Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup 

Easy, comforting and the Best Instant Pot broccoli Cheddar Soup that is ready in 30 minutes from start to finish. This is a copycat Panera broccoli cheddar soup recipe that is delicious and creamy with a good amount of broccoli in it as well as just the right amount of American Cheddar Cheese.

When I visited the US a few years ago and the first thing that I tried when I visited Panera’s was this steaming hot bowl of Broccoli Cheddar Soup with a crisp crusty bread was a total comfort in a bowl! But it was my last day of the trip, so a shame that I could taste it only one more time in the second meal of that day.

So with recipes available on the Internet and my trials to get the right consistency and flavour I came up with a broccoli soup that I can call Copycat Panera Broccoli Cheddar Soup. I have been making it at home quite a lot since then.

Instant Pot Panera Broccoli Cheddar soup is healthy, rich and It is thick and creamy with an abundance of broccoli and Cheddar Cheese. It is perfect to make during cold winter months but we can’t resist this soup during summers, monsoon season as well.

If you do not have an instant pot you can easily make this broccoli cheddar soup on the stovetop. I’ve also included steps to make this soup in a soup pot on the Stovetop as well.

Why We Love This Broccoli Cheddar Soup

• Simple Ingredient List
• One-pot Meal
• Can be prepared in under 30 minutes.
• Warming and filling.
• Has a lot of broccoli in it not one of those broccoli soup where you will need a microscopic lens to find broccoli 😀

Ingredients for Broccoli Cheese Soup

• Broccoli: One head of Fresh broccoli if large or two small broccoli chopped. 
• Cheddar Cheese: I use a mix of sharp cheddar and mild cheddar. You can use either of these depending on your choice. 
• Butter: Regular cooking butter
• Carrots: For this broccoli soup grate the orange carrots with the thick side of the cheese grater. 
• All-purpose Flour: It makes the soup thick and extra creamy. If you want you can use the healthy alternative of wheat flour. I feel a very small amount of flour is used in making it that it hardly matters.
• Milk: I have swapped half the amount of cream that is used in the original recipe with whole milk. It maintains the creaminess without compromising much on taste.
• Cream: You can use any fresh cream that is easily available.
• You can use either a vegetarian soup stock cube or you can use vegetable stock. I have used a vegetable soup stock cube.  
• Herbs Spices & Seasonings: dried thyme, mixed herbs, parsley, oregano or any other seasoning of your choice. 
• Salt & Pepper: as per taste.

Making Broccoli Cheddar Soup - Instant Pot

1. Switch on the Instant pot on saute mode. Add butter and melt it now add all-purpose flour. Toast this all-purpose flour by continuously stirring it for a minute. 
2. Add in chopped onion and garlic and saute them for a minute. I often make it without onion and garlic. 
3. Now add 3 cups of water and stock cube for flavour. If you do not want to use a stock cube skip this cube and water and use 3 cups of low sodium vegetable broth instead.
4. Add cream and give it a good stir. 
5. Now add mustard powder, parsley, salt and black pepper. Mix them well.
6. Add grated carrot, chopped broccoli and mix well.
7. Cover the instant pot with the lid and turn the pressure valve to the SEALING position. Set the pressure on high and for 3 minutes.
8. When it is done Instant pot beeps and then you can do a quick pressure release. 
9. Now set the instant pot on saute mode again and add in paprika and cheddar cheese.
10. Mix this and cook for 2 minutes
11. Serve in a soup bowl sprinkle some paprika and grated cheese and a crusty sourdough toast to dip in. ENJOY this Panera style Easy Instant pot Broccoli cheddar soup.

Stovetop Method

1. Follow the method exactly as I have shared in Instant pot till step 6.
2. Next, cover the pot with a lid and cook for 7-8 minute on medium heat till broccoli and carrot are tender.
3. Once these vegetables are cooked through add in cheese, paprika and simmer for 2 minutes. Easy Broccoli Cheese soup is ready!
4. You can use either a vegetarian soup stock cube or you can use vegetable broth. I have used a vegetable soup stock cube. If you are using vegetable broth replace the water with the vegetable stock and broth.

Watch How to Make this Broccoli Cheddar Soup Recipe

Recipe Notes & FAQ’s

Use freshly grated cheese at home. Pre-grated cheese most of the time has a non-sticking agent and the consistency of that cheese in the soup is not as smooth.

I have swapped half the quantity of cream with milk; this reduces the calories in the soup and makes it even healthier.

Can I swap Cheddar Cheese with Any other Cheese?

Yes, you can add any mild cheese varieties like Colby jack, Manchego or Swiss cheese.

How can I make it Gluten-free?

