What is better than having a bowl of hot soup on a cold rainy day? I really can’t think of much! A few weekends back, the weather was super cheesy so I decided to have a low-key weekend indoors and made a pot of soup!

This soup is actually my mom’s recipe. Its a great go-to soup because usually I have most of not all of the ingredients on hand (but if not, they aren’t very expensive to get) and the soup itself is very easy to make and comes together pretty quick. The only variation I have made to my mom’s recipe is that I add in a splash, albeit a heavy one, of cream to the soup. I think it makes it perfectly creamy without being too rich.

Broccoli Cheese Potato Soup

Ingredients

– 1 5-lb bag of white potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped- 1 large onion, diced
– 5 or so ribs of celery, diced
– 1 large bag of frozen broccoli (florets preferred)
– 1/2 stick of butter
– 2 boxes of low sodium chicken stock (can use vegetable as well)
– 2-3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
– skim milk (or whatever milk you have)
– 1/2 cup of light cream or half & half
– salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a large soup pot, combine onion and celery with the butter and cook until slightly soft and translucent. Add in the diced potatoes and season heavily with salt and pepper, cover with chicken broth and cook over medium-high heat.

When potatoes are almost cooked through, add in the frozen broccoli and cook until broccoli is soft and potatoes are done.

Reduce heat to medium-low and use a potato masher to mash broccoli and potatoes roughly.

Pour milk over smashed veggies until your desired consistency (more milk = thinner soup). Once milk is warm, add in the cheese and more salt and pepper to taste.

Use the potato masher to finish mashing the soup or use an immersion blender if you want a more smoother consistency.

Let soup heat through but do not scald the milk. Right before serving, splash in the cream.

Enjoy with a piece of crusty bread!

Much Love,
M