Arizona Broccoli Cheese Soup

I love Broccoli Cheese Soup!  Unfortunately it’s not very Weight Watchers friendly so I needed to come up with a version that satisfies my craving while sticking to the WW plan.  I love how this soup turned out.  It’s decadent like a good, traditional Broccoli Cheese Soup but it has a few substitutions to make it healthier.  On the WW program, it is 3 points per 2 cup serving on Blue, Green and Purple plan.  I’m calling this recipe Arizona Broccoli Cheese Soup and I hope you enjoy it.

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One of the things I did to cut down on the points was to substitute Velveeta Shreds for the cheddar cheese.  The Velveeta Shreds is 32 points (on Blue) for 16 oz while cheddar cheese is 68 points for the same amount!

Another substitution I made was almond milk instead of heavy cream.  3 cups of heavy cream is 118 points!  3 cups of almond milk is 3 points.  I don’t like drinking almond milk because it’s too thick for my taste but it works beautifully in soups!

Choices:

As you will see in the photo, I often add a head of cauliflower to this soup.  To be honest though, when I do that it takes away from the dominant broccoli flavor and becomes more of a veggie cheese soup.  Both ways are delicious but just go with your own preference.  If you’re not a fan or just want a true broccoli cheese flavor, skip the cauliflower.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 8 cups Chicken Stock
• 5 crowns Broccoli (or 3 if you add a head of cauliflower)
• 1 Sweet Onion
• 2 cups Celery
• 1 cup Carrots
• 1.5 tbsp chicken bouillon granules
• 1/3 cup Flour
• 16 oz Velveeta Shreds
• 3 cups Plain Unsweetened Almond Milk
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Here’s how you’ll make it:

• Chop all your veggies into bite size pieces.  I personally prefer small bites but some people like larger chunks so do what works for you.  I usually buy a bag of the precut matchstix carrots and they can be pretty long so I chop them up into smaller lengths.
• In a dutch oven, or whatever pot you use for soups, add the chicken stock, bouillon, veggies and salt/pepper to taste.
  • I add bouillon because I later add water and that dilutes the chicken stock flavor
• Bring to a boil and cook down until the veggies are tender.  
• Add about 4 cups of water to the pot.
• Bring it back to a boil.
• Add your flour to a measuring cup and then add some stock from the pot.
• Stir together the flour and stock mixture until all the lumps are gone.
• Pour the mixture back into the pot and mix well.
• Simmer for about 20 minutes as the soup thickens.
• Add the almond milk and cheese.
• Simmer for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Enjoy!

I use a 6 qt and 8 qt dutch oven for all my soups and I love them!  I used the 6 qt for this recipe but should have used the 8 qt because it’s filled to the rim!  You can  spend a lot of money on a dutch oven but I didn’t.  I love the Le Creuset brand, don’t get me wrong.  But here’s one that is a good quality without the high price tag.  

I also can’t live without my veggie scooper.  It is so convenient to scoop up all your veggies from your cutting mat and throw them in your soup, salad, casserole, or whatever you’re making!  I have the Rachael Ray brand but there are many others…

Freeze it!

I like to make big batches of soup and then freeze portions of it.  My favorite way to do that is to put them into individual serving size containers before I freeze it.  These Ziploc containers are the best I’ve used.  I have a million of them!

I hope you enjoy this Arizona Broccoli Cheese Soup recipe.  Let me know what you think.

Happy tinkering,

Susan

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Arizona Broccoli Cheese Soup

Servings: 12 Servings

Ingredients

• 8 cups Chicken Stock
• 1.5 tbsp Chicken Bouillon Granules
• 5 crowns Broccoli (or 3 if you add a head of cauliflower)
• 1 Sweet Onion
• 2 cups Celery
• 1 cup Carrots
• 16 oz Velveeta Shreds
• 3 cups Unsweetened Plain Almond Milk
• 1/3 cup Flour
• Salt and Pepper

Instructions

1. Dice all the veggies into bite size pieces

2. Add chicken stock, bouillon, broccoli, onion, celery, and carrots to a stock pot

3. Add salt and pepper to taste

4. Bring to a boil and cook til tender

5. When veggies are cooked down and tender, add about 4 cups of water to the soup

6. Bring back to a boil.

7. Add the flour to a measuring cup, then pour in a few ladles of the soup broth

8. Mix the flour and broth together until lumps are gone

9. Pour the flour and broth mixture back into the soup and stir

10. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until soup begins to thicken

11. Add almond milk and cheese

12. Simmer for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally