blend in two batches).
- Adjust consistency of soup to your liking with remaining water (I found it didn’t need any more). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Notes
Total fat: 12.88g
Calories from fat: 115
Cholesterol: 41mg
Carbohydrate: 9.68g
Total dietary fiber: 3.20g
Protein: 13.63g
Brenda says
Just finished the last serving of this wonderful soup! Freezes so well & still tastes fresh as the day I made it.
Love the site!
Brenda says
You had me convinced when you mentioned Cook’s Illustrated – I’ve been following them for years. So I had to give this a try and was not disappointed! I love that you’ve made it LCHF, it’s quick and easy to make, and super delicious. You’re not exaggerating – absolutely THE best broccoli soup ever. And I’ve tasted a lot of watery not-so-reasonable facsimiles over the years! And it fits in with my LCHF lifestyle!! Thank you so much!
Because I live alone, I halved the recipe and “eye-balled” everything. Brought it for lunch today and froze the remainder for another day.
Linda Kistner says
I made this tonight and it was perfect for a raw March day. I used frozen broccoli and pulsed the first batch in a cup of broth ; then blended the second batch of cooked broccoli in the second cup of broth till completely smooth. I sautéed the garlic and onion in butter. Then added the dry mustard, the cayennne, all the broccoli mixture and added the salt and pepper to taste. Lastly I stirred in the cheeses and simmered a while. My husband declared this a winner. It’s the best broccoli soup I’ve ever made and I’ve been cooking for 45 years!
Christa says
Absolutely delicious!
Valeria Dombiak Woelfel says
I loved it thanks. doe sit freeze? I made a ton and I am the only one that eats it
Carolyn says
Yes, it should freeze just fine.
Betsy says
This soup is outstanding! I made it exactly as instructed plus a few spinach leaves thrown in during the last 5 minutes of cooking. I like how adding the cheese to the hot soup and then blending makes it seem creamy without adding cream! I sprinkled at little extra cheddar in my soup bowl and it was delicious. Thank you for sharing this!