Easy Broccoli Cheese Soup with Velveeta is the thirty minute dinner I make when it’s cold, everyone is hungry, and I have nothing planned. Five real ingredients, one pot, and it comes out smooth every single time.
Easy Broccoli Cheese Soup with Velveeta
That last part is the whole reason I use Velveeta here. Cheese soup made with shredded cheddar can turn grainy or greasy if the heat gets away from you, and there’s nothing to do about it once it happens. Velveeta melts into the milk and stays there. It’s not fancy, but my kids eat two bowls and I’m not standing over the stove worrying about whether the cheese is going to break.
Ingredients & Equipment
- Butter
- Onion
- Flour
- Milk
- Velveeta
- Frozen chopped broccoli
- Pepper
Full measurements for each ingredient can be found in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
You’ll also need a few things from your kitchen:
- Large pot or Dutch oven
- Cutting board
- Sharp knife
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Whisk
- Wooden spoon
- Ladle
Step By Step Directions
This recipe makes 4 servings. It takes 5 minutes of prep time and 30 minutes of cook time.
Step 1. Add the butter to a large pot and melt it over medium heat.
Step 2. Add the diced onion and cook for a few minutes, until softened.
Step 3. Sprinkle in the flour and stir constantly. Cook until the mixture is bubbly, about a minute. This is what thickens the soup.
Step 4. Pour in the milk and bring it to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low and simmer for a couple of minutes.
Step 5. Add the cubed Velveeta, thawed broccoli, and pepper. Stir often as the cheese melts, breaking apart any large pieces of broccoli as it cooks.
Step 6. Once the cheese is fully melted, let it simmer for 5 more minutes before serving.
How to Make Broccoli Cheddar Soup Instead
If you’d rather make broccoli cheddar soup with real cheese, you can use this same base. Swap the 12 ounces of Velveeta for 3 cups of shredded sharp cheddar, and change how you add it.
Take the pot completely off the heat before the cheese goes in. Add it a handful at a time, stirring until each addition melts before you add the next. If the pot is too hot or you dump it all in at once, the cheese will separate and go grainy and there’s no fixing it.
Shred the cheddar yourself from a block. Bagged shredded cheese is coated in starch to keep it from clumping, and that starch is exactly what makes cheese soup gritty. This is the one step I’d tell you not to skip.
Cheddar gives you more flavor and a sharper, tangier soup. Velveeta gives you a soup that never breaks. I make the Velveeta version on weeknights and the cheddar version when I have the patience for it.
Panera Broccoli Cheddar Soup at Home
If you came here looking for the Panera broccoli cheddar soup, this recipe is simpler than theirs but built on the same idea: a butter and flour base, dairy, cheese, and broccoli.
The main differences are that theirs includes shredded carrot, uses sharp cheddar rather than Velveeta, and has a thinner, more pourable texture from using stock along with the cream.
To take this closer to a copycat, shred one carrot and add it with the onion, replace 1/2 cup of the milk with chicken stock, and use the sharp cheddar method from the section above. A pinch of nutmeg and a little dry mustard round it out. Serve it in a bread bowl if you want to complete the picture.
Keeping Broccoli Cheese Soup Warm in the Crockpot
I’ll be straight with you: I don’t make this soup in the crockpot. There’s nothing in it that needs hours. The broccoli is already blanched before it’s frozen, the onion is a quarter cup, and milk sitting on low heat for that long tends to scorch against the sides before the cheese ever goes in. You’d end up with gray broccoli and a worse soup than the thirty minute version.
What the slow cooker is genuinely good for here is holding it. Make the soup on the stove exactly as written, then transfer it to your crockpot on the warm setting. It’ll hold for 3 or 4 hours without separating, and Velveeta is the reason it holds that well. A cheddar version would break on you.
That’s made this my go-to for game days, church potlucks, and Christmas Eve when people eat whenever they get hungry. Give it a stir every half hour or so, and add a splash of milk if it starts getting too thick around the edges.
If you want a true dump and go slow cooker cheese soup, you need a broth base and something that actually benefits from the long cook, like potatoes. That’s a different recipe than this one.
Variations
- Broccoli potato cheese soup. Add 2 cups of frozen diced hash browns or 2 peeled and diced russet potatoes with the milk, and simmer until tender before the cheese goes in. This is the version that makes it a full dinner.
- Chicken broccoli cheese soup. Stir in 2 cups of shredded rotisserie chicken along with the cheese.
