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Creamy Cheesy Broccoli Cauliflower Soup

Our creamy Broccoli Cauliflower Soup is easy to make, satisfying and makes a delicious vegetarian cream soup. By combining broccoli and cauliflower in a cheesy, buttery sauce you have a whole food meal that everyone will love.

Pair it with some Soft Dinner Rolls, A side of Roasted Acorn Squash, or our Kale Apple Salad with Honey Dressing for a full dinner. This soup makes a fantastic Fall dinner option for a busy family as it’s quick and easy to make, and filled with hearty ingredients that are nutritious and tasty.

Broccoli Cauliflower Cream Soup
Broccoli Cauliflower Cream Soup

What are Creamed Veggie Soups made of?

Most creamed vegetable soups are made by building a roux and creating your sauce base from that. Adding in whatever vegetables you desire and allowing them to fully cook down, then adding in seasonings and any additional liquids such as broth, milk or cream. Once everything has simmered for a time, everything is blended to a fine consistency making creamed soups the texture of tomato soups with no pulp or chewable foods left.

Our Broccoli Cauliflower soup is a heartier creamed soup that is not blended, instead the delicate pieces of veggies are left to give the soup a satisfying texture. This also allows the flavors to stand individually rather than being blended into a merge of one flavor profile.

Broccoli Cauliflower Cream Soup
Broccoli Cauliflower Cream Soup

What is the difference between a Chowder and a Cream Soup?

Chowders and cream soups are similar but do have some distinct differences when it comes to the final presentation. Chowders are thicker in consistency and cream based while cream soups have a much thinner consistency, a smooth or blended body and are made with a broth.

By this definition this soup would be closer to a chowder as our base is made from milk, butter and cheese; and our texture is hearty and thick which closely resembles a chowder as opposed to a smooth creamed soup.

Fresh Cauliflower And Broccoli On A Cutting Board.
Use fresh heads of broccoli and cauliflower for best results in your soup.

Cheesy Creamy Broccoli Cauliflower Soup Recipe

  • Select good quality fresh broccoli and cauliflower.
  • Frozen vegetables can be used in place of fresh, but it is not our first choice. If you are using frozen, allow them to thaw and remove any excess liquids.
  • You can easily adjust the amount of cheese, flour and milk. You can always use vegetable broth to thin the soup if you wish to cut down on the creamy thickness of it.
  • This cheesy broccoli soup recipe works well with different cheeses. Cheddar is a good choice but the original recipe actually calls for Jack cheese. Colby-Jack mix is what you see in our video.
  • Adjust the chunkiness of this recipe as you wish. After the vegetables are steamed you can use your immersion blender, food processor or larger blender to puree the soup if you want a smoother consistency.
  • While steaming the broccoli and cauliflower, make your cheese sauce. Gauge the amount of your ingredients for the cheese sauce upon your own preferences for thickness and taste. 
  • Start with the proportions listed in the recipe and go from there. Add in the veggies and cheese after you make the sauce and adjust the consistency of the soup to your preferences. Salt and pepper to taste.

To make a KETO Broccoli Cauliflower Soup

If you want to make this soup low carb or Keto approved, try some of these tips and substitutions

  • Add more cauliflower than called for and less broccoli
  • Use a KETO approved thickener like Arrowroot or tapioca starch with equal parts water.
  • Use almond or coconut milk in place of the dairy milk called for, or use heavy cream and vegetable broth.
Creamy Broccoli Cheese Soup With Cauliflower
Broccoli Cauliflower Cream Soup

How long is Broccoli Cauliflower Soup good for?

This soup makes delicious leftovers and will hold in your fridge for three days when stored in an airtight container. If you would like to freeze this soup you can definitely do so! Once the soup is cooled transfer it to a freezer safe container and store it flat in your freezer for up to three months.

To thaw and reheat this soup, transfer it to your fridge and allow it to slowly thaw. Once it is thawed dump it into a large stock pot and slowly heat it on your stove top.

Method for cooking Broccoli Cauliflower Soup Recipe

This hearty winter soup is quick to make on your stove top. Cheesy Broccoli Cauliflower Soup is best made in your heavy bottomed stock pot or Dutch oven. This soup runs the risk of scorching or curdling since it has a cheese and milk base. Because of this we do not recommend cooking it in your slow cooker or Instant Pot.

Steam your chopped veggies and then set the steamer insert aside while you make the cream sauce. Dump the veggies and cheese into the large pot full of cream sauce and allow it to simmer for a bit. Total time should be about 30 minutes to make this delicious meal.

Visual Guide

Below is a quick walkthrough of this recipe. For more complete details please watch our video demonstration of making this Broccoli Cauliflower Cheese Soup.

