This delicious Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup can be ready in minutes, and is just like Panera’s classic soup. With the goodness of broccoli and carrots, this creamy cheesy soup is so comforting, the whole family will love it!
With the fall weather in full swing, I have been craving soup. What could be better than this delicious cheesy goodness. You know what I mean if you love cheese…and soups!
Note: This recipe has been updated with new photos and lots of good details to help you make the perfect soup!
Table of Contents
Easy Panera Copycat Broccoli Cheese Soup
I used to have this soup at cafe’s and wondered how they make this creamy comforting soup. Ooooh…the yummy broccoli and carrots in a delicious cheesy base. Now I make this soup in the comfort of my home in the amazing Instant Pot!
I love making soups in the instant pot, so quick, and so delicious. I have over 20 Instant Pot Soup recipes. I must say, this Broccoli Cheddar Soup is one of my family’s favorites. So rich, creamy and cheesy…it is heavenly!
Don’t want cheese? Check out this Thai Butternut Squash Soup and this Vegan Cauliflower Soup. For an easy dump-and-go soup in the instant pot, check out this Vegetarian Taco Soup.
Health Benefits of Broccoli
One of the star ingredient in this soup, broccoli comes packed with nutrition and has so many health benefits:
- It is loaded with fiber, vitamin C, K iron, and potassium
- Also, it has a higher protein content than most vegetables
- It helps in lowering your blood cholesterol
- Boosts your eye-health.
Even thought the name of the soup is broccoli cheddar, I adds carrots and onions too. I love the added nutrition from all the veggies disguised in this creamy soup.
How to make Broccoli & Cheese Soup in the Pressure Cooker?
This is a super quick recipe, just make sure you have cheddar cheese at home. I made this soup in an Instant Pot, but it can easily be made in a normal pressure cooker or in a pot on the stovetop, just allow extra time to make the soup creamy.
Main Ingredients
Broccoli – I used broccoli in this recipe. I have tried this soup with frozen broccoli as well, and it works great. So go for what you have on hand. You can keep the broccoli pieces big or dice them, they will be super soft after pressure cooking, and will mix seamlessly in the soup.
Carrots – I like to add carrots to this soup as well. I grated the carrots, as my family prefers it that way. You can dice finely if you like too. Just a couple of carrots or one large carrot.
Cheese – I prefer medium or sharp cheddar in this recipe. Also, my preference is to always grate cheese freshly at home.
Roux – I add a roux made on stovetop with butter, flour and milk to thicken this soup. Other options to thicken the soup are a cornstarch slurry or just heavy cream. We love the creaminess of the roux, and is our preferred method.
Broth – You can use vegetable or chicken broth in this recipe. I use Better Than Bouillon to make the broth. It is easy to have this in the refrigerator and make broth whenever I need it for a recipe.
Method
- Let’s get started. First, start the instant pot in SAUTE mode and melt butter in it. Then add the diced onions and minced garlic and sauté for couple of minutes.
- Add broccoli, carrots, seasoning and broth. Mix it all well.
- Close the lid and pressure cook. When the instant pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally.
When the pressure cooking is done, melt butter on a stovetop saucepan. Add the flour and saute for a minute until it is cooked. Whisk in the milk, a little bit at a time, until you have a smooth thick consistency.
- Open the instant pot lid after the pressure has released. Stir in the roux you prepared on stovetop. Add the cheddar cheese gradually, stirring continuously, until it melts.
- If you like a smooth soup, use a whisk for stirring. If you like it chunkier, then use a regular ladle to stir in the cheese.
- Press sauté and let the soup simmer for a couple of minutes.
The soup is ready to be served. Serve in a regular bowl or a bread bowl; it is delicious either way!
Top with grated cheese or dip some crusty bread to enjoy this soup. If you like it spicy, sprinkle some chili flakes or hot sauce!
Tips
- I highly recommend to buy a block of cheese and shred it at home. The store bought pre-shredded cheese does not melt as well, as it has a coating to keep it separate in the bag.
- You can make this soup smooth or chunky based on your preference. My kids like it smoother, so I used a whisk when mixing the soup after pressure cooking. You can also use a hand blender to make this soup smooth.
