Easy Family Meals / Gluten Free / Main Dishes / Salads & Soups / Starters

Broccoli Soup

July 1, 2020

A delicious green soup of broccoli and leeks. It is full of broccoli flavour with a creamy consistency. I’ve also added cheese at the end to make it even more tasty. This is a soup you will want to make again!

A bowl of Broccoli Soup is in the centre with another bowl just off to the top right of the photo. — A delicious soup full of broccoli cheese flavours!

This is a very simple soup to make and it is a great way to use broccoli. There are 4 heads of broccoli in this soup! The process is very simple…leeks are sweated in butter/oil then potatoes, garlic, chilli flakes are added, followed by stock and broccoli (in 2 stages – stalks first as they take longer, then the florets later). That’s it! It is all then blended in a food processor or high speed blender then cheese is added and stirred through while it is still warm. Broccoli and cheese are so good together.

Serve the soup with your favourite bread or rolls and you have a wonderful family meal.

Here are some photos showing the various steps to making the Broccoli Soup, followed by suggestions on ways to serve it.

Looking down onto a table with 2 bowls of Broccoli Soup and a plate of Cheese Puffs. In the image are also 2 soup spoons, a napkin and just in the frame is a leek stalk and a vase of poppies. — Ready to eat? Pictured here with my super quick and easy (one of the easiest recipes ever) Cheese Puffs.

Chopped leeks in a Le Creuset pot being sauteed. — Leeks are added to butter and oil and sweated without browning.

Chopped sauteed leeks in a large Le Creuset pot with chopped potatoes added. — Once leeks are softened, the potato chunks are added.

The sauteed leek and potato mixture in the pot are now ready for stock to be added. — Now it’s time to add the stock and broccoli stalks.

Broccoli head on a white choppng board, showing the top florets cut off as close to the floret as possible, leaving the stalks. — Cut the broccoli as close as you can to the top part of each floret. The stalk parts are chopped up and cooked first as they take longer.

The chopped broccoli stalks are added to the softened leeks and potato in the large pot. — The chopped broccoli stalks are added along with stock.

The stock has now been added to the pot of leeks, potato and chopped broccoli stems so that they are all covered. This will be brought to the boil. — These are cooked first, before adding the florets which only take a few minutes.

The broccoli florets are now added to the soup. — Now the chopped up florets are added to the pot for the final few minutes of cooking (until they are softened).

The finished soup just before it is blended. It shows the broccoli florets are now softened along with the potatoes and broccoli stems. — The florets have now softened and everything is ready to be blended.

This shows the blended soup back in the cleaned pot with grated cheese on top, ready to be stirred through . — Soup is blended and added back to the pot along with grated cheese which is stirred through the still warm soup.

The thing I love about this soup is all the different garnishes that can be added to it. You can customise it to suit your taste-buds and change the whole meal. I often make a big batch of this soup and serve it over 2 nights with different toppings. Here are some suggestions:

Crispy bacon, pancetta, chorizo or proscuitto.
A gremolata crumb topping – breadcrumbs, lemon zest, parsley.
Crunchy toasted croutons.
Crispy fried and seasoned potato cubes.
Crispy oven roasted broccoli florets.
Chopped and toasted nuts eg. pistachios, almonds or hazelnuts.
Dollop of sour cream or a swirl of cream.
Toasted pinenuts, pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds.
Grated Parmesan Cheese, vegan cheese or extra tasty/cheddar cheese.
Pan-fried prawns (chopped or whole) , scallops or moreton-bay bugs – yum!

Or a combination of some of the above! I love recipes that you can tailor to suit what you have in your pantry or fridge.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family does. It has lots of healthy greens in it and is simple to make.

Broccoli Soup

A delicious green soup of broccoli and leeks. It is full of broccoli flavour with a creamy consistency. I've also added cheese at the end to make it even more tasty. This is a soup you will want to make again!

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Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 35

Total Time: 45

Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: Australian

Keyword: broccoli, broccoli cheese soup, broccoli soup, cheesy broccoli soup, easy, easy soup, soup

Servings:

Calories: 371kcal

Author: Katrina | Katy’s Food Finds

Equipment

Large heavy based pot like Le Creuset
Food Processor, High Speed Blender or Stick Blender
Cheese Grater
Large 2 litre jug or bowl

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
1 tbsp butter
3 leeks medium, white parts only, chopped into 1cm slices
1 tsp sea salt
3 garlic cloves crushed
2 potatoes medium or 1 large (approx 250g), peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
1 kg broccoli (approx 4 heads)
1/4 tsp chilli flakes (optional)
4 c chicken stock or vegetable stock
2 c water
1/4 tsp black pepper freshly ground
1.5 c cheddar cheese or tasty cheese, grated
sea salt to taste, at end
3/4 c sour cream or cream optional

Metric – US Customary

Instructions

Heat oil and butter in a large heavy based pot over medium heat. Add the chopped leeks and salt. Cook for 8 minutes until leeks are softened (turn heat down if they are starting to brown as we only want to sweat them, not colour them) – stir occasionally. Add potatoes, garlic, ground pepper and chilli flakes. Stir through and cook 2 minutes longer.
While this is all cooking, prepare the broccoli: Wash the broccoli thoroughly. Trim about 1-2cm off the bottom of each broccoli stalk to remove the tougher ends and discard. Now cut the broccoli florets from the top of each of the heads. Do this by cutting as close as you can to the florets (see photos). Cut the broccoli florets into smaller pieces (2 cm) and set aside. Take the stalks and cut them into 2 cm pieces.
Once the potatoes have been cooking for 2 minutes, add the chopped broccoli stalks, stock and water. Stir everything together, turn the heat up and bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium/low, cover the pot with a lid (tilt the lid so it’s not completely closed) and simmer for approximately 20 minutes until the potato pieces are soft. Add the chopped broccoli florets, stir and cook for 5-8 minutes longer or until florets have softened.
It's now time to process the soup. If using a stick blender, you may not get as smooth a texture as you would in a food processor or high-speed blender. If using a food processor or high-speed blender, please take care when processing hot liquids. Allow the soup to cool for 5-10 minutes. I always take my feeder cup attachment off and place a damp tea-towel or paper towel over the hole so that steam can escape without soup going everywhere. Do not overfill the bowl – blend the soup in batches. Follow manufacturers instructions for processing hot liquids.
Process the soup using a stick blender or my preferred way is to use a high-speed food processor or blender. If using a food processor, blend the soup in batches – I did mine in 3-4 batches in a large food processor. Do not overfill the bowl – only 1/2 fill it. Process until it is a smooth consistency. Pour blended soup into a large jug and continue with remaining batches. Clean the empty pot and pour the blended soup back into it. Add the grated cheese to the soup and stir through while it is still warm. Add sour cream or cream (if using) and stir. Taste and season with extra salt if required.
Garnish with your topping of choice (see notes for suggestions) and serve with breads or rolls.
(makes approximately 2 litres)
Storage: Store in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. Once cold, the soup can also be frozen for up to 3 months.