Instant Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup is easy, creamy and full of vegetables. This soup is cheesy and makes a comforting, hearty meal the whole family will love. Add crunchy croutons and fresh parsley to finish it off.
The stars of this soup are the vegetables and the dairy — the broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and celery along with the milk, cream and cheese. This vegetable combination creates a flavorful soup packed with nutrition. Milk, cream and cheese make it extra creamy — and provide nine essential nutrients, including calcium and protein.
Pairing cheese with vegetables, like in this soup, may help to get kids to eat more veggies and dairy in their diets. Cheese is a high-quality source of protein, calcium, phosphorus and vitamin A. In fact, cheese is the No. 2 source of calcium for Americans! It can provide calcium to meet nutrition recommendations and help to fill the protein gap.
Many of us now own and use an Instant Pot or pressure cooker in our kitchen. When cooking with dairy in the Instant Pot, be careful because milk can scald or curdle quickly and cheese can get watery. When using dairy products to make a creamy or cheesy recipe in an Instant Pot, add the dairy ingredients after the pressure-cooking process is complete. Dairy ingredients are best added during a sauté or warming step at the end of the cooking time. This way, you’ll be left with a creamier dish that isn’t watery and curdled.
Can’t get enough healthy soup? Try delicious Slow Cooker Creamy Green Chili Chicken Enchilada Soup, nutrient-packed Cheeseburger Soup or superfood-packed Creamy Red Lentil Butternut Squash Soup.
Instant Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup
- 10 minutes
- 20 minutes
- 30 minutes
- 6-8 servings
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup sweet onion, diced
- 2 large carrots, peeled, diced
- 2 celery stalks, ends trimmed off, diced
- 6 cups broccoli florets, chopped small
- 2 cups cauliflower, chopped small
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup cream or half and half
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese (or cheese of your choice)
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot or pressure cooker to SAUTE mode and add the butter. Once the pressure cooker is hot, stir the butter around the pot to make sure the pot is covered in the butter. Add the garlic and onion and cook for 2-3 minutes to soften the onion. Add a small amount of the broth and use the spoon to deglaze and the pot by scraping up all the browned bits that were created when cooking the garlic and onion.
- Add the carrot, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, broth, paprika, nutmeg, salt and pepper and give the soup a good stir.
- Close the lid on the pressure cooker and seal, making sure the vent is pointing to sealed. Cook on Manual HIGH Pressure for 3 minutes. When it is done cooking do a quick release and let all of the steam out of the Instant Pot.
- Once the steam is released, carefully open the lid.
- If you want a creamier soup, use an immersion blender to puree all of the soup or remove a portion of the soup and puree that. You can also use a blender to puree a small amount of the soup. Return the soup to the Instant Pot.
- Add the milk, cream and cheese and stir well. Let sit for a minute or two until the cheese melts. Taste and adjust seasonings.
- Garnish with extra cheese, fresh parsley, croutons and crushed red pepper.
Notes: Try using a different cheese to add a variety of flavors to the soup. I like using mozzarella, pepper jack or gouda. You can also use whatever vegetables you want in this soup. I like the broccoli, cauliflower, carrot and celery, but you can easily leave one or two out and just go with more of the others. The cream creates a creamier soup, but you can eliminate it. I would just adjust and use 1 cup of milk instead of the 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup cream. To thicken your soup, you can stir together 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cold water together. Stir this in to the soup.
