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
Mary Sigrist says
I CAN’T HAVE YELLOW CHEESE WOULD IT WORK OUT WITH WHITE CHEDDER?
I have made it with white cheddar and that worked fine.
Jeanne Groce says
I guess I’m going to post the only negative review. I have used several of your recipes that I have been very happy with, but I was very disappointed in this one. I followed the directions explicitly, and I was definitely underwhelmed with the soup. I ate a bowl of it for my dinner last night, and I’m going to discard the rest. I wish I had pureed it, maybe I would have enjoyed that more.
That’s such a bummer, Jeanne! I’m sorry you didn’t like this. And I agree I think you would have liked it more pureed. I hope next time you like one of my recipes you stop by and drop me a note :)
julie skielnik says
Can this recipe be doubled?
Absolutely!
Barbara Atkinson says
I’d love to try this recipe. But I’m reading all the comments and “version 2” is mentioned a few times. I don’t see 2 versions of the recipe. Where should I be getting the recipe?
I can totally appreciate why that is confusing, Barbara! Version 1 is what was originally published. I later revised the recipe to make it better (version 2). For a while I had both recipes in the post so people could access the original and I recently took it out as version 2 is just that much better.
Robin Dillon says
How many servings does this recipe provide?
Hi Robin, it is six servings.
Chelsey says
Hello, it says to add the cheese to the roux mixture in the pot and then add the cheese sauce into the crockpot, but the video shows adding the roux mixture to the crockpot followed by the shredded cheese. Curious which works best, thank you!
Great question Chelsey! I made it with the roux in the pot and then added the cheese to the crockpot as shown in the video, when so many readers chimed in that they found it easier to just add the cheese right to the roux. So that is the reason for the discrepancy.
Penny Anthony says
Could you add chicken?
For sure! I would just stir in some shredded cooked chicken at the end. Delicious.
Irina says
I need to make this for 24 people… I see that you can scale the recipe up however any recommendations on how to split this recipe between multiple crockpots? How many do you think I’ll need? Would 2 8qt crockpots be okay or do you think I’d need 3? Any other suggestions?
Hi Irina! Without doing it first it would be hard for me to say. I think it will work fine in 2 eight quart crockpots. This is a simple enough soup recipe that I think the doubling/tripling of it will go just fine. Let me know how it turns out!
Gabriele says
can I freeze any left over soup ?
You can. Because this has a roux and dairy, I would thaw in refrigerator overnight and then I would heat it over very low heat stirring often.
Brooke says
I picked this recipe because of his many good reviews it had. I have never made a broccoli cheddar soup so I was excited. However, I did not have a good experience:( no idea why as I followed the recipe exactly. (Shredded my own cheese, slowly whisked everything together) and it just seems like it missing something! I almost wish it was creamier. Any suggestions?
So sorry you didn’t like it, Brooke. Its hard for me to know what went wrong without me being there. Usually when my soup isn’t as thick as I want it to be, something went wrong with the roux.