Broccoli Cheddar Bacon Soup Recipe
Broccoli cheddar bacon soup has all the elements of classic comfort food: creamy cheese, flavorful bacon, and a wonderful, satisfying texture.
Broccoli Cheddar Soup PLUS Bacon and Butter? Yum!
Broccoli cheddar soup is an all-time favorite, but the addition of bacon and butter makes it so much better. And it is super easy to prepare in your Instant Pot. Don’t have one yet? This recipe can be easily prepared on the stovetop too.
If you want to do on the stovetop, just brown and saute your ingredients the same as in the Instant Pot and then place all ingredients in a soup kettle and simmer until done.
Gather all of your other ingredients except the cream cheese and cheddar cheese. They can stay refrigerated for now.
Prep Notes
Chop your broccoli into small, bite-size pieces. I prefer to use fresh broccoli, but frozen can be substituted if that’s all that’s available.
Next, chop the celery and onion into relatively small pieces. For the garlic, I generally use garlic that is available prepared in a jar. If you are using fresh garlic, you will also need to chop the equivalent of 2 tablespoons.
Chop your bacon into small pieces, about 1/4 – 1/2 inch. The quality of the bacon used in this recipe has a tremendous influence on the final flavor. When available, I try to purchase bacon ends from a local butcher shop. They have much more flavor than the typical grocery store strip bacon. At the very least, buy good quality bacon that has good taste. Consider the bacon seasoning and choose accordingly.
Cooking Your Soup
Set up your Instant Pot per manufacturer’s instructions. Turn it on to the sauté setting. Add your butter. As soon as the butter melts, add your bacon. Cook the bacon in the butter until the bacon is slightly crisp, stirring frequently. If you want to use a bit of the bacon for garnish on the finished dish, remove a tablespoon or two at this time and set aside.
Add the celery garlic and onions to the bacon and butter mixture. Stir and continue cooking until the celery and onions are slightly translucent.
Stir in the salt-and-pepper. Add the chicken broth and broccoli.
Set your Instant Pot on manual for a one minute cook time. Set your lid in place per your appliance instructions and start your machine. When your Instant Pot completes the cooking cycle, wait five minutes, then release pressure and open carefully.
Finishing Up Your Broccoli Cheddar Bacon Soup
After removing the lid, stir in the cream cheese. Then stir in the heavy cream.
Next, add the cheddar cheese in small batches of about 4 ounces each, stirring in after each addition until it melts.
For a pretty presentation on the table, you can garnish with a bit of shredded cheddar cheese, bacon bits, and a few pieces of broccoli crowns.
Enjoy!
Quick tips about one of the things that can be a bit finicky with melting cheese. Have you ever experienced curdled dairy products in your soups? Want to know how to avoid that?
- Use only full-fat dairy products which is what this recipe calls for
- Use only finely grated cheddar cheese
- Add your cheeses and cream ONLY when the other ingredients are below 175 degrees Fahrenheit
Broccoli Cheddar Bacon Soup
Equipment
- Instant Pot
- Knife
- collander
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- cutting board
- heat resistant spatula
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ½ pound bacon cut into smalll pieces
- 2 cups celery finely chopped
- 1¼ cup onion finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons garlic chopped
- 4 cups chicken broth or vegetable
- 1½ pound broccoli chopped into bite-size pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 pound cheddar cheese grated
Instructions
- Cut bacon into smalll pieces. Set aside a small portion to pan fry for garnish if desired.
- Cut up fresh broccoli, celery and onion Set aside a small portion of the broccoli to cook separately to use for garnish if desired.
- Chop garlic if using fresh
- Melt butter in Instant Pot set on saute
- Add bacon and cook until slightly crispy
- Add onion, celery and garlic. Continue cooking until slightly transparent, stirring frequently.
- Add chicken broth, broccoli, salt and pepper.
- Set Instant Pot to manual to cook for 1 minute.
- After Instant Pot is done cooking, let it sit for 5 minutes before releasing vent and carefully removing lid.
- Add cream cheese. Stir until well blended.
- Add heavy whipping cream and stir in.
- Add shredded cheddar cheese in about 4 batches, stirring after each until cheese is melted. Reserve a small amount to use as garnish if desired.
- If desired, garnish with additional bacon, shredded cheddar cheese and broccoli.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition label is calculated by automated third-party services. The nutritional information provided here is an estimate only, for informational purposes only, and can vary depending on the specific ingredients, preparation and accuracy of the third-party system used for calculations. It is always best practice to confirm the nutritional calculations, especially if nutritional information is critical to your diet plan.
