Broccoli Cheddar Soup | Easy Soup Recipe

Broccoli Cheddar Soup, a delicious, creamy & cheesy soup, perfect for cold winter nights. My love for soups started only after I started to travel outside India. Before that, I liked to taste only a few spoons of soups mainly because I didn't grow up having soup as a meal and also the soup that I had tasted in many Indian restaurants were simply the diluted version of curries.

Later, slowly i became a soup fan, all credits to panera bread restaurant which is my go to place for lunch/dinner whenever we're traveling.  This broccoli cheddar soup is my humble attempt to recreate the panera bread style soup with minimal ingredients. I won't say that this soup tastes exactly like a restaurant but it's simply delicious without any cream or fancy ingredients !  

Moreover, now , the weather here in Canada demands more soup for winter nights.  Like i said in my hot chocolate post, soups are also a perfect winter food. Having a bowl of hot soup gives such a cozy and warm feel. I can't image having soup as meal on hot days and that makes me wonder how easily weather influences our food habits and moods. 

Ok, enough with my rambling, let's move on to the recipe. Usually i make soups for nights and one day when i had shared this soup on my IG story, many requested to share the recipe. So last week, i prepared this for our lunch that way i can take some decent pictures and share the recipe here. Now , let's check out on how to make this creamy delicious broccoli cheddar soup.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Preparation Time : 1 hr | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Soup | Recipe Cuisine: International
Broccoli Cheddar Soup, Broccoli Soup, Easy Broccoli Soup, Panera bread style broccoli soup Broccoli Cheddar Soup, a delicious, creamy & cheesy soup, perfect for cold winter nights.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients

Broccoli Crown - 1 (medium size)

Celery stalk - 3 

Onion - 1/4 

Carrot - 1 

Garlic - 3 gloves 

Butter - 1 tbsp 

Olive oil - 1 tsp

All purpose flour - 1 & 1/2 tbsp

Vegetable stock - 2 cups

Milk - 2 cups

Cheddar Cheese - 3 tbsp

Chili flakes - 1/2 tsp

Italian Seasoning - 1 tsp 

Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Procedure

Cut the broccoli crown, celery stalk and onion into small pieces. Cut the carrot into thin slices and minced the garlic finely. Heat the oil & butter in a sauce pan, add garlic.

Saute till the garlic is fragrant and then add the onion,carrot & celery and give a good mix. 

Next add the broccoli and saute them all in butter-oil mixture. Then add the flour & mix it well. 

Next add the vegetable stock and milk.

Then add the salt, chili flakes and italian seasonings. 

Simmer for a while till the veggies are soft. Once the veggies are cooked, transfer half of them in a blender jar and grind into smooth puree(if you have a immersion blender, use it here) and then transfer back into sauce pan.

Finally add the cheddar cheese and pepper powder. Bring into a gentle boil and switch off the flame.

Tasty and flavorful Broccoli Cheddar soup is ready to serve. For more soup recipes, check out my soup collections

 

Notes:

• Add more or less of liquid as per your liking.
• For more creamy texture, reduce the milk quantity and add a little bit of cream.
• This soup thickens as it cooled down.
• Instead of soup, you can use water also.
• 

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Murungai keerai Soup | Drumstick leaves Soup | Soup Recipe.

Murunga keerai Soup, a delicious and healthy soup made from drumstick leaves. Drumstick leaves is the most nutritious part of the plant and it has significant amount of vitamin A,B,C,K, manganese and protein(Source:Wiki). 

Include them in our diet regularly aids great benefit to our health. Apart from making poriyal  or adding into adai, this soup is another delicious way of consuming them. 

Few months back,when i was in India, i got introduced to this soup by the neighbour at my MIL's place. It was so flavorful & delicious and trigger your appetite within 1/2 hr of having this soup, so keep the food ready before having this soup😉. 

Since our neighbour at MIL's place is having drumstick tree in their front yard whenever they harvest drumsticks or cutting off the out growing branches, they used to share the excess with near ones. And also they used to make this soup frequently and share with us a couple of times.

Ever since i had tasted this, i want to make on my own. Last week when we went for grocery shopping at Indian store, luckily i found fresh drumsticks leaves, without a second though bought two packs. 

Guess,What? The following day itself i made this soup with the taste and flavor that i had remembered. To my surprise, it turned out super delicious with subtle flavor. Next time, when i'm at MIL's place, hopefully will try to get their recipe and share here. 

As of now, let's checkout on how i have prepared the healthy murungai keerai soup. 

Murungai keerai Soup | Drumstick leaves Soup

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 15 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Soup | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Indian
Murungai Keerai soup, Drumstick leaves Soup, healthy soup, Murunga keerai Soup, a delicious and healthy soup made from drumstick leaves.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Drumstick leaves - 2 cups(tightly packed)
Pearl onion - 4
Garlic - 4 pods
Cumin seed - 1 tsp
Butter - 1 tsp
Salt & pepper - to taste.

Procedure

First remove the drumstick leaves from the stem, wash them well and put it in a pressure cooker along with pear onion,garlic &cumin seeds.

Add 1 cup of water and put the lid and whistle on the pressure cooker & cook it for 2 whistle and let the pressure releases automatically. Let it cool for a while.

Then add them in to the mixie/blender jar and puree them.Strain them and keep the extract ready.

In a sauce pan, melt the butter and add the drumstick leaves extract.

Season it with salt and butter, let it boil for 2-3 mins.

Tada, Healthy and tasty Drumstick leaves soup is ready.

Related: How to make Murungai Keerai Poriyal

Notes:

• This soup has mild bitter taste from the drumstick leaves.
• It tastes great when had it as hot/warm.
• Instead of butter, you can use sesame oil too.
• Adjust the consistency as you like.
  

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Home made Croutons from Baguette | How to make Croutons

Croutons, a small pieces of crunchy baked bread served along with soups.Whenever i had plan for making soup at home, i just grab a bag of croutons from the grocery shop, it adds nice texture to the soup. But the recently bought ones are not so good and found it super salty which i don't like it at all and haven't had a single piece of croutons. That's when i started searching for the recipe online and amazed how easily it can be made and customized at home. In today's recipe, i haven't used much spices or herbs in the croutons,just gone with simple garlic flavor. But you can add any dried herbs as per your liking.Now let's check out the recipe.

Home made Croutons from Baguette

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 10 mins | Makes : 2 Cups 
Recipe Category: Sides | Recipe Cuisine: General

Ingredients
Baguette bread - 1/2 loaf
Olive oil - 1 tbsp
Butter - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 1 pod
Salt & pepper - needed

Procedure

Preheat the oven at 350F.
In a bowl, add the oil and butter mix it well, then add the finely minced garlic, salt and pepper.Mix it all well together and keep it aside until use. Take 1/2 loaf of baguette bread , cut into thin slices first.Then cut them into bit size pieces, put them in the baking tray and pour the butter & oil mixture on top of it.Toss them well until all the pieces coated well with oil and butter mixture. Place it in the oven and bake it for 10 mins, in between take the tray out once and flip all the bread pieces and put it back in the oven. Tada, Home made Croutons are ready.

Notes:

• If you like little more brown on top of the croutons, keep it in the oven for few more mins.
• Make sure to flip the bread pieces once in between while baking.
• Here i have used a pinch of salt only, since i found that the salt in the bread is enough, but feel free to add more as per your liking.
• Stale bread works better for making croutons.
• Instead of whole garlic, garlic powder can also be used.
  

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Broccoli Soup | Creamy Broccoli Soup | Soup Recipe

Broccoli Soup, a healthy and creamy soup made from broccoli. For this week blogging marathon,i have chosen the theme as "One Vegetable in three ways". The one vegetable that i'm picking for this theme is "Broccoli", starting today, i'm going to post three simple and healthy broccoli recipe. 

I got introduced to broccoli only after we came to US for the second time, a few years back. When we were in US for the first time, i was skeptical about trying out any new vegetables and greens, so always ended up in buying the known vegetables from Indian grocery store. 

So  when we're here now for the second time, I would like to set aside my hesitance of trying out new things and give a try on all the veggies available in the market at least once. Out of many vegetables that i have tried so far, these broccoli is one among few that we liked it from the day one !! 