Helpful Tools and Equipment:

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Broccoli Cauliflower Cream Soup
Yield: 10 people

Broccoli Cauliflower Soup Recipe

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

An easy delicious, low carb meal ready in about 30 minutes. Rich creamy and cheesy. This filling soup makes a fantastic meatless meal.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 Cup butter
  • 1/4 Cup flour (or low carb thickener)
  • 1 tsp. salt, Optional
  • 4 Cups whole milk
  • 1 large head broccoli, fresh is best (about 4 cups chopped)
  • 1 large head cauliflower, fresh is best(about 4 cups chopped)
  • 4 Cups shredded Cheese, Colby-Jack mix recommended but any will do.

Instructions

PREPARING THE VEGETABLES

  1. Steam the broccoli and cauliflower in the soup pot (or however you wish) until slightly firm with good texture and color.( about 8 minutes on high heat) Do NOT cook them to mushiness. Remove the veggies and Set aside.

Make the White Sauce

  1. In the large soup pot, melt the butter on low heat.
  2. Raise heat to medium and add the flour. 
  3. Whisk the flour and butter together until it bubbles and immediately pour in 1 cup of milk while whisking.
  4. Add the remaining milk slowly as the sauce thickens, whisking constantly. 

FINISHING THE SOUP

  1. Pour the steamed vegetables and shredded cheeses into the sauce. Stir until all the cheese is melted.
  2. Bring up to slow boil while stirring to thoroughly mix the ingredients. REDUCE the heat to simmer stirring often.
  3. serve at once or store in the fridge for several days covered.

REHEATING INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Remove cold soup from fridge and let sit to room temperature. Place on stove on low heat. Stir often to avoid burning the soup as it heats to serving temperature.

Notes

When making this soup adjust the thickness as you prefer. The sauce will thicken after you add the veggies and cheeses. Stir the soup constantly to avoid burning. 

For KETO DIETERS:

  • Add more cauliflower than called for and less broccoli
  • Use a KETO approved thickener like Arrowroot or tapioca starch with equal parts water.
  • Replace the milk with almond or coconut milk

Nutrition Information

Yield

10

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 373Total Fat 28gSaturated Fat 17gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 9gCholesterol 79mgSodium 676mgCarbohydrates 14gFiber 3gSugar 7gProtein 18g

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This recipe was originally posted on September 22, 2014

HD

Tuesday 23rd of February 2021

I've tried several different versions of this soup. THIS ONE IS MY FAVORITE. Super easy to make, modifications and substitutions work (was short on milk, so used water and bouillon for half of the liquid). The ground work for this (the roux) is better than other recipes, because I feel like the cheese always gets clumpy and weird. This one is perfect. Four year-old approved. (He woke up this morning and asked if he could have some for breakfast.) Highly recommend.

Diane

Tuesday 23rd of February 2021

Hi HD, Thanks so much for the great review. I'm delighted your family enjoyed recipe this so much. Lol. Breakfast. :)

Bette

Wednesday 7th of October 2020

Fantastic recipe! I made a few minor changes such as adding garlic powder, onion powder, 1 cup of chicken broth instead of all the milk ( i used unsweetened almond milk), added some heavy cream, and threw in some bacon pieces. used my immersion blender some with the veggies. All and all it came out to the thickness we like and wonderful taste! Thanks for the recipe plus all your helpful notes

Kayti Lavergne

Wednesday 7th of October 2020

Hi Bette, Your welcome. I'm so happy you enjoyed this yummy soup. And thank YOU so much for the great comment and review. Have a great day!

Tim

Saturday 22nd of September 2018

Absolutely delicious and easy to prepare. This recipe is now a permanent addition to my recipe book. Thank you

Diane

Saturday 22nd of September 2018

Hi Tim, Thank you so much for letting us know you love this soup recipe. And the five star rating too. You made my day! Have a great weekend.

Gail

Sunday 29th of October 2017

Made this soup today...added small amount of bacon and sweet Italian sausage. Delish!

Diane

Sunday 29th of October 2017

Hi Gail, Your additions to this soup sound yummy. Great flavor combo there. Thanks so much for sharing your experience with this recipe and commenting. We love this soup recipe. Have a great day!

Connie Phoenix

Tuesday 14th of June 2016

Found recipe on yummly. Cannot read directions. Frustrating indeed. Why bother using yummly?

Connie phoenix

Tuesday 14th of June 2016

Thanks, Diane. Suffered through the temporary glitches and the soup is put together ready for supper. Well worth the suffering (tee hee). Good comfort food soup. Again, thanks Diane for all your help.

Diane

Tuesday 14th of June 2016

Connie, I'm so sorry! This is not yummlys fault. I installed a new recipe app and I was unaware it did not populate my recipe with the app!!THANK YOU for bringing this to my attention! It's all fixed now so you can read the recipe. It's delicious soup. I hope you enjoy it!

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