This cheesy vegetable chowder is packed with veggies and flavor! It’s one of my family’s all-time favorite dinner recipes. Perfect for chilly evenings.
This recipe has a long history with my little family. I got the original version from my sister-in-law when my husband and I were newlyweds. We had just moved into our condo with the bright red kitchen. I have such fond memories of that kitchen!
Anyway, the only veggies in the recipe back in those days were potatoes, and it called for turkey bacon. I remember thinking “heck no!” to turkey bacon and using regular bacon instead. It made the soup soooooo salty; it’s a wonder I kept making it after that, although I never again used bacon of any kind! And it originally only served 2, which was fine at the time but not really enough for a growing family.
Fast-forward seven years and it has morphed into a cheesy, comforting vegetable chowder packed with veggies that are good for you, and give the soup some much-needed color! It is one of our family favorites–even the kids love it–and now that the weather has cooled off a little, will resume its weekly appearance on our dinner menu.
Cheesy Vegetable Chowder has consistently been one of the most popular recipes here on Lulu the Baker since I first shared it. I love hearing from readers who make it for their families once and love it so much that they add it to their own regular recipe rotation. I know you’ll love it too.
*If you’re looking for crockpot directions for Cheesy Vegetable Chowder, several commenters have left their instructions in the comments section below!
Cheesy Vegetable Chowder
This is one of my family's all-time favorite dinner recipes! It is easy to make and tastes delicious.
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup finely chopped carrot
- 1 celery stick, finely chopped (feel free to add more celery if you like celery; I don't, so I don't add much)
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 4 cups chicken broth (I usually use a mixture of low-sodium chicken broth and broth made with chicken soup base because it gives it such nice flavor)
- 2 large baking potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 1 Tablespoon flour
- 1/2 cup water
- 2/3 cup milk
- 2 cups chopped broccoli
- 2 heaping cups shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
Melt the butter in a large soup pot. Add onions, carrots, and celery and saute over medium heat until tender. Add garlic and cook 1 or 2 additional minutes. Add chicken broth and potatoes, bring to a boil, and cook until potatoes are tender. Mix flour with water, add, and simmer until soup is slightly thickened. Add milk and broccoli and cook until broccoli is just tender and soup is heated through. Stir in cheese, allow to melt, and serve.
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Trying it the crockpot, will let you know how it goes after dinner
giving the crockpot version a go this morning will let you know how it turns out at dinner š
Found the recipe on Pinterest. Followed it to the letter (except I doubled it for my family of 6). Served it with crusty bread. Everyone had more than one helping! With the leftovers, I used my hand blender and pureed it and will give it to kiddos in a mug for a warm nutritional snack. Thanks! Another warm meal to add to my winter rotation!
Just made this tonight – its awesome and my husband flipped out! Only thing is it wasn’t as thick as I wanted, it was almost runny despite the flour/water, do you have any suggestions of how to thicken it up a bit?
We made this tonight, I used a potato masher to roughly mash everything before adding the flour/water/cheese/milk part and found that thickened it quite well too.
Mine came out runny as well š Wish I could figure out what I did wrong.
You can also do corn starch and water. Sometimes you have to add more to get it thickened.
my favorite trick to thicken cream soups quickly is to add instant mashed potatoe flakes-you can even add flavored ones if the suit the recipe
Courtney–I can think of a few things to try that might help the soup be thicker.
1) Use really starchy potatoes. I usually use waxier potatoes because that’s what we have a garden full of, but the starchier varieties should break down more during cooking and just naturally make the soup thicker, especially if you cook them longer.
2) Use less chicken broth and/or less milk. I would maybe cut down both amounts a little at first, then add more of each toward the end of the cooking time if the soup can handle it.
3) Make sure you use really good cheese. We always use Tillamook, and I’ve sort of forgotten that not all cheese is created equal! A good cheddar that actually melts into the soup should help thicken it.
Good luck!
Maybe it was the cheese. Mine broke but was still good.
