The Best Pressure Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup

This really is the Best Pressure Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup. You’re going to love how easy this great-tasting soup is to make and serve. With a 1-minute pressure cook time, you’ll want to make it again and again, no matter the season!

My family prefers soups with at least a little texture. So I adapted a traditional creamy broccoli cheese soup by leaving pieces of broccoli and carrot in the soup, which also gives it a prettier color. This soup is classic comfort food with is creamy, cheesy texture. You’ll also love at how quick this soup is to make and serve!

This Pressure Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup is one of the most popular recipes in my cookbook, The Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook: 200 Fast and Foolproof Recipes for Every Brand of Electric Pressure Cooker. When my cookbook was released, my good friend Melissa shared the recipe on Bless This Mess and said “it is the stuff soup dreams are made of.” 

It really is that good!

Making Pressure Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup in the Instant Pot

An Instant Pot is one of the most popular brands of electric pressure cookers. They are easy to use and your Instant Pot can help you create this delicious Pressure Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup! With the small vegetable pieces, this soup cooks quickly. From start to finish you can have it on your table in about 30 minutes.

Customize Your Soup

This soup is a pretty forgiving recipe, and you can easily make adjustments to your taste. For those that prefer smoother, creamier soups, you can use an immersion blender to smooth out the veggies. Or, on the other hand, add more chopped broccoli or carrots without changing the cook time. For those that love spicy food, add some red pepper flakes to give it an extra kick.

However you decide to make it, don’t skip the saute step! Since it’s such a simple soup, you need the richer flavor you get from browning the onion and garlic. 

Like most soups, the flavor improves if you prepare it ahead of time and allow the flavors to blend for a few hours. Honestly, my favorite way to make this soup is to cook it the night before and warm just what I need the next evening for dinner.

To warm, you can use your pressure cooker on the saute setting. (And, of course, there’s always the stove top.) Either way, you will want to keep an eye on your soup and don’t let it come to a boil. (If it does boil, it’s not a big deal, it just might affect the texture after adding the half and half.)

Making a Big Batch of Broccoli Cheese Soup

Since it’s a meatless meal, this soup is a great option when you’re on a budget! It’s easily doubled if you’re feeding a crowd or if you want lots of leftovers. 

When doubling, you can add half of the chicken broth after pressure cooking to cut down on the time it takes for the pot to come to pressure. 

Can I Freeze This Soup? 

Short answer—Yes, you can! My friend Genene, who helps run our Electric Pressure Cooker Facebook Group, makes this soup often and keeps it in her freezer.

Longer answer—freezing soups with dairy in them can sometimes affect the texture of the reheated soup. And the vegetables won’t be quite as crisp. I love this soup regardless, but if you’re sensitive to texture, this is something you’ll want to be aware of.

Make Lactose-Free or Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup

This Broccoli Cheese Soup is already a great meatless meal, so there are just a few substitutions you’ll need to make this fit a vegetarian or vegan diet. This winter, my daughter hosted a party where some guests followed a dairy-free diet. She made a dairy-free, vegan version of this Broccoli Cheese Soup using vegetable broth, Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks, Unsweetened Better Half Creamer, and Daiya Dairy Free Cheddar. 

I had a little of the vegan soup and was amazed at how well the flavors transferred over from the real, full-dairy alternative. 

What to Serve with Broccoli Cheese Soup

Bread! You can serve this in a bread bowl, with a crusty loaf of sour dough, or with a classic breadstick. My grandsons also love to eat it with crackers and a grilled cheese sandwich. 

If you’re trying to cut carbs, soup and salad is a classic combination that will help you maximize your veggies. 

More Instant Pot Vegetable Soup Recipes

Here are some of our other favorite vegetable soup recipes to make in an Instant Pot / electric pressure cooker:

• Instant Pot Minestrone Soup is fresh, healthy, and packed with beans, pasta, and garden produce like tomatoes, zucchini, and corn.
• Instant Pot Weight Loss Vegetable Soup is loaded with fresh carrots, broccoli, squash, spinach, and more.
• Instant Pot Corn Chowder is a perfect light and refreshing soup to enjoy on a warm summer night. 
• Instant Pot Cauliflower Soup from The Busted Oven flavored with thyme and lemon and thickened with potatoes.

Continue to Content

The Best Pressure Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 1 minute

Additional Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 16 minutes

This delicious Pressure Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup has a 1-minute pressure cook time and a creamy texture with bites of broccoli and carrots!

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Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup diced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cans (14.5 fluid ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 4 cups bite-size broccoli florets*
• 1 cup matchstick carrots
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more as needed
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed
• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• ¼ cup cold water
• 2 cups half and half
• 2 cups grated Cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. Select Sauté to preheat the pressure cooking pot. When hot, add the butter and onion. Sauté for about 3 minutes until tender. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute more. Stir in the chicken broth, broccoli, carrots, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
2. Lock the lid in place. Select High Pressure and 1 minute cook time.
3. When the cook time ends, turn off the pressure cooker. Use a quick pressure release. When the valve drops, carefully remove the lid.
4. In a small bowl, whisk the cornstarch and cold water until smooth. Select Sauté and add the slurry to the pot, stirring constantly until the soup comes to a boil and thickens.
5. Turn off the pressure cooker. Gradually stir in the half-and-half. Add the Cheddar a handful at a time, stirring until it melts. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Notes

*You can substitute frozen chopped broccoli with no change in cook time.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  The Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook: 200 Fast and Foolproof Recipes
• 
  Instant Pot DUO Plus 60, 6 Qt 9-in-1
• 
  OXO Good Grips Nylon Ladle

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 374Total Fat: 26gSaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 77mgSodium: 840mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 5gSugar: 8gProtein: 15g

Nutrition information is calculated by Nutritionix and may not always be accurate.