Ingredients

The following ingredients have 8 Servings
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of light butter ((I use Land O’Lakes))
  • 1 medium onion (diced)
  • ½ cup white whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur Flour)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt (divided)
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 cups of fat free half and half
  • 4 cups of vegetable stock
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 12 oz 6 cups small broccoli florets
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 4 oz sharp cheddar cheese (shredded (I used Cabot Seriously Sharp))
  • 4 oz 50% reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese (shredded (I used Cabot 50% Sharp))

Instruction

  • In a soup pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the dice onion and stir to coat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes until onion is softened. In a small dish, stir together the flour, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and the black pepper until mixed. Add and whisk the flour mixture into the butter and onions a little bit at a time, whisking continuously until well combined. Slowly add a bit of the half and half and whisk it into the flour mixture until combined. Continue to add and whisk in the half and half a little at a time until it is all combined.
  • Add some of the vegetable stock and continue to whisk the mixture until all the stock is added and all ingredients are well combined. Add the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt and the ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder. I also added a few twists of freshly cracked black pepper at this step. Cover the pot and bring the mixture to a simmer. Uncover and reduce the heat to medium-low (medium on my stovetop is a 5, so I had this at a 3) and allow the soup to cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Add the broccoli florets and shredded carrots and stir in to combine. Continue to cook for another 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Optional: At this point I suck my immersion blender in the pot and blended maybe 1/3-1/2 of the soup. Alternately, you could just put some of the soup in a regular blender or skip this step entirely, depending on how you prefer the consistency of your soup. I do recommend not pureeing the entire pot, because it’s nice to have some full broccoli florets in there.
  • Increase the heat to medium and add the shredded cheeses (you may reserve a bit at this point for topping the soup if desired). Whisk the cheese into the soup until fully melted and combined.