Emily Bites

Don’t Miss a Recipe!

Don’t Miss a Recipe! Sign up to receive new posts delivered directly to your inbox:

Subscribe Now »
Mar 09
26

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Lightened Up Broccoli Cheddar Soup

I wanted to squeeze in one more soup recipe before Spring starts later this month, and what better than a warm, comforting, cheesy bowl of Broccoli Cheddar Soup? I can’t believe I haven’t posted a recipe for this before now, because it’s one of my absolute favorites. When I come up with a recipe, I usually start at my computer by brainstorming a list of ingredients, estimating the amounts I’ll need to use and then plugging that into the Weight Watchers recipe builder to see what the points will be per serving. Then I actually start cooking and adjust the quantities, etc on my computer as I go. I’m pretty sure that’s backwards compared to how most other people cook, but I’m a weirdo and I’m okay with it. For this recipe I borrowed a little from my Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup (because I already know that’s delicious), determined the amount of broccoli florets based on how much I had in my fridge, and went from there. I’m thrilled to say it worked out perfectly!

Skinny Broccoli Cheddar Soup

This lightened up Broccoli Cheddar Soup is hearty, cheesy, vegetarian and it tastes decadent for just 232 calories or 8 Weight Watchers SmartPoints per serving on myWW Green, Blue and Purple. To view your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here! It’s also perfect to make ahead and bring for lunches throughout the week! If you’re on a soup kick, be sure to check out my soup category for favorites like Butternut Squash Soup, Creamy Chicken & Wild Rice Soup, Cheeseburger Soup, Chicken & Dumplings, Spaghetti & Meatball Soup, Chicken Tortilla Soup, Slow Cooker White Bean Soup, Roasted Tomato Basil Soup and more!

Light Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Light Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Print Recipe
5 from 2 votes
Rate this Recipe

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

This creamy, lightened up Broccoli Cheddar Soup is hearty, cheesy, vegetarian and it tastes super decadent!

Ingredients

  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of light butter, (I use Land O’Lakes)
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • ½ cup white whole wheat flour, I use King Arthur Flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt, divided
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 cups of fat free half and half
  • 4 cups of vegetable stock
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 12 oz 6 cups small broccoli florets
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 4 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (I used Cabot Seriously Sharp)
  • 4 oz 50% reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (I used Cabot 50% Sharp)

Instructions

  • In a soup pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the dice onion and stir to coat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes until onion is softened. In a small dish, stir together the flour, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and the black pepper until mixed. Add and whisk the flour mixture into the butter and onions a little bit at a time, whisking continuously until well combined. Slowly add a bit of the half and half and whisk it into the flour mixture until combined. Continue to add and whisk in the half and half a little at a time until it is all combined.
  • Add some of the vegetable stock and continue to whisk the mixture until all the stock is added and all ingredients are well combined. Add the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt and the ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder. I also added a few twists of freshly cracked black pepper at this step. Cover the pot and bring the mixture to a simmer. Uncover and reduce the heat to medium-low (medium on my stovetop is a 5, so I had this at a 3) and allow the soup to cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Add the broccoli florets and shredded carrots and stir in to combine. Continue to cook for another 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Optional: At this point I suck my immersion blender in the pot and blended maybe 1/3-1/2 of the soup. Alternately, you could just put some of the soup in a regular blender or skip this step entirely, depending on how you prefer the consistency of your soup. I do recommend not pureeing the entire pot, because it’s nice to have some full broccoli florets in there.
  • Increase the heat to medium and add the shredded cheeses (you may reserve a bit at this point for topping the soup if desired). Whisk the cheese into the soup until fully melted and combined.

Notes

To view your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!
Nutrition Information:
232 calories, 16 g carbs, 5 g sugars, 14 g fat, 9 g saturated fat, 12 g protein, 1 g fiber (from myfitnesspal.com)
MyWW SmartPoints per (1 cup) serving: (SP calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)
Green: 8 SmartPoints/ Blue: 8 SmartPoints/ Purple: 8 SmartPoints
Weight Watchers Points Plus:
6 per (1 cup) serving (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)

26 comments on “Broccoli Cheddar Soup”

  1. Have you ever tried freezing this soup. And if you did, was it successful?

    • I have not frozen it yet (we like leftovers so I don’t end up freezing things too often) but I imagine it would freeze well

  2. This looks delish!!! Broccoli cheese soup is a family favorite of ours but I never make it because I thought it never fit in with our weight watcher diet plan. How excited was I when I saw this recipe and it sounds just like the kind my mom made and what I make for my family (maybe even a little better!)! I was wondering what kind of cracker/bread slices do you have there??? They look soooooo good! Keep up the great work Emily!

    • I hope you love it!! The crostini are from Wegmans. if you have a store near you they have them by the olive bar and fancy cheese 🙂

  3. Just made this! Yum 🙂 however, don’t use rainbow carrots, lol. My soup is an odd shade of lavender gray. Yep, obviously wasn’t thinking when I did that, but tastes lovely.

    • Haha, that made me smile. I’m glad it tasted good anyway, that’s the important part! 😉

  4. Emily, this is perfection! The combination of cheeses is great, and shredded carrots?! A brilliant addition 🙂

  5. This is most excellent! )

  6. Thank you for making losing weight taste good :-). I use a lot of your recipes and my husband and I are losing! Making this one for lunches, looks yummy, can’t wait to try it!!

  7. This looks great! Have you tried it with frozen broccoli? I’m wondering if it will make it watery.

  8. This was delicious! I’ve tried various recipes to make a Panera copycat that was healthier and got the stamp of approval from my 9 year old. He is obsessed with Panera’s version! He loved this and so did I!

  9. I am SO excited to try this but am confused on your conversion. 12 0z = 1.5 cups?

  10. Just made this tonight and it was fabulous! My kids love Paneras version and they loved this! Thanks!

  11. Half and half …meaning cream?

  12. You have so many ads that you can not close like when I try to print the recipe it blocks part of the recipe I will not visit any of the sites because of my frustration

    • Hi Peter,
      That shouldn’t be happening! Can you possibly email me a screenshot of what you’re seeing so I can pass it along to my ad network and have them fix it? I can’t recreate the issue on my own screen. Are you on desktop or mobile? My email is emilybitesblog@gmail.com. sorry about that, not sure why you’re having this issue but I’d love the opportunity to get it fixed!

  13. Ever try making this in an instant pot? I have made this soup on the stove top several times and it is delicious. I am having a hard time finding recipes for instant pot Broccoli Cheddar soup that doesn’t have heavy cream.

    Thanks for any input!!

    • Nope, sorry, I don’t have a ton of experience with the Instant Pot. If you try it out please report back!

  14. My family’s (including 10 year old who does not like soup) new favorite!

    I did use 1 cup unsweetened almond milk plus 1 cup FF milk, trying to save points.  Used frozen florets; not watery.

    It is delicious!  Thank you!

  15. An oldie but a goodie. Just made this tonight and loved it!! 

  16. Which butter product are you using now that Land O Lakes discontinued their light butter product? Thanks!

  17. This recipe is amazing! Unfortunately my grocery store, a major chain, is not carrying LOL light bitter in any form. I had to use regular sticks of butter so the recipe was a little less than light,  it it was still so delicious.5 stars

  18. The very best broccoli cheddar soup ever! And it freezes just fine.5 stars

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.