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.
Are you a soup fan like I am? CLICK HERE and search my soup recipe archives!
I made this for dinner and it was so good. Will be doubling the recipe next time so we can have leftovers!
Made it for the 2nd time last night. I added a farmer sausage to it, so yummy. This is deffinitly my new favorite soup.
I made this tonight and it was wonderful! Made a double batch and used a little whipping cream instead of milk because of its lower lactose content. Also skipped on the flour/water because my potatoes broke down and thickened it quite a bit. As everyone else has said, this will now be one of my to-to winter soups! Thank you!
I made this a few days ago and loved it. My son (age 4) gobbled it up and asked for more! I’m looking forward to the last of the leftover today for lunch. Thanks for posting this recipe!
Can’t wait to make this!!! We love soup & grilled cheese night and i think this week calls for veggie chowder!! Thank you!!
Visit my blog: http://www.welcometomontalvocountry.blogspot.com
just made this in the crockpot- i forgot to reduce the amount of liquid since it won’t cook down like it does on the stove; so mine was more brothy and less creamy š So if you want to use your crockpot i’d cut way down on liquid for cooking the potatoes, š
I have frozen this soup, and it was great the 2nd time around. Thanks for sharing, this recipe is a keeper in our house!
I just found this on pinterest and can’t wait to try it (too bad I don’t have all the ingredients in the house right now, cuz it made me hungry)! Read all the comments (everyone loved it!) but couldn’t find an outcome to the crock pot question. Did anyone let you know how it turned out? Did they post an adapted crockpot version?
http://www.kitschy-vintage.blogspot.com
Auntie–Someone somewhere said that because it doesn’t reduce at all, they would use less liquid in the first place when doing it in the crockpot. Sounds like a good plan, and you can always add more liquid at the end if it is too thick! Best of luck!!
I found you thru Pinterest, and it’s 11:48pm here, and I’m just about ready to make this right now!
Guess I should wait until morning… lol. =D
I found this through pinterest too. I made it for dinner tonight and it was AMAZING!!! Thanks for sharing the recipe. This will be a staple at our house. š
I just tasted this to see if I needed to add any seasoning. It is perfect. Thanks for a great recipe!I also found you through Pinterest.
I found this on pinterest a while back and just made this tonight, it is so good! It is going in my recipe box tonight!
I don’t see anything on how it turned out in the crockpot, if anyone has done it could you please post any changes you made and how long you cooked it please, it sounds awesome
I love this recipe found it on Pinterest also. I am making it today and have added smoked sausage also a few more veggies love the versatility of this recipe.
First, I love Pinterest because it leads me to yummy things like this. Second, I love my crockpot and am all for cooking anything and everything I can in it! So, how long did the crockpotters cook this? I saw the comment about it not reducing, so I will account for that. I was thinking like 4-5 hours on high or 7-8 on low? That is standard crockpot time…I think.
any idea on the nutritional information?
Delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I made it last night with artisan boule bread bowls! Perfect!
thank you for posting this! i love it! so yummy!
found your recipe on PINTEREST as well. Daughter & I cooked it last night. Doubled the batch. We enjoyed it immensely.
Making this tonight- sounds delish with some crusty french bread š Thanks for the recipe!
the cheese didn’t melt into the soup, it just became a big melted glob in the bottom of the pot…any ideas what I did wrong?
Nik–In all my years of making this, that has only happened to me once, and I have no idea why! My only two thoughts are to use cheese you shredded yourself–as opposed to the preshredded kind–and to stir it as soon as you add the cheese so that it doesn’t congregate on the bottom. Best of luck!
i made this for lunch SO FREAKING yummy! i used the per-shredded cheese with no clumping issues.. just fyi.
Thank you! This soup is heavenly. I added cayenne pepper and Oscar Meyer real bacon bits. very yummy.
What we ended up doing is you put the cheese yourself in your own bowl, so that you can control how much or less cheese you want. It was YUMMY! Perfect for a cold wintery day…
Pinned! Can’t wait to try it!
So good. I made it tonight. Only thing I wish I had was nutritional info. Mm, so yummy.
I’m making this for a second time tonight, the first time my husband loved it so much he actually bragged about it on his FB! Tomorrow morning he leaves for a 2 week training so I decided to make this again for his “last meal” before he is stuck in the field eating MRE’s for 2 weeks!
Thank you for this amazing addition to my recipe book š
Had this at a scrapbooking crop and was more interested in eating than working on my scrapbook. Seconds were in order. Just got done making it for dinner tonight along with homemade bread hot out of the bread machine !!! YUMMO