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Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar and Zucchini Soup…that’s better than Panera! It’s cozy, but healthy, easy, and so delicious. Grab a couple heads of broccoli, some zucchini, and sharp cheddar cheese, add everything to your instant pot (or slow cooker), set the timer, and in under thirty minutes you’ll have the creamiest, most delicious bowl of cozy broccoli cheddar soup. Trust me, this will become a new fall favorite.
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September rolls around and like clockwork, I’m making broccoli cheddar soup. Except this time I’m making it in the instant pot, and making it healthier (and creamier!) with all the end of summer zucchini. I might even dare to say that this is one of the better bowls of broccoli cheddar soup I’ve ever made.
And you guys, I LOVE broccoli cheddar soup.
I’m sure a lot of us have a similar story to tell, but as a kid, going to Panera Bread and getting the broccoli cheddar or chicken noodle soup served in a bread bowl was one of my favorite things that mom and I would do on a chilly, rain/snow Ohio day. It was always such a treat. I loved not only the soup, but also just the outing with my mom.
The struggle of getting mom one on one, with five brothers always lurking was real. So these girl’s day only outings were always extra special, and I think that’s another reason why I love broccoli cheddar soup so much.
In addition to soup, mom would also get a whole bunch of the cinnamon crunch bagels to bring home for the boys, which I kind of loved too. That crunchy topping was the best, right?!
Anyway, the point here is that I love a good bowl of broccoli cheddar soup. And while a bread bowl is nice, this soup is honestly the best ever, with or without the bread bowl…
But, I do have a bread bowl recipe (haven’t made these in SO long, but they are SO good, and easy) on HBH. So you know, if you’re feeling it, you should probably make a few bread bowls in addition to this soup. Wow, that’d be extra good.
Moving right along.
If you hadn’t noticed, I’m loving using my instant pot right now. It makes weeknight cooking so quick, easy, and stress free. Judging from the amount of people making and loving this corn chowder, it seems that you guys are into the instant pot too. Cool. This is good!
Many more instant pot (and slow cooker) recipes coming this fall!
Details.
This recipe includes most of the ingredients found in traditional broccoli cheddar soup, but I added zucchini for creaminess and opted out of using any flour or heavy cream. The zucchini breaks down while cooking, and later gets pureed. This leaves the soup lusciously creamy and thick without having to use any cream or flour. Which of course also makes the soup healthier and even gluten free.
Love this!
As with most instant pot recipes, you’ll just be adding everything to the instant pot, setting it, and letting it do its thing. You do need to purée the soup, but if you have an immersion blender that’s very helpful here. If you make a lot of puréed soups, I recommend this immersion blender.
I finished the soup off with a few handfuls of sharp cheddar cheese and plenty of fresh thyme from our summer bounty of herbs. Perfection.
It’s a pretty simple and straight forward recipe, but I really can’t express enough just how delicious it is. If you love cheesy soup, that’s kind of healthy…ish, you have to make this. Perfect for all the chilly nights ahead.
And for those of you who do not own an instant pot, I’ve also included directions to make this in the slow cooker as well. Additionally, you could just as easily make this on the stove top in a large soup pot! As always, just do what works best for you!
If you make this instant pot broccoli cheddar soup, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I love hearing from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every one of you. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram so I can see! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Watch the How To Video:
Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar and Zucchini Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 2 medium zucchini, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, plus more for serving
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, or more to taste
- kosher salt and pepper
- 3 cups low sodium veggie or chicken broth
- 4 cups broccoli florets
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2-3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Instructions
- 1. Set Instant pot to sauté. Add the butter, olive oil, and onion, cook 5 minutes or until fragrant. Add the carrots, zucchini, thyme, nutmeg, cayenne and a large pinch each of salt and pepper. Pour in the broth. Add the broccoli and bay leaves. Cover, select the manual setting, and cook on high pressure for 8 minutes.2. Once done cooking, use the quick release function and release the steam. Carefully remove the bay leaves and discard. Transfer the soup to a blender and pulse until chunky smooth (not totally puréed). Return to the instant pot.3. Set the Instant pot to sauté. Stir in the milk and cheese, and cook 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted. 4. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with fresh thyme. Enjoy!
Slow Cooker
- 1. To the slow cooker, add the butter, olive oil, onion, carrots, zucchini, thyme, nutmeg, cayenne and large pinch each of salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Pour in the broth. Add the broccoli and bay leaves. Cover, cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 4-6 hours. 2. Once done cooking, carefully remove the bay leaves and discard. Transfer the soup to a blender and pulse until chunky smooth (not totally pureed). Return to the slow cooker and turn the heat to high.3. Stir in the milk and cheese, and cook 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted. 4. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with fresh thyme. Enjoy!
