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Welcoming these chilly winter days with this Lighter Creamy Broccoli Cheddar Soup. It’s cozy, creamy, secretly full of vegetables, and totally delicious. This soup is made simply in one pot with puréed cauliflower (to make it creamy), sharp cheddar cheese, and plenty of broccoli. Plus a little bit of coconut milk gives this soup an even creamier texture. It’s such a delicious healthier take on my favorite broccoli cheddar soup.
I’ve definitely shared my love for broccoli cheddar soup many times over the years. It’s one of those soups that for me, brings back all the best memories. I’ve loved a bowl broccoli cheddar since the days of my mom taking me out for lunch, way back when we lived in Cleveland.
It wasn’t that often that we’d go out for lunch, but when I could convince my mom to take us to Panera, it was always the best. The boys would just get bagels, but mom and I would get soup. Either the broccoli cheddar or chicken noodle, but broccoli cheddar was the favorite.
I haven’t had Panera since probably 6th grade, but I remember it being creamy, cheesy, and so delicious. I’ve loved a bowl of broccoli cheddar soup ever since. I feel like a lot of you have similar stories. It’s such an all around loved soup.
I already have a good broccoli cheddar soup on HBH. But I wanted to create a healthier version that was still just a creamy and delicious.
I thought I could mix in a cauliflower purée to add creaminess, plus an extra serving of vegetables too. It worked perfectly, and you’d never know that cauliflower is even in the soup!
This soup is easy, but it does involve one extra step that a traditional broccoli cheddar soup doesn’t include, a double purée.
Start out simply with an onion, carrots, and broth. Add a head of cauliflower and let the soup simmer until the cauliflower is super tender. Purée this mix until it’s super creamy. You don’t want any chunks of cauliflower left over.
If you enjoy chunks of carrot in your soup, be sure to pull those out before puréing the cauliflower.
Return the creamy base to the stove, then in goes the broccoli. You’ll need to cook the broccoli until it’s tender too, then do another round of blending. This time, don’t blend the soup all the way. I love to leave some chunks of broccoli.
Next, add a little cheddar cheese. Then add a splash of canned coconut milk to make the soup perfectly creamy…but without any cream!
I’d highly recommend serving this soup with a side of crusty bread or pretzels. You need something for dipping!
Alright, and with that, I’m going to leave you all to it. If your week needs some warming soup, this is it. I’m actually beyond excited to make this again soon!
Looking for other soup recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Slow Cooker Chipotle Chicken Tortilla Soup
Creamy French Onion and Mushroom Soup
Instant Pot Pesto Zuppa Toscana
Healthier Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Vegetable Soup
Lastly, if you make this lighter Creamy Broccoli Cheddar Soup be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
1116 cal per serving? Jesus Christ!
That can’t possibly be right. I do it without flour, 1 cup cheese, almond milk instead of coconut cream and it’s about 250 cals per serving (6 servs).
We loved this soup! I will make it again!
Hey Lori,
Happy Sunday!! Thanks for your comment and making this recipe, love to hear it was a hit! xT
I loved this soup. My husband was very happy. Perfect for a cold night in Canada. Thank you! 💖💖
Thank you for giving this recipe a try! Hope you have a great rest of your week! 🙂 xT
This is the best broccoli soup I have ever made or tasted! If I could give it 6 stars I would! Good work HBH!
Wow thank you so much Donna! xT
I’ve made this and frozen it with great success!
Could I make it in a crockpot? How might I adapt it?
Hi Emily! I haven’t ever tried that before! So sorry! xT
Loved this recipe! Super easy to make and such a cozy winter soup dish! I used an immersion blender instead of a regular blender and it worked great!
Thanks so much for trying out the recipe! Love to hear you enjoyed it! xT
Wonderful!! I used nut pods for the coconut milk and goat cheese cheddar for the cheese. Keeper!!
Hey! Thank you so much for trying the recipe out! Love to hear that it was enjoyed! 🙂 xT
1116 calories per serving? Is that correct?
Came down to the comments to ask the same!
Apparently it’s correct since she replied to everyone else and not to us
Looking forward to making this week, love the use of cauliflower to thicken and keep calories down.
Want to make ahead and finish next day. Would you go through step 3, and then do step 4 the next day, or would you stop day ahead prep earlier?
Thinking of using whole milk instead of coconut, as wife doesn’t care for coconut flavor. Any thoughts?
Rock on, Tieghan, have enjoyed following you for years and trying your recipes!
Hey Dennis! 1- You can definitely use whole milk instead of coconut milk! 2- I would go through step three and then do step 4 and the following steps the next day! Have an awesome New Year! xT
Excellent. Cauliflower is great at keeping the calories down while providing creaminess. Works perfectly in potato soup as well.
Substituted velveeta light (I know, blasphemy) for most of the cheese since it’s half the calories of cheddar and melts perfectly.
Whole milk instead of coconut milk works fine as a substitution.
Definitely make some garlic bread to accompany it.
Now if we can just get Tieghan to come to Nashville so we can say hi and thank you!
Thank you Dennis! Glad you enjoyed this recipe! xT
This was excellent! I made the soup for a family lunch to rave reviews and have shared the recipe 3X so far. I used an immersion blender with frozen cauliflower and broccoli. No cayenne pepper because I forgot to buy some… but it didn’t matter to us. This recipe is a keeper!!
Thank you so much! Love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed! 🙂 xT
This was excellent and easy to make. I don’t know what’s going on with the calorie count, but I plugged it into the one I always use and it’s under 500 calories a bowl, and that’s after I added way more coconut milk since I don’t like having cans half empty after cooking.
Does this soup freeze well? Expecting a new bundle of joy soon and am hoping to stock up on some yummy faves before their arrival!
Hi Amber! I haven’t ever frozen this soup before so I can’t say for sure! So exciting for you and your family! 🙂 xT