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Healthy Broccoli Cheddar Soup is low calorie and made in 30 minutes with minimal ingredients. A great vegetarian soup that's also gluten free and can easily be made dairy free. Gluten Free + Low Calorie
Who doesn't love a delicious bowl of hot, soup on a 110 degree day? Me! A friend from Puerto Rico told me once that eating hot food on a hot day will make you feel cooler. I've never experienced this but hey, I keep trying to see if it will happen. One can always hope!
There's nothing better in my opinion than a bowl of yummy Broccoli Cheddar Soup to go with a salad or sandwich. It's a great way to eat your veggies especially if you're a picky veggie eater! This is something I work on with my one-on-one clients.
Healthy Broccoli Cheddar Soup
This Broccoli Cheddar Soup is not only made with healthy, nutrient dense ingredients but it's also made with less fat making it lower calorie. It has incredible flavor and comes together effortlessly in 30 minutes!
A great soup to meal prep ahead of time and freeze for a day when you don't have time to prep your veggies. You know those days will happen when you just run out of time or don't feel like prepping a bunch of veggies. That's when having low calorie soup recipes stashed in your freezer will really save you!
What You Need
- Broccoli
- Leeks
- Garlic
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Vegetable Broth
- Low Moisture Cheddar Cheese
- Salt, Pepper, Red Pepper Flakes
How to Make Broccoli Cheddar Soup Lighter
While Broccoli Cheddar Soup seems like a healthy choice on the surface, you do need to caution the ones you get at restaurants and even healthier restaurants like Panera are not the best choice for fat loss.
They use a lot of oil (and unhealthy, inflammatory oils like canola), salt as well as a ton of cheese and it's likely not low moisture cheese. This adds up to a lot of extra calories!
This soup uses healthy extra virgin olive oil and reduces the portion of cheddar cheese to reduce the calories while still making the soup delicious and yummy!
This Broccoli Cheddar Soup is a wonderful addition to your weight loss diet, however, I do recommend adding protein as a side when you enjoy your soup. A chicken breast, turkey cutlet, pork chop, shrimp, fish or whatever lean protein you enjoy would make this a well-rounded weight loss meal!
Healthy Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Ingredients
- 4 cups broccoli florets
- 1 cup leeks thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons garlic minced
- 3 1/2 cups vegetable broth no sodium added
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/3 cup low moisture cheddar cheese shredded, or sub nutrition yeast for dairy free
Instructions
- Add 2 cups of water to a large pot and bring to a boil. Add the broccoli florets. Steam the broccoli in the boiling water 4-5 minutes then drain and return the pot on the stove.
- Reduce the heat to medium then add the leeks, garlic and olive oil. Stir together and cook 3-4 minutes until the leeks are tender.
- To the pot, add the broccoli, vegetable broth, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Stir and simmer covered 5-7 minutes.
- Using an immersion blender, blend the broccoli into the broth. If you do not have an immersion blender, turn off the heat and cool the soup for 10 minutes then blend in a blender or food processor and return it to the pot and heat 10 minutes on medium heat before proceeding.
- Stir the cheese into the soup and taste to adjust the seasonings as needed.
- Serve or store in the refrigerator up to 7 days. Store in the freezer up to 60 days.
Notes
- You can easily add your favorite protein to increase the macronutrients in this soup!
Nutrition
What I Used For The Recipe
Absolutely delicious! I've made this several times and shared it with my neighbors. They are pleasantly surprised when I tell them it is low calorie and no cream!
Hi Megan,
Where is the sugar from and the carbs?
I can’t have any sugar or carbs with fat.
Can u advise.
Thx
Lucy
Sugar and carbs are coming from the broccoli and cheese.
Going to make this but where’s all the sodium coming from
Sodium is coming from all the ingredients. Broccoli naturally has sodium, black pepper has sodium, red pepper flakes has sodium, cheese has some sodium and the low sodium broth has some sodium too. The salt is the most dense in this recipe so if you are concerned about sodium then that is the area to reduce.