Now a days, at least i pick couple of broccoli florets on our weekend vegetable purchase. Coming to today's recipe, it's one of my favorite soup. The first time i had this soup from panera bread restaurant and instantly love it so much. 

Creamy soup with mild flavor is what i want in my soup and this soup is so apt to my taste. Later I have tried few recipes and finally liked the one recipe that i have shared here today. There is no cream in this soup still it tastes so creamy and delicious !!!! 

Broccoli Soup

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Soup | Recipe Cuisine: General
Broccoli Soup, Broccoli Soup, Easy Broccoli Soup, Panera bread style broccoli soup Broccoli Soup, a delicious, creamy & cheesy soup, perfect for cold winter nights.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Broccoli - 1 floret(small)
Milk - 1 cup
Butter - 1 tsp
Flour - 2 tsp
Water - 1 cup
Olive oil - 1 tsp
Bay leaf -1 
Garlic - 2(roughly chopped)
Pepper powder - to taste
Salt - to taste 

Procedure

Cut the broccoli into the small florets, wash it in running water and drain it completely.

Heat the sauce pan with olive oil, add the bay leaf, saute it in the oil for 30 secs, then add the garlic saute till it becomes fragrant.

Then add the broccoli ,saute it in the oil for 2 mins, add water and bring into boil. Cover the pan with lid and let the broccoli cook fully.

Switch off the flame and let the broccoli cool. Discard the bay leaf and put it in the blender jar and blend into smooth puree.

Heat the sauce pan with butter, let the butter melts and then add the flour and mix it well with the butter and let it cook for 2 min in low flame.

Add the broccoli puree and milk. mix it well together. Add enough salt. 

Let the soup comes to boil, switch off the flame. Add the pepper powder,mix it well.

Broccoli soup is ready to serve .

Related: How to make Broccoli Paratha

Notes:

• Add more or less of milk and water as per the consistency you want.
• Cook the broccoli till it becomes soft.
• For more richness, reduce the amount of milk and you can add cream
  

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Tomato Soup | Thakkali Soup | Soup Recipe

Tomato Soup, a quick and easy to make soup with tomatoes. Though we don't have the habit of having soup at our home regularly, once in a while, i prepare this tomato soup along with some sandwich or panini.

Yep, that is a combination inspired from panera bread combo menu. As temperature is dropping here now, these combination is our absolute favorite to have it as dinner or as lunch on those cool days.

 
Here in the soup recipe, i haven't use any cream at all and make it as very lighter as per our liking. But if you like rich tomato soup, instead of maida mixture, you can use heavy cream, that will make it as more like restaurant soup.

Tomato Soup

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Soup | Recipe Cuisine: General
Creamy Tomato Soup, Tomato Soup, Easy Tomato Soup Tomato Soup, a quick and easy to make soup with tomatoes, perfect for cold winter nights.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Tomato - 4
Garlic - 2
Butter - 1 tbsp
Bay leaf - 1
Maida/All purpose flour - 2 tsp
Milk - 2 tbsp
Beetroot - 1 inch small piece
Pepper powder - to taste
Salt - to taste
Italian seasoning - to taste(optional)

Procedure

Wash and take the tomato, cut a cross on both sides of the tomatoes. Heat a pressure cooker with butter.

Add the garlic and bay leaves ,saute till aromatic. Then add the tomatoes and saute in butter for 1 min.

Then add enough water and small pieces of beetroot(forget to take pic of that),cover the pressure cooker with lid  and cook it for 3 whistle.

Let it cool a bit, then remove the skin of the tomatoes & bay leaf and put it in the blender and grind into smooth paste.

Transfer the tomato puree into the pan along with the leftover cooked water from the tomatoes(if needed add more water at this stage),mix it well. Put it on flame and then add required salt.

Let it bring to boil, in the mean time, mix the maida with milk without any lumps and add into the soup and mix well.

Add pepper powder to taste, mix well. Let it simmer for few more mins and switch off the flame.

That's it, Soothing Tomato Soup is ready. Sprinkle some italian seasoning on top while serving.

Related: How to make Panini Sandwich

Notes:

• Beetroot gives bright color to the soup.
• Maida helps to thicken the soup, so add more or less of maida depends on the thickness you want.
  

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