Our Crockpot Broccoli Cheese Soup is a simple, hearty soup that’s rich and creamy. Just 4 net carbs per bowl, loaded with nutritious goodness, and perfect for a chilly night.
Broccoli is officially my favorite vegetable, which is weird because I feel like broccoli really gets a bad rap.
I mean, it’s so green and funky looking. Kids love to hate it. It kinda stinks when you steam it.
But, y’all, it’s just so GOOD and so easy to doctor up! I can do a million things with broccoli, like make this simple Crockpot Broccoli Cheese Soup, our famous broccoli salad or our chicken broccoli casserole.
I kind of wonder if the broccoli haters out there are mostly only hating it because they are starting with frozen broccoli rather than fresh.
When I finally discovered my love of broccoli, I quickly grew tired of chopping up heads of broccoli every other day, and I ran to Costco and bought a jumbo sized bag of frozen broccoli florets. I thought I was soooo smart.
Then I steamed that frozen broccoli and served it to my family and basically no one ever spoke to me again. They still hold a grudge.
Moral of the story: if you think you don’t like broccoli, be sure to try fresh broccoli instead of frozen. They’re different. 🙂
Anyway, let’s talk about this crockpot broccoli cheddar soup! It’s basically comfort food in a bowl, but it’s also healthy (hello, vegetables), low carb, and will feed a crowd. Love this recipe!!
Ingredient Notes:
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Veggies – I think I made my feelings on broccoli pretty clear: use fresh broccoli! It has such a better texture and flavor. You’ll chop these into florets. No need to steam first the slow cooker will work its magic! You’ll also add in half an onion and some garlic.
Dairy – You’re going to add in some heavy cream along with a whole bunch of shredded cheddar and monterey jack. For the most creamy texture, shred your cheese yourself.
Broth – We’re using chicken broth, but if you want to keep this meal vegetarian, go ahead and use veggie broth. It’s a delicious swap.
Seasoning – To add extra flavor you’ll mix in salt, pepper, ground mustard, and some red pepper flakes. The soup isn’t spicy, but has good flavor.
“What a wonderful chilly night dinner recipe. I love broccoli and cheese but have never made this soup. Could not have been easier. I worked downstairs while the crock pot was working away upstairs. Nice flavors and texture. Served it with a small salad and crusty bread and voila! — a filling and comforting meal.” – Jeanne
How To:
- Broccoli – Slow cooker broccoli cheese soup starts with a whole lotta broccoli. I use fresh, as mentioned above. I generally just buy the bags of already chopped broccoli florets because I’m lazy, but you can definitely start with a couple heads of broccoli and chop it up yourself. Toss the broccoli into a slow cooker. I use the Ninja and love it.
- Soup Mix – To your broccoli, add in some onion, garlic, chicken broth, cream, mustard powder, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. We want flavor in this soup and we’re going to get it! Cover and cook on low for about 4 hours or until your broccoli is very tender.
- Immersion Blend – The color gets a little funky after all that cooking, but just trust me. Things are going to get prettier and super delicious in a minute. Here comes the fun part: blending it up. I use an immersion blender and just pop it right in the slow cooker to do it’s thing. Here’s the one I have and love. I think it’s a worthwhile investment – it’s fairly cheap and, while I don’t use it every day (or even every week), it’s super handy to have when you need it and doesn’t take up much space.
- Traditional Blend – If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can carefully transfer the hot soup to a traditional blender and blend it in batches. Be sure to vent the steam as you blend and just be careful not to burn yourself. Back to the slow cooker for the good stuff…
- Cheese – You can’t make broccoli cheddar soup without cheddar, but I also add in Monterrey jack for extra creamy goodness. We like lots of cheese in our soup! Stir that around until the cheese is melted and you’re done! Creamy broccoli cheddar soup! So easy, right?
- Serve – We like to serve this low carb broccoli cheese soup while it’s good and hot and then top it with even more shredded cheese and some crispy bacon!
Serving Suggestions:
A big steamy bowl of broccoli cheese soup goes great with our keto cauliflower breadsticks, garlic bread chaffle, or cheddar bay biscuits.
Soup and salad is a classic combination. Try our homemade ranch dressing or our homemade thousand island dressing over a green salad.
Want to add some protein? Try serving this along with our keto stuffed mushrooms!
More Low Carb Soup Recipes:
FAQs:
This soup will last for 4-5 days if you keep it well sealed.
You can reheat it in the slow cooker if you’ve got the time, or just heat up a bowl in the microwave or however much you’d like on the stovetop.
The simplest way to thicken this broccoli cheddar soup is to just add more cheddar or more monterey jack. If you’re not watching your carbs, you can also sprinkle in some instant mashed potatoes – they make an easy thickener for soup.
The one and only time I will substitute frozen broccoli for fresh is in soup. Fresh still has the best flavor, but you can use frozen in this recipe if that’s what you have on hand.
It should freeze well for at least 2 months, just make sure that you cool it down completely before putting it in the freezer.
More Family Favorites:
Healthy Green Bean Casserole: This is traditionally served on Thanksgiving, but it’s good any night of the week since my version is easy!!
Roasted Cauliflower Soup: Roasting the cauliflower gives this soup extra flavor!
Spinach Stuffed Chicken: The most popular recipe on this blog!
