How to Make Broccoli Soup
Eye-catching, delicious and nutritious, learn how to make broccoli soup for a simple and wholesome weeknight meal. The soup is light enough to be a first course for a larger meal, but can easily be a main course on it's own with some bread and a salad.Broccoli soup can be pureed in batches in a blender--when blending any hot liquid, just be sure you only fill the blender halfway or two-thirds full, as the steam creates pressure and can make the lid pop off. An immersion blender (also known as a hand blender) also works well, especially since you can keep the soup in the same pot, making clean up a cinch.
Broccoli is a member of the cabbage family; the word itself is derived from the Italian word "broccolo," which means the flowering top of a cabbage. The green vegetable is packed with vitamin C (a half-cup serving provides more than 52 mg) as well as cancer-fighting properties.
Transcript
Hi everyone, I'm Judith. Well, if you want a soup
to warm you up on a cold winter's day, have
I got the one for you because today we'll be
making broccoli and cheese soup. So what you'll need is
2 bunches, about 2-1/2 pounds of broccoli, trimmed and coarsely
chopped; 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped; 3 cups of
low-sodium vegetable broth; 1/2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast flakes; an
8th of a teaspoon of ground cumin; an 8th of
a teaspoon of ground nutmeg; 1/4 cup of fat-free half
and half; 1/2 a cup of shredded reduced fat Swiss
cheese. So first things first. We have a large saucepan
to the side of us. Let's get it onto medium
heat. Now, we've sprayed that with some cooking spray to
get it coated, and all we're gonna do is put
in our chopped onion into that, and that's gonna cook
for about 4 to 6 minutes until they're nice and
soft. So, the onions have been cooking for about 4
to 6 minutes. Make sure to stir it occasionally so
it doesn't get burnt. Now, next thing we're gonna do
is add in our broccoli, the lovely miracle food, full
of vitamin C and vitamin A, really, really good for
you. And into that, we're gonna add in our broth
and 2 cups of water as well. So, just add
that in. I boil it there. Good. Now, we wanna
bring that up to a boil. So once this is
brought to a boil, we're then gonna add in our
yeast, our cumin and nutmeg, which is just gonna give
it a beautiful flavor, and we're gonna let it simmer
now. Take it to low, and let it simmer partially
covered. So you can partially cover that for about 20
minutes or until broccoli is nice and tender. So, we
left our soup simmering for 20 minutes. The broccoli is
now nice and tender and we have our last final
step to puree. So working in batches, get your blender
or food processor and we're just going to puree our
soup now. And we'll do the same with our last
batch of soup in our saucepan. Alright. So once that's
done, we're gonna add this mixture back into the saucepan
as well as our other batch, then get that to
a medium-low heat now, and in goes the half and
half. That's gonna give it a lovely creamy consistency. So
we'll put it on low and we'll let it cook
through until it gets nice and hot. So once our
soup is nice and hot, we can serve that in
a bowl. Oh, and that's beautiful. Really lovely consistency. And
we're gonna top that with some cheese. Today, we're using
Gruyère cheese, a nice Swiss cheese, but you can use
any cheese you like. Uh, and doesn't that like beautiful.
So there you go. That's how you make a broccoli
and cheese soup.
What You'll Need
- 2 bunches broccoli, trimmed and coarsely chopped (2 1/2 pounds)
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped (1 cup)
- 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 1/2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 cup fat-free half-and-half
- 1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat Swiss cheese
Step By Step
1
Coat 3-quart saucepan with cooking spray. Cook onion in saucepan over medium heat 4 to 5 minutes, or until softened, stirring occasionally. Add broccoli, vegetable broth, and 2 cups water, and bring to boil. Stir in nutritional yeast, cumin, and nutmeg; reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, 20 minutes, or until broccoli is tender.
2
Working in batches, puree soup in food processor until smooth. Return to saucepan. Stir in half-and-half, and heat over low heat until hot. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Sprinkle each serving with 1 tablespoon cheese.
More Recipes
Marcia Kiesel's luxuriously creamy soups are the perfect starters for Thanksgiving dinner because they can be made in advance, then reheated and garnished just before serving. Other ideas are Creamy Carrot Soup with Scallions and Poppy Seeds and Creamy Parsnip Soup with Prosciutto.
Soup du jour? Try this creamy broccoli soup on a chilly day to warm the hearts of your loved ones.
Purchased pesto seasons this creamy broccoli soup with basil. Serve it with a sandwich or salad for a light meal or as a first-course.
Chicken breasts are coated with a mixture of bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese, then topped with a creamy garlic-mushroom sauce featuring Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Broccoli Soup.
Marcia Kiesel's luxuriously creamy soups are the perfect starters for Thanksgiving dinner because they can be made in advance, then reheated and garnished just before serving. Other ideas are Creamy Parsnip Soup with Prosciutto and Creamy Broccoli Soup with Croutons.
White beans pureed into this broccoli soup make it extra creamy so you don't need heaps of cheese to do the job. Serve with a crunchy whole-grain roll and a glass of winter ale.
This creamy chicken and vegetable dish features an enticing sauce made with cream of potato and cream of broccoli soups, and is topped with golden biscuits for a real home-style flavor...and it's on the table in just 45 minutes.