It transforms butternut squash in to grain-free mini-pizzas, spinach into a dish worth making again and again, and plain old broccoli into hearty, belly warming goodness. I’m talking about cheese, of course.
If you’ve ever encountered an opinionated eater in your home, you know that a little can go a long way in making a dish more enticing. In this recipe, cream and cheese actually serve a dual purpose – increasing the yum factor while also providing a key source of dietary fat. One of broccoli’s primary nutrients, vitamin K1, is best absorbed when consumed with fat, so it’s a win-win. (source)
As a bonus, broccoli is also considered a good source of natural folate, which is extra important for the estimated 50% of the population that has the MTHFR genetic mutation.
This broccoli cheese soup has a higher ratio of broccoli than most – the cheese is more or less a vehicle for getting more broccoli (and bone broth!) into little bellies. It’s super easy and little potami approved – I hope your family loves it as much as we do!
Broccoli Cheese Soup
Ingredients
- 2 lbs broccoli florets fresh or previously frozen and thawed
- 1 large carrot grated
- ½ medium onion diced (about 2/3 cup)
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups cream
- 2 tbsp butter
- 8 oz cheddar (grated)
- 1 tbsp arrowroot powder
- sea salt (to taste)
- black pepper (to taste)
- bacon (crumbled - optional topping)
- cheese (grated - optional topping)
- green onions (sliced - optional topping)
Instructions
- In a large pot, sauté the onion in butter until slightly softened.
- Add in the broth, cream, broccoli and carrot and simmer on low until the veggies are soft – about 20 minutes.
- Stir in cheese and arrowroot flour and remove from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste and allow to thicken for five minutes. If desired, blend some (or all) of the soup to make it smoother. I grab my immersion blender and give it a whir in the pot. Top with bacon or other garnish if desired and serve.
Thank you for this lovely recipe – I made it today and my family loved it!
Hey there! I hope this finds you well!
I’m sorry, for posting this as a comment on this recipe, but I am unable to leave you a message, and don’t see an email address for you anywhere. I just wanted to let you know that I am working with Sue Moran, from The View from Great Island on the occasional blog roundup, and we just featured your ginger syrup on our latest roundup today. You can check it out here! http://theviewfromgreatisland.com/flu-fighter-cookies-and-15-other-delicious-remedies/
We hope that’s okay with you — if for some reason you aren’t comfortable with this, please let us know and we will gladly take it down.
Thanks!
Hayley & Sue
Hi Hayley, thanks for featuring me! I think Sue may have my email address (love her blog and emailed her last year to tell her so!), but if you need to get in touch in the future you can message me at [email protected].
I made this yesterday, Heather, and it was wonderful. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Also wanted to say your new girls are absolutely adorable. The wee one is just a doll and looks like she is full of personality.
Thank you! She is such a sweetie, too. My kids are smitten.
Sounds AMAAAAAAAAAAAZING!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️
Heather, thanks for all the wisdom and wonderful info you share through your work on this blog.
Just a quick question. We eat a fairly primal diet an try to eat all our dairy raw. It seems your family does too. I’m wondering where recipes like this fit into that picture where both cream and cheese are heated thoroughly. How does this change or limit the benefit of raw milk/dairy?
We aren’t WAPers but are familiar with all the purported benefits of raw dairy.
Thanks!!
Monna
Such a great question, Monna. Cream and butter have a higher fat ratio than milk, which is a mix of protein and fat. Based on what I’ve read, it seems that the fats are pretty stable when heated, but for those who are sensitive the protein component of heated milk can cause issues. I personally feel comfortable cooking with butter and cream, but there may be families who feel better sticking with strictly raw.
As for cheese, we usually consume it raw but I also use it in cooking on occasion and we seem to do fine with it. Though I’m not sure how far it goes back, I do know that it’s a longstanding tradition in Switzerland to consume fondue with stale rye bread during the winter months. I don’t know if the Swiss group Dr. Price studied incorporated this practice, but I like to think they did. 🙂
Thanks for the reply, Heather!
Thanks so much for the delicious recipe! I had a picky eater go back for seconds! Love your site!
I made this tonight and it smells delicious (haven’t sampled yet) but it didn’t thicken AT. ALL. In fact, it’s quite runny. Any reason this would’ve happened? Any way to prevent it in the future? I’m quite fond of thick and creamy broccoli cheddar soup, so I’m pretty bummed out!
You can also take more broccoli and cook, then blend it up and add to the soup to thicken it. Adding more cheese will also help thicken it.
Was wondering if you or anyone else has used this recipe and substituted asparagus?? I have fresh asparagus and thought maybe using some of it for soup. Do you think it would work instead of the broccoli? Thanks in advance!
I made this for dinner tonight, so yummy. I did make some tweaks though.. used coconut milk instead of cream because my body doesn’t tolerate large amounts of heated dairy and I left out the onion (pregnant self don’t like them right now 😉 )
I forgot to add that I also used Gouda cheese, not cheddar.
Love the fiesta dishes, we are eating out of ours too 🙂
What is the nutrition on this? Sounds great and I can’t wait to try it!
What is Arrowroot powder or flour? And why is it added to the Broc/Cheese Soup?