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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I wonder how it would turn out with out the flour due to allergies?
Dinner tonight and it smells delicious! I made some homemade breadsticks to go along with it. I can’t wait for dinner!! Thank you for this recipe.
Joanna, any chance you could ship me some homemade breadsticks??
Found this on Pinterest as well and thought it sounded yummy. Added some grilled chicken breasts cubed to add to the chicken pot pie taste and up the protein. Delish! An instant family favorite, one I am sure I will make often. Thanks so much!
I’ll have to try adding chicken sometime! I love anything that tastes like chicken pot pie! 😉
Beautiful pics of a delicious soup, that I make all Fall and Winter long.
Thanks Kari! I’m glad you like it so much!
Can you add vegetable broth instead of chicken broth?
Absolutely Katie!
Followed a link from Katrina’s blog at katyat42.typepad.com This looks delicious – can’t wait to try it!
Just made this & added some frozen sweet corn, half of a zuchinni & cooked 2 slices of bacon & crumbled on top. It was delicious! Even if I hadn’t added a few things I’m sure it would be awesome. I’ll be making this often!
I just worked out the calories, and wanted to share. I don’t count carbs, sodium or anything else, and this required a ton of math, so I just stuck with calories. Hope it is helpful to some!
A few notes on what I used:
chicken bullion (1tsp=10 cal)
2% milk
1.5 huge potatoes were used, as mine were turning green- not healthy! (384 grams of potatoes total)
medium cheddar regular, NOT 2%
Total calories in the pot: 1300
Total: 6 cups
1 cup = 217 calories
And yes, this is so good! The broth is a little thinner than I’d like but it is so full of delicious vegetables, I’ve made my lunches for the week! I have made many broccoli cheddar type soups, and they all turn out grainy from the cheese (as I refuse to try those with Velveeta!) This is so smooth, try it!
Aaaamazing. One of the best soups I’ve ever had, and I worked at a restaurant with great soups for 8 years! 😉
Roughly blended it for the kids and added corn and it was a hit!
We skipped the milk due to lactose intolerance and used colby jack instead of cheddar. Turned out like a stringy cheesy broccoli delicious soup. SO good!!!
Thank you so much for the delicious recipe! Very easy to follow and well worth the time it took to chop, saute and simmer, rather than using a crock pot. It tastes delcious and is very filling! Thanks! I may try adding bacon just for kicks.
I have read the raving reviews in the comments, but I needed to add my own….OMG!!! sooooo Delicious!!! I added fresh peas and green beans to mine and it is AWESOME! Definitely recommending to friends, especially other mommas!
As well as many others I found this recipe on Pinterest. I used all fresh ingredients, I opted out with the celery(i hate celery) and used fresh sliced mushrooms instead. This recipe is fab! I was very impressed! Also instant potato flakes works well to thicken this up if it needs to be. Impressed.
I will definitely be using this as a “jumping off” recipe. I’m always looking for clever ways to make veggies palatable-strangely enough, it’s me that hates them, and my kids that eat them like they’re going out of style-and this had a ton of bang for the buck. It was very good as is, but I want to try some of the other suggestions (the smoked sausage addition sounded wonderful!) and see if I can’t make it even better!
I found this on Pinterest and made it tonight for my family. My older daughter just had her wisdom teeth pulled yesterday so I tossed hers into the blender and pureed it for her. It was absolutely fantastic, both ways! Because we’re trying to eat a little healthier, I used skim milk and 2% fat cheddar. I also used 2 cups of bagged broccoli slaw for the chopped broccoli because Iwas pressed for time. What a wonderful recipe! I have dozens of versions of broccoli cheese soup recipes, and I think this one is in the top 3, if not the absolute best. Just wanted you to know how much we enjoyed it!
Found this on pinterest! DELISH! I added some parmigiana cheese to mine to give it a bit more of a zingy flavor 🙂
Made this for dinner last night and hubby did everything but lick the bowl! I followed the recipe exactly this time but I can see that this is one of those recipes that could handle lots of variations on the theme. Thanks so much for sharing- Its going to appear often on our menu.
Oh goodness!!….this looks yummy! Saw this on Pinterest, need to go look at more 🙂
Thanks for this!
Thanks, everybody, for your comments! I’m so glad you all like the soup. We just had it again last week, and it might have been the best batch ever!
WOW! I made this tonight for my husband and I to have for lunch tomorrow. SO easy and SO delicious. I love how every ingredient is fresh! Thanks for sharing. We LOVE IT!
Morganfrei–I’m so glad you loved it! I know a bunch of commenters have mentioned how much chopping there is, but come on, it isn’t THAT bad. And well worth it, IMO!
Just wanted to brighten your day with a compliment – Made this for my husband (who loves broccoli and cheese, so it was a sure win) – and he told me I could make it Every Day and he would eat it…now .. it’s broccoli,…and no one would be our friend if we did that;) But it is in a regular winter rotation now! Thank you!
M.e.–thank you! That does brighten my day! I’m always happy to hear when someone loves Cheesy Chowder as much as we do!
I got your recipe off of Pinterest and made it tonight 🙂 It was delicious! The whole family (Me, Hubby, 2-year-old Daughter and even my almost 1-year-old) loved it!!! The only thing I changed was, I didn’t add water, instead I increased the amount of milk (for creaminess) and added the flour to that, then added it to the soup. I also used a steam-bag frozen broccoli and added it at the end. Thanks for the yummy recipe!
So happy to hear that your little ones liked it! It is my 7 year-old’s favorite dinner, and has been for years!
Made this tonight – heaven in a bowl. Had to have two servings – greedy me! Had no celery, so added courgette (zucchini) and butternut squash instead of potato. Also used gluten-free flour. This will become a regular on the menu. Thank you for sharing.
This was wonderful and really hit the spot on a cold, snowy night. Thanks for the recipe!
I made this today. I did not add celery. I used 1/2 can of carrots and 1 can of potatoes, diced. I did use fresh broccolli and added probably 1/2 cup more of the cheese. Turned out awesome.
I added this to my March menu that will be posted in a free printable format with a hyperlink to you on 2/28/13. Thank you so much for helping me plan my menu!
i’m sorry if someone already asked this, but what is the serving size (1 cup)? thanks in advance!
Hi Liz! I’d say a serving size is more like 1 1/2 cups.
I see that this has been circulating on Pinterest for quite some time, as I just came across it yesterday. I have been trying to find a good broc cheddar soup recipe for awhile to no avail…until I found yours! Great recipe! I used Veggie stock and EVOO instead of butter. Plus made a little more rue to thicken it up. Loved it! Thanks!
I’m so glad you found my blog, and that you like the recipe! Enjoy!
How many servings does this make?
KateJ, I would say it serves 4. If you have 4 or fewer, you’ll have plenty. If you have 5 or more, definitely double it!