Potato broccoli soup is a classic cold-weather soup that has a creamy texture from the potatoes without tons of added cream!
We love a great broccoli soup and of course, a creamy potato soup is the ultimate comfort food. Together broccoli and potatoes make an amazing meal.
Why We Love this Soup
- It uses simple ingredients that I usually have on hand.
- Most are inexpensive pantry ingredients meaning it’s a great way to feed a crowd on a budget.
- Potatoes add to the creamy texture without adding a lot of extra fat.
- This is a meatless main but great with added leftovers like shrimp or chicken.
- It keeps for about 5 days in the fridge and reheats well for lunches.
Top it with homemade croutons or serve with garlic bread for dipping. Yes, please!
Ingredients and Variations
BROCCOLI Broccoli (and onions & celery) are cooked in a chicken broth base. If time is short, frozen broccoli works just as well!
POTATOES We love russet or baking potatoes in this recipe because they’re nice and starchy. Be sure to peel them first. Waxy thin skinned potatoes (like Yukon gold) will work and you can skip peeling.
CREAM Since the potatoes are blended, you only need a little bit of cream to make this rich soup! Non-dairy creams/milks work well too.
How to Make Potato Broccoli Soup
- Sauté onion & celery in butter, add potatoes & broth. Cover & simmer, add broccoli, cover & cook again.
- Remove 1 cup of broccoli & potatoes; set aside.
- Using an immersion blender, blend remaining soup in the pot until smooth.
- Return everything to pot, stir in both cheeses until melted.
PRO TIP: If an immersion blender (hand blender) is unavailable, pour the soup into a countertop blender instead. Be sure you don’t seal the lid and allow the steam to escape.
Crock Pot:
- Sauté onion & celery in butter in a pan until softened, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add all ingredients to Crock Pot, stir, & cover. Cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 5 or until potatoes are tender.
- Stir in cheeses & cover. Cook another 30 minutes or until cheeses are melted & soup is creamy.
- Garnish with extra cheese before serving.
Instant Pot:
- Set instant pot to sauté, cook onion & celery in butter until softened, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add remaining ingredients except cheeses, cover, & set on high for 6 minutes. Allow a natural release of steam.
- Stir in both the cheeses until melted & the soup is creamy.
- Garnish with extra cheese before serving.
Leftovers
- Keep soup in a covered container in the refrigerator for about 5 days or freeze soup in zippered bags with the date labeled on the outside.
- Lay them flat in the freezer and when they are frozen, store them upright to save freezer space.
- Potato broccoli soup will keep in the freezer up to 6 months.
More Creamy Soups
- Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
- Quick Potato Corn Chowder
- Zuppa Toscana
- Ham and Potato Soup
- Creamy Tortellini Soup
- Creamy Potato Bacon Soup
Did your family love this Potato Broccoli Soup? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Potato Broccoli Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 rib celery diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 lb baking potatoes peeled and diced, about 2 medium potatoes
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 3 cups broccoli florets
- salt and pepper to taste to taste
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ⅓ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions
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Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion & celery. Cook until softened, 3-4 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
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Add potatoes and chicken broth. Cover and simmer 8 minutes.
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Add broccoli and cook until softened, about 5-6 minutes.
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Remove 1 cup of broccoli and potatoes and slightly chop. Set aside.
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Using a hand blender, blend remaining soup in the pot until smooth. Add cream and simmer 1 minute. Stir in reserved broccoli, potatoes, and cheeses.
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Garnish with additional cheese if desired.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Appetizer, Dinner, Lunch, Side Dish, Soup
Cuisine American
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This soup is simple, healthy and delicious. it’s now one of my favourite recipes. My variations:
1. I use frozen broccoli (it’s easier, and I always have it on hand)
2. I add 1/4 tsp thyme, and also use 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper.
3. I leave out the parmesan cheese (it’s too expensive these days), and use extra cheddar instead
Thanks for sharing your tips Melanie!
I love this soup! I added bacon to mine. Delicious.
you think it would be okay to throw in the broccoli after everything is done if I decide to throw a bag of broccoli in the microwave last minute?
I don’t have broccoli on hand but I want to start the soup.
Yes, that should work just fine as long as the broccoli is cooked quite soft.
thank you!
I used this recipe as a guide to sort of make it my own by crisping up a few slices of thick cut bacon in the pot before cooking and removed them leaving behind the bacon grease. Then I cooked green onions with the onions and celery in the left over bacon grease. Followed the recipe from this point on with the addition of some cayenne pepper for a kick. Was delicious! Topped with the greens of the green onion, sour cream, shredded cheese, and the cooked bacon at the end like it was a lighter loaded potato soup with broccoli.
So glad you enjoyed it, Ameer! I love the additions you made, they sound delicious.
Just got done making this. I had to substitute lactose free evaporated milk for the heavy cream due to lactose intolerance. It came out excellent!
So happy it was a hit for you, D.J! Thanks for leaving a comment.
We loved the soup, have made it twice now and will continue to make. It just so happened, I had all of the ingrediants here so I didn’t have to go the store to buy more so that is a big plus! I plan on freezing some of the 2nd batch to share with my daughter and will give some to my neighbor to try. Thank you for sharing!
very good and easy. made sourdough bread to go with it. kids loved it.
Excellent meal, thank you! I added a chopped Cajun sausage for a little kick. Substituted evaporated milk for heavy cream. (calories)
Will definitely make again ❤️
Those sounds like delicious substitutions, Nancy! Thanks for leaving a comment.
I don’t know where I went wrong, but this was pure salt!!! I saw another recipe that had the 3 cups of broth AND an additional 3 cups of water on the recipe…maybe that was the mistake.
Sorry this recipe didn’t work out for you, Jay. We only add salt & pepper to taste in this recipe but if you prefer less salt, you could try using salt-free broth or add water.
thanks