- Broccoli cauliflower cheese soup. Use half broccoli and half frozen cauliflower florets.
- Keto or low carb broccoli cheese soup. Leave out the flour, replace the milk with 2 cups of heavy cream, and let it simmer a few extra minutes to thicken on its own.
- Gluten free broccoli cheese soup. Skip the flour and whisk 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into the cold milk before it goes in the pot. Everything else stays the same.
- Lighter version. Use 2% milk and cut the Velveeta to 8 ounces. It’ll be thinner, but still cheesy.
- Add ham or bacon. A cup of diced ham or 6 strips of crumbled bacon stirred in at the end.
- Make it smoother. Use an immersion blender for a few seconds before adding the cheese if your family doesn’t want visible broccoli.
- Extra sharp. Stir in a cup of shredded sharp cheddar along with the Velveeta. You get the smooth melt plus more flavor.
Leftovers & Storage
Store leftover broccoli cheese soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. It thickens up a lot as it chills, so add a splash of milk when you reheat it.
Reheat it gently over low heat on the stove, stirring as it warms. The microwave works too, but go in 30 second bursts and stir between each one. High heat is what makes cheese soup separate, and that’s true whether you’re making it or reheating it.
I don’t freeze this one. Dairy based cheese soups come back grainy and watery no matter how carefully you thaw them. It only takes 30 minutes to make fresh, so I’d rather just make it again.
Tips & Tricks
- Cut the Velveeta into small cubes. One inch pieces melt in a few minutes. A big block sits at the bottom of the pot while you stand there stirring.
- Thaw and drain the broccoli. Frozen broccoli holds a surprising amount of water, and it all ends up in your soup if you don’t drain it after thawing.
- Cook the flour before the milk goes in. That bubbly minute in step 3 cooks out the raw flour taste. Skipping it leaves a pasty flavor.
- Whisk when you add the milk. Pour it in slowly and whisk as you go so the flour mixture doesn’t lump.
- Keep the heat low once the cheese is in. A hard boil after the cheese goes in can make even Velveeta look oily.
- Pepper generously. There’s no salt in this recipe because Velveeta brings plenty. Pepper is what keeps it from tasting flat.
- Chop the broccoli small. Big florets are hard to eat with a spoon. I break them up in the pot as it cooks.
Recipe FAQs
Can I use fresh broccoli instead of frozen? Yes. Use about 3 cups of fresh florets chopped small, and add them with the milk instead of with the cheese so they have time to get tender. Simmer about 10 minutes before the Velveeta goes in.
Why is my cheese soup grainy? Almost always heat. If it boiled hard after the cheese went in, or if you used pre-shredded bagged cheese with starch on it, that’s the cause. Velveeta is much more forgiving than cheddar, so if you’re having trouble with a cheddar version, this recipe is the fix.
Can I make this in the Instant Pot? Yes. Use the sauté function for the butter, onion, and flour, then add the milk and broccoli and pressure cook on high for 3 minutes with a quick release. Switch back to sauté on low and stir in the Velveeta until melted.
How do I make it thicker? Whisk 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into 1/4 cup of cold milk and stir it in, then simmer 5 more minutes. You can also add more Velveeta, which thickens it and makes it richer at the same time.
Can I use half and half or heavy cream instead of milk? You can, and it makes a richer soup. Heavy cream is thick enough that you could cut the flour down to 1 tablespoon.
Is this soup gluten free? Not as written, because of the flour. Swap in 2 tablespoons of cornstarch whisked into the cold milk and it is.
More Easy Soup Recipes
- 7 Can Taco Soup
- Crockpot Chicken Corn Chowder
- One Pot Creamy Vegetable Soup
- Crockpot Butternut Squash Soup
- Crockpot Ham and Bean Soup
- Crockpot Loaded Baked Potato Soup
- Crockpot Chicken Pot Pie Soup
- Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Crockpot Cheeseburger Soup
Ingredients
Instructions
- Add the butter to a large pot and melt it over medium heat.
- Add the diced onion and cook for a few minutes, until softened.
- Sprinkle in the flour and stir constantly. Cook until the mixture is bubbly, about a minute.
- Pour in the milk and bring it to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low and simmer for a couple of minutes.
- Add the cubed Velveeta, thawed broccoli, and pepper. Stir often as the cheese melts, breaking apart any large pieces of broccoli as it cooks.
- Once the cheese is fully melted, let it simmer for 5 more minutes before serving.
Notes
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