Stove Top
- 1. In a large soup pot, melt together the butter and olive oil. Add the onion, cook 5 minutes or until fragrant. Add the carrots, zucchini, thyme, nutmeg, cayenne and a large pinch each of salt and pepper, cook another 5 minutes. Pour in the broth. Add the broccoli and bay leaves. Cover, and cook for 12-15 minutes, until the broccoli is tender.2. Carefully remove the bay leaves and discard. Transfer the soup to a blender and pulse until chunky smooth (not totally puréed). Return to the pot. 3. Stir in the milk and cheese, and cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted. 4. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with fresh thyme. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Ok, I have now made this soup 3 times. The first time was STUNNING. The second time not as much. The third time also not as much until I added some chili powder and cumin at the end. I have come to the conclusion that the first time I used artisan aged white cheddar and that was the big difference maker. The other two times I used regular sharp shredded cheddar. I’m going to try a fourth time to recreate that first experience because it was that good lol. Thanks for the recipe!
Hey Alyssa,
Awesome!! Love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! Thanks for sharing what worked well for you! xT
Lovely soup made in my IP. Everyone loved it. Thank you.
Hey Peter,
Happy Sunday!🌾🌽 I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it and sharing your feedback! xx
Another HBH winner!
Used 3 zucchini instead of 2
to use up some that we had
Make sure you shred your own cheese AND don’t use low fat cheese so it all melts nicely
Followed IP directions exactly and it worked great. Used an immersion blender in my IP so this came together so fast.
Eating with bratwurst per another reviewers Rec
Hey Courtney,
Awesome!! 🍂 I love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks a bunch for trying it out! xx
Great recipe! I thought about pulling some broccoli out before using the immersion blender so I could get the soup smooth-ish and still have some pieces like in the photo. Decided to stick with the process and just wish I had done that as it all blends up pretty quick! Also added drained cannellini beans like the other commenter suggested and like the texture they added.
Hey Hannah,
Wonderful!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for giving it a try! xx
Just tried this soup tonight on a wet and wild Halloween evening in Ireland and it was just the thing. Creamy, thick and perfectly balanced. I added the flour at the beginning to the onions in the instant pot and it made it very smooth. Love your recipes!!
Hey Anne Marie,
Love it!!🤩 So glad to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks so much for making it! xx
Loved this and the recipe was simple enough for my 13 year old son to make on his own (can’t start the kitchen training too early!)
Hey Jenny,
Happy Sunday! 🎃 So glad to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for making it and sharing your feedback! xx
Can I make this recipe and then freeze the soup? I have a lot of zucchini on hand and was thinking of either freezing portions of zucchini, broccoli and carrots together, or freezing the soup – but wasn’t sure about freezing with cheese and milk. Thank you.
Hey Ardith,
Sure, I think this would be just fine for you to freeze! I hope you love the recipe, let me know if you have any other questions! xxT
I love this recipe! I am giving it 5 stars though this recipe could go very wrong if you can’t get the cheese to blend or if you don’t have a immersion blender…it’s a HOT mess trying to blend it in a food processor. However, that’s just the tools. The recipe is so delicious! I add brat wursts or kielbasa every time I have broccoli cheddar soup, and this soup is SO DAMN good with it!!
Hey Bre,
Happy Friday!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a bunch for giving it a go!? xT
are the calories correct for the serving size? seems unlikely that its over a 1,000 calories for a serving based on the ingredients
Hey Anne,
I always recommend that if the nutritional information is important to you, you use your own personal calculator. Ours is automatic and controlled by google. It’s not something we’d prefer to be using. We are required to. I’m sorry for the trouble, we do our best! Hope you enjoy the recipe! xT
Can you show the breakdown by ingredient that google is calculating? Or is the serving size dividing wrong? Still over 1000 calories is way too high! Other similar recipes show only 500-600 calories even using cream.
Sorry I don’t have access to that!
Just made this on the stove top & it is delicious! Love the hint of cayenne for heat. I will definitely be making this again!
Hi Tracy,
Amazing!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! Have a great weekend! xTieghan
Good, not great. Didn’t change anything with recipe. Love doing most of this in the Instant Pot.
Hey Maria,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try, so sorry to hear you didn’t love it! Let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xx
So the soup is wonderful except I put ground thyme and didn’t realize it would take over the flavor of the soup. My mistake. I didn’t know until reading online that you should put half the amount of ground thyme if you don’t have fresh. All I taste is thyme…
Hi there,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try, sorry to her about your thyme! You always want to reduce dried herbs if you don’t have fresh:) xx
this is probably a really dumb question but would coconut milk work in this recipe or would that totally change the flavor? Would 2% milk work as well?
Hi Brooke,
You could use 2% milk or coconut milk, you will probably have a little coconut flavor happening:) I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xT
Can you use almond milk? I usually don’t have regular milk on hand.
Hey Anna,
Sure, almond milk will work for you! Please let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
I’m going to make this! Just a note on the cheese. I’ve seen recipes needing the cheese to melt call for block cheese you shred yourself due to the coating on pre-shredded cheese having on it to prevent clumping in the bag. So I’ll be using freshly shredded cheese!
Awesome! Yes, I always shred my own cheese:) I hope you love the recipe! xx