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What makes this such a special recipe for gf broccoli cheddar soup?
A proper gluten free broccoli cheddar soup is a beautiful thing—and it is not cheese fondue or queso. Does it sound like taking a spoon to a heaping bowl of warm, melted cheese might be a delicious experience?
Take my word for it: it's not delicious past the first bite. This gorgeous, creamy broccoli cheddar soup is, indeed, soup.
It can be ladled into a bowl quite easily, and delivered to your mouth spoonful by spoonful without a fuss. And it'll fill you up without making you feel ugh stuffed.
How to make gluten free broccoli cheddar soup
It starts the way all good creamy soups start, with a roux. And it's that roux that does most of the thickening for us, not the cheese.
A roux is just a fat-and-flour mixture that thickens liquids, and I like to start the roux in this soup with butter. You can start yours with an equal amount of extra virgin olive oil, though. No problem.
A note about the broccoli: I believe that the very worst thing you can do to broccoli is to overcook it. So to save the broccoli from that fate, I don't cook it in the soup. Instead, I blanch the broccoli very quickly in some stock, juuuuust until it turns bright green.
Since you begin this recipe by cooking down onions and garlic in oil as a flavorful base, you can skip all that and boil some gluten free onion soup mix into the stock. Instead of beef bouillon, use chicken or just skip that ingredient altogether.
Can you make a gluten free bread bowl to serve your gf soup in?
Yes! I couldn't resist making some bread bowls to show you that, yes, gluten free baking can do that. I have used my recipe for Gluten Free Texas Roadhouse Rolls to make them, and my recipe for Olive Garden-Style Gluten Free Soft Breadsticks from page 177 of GFOAS Bakes Bread. I love them both very much.
Just shape the dough after its first rise into individual rounds, allow them to rise until doubled, then brush with melted butter and score the tops before baking. Allow the bread to cool before removing the tops, scooping out the soft insides and filling with the creamiest, dreamiest gluten free broccoli cheddar soup ever.
You can also use our gluten free artisan bread, which is shaped perfectly for carving out the center and filling with this creamy delicious soup!
Of course, an actual soup bowl works too. And if you plan to serve your soup as a starter, we've got tons of gluten free dinner ideas here on the blog.
Creamy Gluten Free Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Ingredients
- 1 small bunch broccoli
- 4 cups (32 fluid ounces) stock, (vegetable or chicken)
- 4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter, chopped
- 1 small yellow onion, peeled and diced
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
- 2 carrots, peeled and shredded
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup (36 g) basic gum free gluten free flour blend, (23 grams superfine white rice flour + 8 grams potato starch + 4 grams tapioca starch/flour)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup (8 fluid ounces) milk
- ½ cup (4 fluid ounce) heavy whipping cream
- 8 ounces sharp yellow cheddar cheese, shredded
- gluten free artisan bread, as bread bowl (optional)
Instructions
Prepare the optional bread bowl.
- If you’d like to serve your soup in a bread bowl, please follow the instructions for making a loaf of our gluten free artisan bread.
- Allow the bread to cool, then use a serrated knife to carve out the center of the bread down close to the bottom crust (but without piercing it).
- Pull out as much of the center of the bread as you can without compromising the integrity of the loaf.
- Set the bread bowl aside.
Prepare the broccoli.
- Separate the broccoli florets from the stems, and rinse them clean. In a small, heavy-bottom saucepan, place about 1 cup of stock and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.
- Place the broccoli florets in the simmering stock and cook until just bright green (about 2 minutes).
- Remove the florets, place in a separate small bowl and set aside.
- Remove the stock from the heat and set it aside.
Prepare the soup.
- In a large, heavy-bottom saucepan, place the butter and melt over medium heat.
- Add the onion, garlic, carrots, salt and pepper, and mix to combine.
- Sauté the vegetables until the onion is translucent and the garlic is fragrant (about 6 minutes).
- Remove and discard the garlic.
- Add the flour blend, mix to combine and cook until the flour begins to smell nutty (about 2 minutes).
- Slowly add all of the stock (the 3 cups remaining, plus the cup used to blanch the broccoli), whisking constantly, until well-combined.
- Add the bay leaves, bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens (about 8 minutes).
- Remove and discard the bay leaves, add the milk and cream, and continue to cook for another 2 minutes or until beginning to thicken.
- Add the cheddar cheese, and cook until the cheese is melted.
- Serve immediately with the blanched broccoli florets in a regular bowl or your bread bowl!
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Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Delicious! made as written except left the garlic in because why not?!? very tasty and had most ingredients on hand!
Hahah, Amy, bold! So glad you enjoyed the soup. Thanks for sharing your experience.
I needed this recipe today, but didn’t have the heavy cream on hand. Substituted cream cheese melted in and it worked perfectly. Thank you for a tasty and relatively simple recipe!
I feel like this is a silly question, but can this be frozen? I know the broccoli will suffer some, but otherwise is this a recipe I could make ahead and freeze?
Hi, Caroline, nope! Not a silly question at all, but I do appreciate that you seem to understand that it’s a complicated answer! You could try to freeze it, but dairy-based soups have a tendency to separate and become grainy when frozen and defrosted. I’m afraid it would be hit or miss. If it did separate, you could try defrosting it gently by running cool water over it like you would defrost meat, then reheating it gently over low heat and maybe pureeing it again to smooth it out. I hope that’s helpful!
Hi Nicole,
2 cheddar soup questions:
1} Is it ok to use GF flour thar contains Xanthan gum?
2) If I use oat milk, what other adjustments do I need to make to the recipe?
Thanks!
Hi, Sheila, no, I’m afraid you can’t use a flour blend with xanthan gum to make the roux that thickens this soup, which is why it calls for a gum-free blend. And I don’t recommend oat milk particularly in this quantity as it contains a flavor and a texture that would not match the recipe.
Very tasty! We prefer more broccoli flavor, so we will use more next time and probably leave some in the broccoli stock pot and use an immersion blender, then add the rest at the end as in the recipe. This was just the right amount of creaminess without being too rich. Thanks!
That sounds like a good idea, Beth! I’m so glad you enjoyed the base of the soup so much. Thank you for sharing your experience!
Thank you, Nicole, you gluten-free mindreader! Never had a broccoli cheese soup I enjoyed this much. Please keep your awesome savory recipes coming!
So glad you loved it, Ketra!
God that bread bowl looks divine – the soup too — YUM!