This Slow Cooker Broccoli Soup is a three-cheese Crock Pot Recipe that is creamy, rich, and filling, using Velveeta, cheddar, and parmesan cheese, fresh broccoli florets, and prepared in the slow cooker.
What You’ll Love About This Recipe:
We are huge soup lovers this time of year, especially this Slow Cooker 3 Cheese Broccoli Soup Recipe! It’s made with simple ingredients, the whole family enjoys it (even my picky eaters), and it’s made in the slow cooker, so it takes just a few minutes to throw together, and no roux is needed either!
Whenever I order soup at a restaurant, I go for the broccoli and cheese soup. This creamy soup reminds me of Panera’s broccoli cheese soup; it is the perfect comforting soup. Now I can use my crockpot to make my own broccoli cheese soup. We have perfected this slow cooker recipe so it is ready for when you need a great way to warm up on cold winter days.
We love to serve ours with Sheet Pan Garlic Breadsticks or a fresh loaf of French bread, but it’s also delicious as is!
Key Ingredients:
For the perfect creamy texture and cheesy flavor, we use a mix of Velveeta cheese product, cheddar, and Parmesan cheese.
You can use half-and-half or heavy whipping cream for a richer soup, or opt for evaporated milk if you want to cut back on calories.
Make this soup vegetarian by swapping the chicken broth for vegetable broth.
How to Make Slow Cooker Three Cheese Broccoli Soup:
- In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat until you hear it sizzling.
- Add the onion to the butter and saute until tender and translucent. It should only take about 5 minutes.
- Pour in the whole milk, chicken broth, broccoli, pepper, tender onions, and salt into the crock pot and whisk the creamy mixture until well combined.
- Place the top on the slow cooker and turn it on low for 4 hours.
- After 4 hours of cooking, the soup and the broccoli are tender, and in the smaller pieces of cheese into the slow cooker; stir until melted and no more chunks remain.
- Add cheddar and Parmesan and stir until melted. Immediately turn off the slow cooker to avoid curdling the creamy soup base.
Storage Instructions & Reheating Tips
- You can refrigerate the delicious dinner leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or freeze the slow cooker broccoli cheddar soup for up to 3 months. This soup freezes well.
- Note that the soup will thicken as it cools, so you may need to add more broth when reheating in the microwave to thin it back out.
Serving Suggestions & Variations
You can enjoy this crockpot broccoli cheddar soup as it is; it truly is a great recipe with tons of cheese and the perfect flavors of broccoli. Serve this soup with a slice of crusty bread, garlic breadsticks for a delicious meal, or in bread bowls; it will make for a fun twist on the perfect cozy night dinner.
FAQ for Broccoli Soup:
For the best melting results, use a block of cheese and shred it. You can use pre-shredded cheese, but it will lead to a stringier soup consistency.
If you are cooking the soup on low heat, the broccoli should keep a good consistency. However, if you cook it on high for too long, you can be looking at mushier broccoli.
Add a little bit of cream cheese to the soup, stir it all together, and you can get a thicker consistency to the soup without changing the flavor too much.
Another option would be to make a cornstarch slurry and add it to the soup, and let it thicken over heat.
What to Serve With This Recipe
Homemade naan bread and twisted cheese sticks are great bread options to serve with this tasty soup, or add a light and healthy green garden salad for a simple side dish.
Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheddar Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- ½ onion, diced
- 12 ounces evaporated milk
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups broccoli Florets
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces Velveeta cheese, cut into cubes
- 1 ½ cups cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
Instructions
- In a skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat.
- Saute onion in butter until tender.
- Add onions, milk, chicken broth, broccoli, pepper, and salt to the slow cooker and mix until well combined.
- Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
- Add cheese cubes to slow cooker; stir until melted.
- Add cheddar and Parmesan and stir until melted. Immediately turn off slow cooker to avoid curdling.
- Serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Video
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
This sounds perfect for tonight…wish I had some velveeta on hand!
I love broccoli cheese soup and this recipe definitely looks like a winner. Thanks for sharing and Happy Holidays 🙂
YUM! One of my favorite soups. I feel like this is a silly question, as it’s a cream based soup, but is there a way to make a healthier version of this without sacrificing the flavor?
You could try using a lowfat cream based soup to make it a little healthier.
