Who does not like a creamy, velvety, cheesy soup with some broccoli and
other veggies snuck in? However, if you are watching your diet because you
can’t get rid of that darn belly fat, you need to stay away from soup loaded
with flour (roux), potatoes, and heavy cream. You deserve to enjoy it once
in a while – I do too.
The type of broccoli soup I am making here is a healthy version that does
not use any flour and/or potatoes as thickening agents, and heavy cream to
add creaminess. This cuts down the calories coming from carbohydrates
and fat. This soup is the kind you can indulge in without guilt.
INGREDIENTS
- 18 ounces frozen broccoli florets. You can use fresh broccoli
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 cup diced carrot
- 1 cup diced onion (type of onion does not matter)
- 1 cup shredded cheese (extra-sharp cheddar cheese preferred)
- 1.5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 5-6 cloves garlic, whole
- 4 cups plain water or you can use vegetable stock
- 2 teaspoons salt (Used Himalayan Pink salt in the video)
- Freshly ground black pepper (as per your taste)
- Serving Size: 4 to 5
INSTRUCTIONS
- Thaw frozen broccoli in a bowl for a few hours. If you want, you can
- heat frozen broccoli in the microwave for 5 minutes.
- Set the pot on a medium gas flame.
- Melt butter and add olive oil (or any other oil of your choice).
- Before butter and oil get smoky, add onion and sauté for a few minutes.
- Add celery and carrots; cook for few minutes (2-3 min).
- Drop in the garlic cloves. No chopping or mincing is necessary; the
- soup will be blended.
- Add 1 teaspoon salt to sweat the veggies. Cook for few minutes.
- Add broccoli florets, stir well, cook for few minutes (2-3 min), covered.
- Add 4 cups of water (you may use vegetable stock if you prefer). Be
- mindful of the salt content if anything other than water is used.
- Bring the mixture to a boil; simmer, covered, until all veggies are
- tender (takes 10-12 minutes).
- Remove pot from heat; let it cool for few minutes (5 minutes).
- Using an immersion blender, blend everything into a smooth
- consistency until vegetable chunks are well blended.
- Put the pot back on the stove on medium flame.
- Stir in cheese until smooth.
- Add around half cup of chopped carrots and small pieces of broccoli,
- this way your soup feels more like soup and not baby food.
- Season with pepper, give it a taste test, adjust salt if needed.
- Serve immediately. Keep leftovers in the fridge.
Enjoy the Broccoli Cheese Soup !!!
Some helpful tips: - You may use more cheese if you want, but the calorie count will go up with more cheese added. - Plus, watch your salt use; all cheese types have varying amounts of salt added to them. Add less salt and adjust it after tasting the soup. - Using an immersion blender is better than using countertop blenders because an immersion blender lets you work with hot content easily and cleaning is a breeze. - You are working with hot liquid. Cooling the soup is necessary before blending because the liquid expands while blending. Cooling it minimizes accidental burns.
Visit BG’s Kitchen & Garden on YouTube for other recipes.
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