December 26, 2017

21 Day Fix Broccoli Cheese Soup {Instant Pot | Stove Top}

Name: 21 Day Fix Broccoli Cheese Soup {Instant Pot | Stove Top}
Yield: 4 Servings
Ingredients: 2 tsp butter; 1 medium onion, chopped; 1 cup chopped carrots (about 2 medium); 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (1 (32 oz) box); 4 cups broccoli, roughly chopped (about 1/2 lb); 2 cups cauliflower, roughly chopped (about 6 oz); 1/2 tsp salt & pepper, to taste; 2 cups broccoli, chopped into small pieces (about 1/4 lb); 1 1/3 cups shredded sharp or extra sharp cheddar cheese

This 21 Day Fix broccoli cheese soup is made without any milk or cream and is still creamy, velvety, and deliciously healthy comfort in a bowl. It’s also gluten free! Now with Instant Pot directions for a quick and easy dinner!

Originally published 11/15/2015, updated on 12/26/2017 to include Instant Pot Directions for a quick, easy and delicious meal that everyone will love!

Don’t have an Instant Pot yet? Click here to check it out on Amazon! (affiliate link)

If I had to guess, I would say that broccoli cheese is probably America’s second favorite soup (right underneath the ubiquitous chicken noodle, of course) and it’s definitely my family’s favorite. Believe me, I’ve made more than a pot or two of this yummy stuff, but I had yet to make any since starting the 21 Day Fix. I’d say it was about time that I addressed this absolutely appalling oversight.

One of the main reasons that this soup was on my mind was because Thanksgiving is right around the corner and each and every year, my grandma makes her broccoli cheese soup (which is grandma-amazing*, btw) for us to enjoy on Wednesday while we chit chat and get things ready for the next day. I’ll be honest and say that it’s my favorite part of the holiday. You know, before everything gets crazy and all of the people show up. When it’s just a few of us, a couple bottles of wine and plenty of laughter and conversation. Truly though, it’s so great to make a huge pot of this wonderful stuff to eat prior to the big day. It’s so easy, and then you don’t have to think about what’s for dinner for a couple of days while you’re planning, prepping and readying for guests.

As many of you know, when making creamy soups for the Fix, the issue to overcome is the milk and/or cream used as the base, because nobody but nobody wants to waste a yellow (or two!) on a bowl of soup no matter how freaking delicious it is. Well, of course I went to my favorite all-purpose ingredient, the glorious cauliflower to make this soup taste and feel just as creamy and wonderful as the original. In fact, my husband told me that this recipe tasted exactly the same as the one that I used to make (using half and half!) – not too shabby, plus it’s lower in fat and calories! Boom.

I’m not going to lie, this one took me a couple of tries to get just right, but I really think it’s perfect and if Broccoli Cheese soup is something that you haven’t eaten in awhile either, then you are not going to want to miss out on some amazing 21 Day Fix Broccoli Cheese Soup! You truly won’t miss the milk or cream. The best part is, because there’s no milk or cream (meaning no yellows) you can serve this bowl of yum with a great piece of whole wheat bread from the bakery. I like to call that perfection.

The trick to make this recipe similar to Panera Bread’s is to cook some broccoli that’s been chopped into small pieces separately from the other veggies and add them in at the end. This is optional and up to you. If you want your soup to be completely smooth, just leave out the extra broccoli. I swear, I won’t even be mad. I love the way Panera Bread (and my grandma!) makes theirs, so I wanted some small pieces of broccoli in mine. Yum 🙂

*Grandma-amazing is a term used to describe a dish that is better than anyone else’s. Period.

Hope you guys love this one as much as we do!

Looking for more Instant Pot recipes? Click here!

Click here to buy the 21 Day Fix!

If you make this recipe be sure to snap a pic and tag me @thefoodieandthefix on Instagram so I can check it out! It makes me ridiculously happy to see what you guys are making 🙂