Broccoli Cheddar Soup

We had this soup for dinner last night.  It was yummy and not made with much butter so a healthy dinner.  We had it with a salad and some toasted bread slices (I’ll post that recipe later).  My husband loved the flavor and even our daughter had some.  It’s a simple recipe:

Ingredients:

1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter

1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 ½ broccoli crowns (I say 2 ½ because I used florets from one crown to make a rice dish for my daughter), trimmed and cut into 1 ½” pieces (give or take… this doesn’t have to be that precise because it will all get blended later)

5 cups low sodium chicken broth (I only had 4 cups so I used 1 cup of vegetable broth)

1 cup of water

8 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese, grated

Kosher salt and pepper

Directions:

In a large pot melt the butter with the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and 1 teaspoon of salt.  Cook stirring occasionally until the onion is softened and translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add the broccoli and cook until slightly softened and fragrant, about 5 minutes.  Add broth and water, cover and bring to boil over high heat.  Once the liquid has come to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the broccoli is tender, about 20 minutes. 

Turn off the heat and puree the soup with an immersion blender.  If you don’t have one you can do this is a blender or food processor in batches… be careful as the hot liquid can expand and splash out (do not fill you blender to the top with hot soup!!!).  Puree until your desired consistency.  Once the soup is pureed and back in the pot if you used a blender or food processor, turn the heat back on medium and add the grated cheese.  Stir until melted, then season with additional salt and pepper as needed.   I made this early in the day so once I pureed it I left it in the pot until it was closer to dinner time.   Then I reheated the soup and once warm added the cheese.

This made about 4 largish servings but you could probably get 6 smaller ones out of it. 

Serve with your favorite crackers or toasted bread as shown in the pic.  Enjoy!