As winter turns into spring, we have been having some dreary rainy days here in NYC. I holed up in my apartment yesterday and made this healthy, warm, creamy broccoli and cauliflower cheddar soup. I had been craving good bread for the past couple days, and knew I needed to make a creamy soup to dunk it it in.
I made this broccoli and cauliflower cheddar soup once last year, but the recipe needed some revisions. I pulled out my notebook where I jot down recipes and looked at the notes at the bottom of the page for this soup. I had listed at least five different ways to make it thicker (less liquid, more flour, etc) followed by a note that reads “If you didn’t notice…it was too thin last time.” But I had the time yesterday to revisit the recipe and tweak it to perfection. It is now the perfect consistency and ready to be shared with the world!
Not to mention, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. It’s the perfect green meal to make for your family & friends to celebrate the occasion.
What I love about this broccoli and cauliflower cheddar soup is that it is easily customizable. If you like your soups thicker, use a little less liquid or a little more flour. If you like them thinner, more liquid. I have been trying to cut back on dairy recently, so I tried using almond milk in this recipe instead. It worked perfectly and I could not tell a difference from using cows milk. It could be made entirely dairy free by omitting the cheese…but I was not prepared to make that step. I love cheese. This could also easily be made gluten-free by using an alternative flour. Let me know how you modify it to your preferences!
The soup has a slight kick from the pepper. I love the extra oomph, so I highly recommend grinding some fresh pepper on top as well. Yum.
- 1 tsp. olive oil
- 1/4 onion, diced
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1 cup broccoli, roughly chopped
- 1 cup cauliflower, roughly chopped
- 1 cup milk (or almond milk) + a little more for adjusting consistency
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. flour
- 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- Heat olive oil in a medium sized saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Add onion to the saucepan and sauté for 2-3 minutes until onions are translucent.
- Add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds more.
- Pour in milk and water to the saucepan and add in broccoli and cauliflower as well.
- Add a little more milk and water, if needed, to just barely cover the broccoli and cauliflower (maybe 1/4 cup more.)
- Turn the heat up and bring the milk/water to a boil. Once boiling, turn heat down to med-low, cover the saucepan, and simmer for 8 minutes.
- While the broccoli and cauliflower are simmering, mix 2.5 Tbsp flour with 1.5 Tbsp. milk until a paste forms. Add tiny additions of milk if needed to form the paste.
- Once broccoli and cauliflower have simmered for around 8 minutes and are pierced easily with a fork, stir in the flour paste to the saucepan.
- Stir in cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
- Carefully pour the contents of the saucepan into a blender. Blend until smooth.
- Enjoy!
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