Healthy broccoli cheddar soup made with a secret ingredient! Just as delicious as the buttery, creamy version, but with so much more protein and fiber.
Oooooh, are you like, totally intrigued by the title of this recipe?
I’ll just cut to the case so you don’t have to scroll to find the answer… the secret is pureed cannellini beans! Or, great northern beans if that’s your jam.
Still into this? Trust me, it’s amazing!
So, I can’t take credit for this idea. I was watching Ellie Krieger’s cooking show, Ellie’s Real Good Food, and saw her use cannellini beans as the creamy base for broccoli soup. Sometimes, you see something and just HAVE to try it. Like immediately. Right?
So, I did. But in her version, she cooks up all the ingredients and purees everything together. I ended up wanting some broccoli chunks, and cut out the mustard and a few other ingredients that I didn’t feel the soup needed. I also added onion and garlic, because *almost* all soup is better with onion and garlic, right?
Here’s the secret: pureeing the beans with their liquid BEFORE adding them to the soup. They are already cooked, so you don’t need to add them until the very end. SO AWESOME! This way, you can get the soup as creamy or as chunky as you’d like. Totally up to you (and your blender) how much you want to puree.
Alas, there is still milk and cheese in this soup. Gotta still be broccoli CHEDDAR soup right? But the amount is so so so much less than traditional broccoli cheese soup.
The beans add so much creaminess! Like a punch of creamy, fibery, healthified magic to your pot of broccoli. Each serving only has about 1 ounce of cheese. BOOYAH!
Healthy broccoli cheddar soup made with a secret ingredient! Just as delicious as the buttery, creamy version, but with so much more protein and fiber.
- 1 15 oz can cannellini or great northern beans.
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
- 1 medium sweet, yellow onion, diced. About 2 cups
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 5 cups small, bite sized broccoli florets
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 1 packed cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup milk of your choice (I used whole milk)
- Salt and pepper
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Puree the beans and the liquid in the can with an immersion blender or in a regular blender. Set aside.
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Heat the oil in a dutch oven or soup pot over medium high heat. Add the onion and saute until browning, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Add the broccoli florets and saute until dark green, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes.
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Add the stock to the pot and deglaze the browned bits from the pan. Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes, or until broccoli is very tender. Add the beans and stir until completely combined. Remove from heat.
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Make sure the soup is very hot, but not boiling. Add the cheese, a few Tbsp at a time and stir to combine until all the cheese is mixed in. Don't add the cheese too fast or it will clump together.
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Using an immersion blender or regular blender, puree as much of the soup as you'd like to get the texture you want. I pureed half of the soup with an immersion blender.
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Add the milk and stir to combine. Generously season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
Need more soup inspiration? Try butternut squash potato leek, sweet potato carrot, or homemade tomato with cheesy croutons.
Now, I’m off to make AAAAALL the creamy soups with cannellini beans!
Trish
P.S. Want to see what I’m cooking up this week? Check out my Instagram stories!
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Patricia Bozeman is a cook. A whiskey lover. A dreamer. A wine-o. A tea drinker. A dog lover. A wife. An extrovert with a dash of social anxiety. A Jeopardy watcher. A dress wearer (because she's a lady, duh). A crass and slightly deaf old woman inside of a 33 year old body. 
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