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 am making this right now! I work full time and it is taking a little longer than I anticipated to make. Next time I will chop all veggies the night before to accommendate for the time. aven’t tasted it yet but it sure smells good.
If you’re crunched for time, you can try using frozen, chopped broccoli and pre-shredded carrots. Those are two easy shortcuts that might help it go faster!
Over Pinterest I found this recipe and saved it on my board. Today I made this recipe and it was just soooooo good! The family loved it! I also used just one stalk of celery as you did as I am not a celery fan and it was excellent just like that. The only thing I did differently was that I substituted chicken broth with vegetable broth, as I am vegetarian. It still tasted fabulous! It took a while cutting the all veggies but that was no problem as I always make everything fresh and am used to that. Thank you for this delicious recipe and I am keeping it now as a family favorite for future reference.
This would go great as a side with my meatloaf, My daughter and I would have this as a meal but My husband wouldn’t be satisfied so I would make a small meatloaf.
Looks really good! I think you could add bacon or chopped ham for some meat! My husband thinks there always needs to be meat in a meal!
Looks good but why do people insist on ruining what could be a perfectly good vegetarian recipe with chicken stock?!?
Several commenters have mentioned that they used vegetable stock in place of the chicken stock and had good results!
Made this tonight! I added double the celery, cauliflower and broccoli. Also half a package of cubed ham. We all loved it!
Can you hear my stomach growling? Great time to read blogs like this is just before lunch. Yum! I’ll be making this very soon.
I made this soup for lunch…completely forgot to add the cheese and it was still DELICIOUS! I snuck a bowl for myself and am giving the rest to a couple who just got home from the hospital with the first baby š Will make this again for the family…a lot!
Made this tonight after seeing it on Pinterest multiple times. SO GOOD. I used Olive Oil instead of butter, frozen vegetables (everything from the onions to the broccoli-only the garlic and potatoes were not frozen) and fat free chicken broth. Then I used a mix of white and orange cheddar and I didn’t really thicken it or add milk. My husband and I loved it. We ate it with crusty bread. The broth was broth, not goo, and I like that! Still with the cheesy taste. Well done.
Have a ton of cut up veggies leftover from Super Bowl Sunday. Can’t wait to try this out tomorrow!!!
We made this last night and it was SOOO yummy! Definitely a keeper!
Made this today for lunch!! Yum yum!!! Thank you and thanks pinterest! I added cauliflower because we had some left over in the kitchen, and I pureed it in the blender..my husband probably wouldn’t eaten it if he saw all the veggies š Delicious!!
I just made this in the crockpot but I reserved the cheese and milk for the end. I’ve often read you need to reserve it, but wonder if that info’s correct. Do any of you cook all the way through with the milk?
This recipe was great, btw š We’ll be having it a lot around here.
I just made this awesome recipe! I subbed the chicken broth for vegetable stock. Didn’t add onions or celery, but added an extra potato and a tiny bit more cheese. Absolutely perfect. Still flavorful. No salt or pepper needed.
Absolutely Amazing!!!!! I made this for dinner last night and my husband and young daughters loved every bite of it! Next time I will definitely double the recipe, so there is more for a second bowl/leftovers. This soup reminds me of soup you would get from Panera Bread…..it was exceptional! This one is definitely a keeper!!! Thank you so much for sharing š
I’m so glad your family liked it as much as mine does!
This recipe is just so delicious! I have made this twice already and because I am vegetarian, I simply substituted vegetable broth for the chicken broth and it still has such wonderful flavor! The whole family loved it!
I made this yesterday in the crock-pot and it worked perfectly! Thanks for the recipe!
Did you reduce the liquid making it in the crock pot? By how much?
And how long did you cook it please?
thanks
Andrea
Hi Andrea. I haven’t ever made it in the crockpot, so I don’t have an answer! It seems that a lot of comments have said they’re going to try it, but not too many have posted results. One commenter said it was too liquidy. Maybe don’t add all of the chicken broth? You can always add more at the end if it was too thick, right?! Good luck, and sorry I couldn’t help more.
Making this in the crock pot today. Will let you know how it goes! š
Just made this recipe tonight and it was DELIGHTFUL! My husband and I both loved it and it’s surprisingly very filling! I only did one stalk of Celery because my husband and I aren’t big fans of it, but you couldn’t even notice it much the cheesy goodness covered it all =) Thank you so much for sharing!!
