Panera’s broccoli cheddar soup is a favorite of so many of us. This creamy, broccoli cheddar soup is perfect for a hearty lunch. This is easy to make—just take frozen broccoli, fresh carrots, and two types of cheese to make this soup. You can purchase bread bowls from the grocery store—then you will have broccoli cheese soup just like at Panera Bread.
About Panera Bread Restaruant
Panera Bread is a bakery-café chain of casual restaurants in the United States and Canada. There are currently more than 1,900 Panera Bread bakery-cafés offering soups, pasta, sandwiches, salads, bakery items, and specialty drinks. The name Panera is a Spanish word that means bread basket or bread box. To find out all the things you may not know about Panera Bread, click here.
Panera’s Homemade Soups
Panera Bread is especially known for their delicious homemade-tasting soups which change daily. Their soups use only high-quality ingredients and you can even have your soup served up in a fat, round, crunchy bread bowl.
Panera Bread Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Panera’s Broccoli Cheddar soup is a favorite with lots of us and my recipe copycats the fresh ingredients and flavors of this popular dish. There are fresh carrots and onions in here, but for the broccoli, you can use fresh or frozen if you wish. Frozen is often more convenient because it’s already chopped up. Whichever way you go, you’ll end up with a rich, creamy soup that’s perfect for a hearty lunch and warming the soul.
What to Serve With Your Soup
I love to serve this style of soup with popovers or fresh yeast rolls with butter. Or, with a thick soup like this one, you can serve it in bread bowls just like Panera does. You can buy bread bowls from some stores.
How to reheat your soup
If you have leftover soup and need to reheat it, just add a little milk because it may have thickened in your refrigerator.
A Perfect Family Soup
Panera broccoli cheese soup is so easy to duplicate, you can put it together in no time. Try this recipe—it tastes just like it does in the restaurant.
More Panera Bread Recipes
If you enjoy Panera Bread recipes, you can find more, including soups, by clicking on the links below.
Panera Bread Honey Walnut Cream Cheese Spread
French Onion Bistro Soup
Baked Potato Soup
Panera Bread Copycat Recipes
Panera Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Panera Broccoli Cheddar Soup can be made at home in no time at all.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup chopped white onions
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 16 ounces chopped broccoli frozen
- 16 ounces American cheese Velveeta
- 29 ounces low-sodium chicken broth 2 cats
- 1 cup carrots Julianne cut, or shredded
- 8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
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In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the flour and onions. Cook for about a minute, then slowly add the half-and-half, about 1/4 cup at a time, whisking until thickened and smooth. When all of the half-and-half is incorporated, add the broccoli and processed cheese.
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When the cheese is completely melted, add the chicken broth 1 cup at a time, stirring occasionally, until soup is well mixed and has a consistent texture. Add the carrots and simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir in the cheddar cheese and cook for 10 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve when all the cheese is fully melted and blended through.
Is there a version that can be made in the slow cooker?
I have not created one yet, I am cautious about this because I don’t want the broccoli to over cook.
Which directions are correct…the video or written? They are a bit different. Also, you add more butter in the video but don’t say how much. I’m confused!
Please follow the written directions.
This was my first time on your site. I made the soup tonight. It turned out better than I thought. It was very delicious to me. I’ll get my husbands opinion, also. I love broccoli and cheese soup and I had some at work this week. So it was still on my mind. I used regular chicken broth. Thank you.
Hi, I am hoping that you can tell me that this recipe would work using vegetable broth instead of the chicken broth? I am a vegetarian, but have found sometimes vegetable broth gives things a funny taste. Your thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you. Donna
I made this soup today and it was delicious. I did substitute one cup of cheese whiz for the processed cheese (it is what was available) but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. Thank you so much!
I hope you enjoyed it!
Do you thaw the frozen broccoli first?
I tried using frozen broccoli but when I opened the bag it was mostly chopped stalk and hardly no florets so I think next time I’ll try fresh broccoli…
OMG! This is so good! Thank you!!!!
I am glad you like the recipe!
First time on this site, first time making this soup. I made it to the T and it came out awesome! Will be on this site often for more things to try for sure!
I am glad you enjoyed the soup.
This soup is soooo good!!! LOVE IT 😍
Wow. I’ve been meaning to make this for a couple of years and finally just got around to it. I literally just finished the first bowl. This is BETTER than Panera. The only thing I did different was add a second head of broccoli to bulk it up a bit more.
The decision to add the extra broc came just when the soup was ready. I turned off the heat on the soup and boiled the broccoli. The soup thickened up a lot during that 15-20 minutes it sat. Added the broccoli and we were good to go.