- Vegan variation: To make this recipe vegan, replace the butter with your favorite plant based oil or use vegan butter. One reader used Daiya vegan cheese and almond milk and it melted perfectly to make a creamy vegan soup.
- No Flour / Gluten-free variation: Skip the all-purpose flour to make this soup gluten-free. Add the extra butter in step 1 to the instant pot and cream/milk after pressure cooking is done.
- This recipe is already low carb. You can reduce the carbs even further by replacing the roux with just heavy cream and reducing the amount of onions and carrots in the recipe.
- Don’t be afraid of the butter and cheese to get the real cafe-style flavors at home.
Common Questions
Yes, frozen broccoli works great in this recipe. The same cooking time will work for frozen broccoli too. You can also use a mix of cauliflower and broccoli.
Yes! You can follow the steps as in the recipe, but add an extra cup of broth and let the veggies simmer in the broth for about 15-20 minutes until they are tender.
Let’s the soup cool completely. Then transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
Sure, the cooking time will remain the same even if you half or double the recipe.
Try this recipe and let me know if how you like it. If you are looking for more soup options, check out this collection of 17 Instant Pot Vegetarian Soup recipes for more delicious soups!
Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Ingredients
Seasoning (adjust to taste)
- Salt, to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon Red Chili Flakes
For stovetop
- 2 tablespoon Butter
- 2 tablespoon All purpose flour
- 1 cup Milk , or cream
Instructions
- Start the instant pot in SAUTE mode and melt butter in it. Add diced onions and minced garlic and saute for 2 minutes.
- Add broccoli, carrots, seasoning and broth. Mix it all well. Press Cancel and close the instant pot lid with vent in sealing position.
- Set the instant pot on MANUAL or pressure cook mode at high pressure for 5 minutes.
- When the instant pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally. Open the lid.
On Stovetop
- When the pressure cooking is done, melt butter on a stovetop saucepan. Add the flour and saute for a minute until it is cooked. Whisk in the milk, a little bit at a time, until you have a smooth thick consistency.
Mix it together
- Stir in the roux prepared on the stovetop and the cheddar cheese gradually to the instant pot, stirring continuously, until it melts.
- Change the instant pot to SAUTE mode and let the soup simmer for a couple of minutes.
- Soup is ready to be served. Garnish with some grated cheese, black pepper or red chili flakes and enjoy with crusty bread.
Video
Notes
- In step 1, add all the butter (including what is mentioned in stovetop section). Add diced onions and minced garlic and saute for 2 minutes.
- Add flour and saute for a minute until it is cooked. Add the broth and mix it well with the flour to a smooth consistency. Add broccoli, carrots and seasoning.
- After this follow the steps to close the lid and pressure cook. Stir in the cream after releasing pressure. Stovetop steps can be skipped.
Church Supper; this soup went immediately and everyone asked for the recipe. It needs to be doubled when bringing to a group. Thank you
Hi Tina – So good to hear that. Thank you for sharing your experience 🙂
love love!! I too did the old way of in the one pot-1 dirty pot is better than 2. So glad you reposted how to do it. This is my second recipe of yours. The Asparagus soup was my first. Ended up making two batches of both: one to eat and one to freeze. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!!
Hi Susan – So great to hear that. Thank you for sharing it back 🙂
It makes a great base but I added a LOT more broccoli, carrot, garlic and onion. like double+. it was also confusing if you add the cheese into the roux milk mix first, then all into the soup, or roux milk in, then cheese. I did roux milk first, then cheese – both gradually, but by bit. Texture was great.
You never mentioned when to add the roux with melted cheese to the soup. I assumed after the soup was done in the Instant Pot.
Hi Kathryn – It is mentioned in the “Mix it together” section in the recipe card. You got it right to add after the soup was done pressure cooking in the instant pot. I hope you enjoyed the soup!
Delicious Thanks
I sure hope this turns out. Your attempts to clarify and refine the procedures.
Have left me wondering what the real recipe should be. Perhaps a rewrite of method 1 or 2 would have been a better choice. I’m the kinda guy who reads only as far as I need too. Then I jump in and start shredding etc. I think this needs two recipes with all ingredients defined. By the time I finished writing this. My version of the soup turned out wonderfully. Thanks.