This Instant Pot broccoli and cheese soup recipe has a ONE MINUTE cook time. It's an easy Instant Pot soup that's thick, creamy and healthy. Enjoy this gluten free and vegetarian soup for any meal!
The Best Instant Pot Broccoli and Cheese Soup
I’ve been on the Instant Pot train for a while now, and I won’t be getting off anytime soon. While the slow cooker is the “set it and forget it” miracle dinner maker in the kitchen, consider the IP as your “oops, I forgot it” meal helper when you need a hot meal fast. Soups made in the Instant Pot are one of my favorite things pretty much ever, but it also does well with shredded pork and hard boiled eggs. What I’m saying is, the options are truly limitless when it comes to the fast and low-maintenance power of IPs!
And this broccoli and cheese soup recipe? It’ll knock your socks off. It *may* just be my favorite soup I’ve made in the Instant Pot (and that’s saying a lot because I’m a big IP soup maker!). It comes out impeccably rich, thick, and creamy with the most perfectly cooked veggies and a delicious texture. I’d say the best part is that the cook time is literally only one minute. Yep, you read that right. This one-pot meal will be a huge hit with your family, and I can’t wait for you to try it out!
Can I use frozen broccoli instead?
Yep! You can use whatever you have on hand. Frozen and fresh will both work the same in this recipe, and no need to change the cooking time. Score! And sometimes I use the frozen broccoli and cauliflower mix and it works just great too. I don't chop up the frozen broccoli, but it seems to cook up just great.
Can I make this soup if I don’t have an Instant Pot?
I know not everyone has an Instant Pot (but y’all MUST add it to your wish list!), so this recipe can easily be made on the stovetop, too. Follow the recipe as directed, but instead of pressure cooking the veggies, just let them simmer in the broth until tender, about 20 minutes. Then, move on with adding the cornstarch, cream, and cheese as directed.
What can I pair with broccoli and cheese soup?
I love I love bread to for dipping into broccoli and cheese soup. I highly recommend serving this soup with fresh baguettes, sourdough bread, my mom's easy French bread recipe, or this easy no-knead crusty loaf. You can also serve a fresh salad on the side to add more color and veggies to the meal!
What is the best cheese for melting in soup?
This recipe specifically calls for cheddar. I like to use a nice sharp cheddar for this recipe but we love sharp cheeses. Sometimes I'll toss a variety of cheeses like cheddar, parmesan, and pepper jack cheese! You can use what you like or have on hand and feel free to use a variety of cheeses if that's what you have.
More soup recipes:
- Chicken Tortellini Soup
- Old Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings Soup
- Classic Minestrone Soup
- Instant Pot Potato Soup
- Hearty Lentil Soup Recipe
If you’ve tried this Instant Pot Broccoli and Cheese recipe or any other recipe on Bless this Mess, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some pictures of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories AND add your photo to your comment so that other can see your creation.
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The Best Instant Pot Broccoli and Cheese Soup
- Total Time: 40 min
- Yield: Serves 4-6 1x
Description
This Instant Pot broccoli and cheese soup recipe takes only ONE minute to make. It's an easy Instant Pot soup that's thick, creamy and healthy. Enjoy this gluten free and vegetarian soup for any meal!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup diced onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 4 cups vegetable broth (or chicken stock if not vegetarian)
- 4 cups bite-sized broccoli florets
- 1 cup matchstick or grated carrots
- ¼ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¼ cup corn starch
- ¼ cup cold water
- 2 cups cream or half-and-half
- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Select browning/saute to preheat the pressure cooker. Add the butter and onion and saute until the onion is tender, about 3 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in the chicken stock, broccoli, carrots, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
- Lock the lid in place, make sure the vent is set to seal, and select high pressure and 1 minute cook time.
- When the cooking time ends, use the quick pressure release. When the valve drops, remove the lid carefully.
- In a small bowl whisk together the corn starch and cold water until smooth.
