Copycat Panera Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Copycat Panera Broccoli Cheddar Soup is probably one of the most sought after copycat recipes. Rightfully so, because it is everything that is good in the world - thick, creamy, cheesiness, with the right amount of health from green broccoli. The best part is that it's easy, and just as delicious to make at home! Paired with homemade cheddar scallion biscuits, you are ready for the ultimate comfort meal. Panera who?

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love This Recipe
• Recipe Overview
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Tips and Tricks
• Copycat Panera Broccoli Cheddar Soup
• 💬 Comments

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• It tastes just like the Panera original! This broccoli cheddar soup will remind you of the restaurant classic, except you control what goes into it!
• You can make lighter changes, depending on any special diets. You can use heavy cream, or lighter cream, to your taste.
• It's a GREAT way to get the kids to eat their veggies. You might be bribing them with cheese, but that's not important.

Recipe Overview

• Flavour: The flavour of this soup is nostalgic as ever. Think of your favourite cream of broccoli soup, with the added indulgence of cheesy goodness. I like to add some extra black pepper and thyme to the soup, which regular Panera broccoli cheddar soup does not have.
• Ease: This soup is a one pot meal. The hardest part about this soup is chopping up the broccoli. Because I like to a chunkier soup, I do not blend this one down. That means its a dump, simmer and enjoy kind of meal! You can of course go in with an immersion blender, adding a negligible amount of time.
• Time: Believe it or not, this is a weeknight friendly broccoli cheddar soup recipe. From start to finish, this soup takes about 35 minutes to be ready. Not bad for a bowl of comfort, am I right?

Ingredients

• Shallots and Garlic: The foundations for anything yummy, really. This is the starting point for almost any recipe I make. The finer you can mince the shallots and garlic, the better, as this is a no-blend soup.
• Broccoli: For this soup, you will want to rough chop the broccoli florets down into rough pieces (some smaller, some larger). You don't want anything too large, though, as it will take longer to get tender.
• Shredded Carrots: Shredded or grated carrots work here. The use of carrots is twofold - one, it kind of resembles shreds of cheddar cheese, and two, it adds some additional veggie goodness to the soup. Balance, right?
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese: Broccoli cheddar soup would just be broccoli soup without cheddar cheese. Use your favourite cheddar cheese here - I enjoy a sharper cheddar, and that's what I used here.
• All Purpose Flour: All purpose flour is going to thicken this soup up, along with the cheese at the end. If you are looking to make this low-carb friendly, you can forego the all purpose flour and just use the cheese, but it will not be as thick as the restaurant version.
• Chicken Broth and Cream: In most of my recipes, I preach using no salt added, or reduced sodium chicken broth. I like to control the amount of salt I put into my recipes, and when you are using a decent amount of cheese in a recipe, it can get salty fast! For the cream, heavy is generally the way to go. This can be lightened up with a lower fat content cream, but make sure you are turning the heat relatively low when adding it, to prevent the soup from breaking.
• Black Pepper, Nutmeg, Dried Thyme: The only spices you need to make this soup delicious. Thyme is not a usual ingredient in Panera's broccoli cheddar soup recipe, but I think it adds a nice background flavour, and it goes great with broccoli.

Instructions

1. Saute Shallots and Garlic: Heat your soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat. In ¼ cup of butter (half a stick), saute the shallots and garlic until they are translucent.
2. Add the Carrots and Broccoli: Once the shallots are translucent, add the shredded carrots and the chopped broccoli. Cook through for 3-5 minutes.
3. Sprinkle in Flour: Sprinkle in the all purpose flour, and cook through for 3-5 minutes to get rid of the raw flour flavour.
4. Add the Broth: Add the chicken broth to the pot, stirring well to incorporate the flour mixture. Let this simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the spices to the pot at this point.
5. Stir in the Cream and Cheese: Once the broccoli is tender and the soup is relatively thick, add the heavy cream. Add the cheese bits at a time, stirring thoroughly before adding the next bit. Simmer for another 5 minutes on low heat, or your soup will get grainy!

Tips and Tricks

• Avoid pre-shredded cheese: pre-shredded cheese does not melt the same as cheese that is freshly grated. This is because pre-shredded cheese is coated in anti-caking agents. This will change the texture of your soup.
• The heat of your stove is everything: Have you ever made a recipe with cream and cheese, and ended up with a separated mess? High heat will do that! Keep the heat low once you add the cream and cheese to the mix.
• For a smoother soup, take out a cup, and blend: If you like a more varied texture, you can take out one cup and blend, or use an immersion blender to roughly blend the soup.

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