Cheesy Broccoli Potato Chowder
Dinner, Soup
Ingredients
3 cups chopped broccoli (approx. 10 oz florets + stalks)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBSP unsalted butter (divided)
1/4 cup flour
2 russet potatoes (13-16 oz total)
3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
2 cups milk (2% or whole)
1/4 tsp sea salt or season to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg and/or allspice (optional)
2 cups freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)
TASTY TOPPINGS
extra grated cheddar cheese
crumbled bacon or vegetarian bacon bits
chopped green onion
red pepper flakes
Directions
Chop your veggies and measure out your ingredients. Steam or blanch your broccoli until tender and set aside. For the potatoes, peel and dice into cubes.
In a large pot or dutch oven, melt 1 TBSP butter over medium-high heat.
Add your chopped onion and celery and cook until tender. Reduce heat to medium and add remaining butter and garlic, sautéing briefly until fragrant.
Add flour and stir into onions. Continue to stir, allowing the raw flour to cook off for 20-30 seconds or so.
Add your broth, milk, and potatoes. To prevent sticking, stir constantly as the soup bubbles and thickens.
Season with salt, pepper, paprika and optional nutmeg allspice. I added 1/8 tsp of each but if you're not a nutmeg fan, totally skip it! Reduce heat to low (I set mine to 2), cover, and simmer for 10-15 minutes until potatoes are tender.
Remove from heat and stir in your broccoli and grated cheeses until melted. At the end I stirred in 1/2 cup of heavy cream (I couldn't help it - so good!) so feel free to follow suit if you'd like! The soup is fantastic with or without. Sometimes I'll even break up some of the potato with a spatula to make the soup even thicker!
Ladle soup into bowls and top with all your favorite toppings. Enjoy!
Notes
Didn’t love the celery in there...
Depending on preference or availability, you can use either vegetable broth or chicken broth for this tasty recipe.
If using regular sodium broth vs low sodium, simply skip adding the salt until the end and season to taste.
Gluten-Free? Use your favorite GF flour blend in place of conventional flour for the roux, or skip the flour entirely if you don't mind the soup being less thick and more soupy. Both work!