Sunday, September 4, 2011

My Latest (Improved!) Cheddar and Broccoli Soup

Lately we'd given it some thought and we've decided to go meatless on Friday's. While that subject deserves it's very own post, it means I've been using this recipe, which is one of my favorites, more and more lately. And because I apparently can't even follow my own recipes, it's been updated yet again, and I think the new recipe is a big improvement over the old one, which is saying a lot since the old recipe was on of my favorites.

This recipe is also to a much smaller scale since I don't have as much freezer room (this is about 3 servings for our family, of which 3 of us eats this soup, so it probably feeds 6-9).

The main change is that I've added cream cheese, which helps the soup stay creamy, especially if, like me, you tend to let the soup cook for a bit too long at too high a temperature (unreliable stoves of the past may be partially to blame here...), which can make the texture kind of grainy instead of smooth.

I also decided that the onions did seem to cook well enough in the soup, so I deleted the instructions to saute them! Here's the latest updated recipe:
1 lb cheese (8 oz cheddar and 8 oz Monterey jack or 1 lb cheddar)
Cream of Mushroom- 2 can
Evaporated milk-1 can
13 oz frozen broccoli
3 tbs flour
2 cups milk
2 tbs chopped garlic
4 tbs butter
½ cup chicken broth (you may substitute vegetable broth but according to Jimmy Akin's blog during the annual Lent meat debate chicken broth is okay, and since that's what we have on hand most of the time that's what I use!)
1 small onion
1 package cream cheese

Grate cheese and set aside. In a large stock pot melt the butter. Add the chopped garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Whisk in the flour, the milk and the chicken broth. Once the sauce is thick enough to coat back of a spoon add the cheese.

After the cheese has melted add the evaporated milk, the cream of mushroom and the cream of broccoli.

Stir and let the soup simmer until combined- this doesn’t take very long. Add cream cheese! Add onions and broccoli. Simmer until the broccoli is done (mine simmered all afternoon, but it was actually probably cooked after an hour).

I think this might be my favorite food at the moment...

13 comments:

  1. I'll have to show my husband your recipe. He likes cheddar and broccoli soup.

    I started going meatless on Fridays a while back but I've been really bad about sticking to it while pregnant. Looking forward to going back to it once this little one is born.

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  2. Oooooooooo yum! I love cheddar and broccoli soup. I am going to have to make this soon! Thanks for sharing!

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  3. I'm like Karen. We usually go meatless Friday's all year around. But since I've been pregnant, breakfasts and lunch are whatever I can find that doesn't repulse me. Though we do typically do meatless dinners.

    Catfish is my favorite, and we have a great potato soup recipe (sounds kinda similar to this one) that we like to make, but it's been way too hot this summer to make it much). So we eat a lot of veggie pasta, or spaghetti with marinara sauce, or popcorn shrimp salad on Fridays.

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  4. We've been doing meatless on Friday for a while. I don't usually make broccoli and Cheese soup. Just never made it onto my radar before. I'll have to try to make yours some time. I bet The Baron will be happy to have something new on the rotation.

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  5. I love making soups in the fall and winter, when it finally cools down enough. I will give this a try, as it sounds yummy. We rarely have meat-based meals, so that's not a big problem on Fridays, or any other day!

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  6. Mmm sounds good! We've been doing no meat on Fridays my whole life.... good thing about being preggers is that you can still eat meat cause you're growing and need what food you can get! hehe.
    I do alot of tuna dishes for fridays, or steamed fish & hot chips, egg dishes, pasta, falafels... and also hunt out easy vegetarian dishes for something new and tasty (chickpea vege burgers).... hubby is a big meat eater so it's hard to fill him up just on veges sometimes!

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  7. It's great to hear that you are going meatless on Fridays. We go meatless on Fridays year round at my house. :-)

    I have never made Cheddar and Broccoli Soup (my hubby isn't a big soup fan), but I think I'm going to have to give this a try! It looks really good!

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  8. We've instituted the idea of "meat is a treat" in our household. This was for a bunch of reasons- some spiritual, some practical, some economic and some health-related. I applaud you for choosing a day to go without meats: ) I tend to think Americans eat way, way too much of the stuff - and most of what's in the grocery stores is not as good of quality as it could be. We feel better about eating high-quality meats less often. I think your family will find, as time goes on, that you do not mind the sacrifice one iota.

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  9. I am going to book mark this recipe and will definitely be making some of this once it turns to fall.

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  10. Hey Cammie, we make broccoli cheese soup too. (My dh's favorite). My recipe however, is faster and less ingredients (??? maybe cheaper). It only takes me about 30 mins. It however takes velveeta cheese instead of real cheese (sad), but that helps it stay smooth. Also looking at yours, yours is probably less flavorful. It also freezes up nice (my dad takes it to work a lot).

    For 3/4 servings, time ~30min
    1 cup water
    1 chicken boullion (you could just substitute one cup of chicken broth)
    1 chopped omion
    1 cup milk
    1 lbs broccoli
    2 table spoons butter
    2 tablespoons flour
    1/2 lb velveeta cheese

    In one pan (the big one you want to the soup to end up in) put broccoli, water, chicken bouillon on high until water is boiling, then reduce to a simmer until broccoli is tender, DO NOT DRAIN.

    meanwhile, in a separate pan on medium heat, add butter and saute onions until tender (you can also add garlic either power at the end or fresh now) add the flour and make a rue. Cook until rawness is cooked out of the flour (2/3min). slowly add milk, stirring the whole time. Then add cheese, (I cut mine up in cubes, but my mom shreds hers). Stir until fully incorporated.

    Bring broccoli off the burner and then add cheese sauce. Stir to incorporate (and to prevent scorching). Serve.

    (the original recipe is actually double what I presented here, I make above to feed, me, dh, and one 2 year old child. Sometimes we have left overs, if we don't have bread with it).

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  11. Hi, Cammie. Way to go on instituting meatless Fridays! My husband and I have been doing that for almost five years, since we got married. Now I am praying for the courage to start wearing a veil. :) A young woman wore a beautiful one to mass on Sunday. So lovely.

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  12. Cammie, I meant to say yours was more flavorful and mine was less, I apparently merged the two sentences and ended up insulting you. I am very sorry.

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  13. Hi Jill- I totally didn't catch that it was insulting (I think I probably read it the way you intended it! LOL!). I was too busy thinking: oh no... velveeta's made by kraft (like oreos and A1 steak sauce, which I miss so much!) and I"m still (sadly) in the midst of my kraft boycott... and so I'm wondering what the alternative to velveeta is! There's got to be one out there! I'm keeping my eyes open when I go to the store!

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