This low carb Broccoli Cheese Soup recipe is an effortlessly easy take on a deliciously classic and satisfying soup. I'll show you a few shortcuts that will make this one of the easiest yet tastiest keto soups you've ever made.
What Makes This Keto Broccoli Cheese Soup So Great
As you probably already know, I'm a huge fan of recipes that are crazy easy to make yet are still absolutely delicious. This Vegetarian Keto Broccoli Cheese Soup is no exception. This soup recipe is just so easy that you'll be mad that you didn't know about it sooner.
Not only is it easy to make, but it's low carb as well. No need to save this recipe for a cheat day. You can enjoy this indulgent soup guilt-free and as often as you'd like without fear of ruining your low carb diet.
Most Broccoli Cheese Soups call for a thickener such as flour. Since I wanted to keep my recipe low carb, and gluten-free, I opted to blend some of the broccoli with an immersion blender in order to give it the right consistency.
Now, I decided to add some hot sauce to the soup. If you know me, you know that I like my food spicy. However, this step is completely optional as the soup still tastes terrific without it. Though I highly recommend trying it. It doesn't really make it spicy per se, it adds a little tang to the soup that really brings out all the other flavors.
How To Make This Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe
1. In a 3-quart pot on medium heat, melt the butter. Add onions and garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Add broccoli, chicken broth (or bone broth), and pepper, and cook until the broccoli is tender (about 8-10 minutes).
2. Turn the heat down to low. Use an immersion blender to purée half the broccoli, or just mash with the back of a spoon until half the broccoli is crushed.
3. Turn up the heat to medium, add in cream cheese and stir to melt the cream cheese into the soup.
4. When the soup boils, turn down the heat, and in a slow steady stream, add the heavy cream.
5. Add in cheddar cheese a handful at a time to keep the cheese from clumping. Stir until the cheese has melted.
6. Add hot sauce, and serve.
Why Is My Broccoli Cheese Soup Grainy?
If your soup ended up grainy, that means that you probably had your stove set too hot when you added the dairy products in. There really is no way to correct this once it has happened, so make sure that you've lowered the heat on your stove enough before adding your dairy. Also, make sure that you pour in the heavy cream slowly.
If it does happen, you may need to purée all of the soup to get a smoother consistency. In this case, remove some chunks of broccoli, purée the rest until it's smooth, and then add back in the saved chunks for texture.
Tips And Tricks For Making Broccoli Cheese Soup
- If you follow my advice and keep frozen broccoli in the fridge, this soup will come together in no time at all.
- Use low sodium broth if you can find it, or just water if you can’t. Otherwise, you may end up with a soup that is too salty. If using water, add salt to taste.
- The best way to check if the broccoli is done is to take out a piece and reward yourself 🙂
- If you don't have an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender. Just be careful as the heat and the steam from the hot Broccoli Cheese Soup can create a vacuum that can cause burns.
- Make sure you only blend the soup until about half the broccoli is blended so that you have a little texture in the soup.
- Mashing the cream cheese with the back of your spoon while it's cooking will help it melt down quicker.
- Make sure to pour in the heavy cream slowly so that it doesn't curdle.
What Goes Well With Broccoli Cheese Soup?
Looking for some dishes that pair nicely with this soup? Check These out!
Keto bread 
- Bread is always a fantastic pairing for soup and this Keto Bread recipe will give you your bread fix without all the carbs!
- Breadsticks are another great option, and these Cauliflower Breadsticks are incredible!
- This Broccoli Cheese Soup goes nicely with a nice, bright side salad, and my Indian Cucumber Salad is the perfect choice!
Another great classic dish of mine you might enjoy is my Instant Pot Pot Roast. This recipe is so quick and easy that it makes a great weeknight dinner!
And if you're looking for another great vegetarian soup recipe, check out my Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili. Enjoy a chili that's so good that even your non-vegetarian friends won't even care that it's a meatless dish.
Trust me, once you've made this Low Carb Broccoli Cheese Soup and realize how easy and yummy it is, you're going to want to make it at least once a week, if not more. Make sure to share this recipe with your friends on Facebook and Pinterest so they can enjoy it too!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 cup Onion, onion
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced
- 4 cups broccoli florets, frozen or fresh (no need to thaw)
- 3 cups low sodium chicken broth, or vegetable or bone broth
- 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 2 ounces Cream Cheese, diced
- 1 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- 2-3 dashes Louisiana Hot Sauce, optional
Instructions
- In a 3-quart pot on medium heat, melt the butter. Add onions and garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Add broccoli, chicken broth, and pepper, and cook until the broccoli is tender (about 8-10 minutes).