To make gluten-free broccoli cheddar soup substitute all-purpose flour with either gluten-free almond flour or potato flour or rice flour.

How Can I Make Keto Broccoli Cheddar Soup?

For the Keto Broccoli Cheddar Soup follow this same recipe use only cream or coconut milk. Also, skip carrot and flour if you are on a keto diet. Or you can replace all-purpose flour with almond flour.

Can You make this soup with Frozen Broccoli?

I have not tried that but I guess you can easily do that in this case do not pressure cook for 3 minutes. Just 1-minute pressure cooking on HIGH should be enough.

Fresh broccoli gives the best results in this recipe. I haven't tried using frozen broccoli, but frozen can certainly be substituted if you have it on hand. In this case, you can just pressure cook for 1 minute on HIGH.

What to serve with Broccoli Cheddar Soup?

Serve this piping hot broccoli cheddar soup alongside crusty bread. I pair it with a toasted slice of sourdough bread. Or you can make this cheese garlic bread, break a thick slice of it, dip it in the broccoli soup bowl and be ready to transport to food heaven! You can also pair it with healthier pan-roasted greek fries or corn salad as a side dish.

How to Store and Freeze Broccoli Cheese soup?

You can store leftover soup in the fridge. Homemade broccoli soup lasts for 3 days in the refrigerator. 

You can also freeze this soup for up to 12 weeks! Allow it to cool completely, then transfer it to freezer-safe bags or glass containers and freeze.

How to reheat the Broccoli Soup?

If you reheat soup from the fridge on the stovetop do so on low flame. If you are reheating broccoli cheddar soup from the freezer First thaw it overnight in the fridge, or for 2 hours on the countertop.

To Reheat Soup in Microwave: Reheat for 7-8 minutes in the microwave or

To Reheat soup on Stove Top: reheat on low heat on the stovetop. If it becomes too thick you can add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable broth as per your preferred soup consistency.

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📖 Recipe

Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Easy, comforting and the Best Instant Pot broccoli Cheddar Soup that is ready in 30 minutes from start to finish. This is copycat Panera sty broccoli cheddar soup recipe that is delicious and creamy with a good amount of broccoli in it as well as just the right amount of American Cheddar Cheese.

5 from 3 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Soup, soups stews

Cuisine: American, continental

Keyword: 30 minutes, broccoli, Broccoli soup, instant pot, instant pot broccoli cheddar cheese soup, soup

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Calories: 211kcal

Author: Rekha Kakkar

Equipment

• Instant Pot

Ingredients

• 400 grams Broccoli
• 100 grams carrot
• 1 cup Cheddar cheese
• 1 tablespoon Butter
• 2 tablespoon All Purpose flour
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon mustard powder
• 1 teaspoon parsley dried
• 1 teaspoon Paprika
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• ½ cup Cream

Instructions

Making Broccoli Cheddar Soup - Instant Pot

• Switch on the Instant pot on saute mode. Add butter and melt it now add all purpose flour. Toast this all purpose flour by continuously stirring it for a minute.
• Add in chopped onion and garlic and saute them for a minute. I often make it without onion and garlic.
• Now add 3 cups of water and stock cube for flavour. If you do not want to use stock cube skip this cube and water and use 3 cups of low sodium vegetable broth instead.
• Add cream and give it a good stir.
• Now add mustard powder, parsley, salt and black pepper. Mix them well.
• Add grated carrot, chopped broccoli and mix well.
• Cover instant pot with the lid and turn the pressure valve to the SEALING position. Set the pressure on high and for 3 minutes.
• When it is done Instant pot beeps and then you can do a quick pressure release.
• Now set the instant pot on saute mode again and add in paprika and cheddar cheese.
• Mix this and cook for 2 minutes
• Serve in a soup bowl sprinkle some paprika and grated cheese and a crusty sour dough toast to dip in. ENJOY this Panera style Easy Instant pot Broccoli cheddar soup.

Stovetop Pot Method

• Follow the method exactly as I have shared in Instant pot till step 6.
• Next cover the pot with a lid and cook for 7-8 minute on medium heat till broccoli and carrot is tender.
• Once these vegetables are cooked through add in cheese, paprika and simmer for 2 minutes. Easy Broccoli Cheese soup is ready!

Video

Notes

You can use either vegetarian soup stock cube or you can use vegetable broth. I have used vegetable soup stock cube. If you are using vegetable broth replace water with the with the vegetable stock and broth.

Nutrition

Calories: 211kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 37mg | Sodium: 956mg | Potassium: 450mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 5797IU | Vitamin C: 91mg | Calcium: 265mg | Iron: 1mg