Copycat Broccoli Cheddar Soup Recipe Tastes Like Panera Bread's Famous Soup (9 Ingredients) by Jan Mostrom

I just had the privilege of spending a week with my daughter at her home. One of her absolute favorite things to eat is the broccoli cheddar soup from Panera Bread, which is not available where she lives. When she asked me to make her broccoli cheddar soup, I happily accepted the challenge to make as close of a copycat recipe for this soup as possible.

This vegetarian recipe (if you use vegetable stock) is full of tender broccoli, carrots and celery in a cheesy base, and the result is a fresh homemade broccoli cheddar soup that fills you up and doesn’t contain anything but whole-food ingredients. This soup has two 20-minute simmers, and the end result is a creamy, filling soup that you'll want to make over and over again. (We made it twice in one week!)

Photo credit (all photos): Jan Mostrom

To make this copycat Panera Bread broccoli cheese soup recipe, you will need this short list of wholesome ingredients: butter, onion, flour (all-purpose or gluten-free), milk, chicken or vegetable broth, carrots, celery, broccoli and sharp cheddar cheese. Check out the health benefits of onion, the health benefits of celery and the health benefits of carrots. 

Serve this cheesy broccoli soup recipe for lunch or for dinner with your favorite side dishes. We love a loaf of hot bread, of course! 

Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter (divided)
• 1/2 large or 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour
• 2 cups plus 3 to 5 tablespoons milk
• 2 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
• 2 large carrots, peeled and sliced into 1- to 2-inch matchsticks or sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
• 3 small celery stalks, sliced thinly
• 1 1/2 cups broccoli florets, roughly chopped
• 2 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

Here's how to make it:

1. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of butter to melt. Add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and beginning to brown. Turn off heat and set to the side.
   
2. While the onion cooks, melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter in a medium stock pot or dutch oven on medium-low heat. When the butter is melted, add the flour and stir. I used all-purpose flour, but you can always use 1:1 gluten-free flour if you want to make this gluten-free.
   
3. Add 1 tablespoon milk at a time to the flour mixture. Whisk or stir until the flour is mostly incorporated into the milk.
   
4. Add the 2 cups of milk and the broth into the flour. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking and simmer on medium-low for 20 minutes. The mixture should be smooth and getting thicker.
   
5. After 20 minutes, add the raw vegetables and the onions and continue to simmer for another 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Stir occasionally.
   
6. When the vegetables are tender, add the cheese and stir until it melts completely. Add salt and pepper to taste.
   
7. Serve immediately with crusty bread and enjoy. We kept leftovers in the fridge for a couple of days in an airtight container and froze a few individual servings to reheat in a few weeks on a busy weeknight.
   

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