- Set the pressure cook to saute/browning and slowly add the corn starch mixture to the pot. Stir constantly until the soup comes to a boil and thickens.
- Turn off the pressure cooker. Slowly stir in the cream or half-and-half.
- Add the cheese a handful at a time and stir until it melts.
- Adjust salt and pepper to taste and serve hot.
Notes
- You can use frozen broccoli in place of the fresh, no need to change the cooking time. Sometimes I used the mixed broccoli and cauliflower that's frozen and it works great too.
- Feel free to use whatever cheese you like or have on hand, I use extra sharp cheddar for this recipe.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 30 min
- Category: Soup
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Soup
Keywords: Instant pot soup recipe, Instant pot soup, easy soup recipe, vegetarian soup, gluten free soup, quick soup recipe
This recipe comes from a cookbook of a friend, Barbara, The Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook: 200 Fast and Foolproof Recipes for Every Brand of Electric Pressure Cooker is one you want on your shelf.
Complete this meal with these sides:
Check out these other yummy soup recipes:
- Simple Cream of Tomato Soup
- Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
- Instant Pot Loaded Baked Potato Soup
- Classic Ham and Bean Soup (Instant Pot or Slow Cooker recipe)
- Quick, Easy, and Healthy White Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Homemade Butternut Squash Soup
- Healthy 30 Minute Alphabet Soup
- Instant Pot Split Pea Soup
- Healthy Cauliflower Sausage and Kale Soup
- Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Soup
- Tortellini Vegetable Soup
- Healthy Slow Cooker Bean and Sausage Soup with Spinach
I know you are going to fall in love with this Instant Pot broccoli and cheese soup just as much as we have, and you’ll love how easy it is to make and how rich it tastes.
Kendra
This came out incredible! We didn't have red pepper flakes, but will add next time. This was my first time using the instant pot and it came out wonderfully!! Best broccoli cheese soup ever!! Thank you!
★★★★★
Melissa
Yay!! Good choice for your first IP experience, this is a good one for getting use to it! You'll be whipping up all kinds of things soon (I have a good mac and cheese recipe if you need a recipe for your next thing!). Thank you for leaving a review!
Shannon
I added 1/2 cup extra cheese. Make sure you shred your own cheese. It makes a huge difference. My 3 kids loved it and I just heated up a cup in the microwave this evening for dinner, it was just as good as it was last night! This is going to be a regular in my house! Yum!
★★★★★
Jessica
This was the easiest, quickest and one of the best soups I have ever made. Honestly every other recipe I looked up was so complicated. Thanks for the recipe.
★★★★★
Melissa
I'm so glad you liked it!
Christine Kendall
Can I transfer this to the crock pot to keep warm? Just because made too much to add ham in instapot. It would have over flowed.
Melissa
Yes! That would work great!
Abby Zeek
This is superb!!!!! Amazing!
★★★★★
Tina
Can i add Italian sausage to this recipe?
Melissa
Ohhh that would be really good! I would!
ruth
I only have sour cream in the house. Can I sub for the cream/half & half with sour cream? If so, how much
Melissa
I'd replace the half and half with more milk and add about a 1/2 cup of sour cream too!
Ziggy
Like Ruth I only have sour cream (no milk)
Laura L Norton
Loved the cheese broccoli soup. I actually tossed in a bag of frozen cauliflower, broccoli and carrots because that's what I had. Spectacular!! This is such a great recipe.
MomaJ
Sounds like a great recipe to make and send with my daughter to college. Will it freeze well? What would be the warming instructions?
Melissa
It does freeze well! Just thaw it overnight in the fridge and warm it up slowly on the stove. If you warm it up at too high of a temperature you might curdle the milk.
Dan
Thank you for this recipe, Melissa! To really make this recipe pop, I added 1/2 tsp of paprika, a 1/2 tsp of ground mustard powder, and 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper. I also very quickly ran the hand blender through the soup before Step 8 to chop some of the larger broccoli chunks into smaller pieces (but I still kept some tasty broccoli chunks!)