How many servings is this? I’m planning to make it for my husband’s coworkers on Monday and need to know if I should double/triple the recipe.
Can you freeze this after you make it?
We have not made this as a freezer meal.
I’ve made your cheese/broccoli soup twice. First time was perfect…..2nd time it curdled! I followed your directions except I added all the cheese at once…could this be the problem? Why?!
Hi Gay. Not sure what could have happened. We haven’t had it curdle on us. Did you use the same cheese both times?
I am going to try this…i just need to find a substitute for Velveeta, I don’t like it
Hey, this recipe looks totally delicious! I just made it though and it tastes sweet. Could it be from the condensed milk or is it supposed to taste sweet?
Hi, I tried this last night- followed the recipe to a T except for the onions- I’ve never had onions in a broccoli cheese soup. Unfortunately it turned out awful- it was not thick at all- tasted like watered down Velveeta. Maybe a thickening ingredient is missing like heavy cream? I have made many soups in my slow cooker and I’m a bit of a soup snob. Any suggestions?
This isn’t as thick as some of our other soups. But it was thick enough with all of the cheeses. You could cut back on the broth a little for a thicker soup.
This recipe calls for evaporated milk, not sweetened condensed milk.
I love all of your crock-pot recipes, can’t wait to try this one!!!
Do I turn off the slow cooker before I put the cheese in? Or after?
It won’t matter. Just put the cheese in and let it set in the slow cooker that has been turned off. 🙂
I tried this recipe today, and followed it to a T. It curdled and doesn’t look edible at all. The cheese is just sitting in chunks. I’ve never seen Velveta do that. What did I do wrong ?
What would you suggest to use in place of the Velveeta?
You could also use cheese whiz that comes in a jar.
Hi I use you website a lot and always enjoy the recipes. I just made this soup and although it tastes ok I would like it to be a little thicker. Any ideas after its already made?
Very watery. Wasted a lot of time and money. Not good. Milk would have been better than broth water.
Just wanted to let you know: This isn’t vegetarian due to the chicken broth involved.
That being said … my husband LOVES this recipe. It’s his favorite soup and he gets excited like a kid when I do make it 🙂
I’ve made it several times and to help keep from clumping: stir constantly. Wait until most of the velveeta cube you cut dissolves.
We’ve also used this with an off-brand type velveeta and I think it tastes better ^_^
Found this recipe last year and have make it many times (many many many many times!!!!) We’ve added a few things that have helped to spice it (not all together): smoked paprika, chili seasoning for a bit of heat, garlic, and nutmeg. I’ve also started adding in butternut squash soup base to get a thicker broth as well as more veggies into my family’s diet. It doesn’t effect the flavor much but does help to thicken the soup. I’ve also taken out the chicken broth to make this a vegetarian soup but my hubby said its not as good as with the chicken broth (but he’s a meat eater so what does he know!) And yes, I’ve double the recipe because I’ve got a huge slow cooker. Thank you so much for this great recipe!
This is one of our family favorites for a cold and dreary night or a pot luck party! We make a huge pot of this, using a box of chicken broth and a box of butternut squash soup. This adds to the creaminess and if you need a non meat version, just stick with the butternut squash soup. We’ve also added in different spices at times…. Using smoked paprika or Trader Joe’s smoked south African blend (there is a recipe for it online that is very close). This gives it a nice smokey bacon flavor (my autistic son does my seasoning and this is what he came up with!)
This soup was delicious! I made this for my husband’s birthday lunch along with sub sandwiches and it was just like Panera! Thanks for the recipe
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a sweet comment! You made our day! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Oh.My.Goodness. This is the best broccoli cheese soup. I haven’t had anything better. I found the recipe in Simple & Delicious and saw your website with the recipe – I’m going to check out some of your other recipes right away! Thanks for sharing. So. Good
Hi Heidi. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave such a sweet comment. We are so glad you liked the soup and hope you’ll be back for more recipes!! Have a great week.
Oh my this is a wonderful recipe I made this tonight I did add cream of broccoli to this soup , and I used frozen mixed broccoli,cauliflower,an carrots, it’s what I had an I really wanted this soup. But it is amazing. Thank you so much for your site, I’ve made several of your recipes an we love them all .
Thanks so much Carla for taking the time to leave us such a nice comment. Have a great week.