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Crockpot broccoli cheese soup is quick to throw together and makes 12 cups of soup – plenty enough to serve your family dinner and still have leftovers for lunch. Just 4 net carbs per bowl! This soup is perfect for chilly nights.
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.
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!!
How to make crockpot broccoli cheddar soup:
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. (affiliate link)
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.
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. (affiliate link) 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.
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! Lots of cheese! You can’t make broccoli cheddar soup without cheddar, but I also add in Monterrey jack for extra creamy goodness.
Stir that around until the cheese is melted and you’re done! Creamy broccoli cheddar soup!
So easy, right?
Top it off with extra cheese and some crispy bacon, if you like.
More recipes for chilly nights:Â
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
This broccoli cheddar soup is so simple to toss in your crockpot! Blend it up for a thick, creamy soup that's perfect for chilly nights.
Per 1 cup serving: 360 calories, 30g fat, 14g protein, 6g carbs, 2g fiber = 4g net carbs
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.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Top your bowl of soup with grated cheddar and crumbled bacon for extra flavor!
69 comments
Haven’t made this soup yet, but it sounds yummy! I was wondering if you have to blend the soup, or can you leave it chunky? My husband said that he thinks he would rather have the chunks. What’s your thoughts on this?
You can leave it chunky, if you like.
How many days do you think this soup will last ?
I think it’d last for 4-5 days in the fridge. 🙂
Great recipe! The only thing i added was a splash of Worcestershire sauce, after reading the comments. Thank you for the recipe!
Oh, that sounds like a good addition!
Really tasty, however , the cheese did not melt well. It was still fine to eat, just not sure what I did wrong. I grated it myself…. using the Hautly brand which is what my husband bought ( but I had never used that before. ) I usually grate Cabot and will try that again next time.
I used sharp cheddar & Pepper Jack cheese. Grated them myself. Used a 32oz bag of frozen broccoli. 4 hrs in crock pot and WOW!!! Delish!!!!
Do you think using broccoli and cauliflower florets would be good together for this soup?
It would be great! 🙂
Would Swiss be a good option instead of the Monterey Jack?
It will definitely have a shaper stronger flavor, but if you like swiss it should be great. 🙂
Like many others, my cheese did not melt well. I followed the recipe to the T & grated my own sharp cheddar. This soup doesn’t work unless you’re ok with chewy soup. Good flavor but yucky texture. An expensive disappointment!
Hi Kelly!
I’m guessing that the issue with the cheese not melting, is that the soup isn’t hot enough by the time the cheese is added. Every slow cooker is different and if yours runs a bit cooler, it may just need a little time covered on high to heat back up after blending. Hope that helps.
Letting the cheese come to room temperature before adding it worked at treat, also add it slowly about 1/2 a cup at a time and mix until its completely melted before adding more. Ours turned out amazing!
Love this! I made this last night and it so good! I didn’t use preshredded cheese, I used blocks and cut them up in strps and cubes. It seemed to work. It saved on some carbs using the block of cheese. I will definitely be making this again!
I made this a couple nights ago and can’t stop eating it! I did have one oops, only looked at recipe while shopping and got stone ground mustard instead of dry mustard. So I have no idea how this recipe is SUPPOSED to taste but it’s yummy with stone ground mustard! LOL! I read the comments as it was cooking and added W sauce then made sure to get it bubbling hot before I added the cheese at the end. Melted perfectly! I don’t have an immersion blender and wasn’t willing to spend time transferring, but as I thought, the broccoli was so soft I just used a big spoon to smash it and left some chunks on purpose. This will be added to my repertoire for sure!
Thank you for post these! I was just thinking today how I’d love so soup since I’m not feeling all that well! Love your posts and recipes!
I am thinking of taking this to a pot luck but an hour or so away. DO you think it would work if I did everything bud add the cheese the night before, let it cool. and reheat to add cheese?
Hi Penni! I think it would probably work, but I can’t say for sure.
Is it possible to freeze this soup?
This should freeze fine, though I’ve honestly never tried it.
Hoping it freezes well..am the only one here to eat it!
Did it freeze well? I also am the only person who will eat this soup so I’m curious about your experience! Alternatively I was thinking of freezing it without the cheese and add the cheese when reheating; I’m not sure if that would be a good option.
Whats the cholesterol rating of this soup?
Hi Wendy! The nutrition info that I provide is located in the recipe card. If you’re looking for more info, you’d need to plug this into an online calculator. 🙂
Girl, I don’t know why you call yourself “lazy” because you purchase broccoli florets vs. breaking it down yourself! You are a homemaker, raising kids and taking care of a hubby. You rule over TWO blogs, developing recipes for both. I don’t know how you keep your sanity but if it is purchasing precut broccoli, then you go girl! Let know one judge and if they do, may they walk a MONTH in your shoes! Thanks for all you do on both blogs!
Haha, never looked at it that way, Vickie! Thanks! 🙂
Loved this soup.I took everything out of slow cooker and into a deep pan for immersion blender.Brought the heat up and cheese melted fine.Yummy!
Doesn’t work don’t waste your time and money
Hi Josh! Sorry to hear this didn’t turn out for you…can you tell me what issues you had? I’d love to help troubleshoot as this recipe gets made in our house quite often with no problems and I’ve heard from lots of other readers that they love it too.