This is wonderful!! Made it for dinner tonight and it’s gone š
This is an awesome recipe! J
Just a note – I see a lot of crock pot users but not a lot of results or specifics on what people tried. I sautéed the carrots, celery, onions and garlic then threw everything else in the crockpot. It did NOT work. At all. The veggies tasted great, but the cheese clumped up and the flour clumped up.
If i were to try with the crockpot again, i would cook the sautéed veggies in the pot with the broth and raw potatoes on low for 5 hours, then add the broccoli until its soft….probably no more than 30 mins…. Once the broccoli is soft, add a rue (milk and flour mixture you’ll need to cook on the stovetop. I’d says bout 1/2 cup should work for this recipe, so 1/4C milk and 1/4c flour) and then melt the cheese with a bit if milk in a different pot then mix that melted cheese n with the rue. Once you’ve got that, stir the cheesy rue into the vegetable mixture in the crockpot and serve pretty much right after.
That being said, it almost Seems like more work to make this in the crockpot based in my experience and knowledge… And I use the crock pot for EVERYTHING!!
Thanks for all of the crock pot tips! I’ll have to try it one of these days so I can have answers when people ask!
making right now and smells delish and double the recipe! I am going to plan on freezing the leftovers and see how it turns out!! should only make it thicker if anything after reheated due to the potatoes you think?? I had some leftover chicken shredded that needed to be used up so I added it too! should be good for a cold evening w/ some bread!!thanks
Hi! I haven’t tried freezing it, but we always have some left over and it is even better reheated!
I know what chicken broth is but what is broth made with chicken soup?
Hi Deborah. The chicken soup base is called Better Than Bullion. It comes in a jar right by the bullion cubes, and it is a thick, super concentrated chicken bullion paste. It makes a really nicely flavored chicken broth.
This sounded so good and it smelt good as I was cooking it. I followed the ingredients to the t on here, however I put it in the crockpot, cooked on low for 3 hours, then added the shredded cheese, cooked another 3 hours on low. Everything was done(the potatoes and broccoli were soft), but it wasn’t creamy and the cheese didn’t melt well. Not sure if the crockpot is the way to do this one.
Hi Jen. I’m so sorry it didn’t turn out for you! I still haven’t made it in the crockpot, so I can’t tell you the best way to do that. Maybe just stir the cheese in at the very end, let it melt, then serve?
Could you add rice to this recipe?
That’s sounds like it would be delicious!
Would add more stock since rice absorbs liquid? Or what would be the best way to do it? Thanks!!
If I were trying it, I would just cook the rice separately and toss it in at the end. However, if you want it to be a one-pot kind of thing, yeah, I guess I’d add enough extra stock to make the right ratio with however much rice you add (2 cups liquid to 1 cup rice). And maybe add the rice 15 minutes before you expect the chowder to be finished, maybe at the same time as the potatoes. Sounds like some experimentation is in order!
OK, so I tried adding cooked rice right at the very end. And while it was a tasty addition, the rice kind of got lost in the soup and I didn’t even notice it. Maybe rice instead of potatoes but not in addition to??
Thank you for the ideas and help!!
Oh my word, thank you so much for this recipe! I made it last night and even my two and four year old children loved it! What a great way to get kids to eat a ton of veggies in one serving š
So glad it was a big hit with your family!
CROCKPOT!
I made this is the crock pot a couple days ago. sorry for the delay on posting my comment.
I put everything except the cheese and milk in the crock pot and let it cook on low for about 5 or so hours. Then I added in the cheese but left out the milk because it was so runny. Aftere another hour the cheese was just making big gooey chunks. I tried to blend some of it but that gave it a weird texture. I will try to make this again using less liquid and putting the cheese in at the begining. I hope this helps all of you crock pot users out there!
Made this in the crock pot. Used onion flakes instead of onion because of a picky eater in our house. Cooked everything except the milk and cheese for about 5 hours. Added cheddar cheese and some left over Parmesan cheese I had in the fridge. Also, I used corn starch instead of flour to keep it gluten free. Excellent!
making this now for a church carry-in lunch tomorrow! Looks and smells delicious! Hope it’s a hit! Thanks. š
I just made this and it is AMAZING! I love how a few simple ingredients mixed together can turn into something so tasteful. It was a hit with the whole family. Thank you
I ended up needing to thicken the soup a bit more and also added black pepper and extra garlic! Thanks for a great recipie.
