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This easy Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup is ready in about 20 minutes with a secret ingredient that makes for a nourishing, cozy dinner for the family.
A creamy, cozy bowl of cheesy Broccoli Cheddar Soup from the Instant Pot is my fav go-to dinner on cold, busy nights.
Karly’s Notes
It took me about fifteen years of marriage to convince my husband that soup is dinner.
But, I kept at it and now we eat soup for dinner about once a week. As long as I serve it with something hearty, like our sweet cornbread or beer bread, he’s always game.
This Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup is a particular favorite of mine because it’s ready from start to finish in about 20 minutes and it has a surprise secret ingredient! Perfect for a busy night when you want something nostalgic, nourishing, and cozy.
Loving the Instant Pot? Our barbacoa recipe is also made in the pressure cooker and it is seriously sooooooo good! Same goes for our Instant Pot potato salad!
Tools Needed For Broccoli Cheddar Soup Recipe:
Pressure Cooker: This recipe is made in the pressure cooker. It doesn’t have to be the Instant Pot brand – any of them will do. I haven’t tried this in a stove top pressure cooker, since all I have is an electric pressure cooker. I’m sure it would work just fine though!
You can use the Instant Pot to make my ham and bean soup, pressure cooker carnitas, and even Instant Pot cheesecake! too!
My Favorite Instant Pot!
I absolutely love my Instant Pot! It’s great for recipes like this broccoli cheddar soup, or to cook perfect rice, cook chicken to shred (the best!), and so much more.
Immersion Blender: I use my immersion blender more often than I thought I would and I highly recommend keeping one in your kitchen! This is the one I use.
If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can definitely add everything to a regular blender and process it that way. Just be careful to vent as you blend. You don’t want hot soup flying all over your kitchen!
High Powered Blender
We use our Blendtec blender to make smoothies, frozen margaritas, soups, and more! This blender is high powdered, easy to use, and has an array of settings.
Ingredient Notes:
Chicken Broth – Use your favorite brand of chicken broth or start with Better than Bouillon. To make this vegetarian, use vegetable broth.
Broccoli – We usually have fresh broccoli on hand, but frozen will work just fine.
Carrots – I’m adding shredded carrots for a pop of color and flavor. Shred your own on a box grater or buy a bag of pre-shredded.
Instant Mashed Potatoes – Our *secret ingredient!* I add instant potato flakes to the soup as a thickener. Thickens the soup up, adds loads of creamy goodness, and it’s beyond easy.
Cheddar Cheese – We prefer to shred a block of sharp cheddar for this soup, but you may use a bag of pre-shredded if that’s all you have. Just keep in mind that pre-shredded cheese doesn’t melt quite as nicely.
Heavy Cream – This is a rich, creamy soup and the heavy cream does a lot to enhance the smooth, creamy texture and rich flavors. Swap for whole milk if you prefer.
Hot Pepper Sauce – We use a few dashes of Frank’s Red Hot. It doesn’t make this soup at all spicy…in fact, you’ll never know the hot sauce is there. It does help to balance the flavors though.
Salt & Pepper – To taste.
What We Love About ThiS BROCCOLI CHEDDAR SOUP Recipe:
- Rich & Creamy: There is lots of rich and creamy flavor and texture to be found in this broccoli cheddar soup. Especially if you use freshly grated cheddar! This soup makes for some excellent comfort food.
- Easy: The Instant Pot really makes this soup recipe nice and simple. It’s ready in just 20 minutes and is so easy to prepare. You can make this soup ahead of time too to serve later!
- Versatile: Use fresh or frozen broccoli, swap the cheddar for another flavor of cheese (just make sure it’s a variety that melts nicely), and adjust the seasoning to suit your tastes. Make it vegetarian by using veggie broth in place of chicken broth.
How to Make Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup:
Add the broth, broccoli, and carrots to the Instant Pot and set the valve to sealing. Cook on high pressure for 4 minutes.
Use an immersion blender to blend the soup until it’s smooth. Alternately, transfer the soup to a standard blender.
Stir in the potato flakes to thicken things up and then add the cream and cheddar.
Make sure everything is smooth, creamy, and melty and then it’s time to serve!
What to Serve with Broccoli Cheddar Soup:
We like to serve this soup with extra cheddar cheese on top, and my kids love crumbling saltines in their bowl.
As I mentioned, this makes a quick lunch or a simple dinner. I serve it with a green salad for dinner, just so it’s more of a complete meal.
My kids don’t even complain about their veggies when it comes to this broccoli cheese soup!
Other good options for serving include crusty bread or dinner rolls. This Irish soda bread is perfect for dipping!
Recipe FAQs:
Yes, you can use shredded cheese but it may not melt as well as freshly grated and it can sometimes be a little grainy. Freshly grated cheddar from a block will melt and taste better.
If your broccoli cheddar soup is thinner than you’d like, stir in some instant potato flakes. We add around 1/2 cup, but if you’d like the soup thicker, you can add more.
More Homemade Soup Recipes!
Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Ingredients
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 12 ounces broccoli florets
- 1/2 cup grated carrot
- ½ cup instant mashed potato flakes
- 2 cups freshly shredded cheddar
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce such as Frank's Red Hot
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the chicken broth, broccoli, and carrot to an electric pressure cooker. Close the lid and set the vent to sealing.
- Cook on high pressure for 4 minutes. Let pressure release for 5 minutes before carefully turning the valve to venting.
- When all pressure has released, carefully open the lid of the pressure cooker. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup. Alternately, transfer the mixture to a blender and carefully puree.
- Stir in the instant mashed potatoes until well combined and a bit thickened.
- Stir in the cheddar, cream, and hot sauce. Continue stirring until cheese has melted. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve hot.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
GiggleGoddess says
What can you use instead of the instant mashed potatoes?
Karly Campbell says
You could try adding more cheese to thicken it up in place of the potatoes.
carol says
Could you use frozen broccoli in this?
Karly says
I haven’t tried it, but I think it’d work fine.
Katherine | Love In My Oven says
Broccoli cheese soup is the BEST!! I’m going to have to try this in my old manual pressure cooker 🙂
Lynne Golson says
Can you make this soup in a crock pot? I don’t have a pressure cooker. It looks delicious.
Karly says
I’m sure it would work great in a crockpot! I’m not sure how long it will take, but I’d guess around 1 hour on high. You just want the vegetables to be super soft so that you can blend them into a creamy soup. 🙂
Tricia @ Saving Room for Dessert says
Yeah! Pinning this so I can find it when I figure out how to use my Instant Pot – haha. This soup looks wonderful!