- Turn the heat down to low. Use an immersion blender to purée half the broccoli, or just mash with the back of a spoon until half the broccoli is crushed.
- Turn up the heat to medium, add in cream cheese and stir to melt the cream cheese into the soup.
- When the soup boils, turn down the heat, and in a slow steady stream, add the heavy cream.
- Add in cheddar cheese a handful at a time to keep the cheese from clumping. Stir until the cheese has melted.
- Add hot sauce, and serve.
Instant Pot Broccoli Cheese soup
- To make this in an Instant Pot, place onions, garlic, frozen broccoli, only 1.5 cups of chicken broth, and pepper into the Instant pot.
- Close the lid and press PRESSURE COOK on HIGH for 2 minutes. At the end of the cooking time, allow the pot to rest undisturbed for 5 minutes, and then release all remaining pressure.
- Press CANCEL. Open the lid and press SAUTE. Add cream cheese and stir to melt the cream cheese into the soup.
- When the soup boils, turn down the heat, and in a slow steady stream, add the heavy cream.
- Add in cheddar cheese a handful at a time to keep the cheese from clumping. Stir until the cheese has melted.
- Add hot sauce, and serve.
- If you follow my advice and keep frozen broccoli in the fridge, this soup will come together in no time at all.
- Use low sodium broth if you can find it, or just water if you can’t. Otherwise, you may end up with a soup that is too salty. If using water, add salt to taste.
- The best way to check if the broccoli is done is to take out a piece and reward yourself 🙂
- If you don't have an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender. Just be careful as the heat and the steam from the hot Broccoli Cheese Soup can create a vacuum that can cause burns.
- Make sure you only blend the soup until about half the broccoli is blended so that you have a little texture in the soup.
- Mashing the cream cheese with the back of your spoon while it's cooking will help it melt down quicker.
- Make sure to pour in the heavy cream slowly so that it doesn't curdle.
Get support & connect with our community on Facebook!
Nutrition
Originally Published November 13, 2019
Don't forget to check out my other Keto cookbooks.
Keto Instant Pot, Keto Fat Bombs, Sweets, & Treats, and Easy keto in 30 minutes.
Kris T Bell
Very tasty! I have made this several times and it
is a delicious bite. My only thing is it's a bit thin but did not want to thicken it with xantham gum, as I am still figuring that stuff out. LOL! I simply added a little extra cheese and 2 crackers. Perfecto!
TwoSleevers
Glad you liked it! If it fits your macros, you can always try increasing the cream cheese or adding more broccoli (or even cauliflower) to the soup to thicken 🙂
Dusty
This is a fantastic recipe. I add franks red hot to each serving and a sprinkle of smoked Maldon salt. So good. Weirdly, the instant pot instructions have disappeared from this link in the last couple days, from both my iPhone and my bffs android...
URVASHI PITRE
Ah that’s good to know. I will add that back in
Tanya
Hi, i am new to keto and came across your website. So glad i found it 🙂 Just a question about your brocolli cheddar soup... I believe it says it makes 4 servings? Not certain as I didn't look again before i started asking, but approximately how much is 1 serving? The nutritional values i believe are per serving and i am logging what i eat so i need to know what 1 serving is. ie: 1 cup? I could measure all the soup and divide by 4 but thought i could ask first. Thank you
URVASHI PITRE
So I usually just divide into four servings
Amy Barber
This was AMAZING! I made it for meatless Monday and my husband and son were really impressed by it. I would highly recommend & would make it again for sure.
Wasn't able to find the Instant pot version...
Penny
This looks great and I'm eager to try it...will report back when I do. BUT the printed version says "yield 4" but the nutritional info says "yield 6". So is the nutritional info indeed for 6 servings? Also, how do you think this would freeze in individual servings? Thanks!
URVASHI PITRE
I need to fix the nutritional info all together actually. It won’t freeE well due to all the cheese I suspect.
Jo Skidmore
Absolutely delicious! Not until I got to the end of the recipe did I realize there was an IP version. It comes together on the stove so quickly though, I’m not sure l’d switch to that method. Thank you for yet again for a simple recipe with with over the top flavor! This will be made frequently!
Cathi McCracken
Your timing couldn't be better. I JUST searched your site for a keto broccoli cheese soup recipe a couple of days ago. The could weather is making me crave the warm comfort of soup. Looking forward to trying this!