Broccoli Cheddar Soup In Instant Pot

5 from 5 votes

Broccoli cheddar soup is a delicious comfort food in the cold chilly weather. It can be made with fresh or frozen broccoli florets. Check out how to make this gluten-free and vegetarian Instant Pot broccoli cheddar soup in about 30 minutes.

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Broccoli cheddar soup or cream of broccoli soup is a very popular soup, especially from Panera bread. You can easily make this soup at home in the Instant Pot and enjoy it with some sourdough bread, or a bread bowl. It is a perfect comfort food on a cold chilly day!

This is a gluten-free recipe for a vegetarian homemade broccoli cheddar soup with no flour added as a thickener. This soup can be made in an Instant Pot in 30 minutes with fresh or frozen broccoli florets.

You may also like this delicious Instant Pot asparagus soup and Instant Pot cabbage soup.

Ingredients

This gluten-free, homemade broccoli cheddar soup is made with very few ingredients. Vegetables including broccoli, julienne carrots, diced celery, onion, and garlic are used. Both, frozen or fresh broccoli florets can be used to make this soup.

This soup is savory, creamy, and cheesy in taste. It does not need many spices. In fact, some minced garlic, and pepper are enough to give the flavor. You really want to taste the cheese and broccoli in this soup.

Grated cheddar cheese and heavy cream are added to give it the taste and thickness. Mild cheddar, sharp cheddar, or a combination of both will work well. It is preferred to use block cheese and grate it yourself rather than using the pre-shredded cheese.

This soup is thick and you may really not need any thickener. However, if you want, you can add a few spoons of cornstarch slurry to get the desired thickness.

Instructions

This homemade broccoli cheddar cheese is very easy to make. The first step is to add all the ingredients including broccoli florets, onion, garlic, carrots, celery, low-sodium vegetable broth, and salt to the Instant Pot liner.

Cook on high-pressure mode for 5 minutes with the pressure knob in the sealing position and then perform a quick release by moving the pressure knob in the venting position until the silver pin drops.

With the help of an immersion hand blender, blend the soup in the instant pot liner coarsely and add the grated cheese and stir well until it is dissolved. Add the heavy cream, and pepper, and adjust the salt to taste.

The soup should be of a thick consistency and you really don't need to add anything else to make it thick. However, in case you want it thicker, you can make a cornstarch slurry by mixing cold water and cornstarch and adding it spoon by spoon into the hot soup until you get the desired consistency.

collage of 4 images to make broccoli cheddar soup in the instant pot.

Once you dump all the ingredients into the instant pot liner, cook the soup on the high-pressure mode for 5 minutes followed by a quick release. The Instant Pot will take about 15 minutes to come to full pressure.

Serving suggestions

Broccoli cheddar soup tastes delicious as is. It can be made into a complete meal by serving it with a grilled cheese sandwich, bread bowls, toasted French bread, sourdough bread, or garlic bread.

You can also serve some roasted potatoes, roasted broccoli, or roasted mushrooms on the side. Baked pasta, mac and cheese, or vegetable lo mein can also be served to complement this delicious soup.

Equipment

This broccoli cheddar soup has been made in the 6 qt. Instant Pot. It can be made in the larger one too. You can scale down the recipe to make it in the 3 qt. Instant Pot as well.

An immersion hand blender is very handy to blend the soup. A standalone blender can be used as well but you will need to be very careful as the soup will be very hot to handle while transferring.

Storage

Any leftover broccoli cheese soup can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days. When you are ready to eat, simply reheat it in the microwave, stovetop, or on saute mode in the Instant Pot.

You can always make this soup ahead of time and refrigerate it if you are planning to make it for an event or a special occasion. You can reheat it just before serving.

You can also freeze broccoli cheese soup. However, when reheating, it may not retain its texture and flavor. So it is best to consume it within 3-4 days of making it.

If you are planning to make this soup in advance for meal planning and freeze it, you can pressure cook all the ingredients except cheese and cream. Allow the soup to cool down completely and then portion it and freeze it.

When you are ready to serve, you can reheat the soup and at this point add the grated cheese and cream once it is heated. Optionally, you can add some cornstarch slurry to thicken the soup, if needed.

FAQ

How can I thicken my broccoli cheese soup?

Once you add the grated cheddar cheese and the heavy cream, the broccoli soup will thicken. However, if you want to make it thicker, you can add some more grated cheese until the desired consistency is reached.

Another gluten-free option to thicken the soup is to add a cornstarch slurry after adding the cheese and heavy cream. But it is really optional and not really needed.