Million Dollar Spaghetti: We’re using spaghetti squash to cut the carbs here. So good!
Crockpot Broccoli Cheese Soup
Ingredients
- 32 ounces broccoli florets
- ½ onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon ground mustard
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 4 cups grated cheddar
- 1 1/2 cups grated monterey jack
Instructions
- Add the broccoli, onion, garlic, chicken, broth, cream, ground mustard, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to a 6 quart slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until the broccoli is very tender.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the soup to a smooth consistency. Alternately, carefully transfer the soup to your blender in batches and blend. Be careful while blending hot soup and be sure to vent the steam when blending hot soup.
- Add the cheese to the hot soup and stir well until melted and creamy.
- Serve immediately with additional grated cheese and crumbled bacon, if desired.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
SingSongMama says
I Love Easy … THIS IS!!!
Very tasty too, warmed up my family AND kitchen on a -10° below zero day here in beautiful Southern Minnesota. Thanks so much!
Annemarie says
Can you use half and half instead of heavy cream? Would it be the same amount? Can’t wait to try this recipe for next week’s lunch. Thanks.
Karly Campbell says
Hi Annemarie! I’ve never tried using half and half in this recipe but it should work fine. I’d use the same amount, but keep in mind that the soup will be thinner.
Angie says
Followed the recipe exactly except I added a couple of chopped carrots because I had some laying around, and the result was delicious! It was not too thin or runny; it was actually quite thick. The broccoli taste was not strong. Thanks for the recipe; I’ll be making this again!
Karly Campbell says
Thanks for sharing, Angie!
Ashley Stibolt says
This says 1g for a serving size. Did this mean 1 cup not gram?
Karly Campbell says
Oh sorry about that. Our recipe card just started adding that in when we don’t specify. It should be right around 3/4 of a cup. 🙂
Susan Gapinski says
How long can you keep in refrigerator after its made?
Karly Campbell says
This should last for 4-5 days.
Dana says
Excellent. Freezing cold Super Bowl Sunday here in Michigan. Family loved it!
Karly Campbell says
Glad it was a hit, Dana!
Jeanne says
What a wonderful chilly night dinner recipe. I love broccoli and cheese but have never made this soup. Could not have been easier. I worked downstairs while the crock pot was working away upstairs. Nice flavors and texture. Served it with a small salad and crusty bread and voila! — a filling and comforting meal.
Karly Campbell says
Thanks, Jeanne!
Meghan says
I thought the recipe turned out great! And it super easy to throw together. My only issue was that when I put all of the ingredients into my nutrition calculator, it was 9g of carbs per serving not 4g. Just curious how are numbers are so off …
Karly Campbell says
Hi Meghan! It’ll depend on specific products being calculated as well as the types of measurements used and where the info came from. Our info is pulled from the USDA and usually accurate, but it is calculated automatically so we don’t guarantee it. 🙂
Liisa Bartges says
This is a go to recipe in our house. Turns out perfectly every single time.
Karly Campbell says
Thanks Liisa!
Brian says
4 cups would equal how many grams of cheese. I googled it and I get different answers.
Karly Campbell says
Generally 4 ounces of shredded cheese equals 1 cup. I have no idea how that converts to grams.
Brian says
Thank you
Steve says
Turned out runny. What to do? Followed recipe. Too spicy too.
Karly Campbell says
Hi Steve! You can add more cheese to try to thicken it up if you like. Not sure why it would be spicy though – 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes against that whole crockpot full of soup shouldn’t have much impact at all.
Kim says
Mine turned out too thin too.
irma says
If you use frozen broccoli, can you throw it in frozen or must defrost first?
Karly Campbell says
I haven’t made this with frozen broccoli, but I think you’d be fine to toss it in frozen. It may take longer in the crockpot though.
Deborah Pinker says
I always put in cream of cheddar, celery or any cream soup.
Layne says
It would probably be a benefit to put the whole cheese issue in the actual recipe and not just the comments 🙁
Karly Campbell says
Hi Layne, I’m not sure what ‘cheese issue’ you’re referring to? The recipe is written as I make it and has loads of good reviews.
Beth Cooper says
It is in the receipe-4 cups chicken broth
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 cups grated cheddar
1 1/2 cups grated monterey jack
Instructions
Add the broccoli, onion, garlic, chicken, broth, cream, ground mustard, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to a 6 quart slow cooker.
Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until the broccoli is very tender.
Use an immersion blender to blend the soup to a smooth consistency. Alternately, carefully transfer the soup to your blender in batches and blend. Be careful while blending hot soup and be sure to vent the steam when blending hot soup.
Add the cheese to the hot soup and stir well until melted and creamy.
Serve immediately with additional grated cheese and crumbled bacon, if desired
Susan says
I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m wondering if you have a conversion to use an instant pot instead of a crock pot?
Karly Campbell says
I’d probably add everything up to the chicken broth for 4 minutes, quick release and then stir in the rest of the ingredients. I haven’t tested it, but that’s where I’d start. 🙂
Wendy R says
Back in the bad old days, I would make a crock pot potato soup and would add cream cheese the last hour. How do you think that would affect this recipe?
Karly Campbell says
I think it would work fine, but I haven’t tried it. Should be good though. 🙂