How did you thicken it? Thanks!
Delicious! Just what I’m craving right now!
I also saw this on pinterest. Since I had everything and needed to use up some chicken stock and other veggies, it was perfect. Wasn’t sure since there are few spices, but we LOVED it. Yummy comfort food – even better the next day. Very rich – hard to believe there is only 2 TBS of butter and 1 of flour. And I only had 1 cup of cheese – still great. Thanks Lulu!
I love this. I’m making it for the third time- and you really can add a lot of different veggies to mix it up- whatever needs to be used up. Now that I’m in to vegetable juicing, I always have leftover veggies that need to be eaten up quick. Thank you so much!
Great recipe and also a great picture. Wonderful to have all ready when everyone show up at different times for dinner after baseball, cheer and meetings. I love soup all year round! I will be adding it to my recipe file!
We love soup too. And this really is a great one; it reheats even better!!
Followed your recipe plus some extra salary, and it was delicious!
Have made this a couple of times already and it’s one of my favorite recipes ever. my kids will even eat it with the broccoli. thanks!
It seems to be a hit with picky eaters everywhere, mine included!
This soup sounds so good. I’m going to make this soon š
It sounds wonderful! How many calories per cup???
Sorry, I have no idea what the nutritional breakdown is for the recipe. If I figure it out, or if someone else leaves a comment with the calories per serving, I’ll make sure to post it.
Made this tonight. It was good, although if I make it again I’ll probably try to make a thicker soup. It was just like a creamy broth, as opposed to a chowder. It was good though.
Oh YUM. I bought the ingredients yesterday…definitely going to make this today or tomorrow! I have kale that needs to be used…pretty sure I’m going to add that to it! Yay for cheesy goodness with lots of fiber!
One of the best things about this recipe is that you can throw in whatever veggies you want!
I just made this and it is soooo good!!! Thanks!
I used half and half instead of milk (just because I had some that needed to be used)… It’s really alot easier than I thought. Chopping took the most time!
This is so good! I love broccoli cheddar soup but it’s so fattening. This turns the volume up on the vegetables and still has that amazing cheddar flavor. I baked homemade yogurt honey buns to go with it. Mm!
Homemade yogurt honey buns sound delicious!
I rarely (and by that I mean never) comment on recipes I find online. This was fantastic, even with cutting down the cheese (to about 1 cup or so) to reduce the fat š
I have never known how to cook before and after joining Pinterest I was really inspired by recipes (obviously one of them being yours). I decided to try this recipe because I love soup and I’m picky with my veggies. This turned out delicious and I’m so proud of myself haha. Thank you so much for inspiring young and old cooks everywhere!
I loved this recipe! I used Havarti cheese instead, and it was still just as delicious! Thank you so much for this recipe that I know will now be in my family forever! š
how many does it serve?
I would say it serves 4.
Could you use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth
I’ve never used vegetable broth, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t be delicious!
I must have done something wrong. Mine wasn’t very good, and not very thick. š
I’m so sorry it didn’t turn out for you! The first time my mom made it, it turned out very weird. I was like, “I swear it’s a good recipe. Please don’t judge me based on this!”
The first time I made it I also had troubles with it being bland and watery. I’ve made it about 6 times now and I finally feel like I’ve got it figured out. I add 4 potatoes instead of 2, 2 Tbsp of flour instead of 1, and a cup of chopped mushrooms in place of the single celery stalk. You need a good, flavorful cheese. I use an Italian blend – romano, mozzarella, parmesan, fontina, asiago, and provolone. I still add a little salt and pepper before eating, but it’s a thick and hearty soup with a good flavor.
if u use 2 cream of chickens or even cream of celery and 1 broth it is nice and thick. i also added “bacon bacon” by tastefully simple
Mine was bland and watery the first time I made it as well, but I knew there was potential and after making it several times, I feel like I’ve adapted it well. I think the key is to add more veggies and flour. I use 1 heaping cup of carrots, 2 stalks of celery, 1/2-1 cup of mushrooms, 1/2 cup of onions and 4 large potatoes. I upped the flour to 2 Tbsp instead of one and I add in salt and pepper for flavoring. I also use a good, flavorful cheese. My favorite so far has been an Italian blend of mozzarella, provolone, parmesan, asiago, fontina, and romano cheeses. The end result is a thick, creamy flavorful soup.