★★★★★
Melissa
Sounds wonderful, thank you for letting us know what worked for you!
Brenda Couchman
I’ve tried multiple recipes on Pinterest and this is the first one that didn’t come out watery. Followed the recipe to the T. Everyone loved it!
★★★★★
Melissa
Just wanted to be another addition to the rave reviews for this recipe. I love it! It doesn’t get better than easy and delicious.
★★★★★
Mike Taggart
I'm following this along and am a little confused how this takes 30 minutes to cook when I only see times that add up to 4.5 minutes through step 6. When going to the remaining steps my soup wouldn't be hot to melt the cheese since it wouldn't be hot enough through step 6. I guess I am missing something.
I will also state, this is my first time using my Instant Pot.
Mike
Mike Taggart
Well, I finished making it and I failed. It was cheesy water with some broccoli. I'm sure it's not the recipe with this being the first thing I made in my IP. Oh well.
Melissa
Weird! Tell me more, this recipe is solid, I make it all of the time. I'm happy to help you trouble shoot! Did you make the cornstarch slurry and add it at the end? That and the cheese are what thicken it!
Melissa
The cook time is 1 minute but it takes the pot time to come to pressure and release once it's gone through the cooking cycle.
Anthony P
Hi Mike the extra time is used by the insta pot to create the pressure inside the pot.i made the same conclusion when I first started too.
Carol Dorry
This includes the time to prep the vegetables, the time to saute the onions and garlic, the time it takes for the pot to come to pressure and the cook time. If your soup came out a cheesy water then you must of missed adding the corn starch water slurry at the end after the quick release. I have made this dozens of times and it is perfect every time.
★★★★★
Tricia
I used cayenne pepper instead of crush red pepper as it was too spicy the last time. I cooked on stove as directed. Very easy and delicious
★★★★★
Kaitlyn
This really was the best broccoli cheddar soup I've had! I didn't use the red pepper flakes because my girlfriend doesn't like anything even close to spicy (seriously she was tearing up eating mild wings one time lol) and I used light cream and chicken broth (instead of heavy cream or half and half and stock) because that's all I could find between two stores. It still turned out amazing! Thank you for one of my new favorite recipes 🙂
★★★★★
Melissa
Yay! Thank you for letting us know what worked for you!
Kristan Oakes
Soooooo good.
★★★★★
Danielle Grandinette
Can I add potatoes with the same cook time? And how much would you suggest I can add?
★★★★★
Melissa
Yes! I do small/bite-sized, like 1/2-3/4 inch pieces and cook it for 4 minutes! Make sure they are quiet small!
Tracy H.
First of all I love this recipe. The first couple times I made this it was the perfect consistency. Nice rich, and thick. However, for some reason I've not been able to get that consistency since. I make this a couple times a month. I found that I definitely have to use heavy cream for the richness I like. Half and half just wasn't the same. What am I doing wrong that my soup breaks down and becomes watery? I follow the recipe to a T except maybe a little more than a cup of cartots. Any suggestions welcome. Thanks!
Melissa
So odd, did you change from shredding your own cheese to using pre-shredded by chance?
Kyle R
Sounds like the milk solids are separating, did you make sure to turn the heat off before adding the cream and cheese? Sometimes boiling cream based after the dairy goes in can cause it to break.
Leanne
So delicious! Made it tonight! Used an immersion blender. Thank you!
★★★★★
LeAnn
What size instant pot is this recipe for?
Melissa
It will fit in a 6 or 8 quart.
LeAnn
Any ideas for a mini?
Melissa
Yes! You can add the onion/carrot/broccoli to the mini and then just add the broth up to the 2/3 line (don't go over that). Then you can just add the half and half when it comes out like directed and any extra broth that might fit. Now that I think about it, as long as you don't go over the 2/3 line it should be fine, then you can add the additional liquid as needed once it's done cooking. Does that make any sense?
LeAnn
Thank you so much! I tried it on Sunday with cutting the ingredients in half and it worked perfectly!