Broccoli Cheese Soup
Weeknight wins. There’s nothing more rewarding than cozying up with a big bowl of creamy soup on a dark, rainy weeknight after a long day of work. Prepared in a single evening with not much effort and minimal hands-on time, this recipe is going in the books as a big win.
Looking for more comfort? Try my recipe for Roasted Tomato Soup next.
I found the Broccoli Cheddar Soup with Cheesy Croutons on Bon Appétit’s Basically section. I feel like anything on this website is fair game for weeknight cooking.
With a few modifications and improvements, I found myself eating dinner on the sofa in no time. At the bottom of this page I’ve listed 6 tips to ensure this dish comes out right, and they’re all practically effortless ways to do just that.
And this was actually a really fun one to make. It’s pretty foolproof and as it came together I was just amazed at the aromas, tastes, and vibrant colors turning a mundane weeknight into something special.
➊ Use a combination of stock and water. The recipe calls for 5 cups of water, but I opted to use 2½ cups of chicken stock I had on hand plus 2½ cups of water. This is a great way to add more dimension and flavor and would work with vegetable stock too.
➋ Significantly reduce the amount of salt. After adding the water (or stock), the recipe calls for 1 Tbsp. of salt. Start with 1 tsp. You will have already salted the garlic and onions, and you can always add more salt if needed but you can’t take it away.
➌ Get creative with the cheese. Sure, broccoli and cheddar is a match made in heaven. But almost any cheese will do. I used a combination of yellow cheddar and a white cheese similar to havarti.
➍ Hold the yogurt; use it as a garnish. Several people in the recipe’s comments mentioned this one. The soup gets creamy all on its own, especially after adding the cheese. I preferred using the Greek yogurt as a garnish. The dollop on top was presentable and cooled down the hot bites of soup.
➎ Use any kind of bread for the croutons. Or better yet, use the inside of a bread bowl (see tip #6) so nothing goes to waste!
➏ Serve in a bread bowl. In my household, this is a given with practically any creamy soup. Amp up the comfort (and the carbs) by using a bread bowl. In this particular recipe, I used a pretzel bowl.