This Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheddar Soup is simple and so delicious! Made in the crock pot with fresh ingredients, make it once and it will become part of your dinner rotation!
I’m so excited to be partnering with Crystal Farms® Cheese to make this soup cheesy in the most delicious way possible!
Are you ready for the most mind-blowing Broccoli Cheddar Soup ever?
This recipe has:
- Comes together easily in your slow cooker.
- Has minimal ingredients.
- Even less hands on time.
- Has the best, most amazing flavor you could ask for.
Should we make it??
How to Make Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheddar Soup
This Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheddar Soup is so easy to make.
Start by adding carrots, onions, broccoli, chicken stock (or vegetable stock), and a few spices to your slow cooker.
Cook on low for four hours.
NOTE! If you like your Broccoli Cheddar Soup to be completely smooth, now is the time to blend it. I choose not to blend mine.
At the end of the cook time, turn your slow cooker to HIGH FOR 30 MINUTES, and create a roux on the stovetop. This is going to add the thick creamy backbone to the soup. It is worth the five or so minutes it will take. (See the section below on tips and tricks for making a roux.)
Next add cheddar cheese to the roux. I love using Crystal Farms® Cheese. There really are differences in cheeses, and for this soup to be good, you want to make it with a high quality cheddar, like Crystal Farms. It’s at the heart of the flavor of your soup, so it’s the way to go.
Add the shredded cheese to the roux and then add the cheesy roux to the slow cooker.
And that’s it! So simple, right?
How to Make a Roux
As I mentioned above, the backbone of this soup is the roux. Without it, you don’t get the creaminess that you are likely expecting from this soup.
These tips will help:
- Let the butter melt completely over low heat and then whisk in the flour.
- Cooking the flour/butter mixture for 30 seconds before adding any liquid adds a nice flavor to it.
- Using the cooking liquid from the crock pot is a nice trick that makes for an incredibly flavorful soup.
- When you add the stock, add just a little at a time to start over medium heat. It helps it combine more evenly.
Shred Your Own Cheese
You have likely heard me say this so many times. It is worth the extra five minutes to shred your own cheese. It melts much much better than a bag of pre shredded cheese.
Leftovers
This soup is best served right away, but if you have left overs (you won’t), heat it over low heat on your stove top!
Other Great Soups
I have a great recipe for Broccoli Cheddar Soup on the stove top if you forgot to start your slow cooker!
My Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup is delicious comfort food.
I love how easy my Slow Cooker Vegetable Meatball Soup is!
If you make this soup or any of my other recipes, leave me a comment and let me know!
Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Ingredients
- 4 cups broccoli florets cut into small bite sized pieces
- 1/2 yellow onion diced small
- 2 cups shredded carrots
- 4 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 3 TBSP unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup half and half
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (see note)
Instructions
- Combine the broccoli, onion, shredded carrots, chicken stock, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in the slow cooker and cook on low for four hours.
- Turn the slow cooker to high.
- In a small saucepan melt the butter. Slowly whisk in the flour. Get a cup of liquid from the slow cooker. Very very slowly add it to the sauce pan whisking it in as you go. Then very slowly whisk in the half and half.
- Add the shredded cheese to the roux mixture a little at a time until it is fully melted and combined.
- Add the cheese sauce to the crock pot and stir it in to combine.
- After it is fully combined, serve and enjoy!
Notes
Shelby Nelson says
I might be a little too late, but is the nutrition table for version 1 or 2 I’m trying to convert this into WW points.
Turned out delicious and super easy& I used frozen broccoli
It’s for version 2
Stacey says
I did version 2 and it was still hard to melt the cheese and ended up too thin for my preference. I think next time I’ll try making the cheese in the cream mixture first.
Arin says
I am definatly going to make this but I was wondering what would be best to serve as a side with this
I love making bread to go with soup! This Beer Bread would be delicious as would these Fast Easy Biscuits!
Cat says
I made soft pretzels with it.. so yummy..
Delicious!
Linda says
I made this soup tonight and added leftover ham. Yes it was a little more watery than I would like but I added some corn starch to try to thicken it. Lots of flavor and smelled so good. My worst critics (son and husband) loved it so much they went for seconds. I will definitely be making this again soon.
Lisa says
I just made (attempted) this recipe.. word for word followed every direction. It did not work… the cheese was rubber in the bottom of the crockpot. In my attempt to fix this I moved it to the stove top where the cheese curdled. Started cooking at 1pm and by 9pm was a waste of ingredients. I was looking forward to this all day. Very disappointing.
I am so sorry that this soup didn’t work out for you, I know how frustrating that can be. I wish I could tell you what went wrong, but not being in your kitchen with you, I can’t. I can say that this recipe has worked out really well for a lot of other people. My guess would be it was related to adding the cheese and if you wanted to try it again, I would add the cheese to the butter and flour mixture outside of the crock pot.
Emily says
Can’t have onions. Really worried it will ruin the floor if left out.
If you can’t have them and you still want to make this, I would just go for it. The taste won’t be the same, but it definitely won’t ruin it.
Christine says
I used bell peppers instead of onions! (Red and yellow, but that was just a matter of preference)
I added one pepper in the first step and the second pepper with the cheese. Obviously they aren’t crisp in the soup, but I liked them!
That sounds really delicious Christine!
Brette says
It is -40 degrees where I live today so I decided this would be a good recipe choice. My soup is currently simmering in the slow cooker on keep warm. The flavour is amazing! I had no trouble melting the cheese at all. I did it all in a sauce pan. I used whole milk instead of cream and melted old cheddar and parm directly in and just dumped it all in the slow cooker. Great recipe thank you.
I’m so happy to hear that you liked it. Stay warm!
Liz says
I made this today using Version 2 (and Tillamook cheese–1/2 sharp cheddar and 1/2 medium cheddar) and it was INCREDIBLE!!! I added the cheese directly to the crockpot in small batches after adding the butter/flour/broth/half n half mix, as instructed and it melted perfectly. I will definitely make this again and again. Absolutely delicious!
So happy to hear that you liked it Liz!
Edward says
After following the recipe exactly, I made it and it just did not seem to turn out very well. It created a terrible odour in my home all day long and ended up tasting similar. This recipe sounded really good but just did not turn out well.
I’m really sorry this didn’t work out for you Edward, it’s hard to know what went wrong. I can say I’ve made this a number of times and really loved it.
Connor says
What is half and half???
Half and half is a basically half whole milk and half heavy cream.