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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Just made it. Love it. So flavorful and colorful. Thanks for the recipe!
Found this on Pinterest and decided to make it tonight. It didn’t matter that it didn’t thicken as much as I would have liked. It was delicious! Don’t even have any leftover for lunch tomorrow! This recipe is definitely a keeper. Thank you!
Just made this tonight! Delicious! Thank You for a great recipe.
I did add some salt and pepper and some chicken to it…YUM!
Thanks for sharing your recipe. Made this tonight for dinner. Your instructions were easy to follow and of course the soup was delicious. I also pinned your Peach Buttermilk Cake. I’m excited to try that during peach season.
I have made this a few times now and plans to a Thousand more:) This recipe is makes veggies so delicious and gets everyone in my family to eat their veggies! Thank you for sharing! Jenn
I made this tonight and it was amazing!! I put it all in the crockpot and cooked it on low for about 7 hours. I cant wait to make this again!
I found your soup on Pinterest and gave it a try! The whole family enjoyed it. I added some salt, pepper and extra cheese for our personal taste. It was a hit. I would like to put a link to your site in a post on my blog saying I made the soup from your recipe and it was great if that is ok.
Thanks for the delicious recipe. I found it on Pinterest, and like it so much, I posted it on to my blog. My five year old told me, after eating the chowder, that he liked it more than macaroni and cheese – which is no easy feat!
For those of you who made this in the crockpot, did you sauté the veggies and do everything he recipe says (except cook it in the crockpot instead of the stove)? Details would be appreciated for a crockpot newbie such as myself:)
I just made this with turkey sausage and added a little salt and pepper…Yum! Even my kids enjoyed it!
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!!