Rich n’ creamy Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup! So tasty you’ll crave it all year round.
Normally four days into December we have a boat-load of snow outside but this year Winter is being weird. Weird in a really good way though. I always say that I love snow – for one week of the year. Christmas week. After that I’m done with it and I want to pack it up in a box and put it away until next year. I don’t do cold. I mean, I do cold because I have to and I have no choice when living along the rocky mountains here in Utah, it’s sort of a package deal. But I don’t do cold in the sense that I dread it for months before it even gets here. Come August I’m silently dying a little inside just thinking about the cold weather that I know is on its way.
Even though we don’t have snow on the ground, we are definitely getting some chilly weather coming through which is okay by me because even though I don’t love the cold weather (as previously discussed in detail), I do love a cozy over-sized sweater and thick cable knit socks. We get the full four seasons here and I’m a fan of the variety it allows my wardrobe.
If you live somewhere that really gets all four seasons you know exactly what I’m talking about. And if you’re anything like me, you have boxes out in the garage or in the basement labeled “SUMMER” and “WINTER”. When the snow melts and things are warming up, I pack up the scarves and sweaters and swap them out for the flip flops and demin cut-offs.
Right now it’s sweater-not-parka-weather. Pretty cold but not blizzardy if you know what I mean. So it’s cozy comfort food for dinner every single night. Pastas, casseroles, and buckets upon buckets of soup.
I LOVE SOUP.
So. much.
Broccoli cheese soup is at the top of my favorite soups list. This version is rich and creamy – just how I like it!!- with lots of broccoli and my secret ingredient for flavor and creaminess – cream cheese. A bit of cream cheese takes this soup from good to ohmygoshsoyummy. Yep, one word. And it’s easy, you just throw it all in your crock pot and come back a few hours to later to give it a stir and add all of that sharp cheddar cheese that gives the soup that signature richness.
Hello cheeeesy broccoli soup, please get in my belly!
What people are saying about this Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup
“Uncover soup and add the sharp cheddar cheese, salt, and pepper. Stir until the cheese melts into the soup. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed. Serve warm and top with additional shredded cheese if desired. Enjoy!” – Katie
“GREAT RECIPE!! This was my first time making broccoli cheese soup and it was delicious!! I had the same “curdling” problem (which I don’t really think is curdling). I just used a hand held mixer which I planned on doing anyway because I didn’t chop the broccoli into fine pieces. It solved the problem and made a wonderful soup!! Thanks for the recipe 
” – Amy
“This soup turned out really delicious! I had no curdling when I used Lorena’s advice of stirring the cream cheese into the roux/milk mixture after removing from the heat. Followed the directions other than that except for giving it a few pulses with an immersion blender before adding the cheese. I Think I’ll add some carrots next time – THANK YOU for a great recipe!” – Dana
“I tried this today and it turned out perfectly. I cooked it on low for 4 hours. There was zero curdling. I made sure to add the half and half slowly, and worked out all or any lumps. It was perfect. Thats all I can say. I don’t know what others are doing to make it not work, but they must have done something wrong. It was really excellent.” – Snibb
Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 5 tablespoons flour
- 3 cups milk - see note
- 3 cups chicken broth - (or vegetable broth for vegetarian)
- ½ onion - diced
- 3-4 cups chopped broccoli florets - (just the bushy tops – discard the stems or use them for another recipe)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese - (yellow)
- 2 teaspoons salt - (or to taste)
- 1-4 teaspoons black pepper - (or to taste)
- optional: extra cheese for topping
Instructions
- In a large sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat. When melted, stir in the flour until mixture clumps up. Very gradually whisk in the milk until all milk has been added and a thick white sauce forms.
- Add chopped onions, broccoli, garlic, Italian seasoning, and cream cheese to your slow cooker. Add the sauce from the pan, and the chicken broth. Stir to combine. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 4-6 hours.
- Uncover soup and add the sharp cheddar cheese, salt, and pepper. Stir until the cheese melts into the soup. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed. Serve warm and top with additional shredded cheese if desired. Enjoy!
I made this soup tonight and it came out perfect. I used fat free milk and it came out creamy. I slowing whisk the cream cheese into the milk and flour mixture while on the stove then added all the ingredients except the broccoli, then when it was all hot I poured into the crock pot with the broccoli and cooked on high. Soup was a big hit at home.
This looks amazing!
Just to be sure it’s 2 oz Cream cheese and not 8 oz? It looked like the whole block in the pic. Can’t wait to make this tonight😊
I am making this today and have the same question…did you get an answer on the cream cheese?
If you use the cut onions and garlic as a size reference in that picture you’ll see that it is indeed a 2 oz portion of cream cheese.
Great Recipe! I’ve been searching for a broc cheese soup that reminds me of one that I ate as a child in a restaurant/deli that is now long gone…and I’ve found it!! I added a bit more broth and garlic and a bit less butter but followed the basic recipe mostly. This is a keeper for sure.
This recipe needed a *lot* of adjustments. First, the broccoli needs to be pre-microwaved, it was still pretty raw after five hours. Second, there is WAY too much liquid, it was extremely watery. We added some instant potatoes to thicken it up to acceptable levels. The actual taste was great, but we were grossly misled by this recipe, which we wonder if it was actually kitchen-tested. Not a big fan.
If your broccoli was still raw after 5 hours, the problem isn’t the recipe.
This recipe looks so yummy and I can’t wait to eat it for dinner tonight with some warm, homemade bread!
I think the solution to the curdling that some of your readers are complaining about is Evaporated Milk. I learned this trick several years ago and use it every time a slow cooker recipe calls for dairy in the beginning of the cooking process.
I’ve got this soup in the slow cooker right now, and I will update after dinner tonight and let you know how it turned out.
Cheers from another Utah girl!