Cheesy Vegetable Soup

Man, this soup is gooood! You seriously have to try it. It is especially great for these chilly fall and winter months. It's the kind of soup that sticks to your ribs.

  

I first pinned this recipe on Pinterest because I love broccoli cheddar soup and that’s what this soup reminded me of. After making it twice I’m glad to say that I can tell you how I did it. However, I am a firm believer in tweaking until you find what way you and your family like best! Seriously though, the first time I made this soup I planned on following the recipe….but it ended up more like a guideline : ) So I strongly encourage you to make it your own! That’s the wonderful thing about cooking, unlike baking that sometimes has to have the right amount of this or that, or your cake is rubbery and gross. Cooking however, often times can be tweaked and made your own fairly simply.

If you want to try out the original recipe it can be found here: http://luluthebaker.blogspot.com/2011/09/cheesy-vegetable-chowder.html

Now, on to how I make mine! : )

First things first we want to prep all the veggies, what I did was chopped up the carrots, celery, and food processed the onion (my eyes are super sensitive to the onion and I cry the whole time to the point where I can’t see anymore…). After I put all those into a separate bowl I moved on to cutting up the broccoli. When the broccoli is all chopped I begin sautéing the onion, celery, and carrots in butter in the bottom of my soup pot. I also added some garlic salt and pepper to the sautéing vegetables.

 Carrots, celery and onion sauteing. 

 

 I sautéed the celery, onions and carrots for about 10 minutes or more or until they were tender. This picture was from last night’s dinner. Next time I plan on chopping them and then either cutting them in halves or thirds. I love the flavor the celery gives the soup and I want it in there, but I really wanted them to be soft and not very grainy.

While the celery, onion and carrots are sautéing you’ll want to peel and cube the potatoes. If you feel like you won’t have the time to while the other veggies are sautéing, you can just peel and chop the potatoes when you chop up the other veggies. I just started to feel like ahh! I need to start this thing soon and I’ve been chopping forever! So I waited to work on the potatoes so I could start the soup.

After the celery, onions and carrots are done you add four cans of chicken broth to the sautéed vegetables and the garlic powder. After the broth and garlic powder is in the pot you add the potatoes and cook them until they are tender. Cooking the potatoes didn’t take as long as I thought they would, so just keep an eye on them. You'll know they are ready when you can easily stick a fork in them. : )  At this time also add the water and flour mixture.

 Potatoes, broccoli, milk and water added.

Once the potatoes are done, add milk and the chopped broccoli to the soup and cook for about 10 minutes. After add cheddar cheese, and wait until everything is heated through. 

 

Cheese added. Heating through.

These times are just rough estimates, if you feel something is done before, feel free to move on! I also added garlic salt and pepper through out cooking the whole meal just be careful not to over salt. 

 YUMMMM!!!!

Cheesy Vegetable Soup

(Adapted from Cheesy Vegetable Chowder links above)

2 TBS butter

½ large onion or 1 whole small onion, processed or minced

1 ½ - 2 cups chopped baby carrots (or regular carrots chopped smaller)

2-3 celery stalks chopped into halves or thirds

4 (14 oz.) cans chicken broth (low sodium would probably be fine, you could also use vegetable broth too)

4 medium sized potatoes or 2-3 large ones, peeled and cubed

2 TBS flour

1 cup water

3 cups or roughly 1 1/2 heads of broccoli

2 cups milk

3-4 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 teas. garlic powder (or a clove of garlic minced. I prefer powder over raw for a more subtle flavor, if using raw garlic sauté with carrots, celery, and onion when the other vegetables are almost finished add the minced garlic)

Salt and pepper to taste (I used garlic salt and LOTS of pepper)

Prepare chopped and diced vegetables. Sautee onion, carrots and celery until tender, while vegetables are sautéing peel and cubed potatoes. When done add chicken broth, potatoes, garlic powder, mix water and flour and add to vegetables. Cook until potatoes are tender. When ready add chopped broccoli, milk and cook 5-10 minutes. After add cheese, heat through and serve. Salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!!!