A Quick Puree Is Key To Thickening Up Your Broccoli Cheddar Soup

If you're craving broccoli cheddar soup, you likely want a bowl of something warm and comforting. While thin, brothy soups can be delicious options on cold days, nothing hits the spot like a thick, creamy bowl of broccoli cheddar. You'll already get plenty of creaminess in a classic version of this dish as recipes are typically packed full of milk and melting cheese, but to make your soup into an even heartier meal, try pureeing a portion of it.

Broccoli cheddar isn't the only type of soup to benefit from a little puree — this is a common method used to thicken up dishes with starchy elements, such as potato or bean-based soups. While broccoli isn't full of starch, many versions of this soup incorporate diced potatoes, so you'll get all the benefits of these pureed spuds along with the creaminess from the blended cream and grated cheese. But, what broccoli does have is cellulose, which breaks down into small fibers in the blender, which add to the heartier consistency. By processing only part of your soup, you're not entirely destroying the integrity of the dish. So, if you want spoonfuls with chunks of veggies, you can still get them amidst a decidedly thicker base.

There are a few different ways you can puree part of your broccoli cheddar soup depending on which device you want to use. Since you're not pureeing the whole pot, the easiest method may be to transfer the portion you want to pulverize into a full-size blender. Try to get as many potato chunks as possible in there so you can get all the creamy benefits of the starchy spuds. You'll want to do this step after you're almost completely done with the soup — after you've stirred in all the ingredients and allowed the soup to simmer. Once your spoonfuls are pureed, you can simply pour them back into the pot, stir, and allow everything to reheat together for a minute or two before serving.

You can also try using an immersion blender here, although you'll want to stop and assess the status of your soup frequently throughout. Avoid pulverizing your pot too much, as you may end up with an overly creamy dish (unless that's your goal). Once your soup has reached your desired level of thickness, all you have to do is stir everything together to evenly distribute the puree throughout, then you're ready to eat.