Can you use frozen veggies for this, like frozen broccoli?
we made this last week and wrote about on our blog. We ALL loved it… even the hubby that does not do veggies http://recipeswelove1.blogspot.com/2011/11/cheesy-vegetable-chowder.html
Ann Kelly
recipeswelove1.blogspot.com
Caitlyn–Absolutely, you can use frozen broccoli. The first time I made this with broccoli, it was leftover cooked broccoli. And I actually prefer it that way. I don’t even think you need to thaw it before adding it. Just make sure it cooks all the way through!
Ann Kelly–Wow! Thanks for featuring my recipe. I hope it is a continued success for you!
I just made this and it was FANTASTIC. Thank you for sharing, I will definitely make it again!
Thi looks so good! I am going to try this..
i made this for dinner tonight! it was really great! thanks for sharing it! susan
I adapted this slightly to what I had. I made a volute first, added the garlic, potatoes and carrots, let that cook for 10 mins on medium and added a pre packaged bag of stir fry veges. Allow that too cook another 10 mins and throw in the cheese and milk. It worked beautifully! Thank you so much for the idea!
I made this and it was amazing… Only I used an immersion blender to purée the soup. I prefer a smooth texture to the chunky original recipe. I also could use a little less cheese, and I looooove cheese, but I felt like it didn’t need quite as much when I puréed it as it was nice and think already so the cheese could be more of a garnish. Anyway, thanks for the recipe.
how many servings is this?
G–it makes about 4 servings. It feeds my little family for one meal and gives one person leftovers for lunch the next day. If you’re feeding more than 4, I’d definitely double it.
This sounds delish! My family has “Sunday Soup Suppers” – this will be perfect for later this winter.
PS: Congrats on the Today Show pinning you. That’s how I found this recipe!
I’m planning on making a double batch on Saturday for a holiday party. I’m making it vegetarian (veggie broth) and am thinking of adding leeks and white wine. Thoughts on this anyone??
Tracy–I had no idea!! Woohoo!
Kat–I think leeks would be awesome, and I don’t see how a little white wine in anything could go wrong!
Kat, I also made it with veggie broth and it was delicious. And i can’t imagine wine hurting anything!
Kat, I made it with veggie broth and it was great!
Glad I came across this comment. I was scrolling through hoping somebody had made it with vegetable broth and had good results. My husband, son, and I are vegetarians and I REALLY wanted to make this. I’m very excited now! š
Found this on pinterest as well. Had it for lunch and it was delicious! I think next time I will sub cauliflower for the potatoes and add more broccoli. Thanks for sharing!!
I plan to make this tonight and enjoy as my warm, yummy lunch for the week. Thanks for the time estimate. š
Vicki ([email protected])
Hi Lulu,
I am excited about trying out this recipe, but I was wondering if there are any meats that I could add to it? My husband is an active guy with a fast metabolism and he needs as much protein as possible. I appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!
I think someone else suggested chicken, but also try blending it. Blended soups digest more slowly and make you feel full longer.
Chicken would probably be good or you could add beans for protein. Maybe some navy beans or something like that.
I don’t remember where I found your recipe, but I did a double take when I saw it on Pinterest. Was just the kick I needed to give it a try – and also I had a bunch of cheese I needed to use up. This is truly delicious. I think the secret must be in the thickening; I’ve never tried this with soup, but I think it will solve the problem of those watery soups I’m prone to make!
Simone–I haven’t ever tried meat in it, but I would think shredded chicken would be good, and maybe smoked sausage or kielbasa thinly sliced. If you try it, let us all know how it turns out!!
I made this last night (subbed vegetable broth) but kept the rest the same, it was amazing! My roommate and I ate almost all of it! Thanks for the awesome recipe. It will go into our book of favorite Sunday Soup Recipes! Delicious!
Thank you so much for posting this! I’m not a good cook at all but I tried this out and and I follow your directions exactly. And BAM, I cooked something! Thank you! Thank you! It was yummy!
saw this on pinterest-how fun for you to be highlighted there! congrats!
giving this a try tonight-looking forward to a yummy dinner!
thanks for sharing š
I found this recipe on Pinterest last night and just made it for dinner tonight. It was so simple (for me, a non-cook) and delicious! Thank you for sharing it! š
I made this for Sunday brunch š It was soooooo good!!