I also was going to add some potatoes because I always wondered how the Panera soup would be with them. I boiled a few Russets just for this, but I overcooked them a little and adding them directly in the soup to cook would’ve completely decimated them. So I sliced them and kept them on the side to toss into the bowl before I added the soup. It’s a nice addition.
For anyone else, don’t forget to salt and pepper after the cheddar is melted. I tasted it before I salted and it was, meh. A couple shakes of salt and it was perfect. I don’t like salt, so I try to use as little as possible. This was probably a couple pinches worth, if that.
Thank you for letting me know how your soup went. I always recommend adding salt while cooking. I bet it was tasty with a few potatoes thrown in.
Cannot say thank you enough…so good! I used only a cup of cheddar cheese and it was perfect!
Fantastic recipient !!! Made a few times now, making it for company tomorrow.
I use veggie chicken flavor broth, use more mild cheddar and not use the processed cheese. I also sauté the onions and butter first, then add the flour and make the roux. Then let it just barely simmer for a while.
Meat and veggie family and friend all think this recipe is out of this world ! THEY sa the same thing about your Panera’s baked potato soup too !
Thanx for the great recipes 🙂
HI,
While your recipes sound amazing and look even better…I’m diabetic and have Chronic Kidney Disease (among other issues). I notice that you don’t put any nutrients on your recipes. I read things all the way through before I make anything and I think I may have to leave your site because of this.
I’m sorry to leave so soon but I think these would be just too much for me.
But….keep up the good work because they all sound wonderful.
Thank you for your note. I am sorry at this time I do not provide any nutritional information. I haven’t found an easy solution to hand code this isn’t the recipes. I have been looking for a solution. At this time I have been unable to work this out.
I did the nutrition
528 calories
36.4 grams of fat
2.9 grams of fiber
10.9 grams of sugar
I am a cook. Doing recipe make overs for years. Perfected the Jack Daniels Sauce from Friday’s. Desserts are great to makeover. Never use a recipe. Just look at theirs and add in my own creations and most of the time they come out great.
any chance you post the Jack Daniels Sauce copy cat recipe?
Hi- I can’t find the actual Recipe with the measurements for the ingredients.
I am sorry the recipe had a glitch, it is back now.
OMG, I just made & it is delish!!!!! I followed the recipe except I sauteed the onion in the butter first, than added the flour. I also used fresh broccoli because that was all I had. I simmered that in 1 can of broth, then added to the roux mix. Then I finished the way recipe said. I can’t wait to serve to family tonight!!! Fix a loaf of garlic bread with it & I’m good to go! Stephanie, thanks for sharing this fab recipe!!! I have never had Panera’s soup, but if it tastes this good, no wonder it’s such a hit!!
I am looking forward to making this soup! I love the Panera version. I have made several of your copykat recipes and love them! I’m glad you are out there posting these recipes! Thank you!
I liked your video and you have a great attitude. I bet the soup is delicious.
Thank you very much Robert!
Made this recipe last week and put it in bread bowls for my family of six.. they loved it i have been made promise to make it this week too. Easy to follow direction. Thanks for a wonderful recipe can’t wait to try the other ones. Glad I found your site.
I am glad to hear everyone enjoyed the soup you made. It makes all of the difference when you know you made a great meal.
I don’t like large chunks of broccoli in my soup. Your picture seems to have smaller pieces. If I wanted to purée down the soup should I do it at the end or sometime during the cooking process? Thanks.
You could always chop it a little more. I don’t know that I would puree it, that could turn the whole soup green.
Going to make this for 25 people do I just 4x everything in this recipe? Marilyn
I would do that, I would also most likely do it in two double batches so the cooking times would vary less.
Can I freeze the soup? It made too much, but is very tasty.
I’m looking for Panera’s Autumn Squash Soup recipe… Any ideas?
This is a great recipe thanks for the post!
Thank you Fern, I hope you give the recipe a try. Do you have other flavors of soup you like from Panera?
Thank you Holly, this recipe is pretty perfect !!!
My pregnant self was craving Panera soup at midnight lol. I found this recipe and I think it’s better then Panera. It’s very easy to make and way nicer to the wallet. Far better then sending my hubby on constant trips out for soup : P
I have to say, I normally am really skeptical about copy cat recipes of restaurants because they usually dont taste the same. I just made this today and it is pretty darn close to the restaurant. So close that I won’t be paying for Panera’s anymore! Thank you for this recipe!!!! It was delicious!!!!
Thank you. I try very hard to get recipes as close as I can. I am glad you enjoyed this one.
Thank you Stephanie! This was a great recipe!! I was even better the next day! The only changes I made was to use only 1 can of chicken broth and use milk instead of half-and-half. Great recipe, and very simple to make! =)
I am glad the soup turned out well for you. Let me know if you have other requests in the future.
Mine isn’t turning out thick or creamy
You may want to prepare the soup on a lower temperature.
My husband didn’t care for this. Was too thick and gritty…may have had the heat on too high….either way too rich for my liking.
You can always add a little milk to make the soup less thick.
In the recipe, it calls for 1 pound of velveeta. But in the video, you used a larger size. How much do we use?
I used 1 pound, I held up the big box because I thought it would look nicer than holding up a chunk of Velveeta.
You use the 1 pound, I buy it in the 2 pound box. I think it saves you a few pennies. You can always wrap up the cheese and save the remaining amount for another time.
I’ve been searching for a good Broccoli Cheese soup for a while then Panera opened up close to us. Tried their soup and LOVED it but it’s quite pricey. I was so happy to get this recipe. I made it last night and it’s crazy good!!!! It’s very easy to make and is delicious. My hubby had 3 bowls and said he thought it was better than Panera.
Many thanks to Copykat for the recipe!! 🙂
Thanks Holly 😉 I am so glad you enjoyed the soup, and now you can save a little cash!
panera bread’s verson doest hae chunks of onions in it
Hi, I went on holiday to the USA, the soup was great. Just wondering, we don’t have velveete in our country (or any other American cheese, I am Dutch… there must be some right cheese for the soup here?)
I would use a cheese that has a cheddar flavor and melts very well. Cheddar doesn’t melt as well as “american” cheese.
So I just made this soup for the first time and it was AWESOME!!!! I have a gluten allergy so I am not able to eat Panera Soups anymore. I made it and substituted it with GF all purpose flour and it was soup just as I remembered it. I can’t wait to try some more soups just as I remember them. Thank you so much for putting this together.
I do believe that Panera’s broccoli cheese has gluten in it, but they do have a few gluten-free kinds available. My mom is a celiac and I know because of her that they have a gluten-free menu available. Check it out…
I made this last night. It was FANTASTIC!!!!!!
The first time when she says to put in cheese, don’t put in all the cheese! I was shocked when the next step was to add the cheddar. It’s still cooking now, and I hope it still turns out good!!
The first time when she says to put in cheese, don’t put in all the cheese! I was shocked when the next step was to add the cheddar. It’s still cooking now, and I hope it still turns out good!!
How much for one serving?
Made half the recipe just to see if I liked them. I didn’t like it …I LOVED IT! Simple recipe and quick.
Thanks for the recipe.
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe. I am always very happy to hear a recipe turned out well for someone! I hope you try other recipes.
I am so glad to hear that this soup recipe turned out well for you. There is something about a delicious soup and how it makes you feel inside.
I buy this soup all the time to go by the pint, or whatever that size is. It is my all time favorite soup. I will try this recipie. Num
I buy this soup all the time to go by the pint, or whatever that size is. It is my all time favorite soup. I will try this recipie. Num
I buy this soup all the time to go by the pint, or whatever that size is. It is my all time favorite soup. I will try this recipie. Num
You may want to add some beef broth to it as well, thats how Panera makes theirs (with both chicken and beef).
thanks for the thumbs up, plan on makiing this tonight
So I can chicken and one can beef??
You could do it that way.
EXTRAORDINARY! The longer you simmer… the more velvety it becomes. AMAZING!
I am glad you enjoyed the soup!
Love, love your site. Keep it up.
has anyone made this recipe as of yet. I am dying to make it but would love to hear your opinions on taste.
Yes, and it is spot on. Great taste and texture.
Yes, and it is spot on. Great taste and texture.
Very good recipe! I don’t know what it tastes like at Panera’s but when I lived in Puerto Rico I had it all the time when I went to Chili’s. Well, here in the US Chili’s doesn’t serve them. I made it today and garnished with some chopped onions, tomatoes, cilantro and extra shredded sheddar. Yummy!
Very good recipe! I don’t know what it tastes like at Panera’s but when I lived in Puerto Rico I had it all the time when I went to Chili’s. Well, here in the US Chili’s doesn’t serve them. I made it today and garnished with some chopped onions, tomatoes, cilantro and extra shredded sheddar. Yummy!
I love a little fresh cilantro and just about anything!
Instead of onion, I’ve been using chopped leek and the flavor & aroma are a home run! Love your recipe…
I love this site! Thank you so much for all you do!
What type of onion?
I used yellow, I imagine a white onion would work well too.
panera bread’s ersion doesnt have chunks of onion