Broccoli cheddar soup with chicken

Bacon first, cheese last, and the chicken breast poaches right in the broth. One pot.

6 bowls · about 50 minutes

A bowl of creamy broccoli cheddar soup topped with bacon, cheddar and parsley, with two slices of toast.

What goes in the pot

Serves 6

The soup

To finish

Before the pot gets hot

  1. Shred the cheese and let it sit out. Room-temperature cheese melts smoother.
  2. Chop the bacon, dice the onion, mince the garlic, shred the carrots, cut the broccoli.
  3. Pat the chicken breasts dry. If one is much thicker, pound the thick end a little so they cook evenly.

Want it thicker? Not in the video, but 3 tbsp flour stirred into the butter and onion in step 2 makes it spoon-coating thick and keeps the cheese from splitting.

Cook it

The clip plays the part of the video for the step you are reading. Timers keep running while you scroll.

  1. 1

    Crisp the bacon

    Put the chopped bacon in a large cold pot, then turn the heat to medium. Stir now and then for 7 to 8 minutes, until it's deep brown and crisp.

    Lift it out with a slotted spoon onto a plate. Leave about 2 tablespoons of fat in the pot and pour off the rest.

    Why cold: starting cold renders the fat out slowly, so the bacon crisps instead of burning.

  2. 2

    Butter, onion, garlic

    Drop the butter into the same pot. When it melts, add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes, scraping up the brown bits, until soft and golden at the edges. Add the garlic for the last minute.

    Optional: sprinkle in 3 tbsp flour now and stir for 1 minute for a thicker soup.

  3. 3

    Carrots and broccoli

    Add the shredded carrot and the broccoli florets. Stir for 2 minutes so everything is coated in the butter and bacon fat.

  4. 4

    Broth, then the raw chicken

    Pour in the broth. Nestle the whole chicken breasts into it so they're covered. Bring it to a boil, put the lid on, and turn it down to a gentle simmer for 15 to 18 minutes.

    The chicken is done at 74 °C (165 °F) in the thickest part, or when it's white all the way through.

    Shortcut: the video uses already-cooked shredded chicken. With a rotisserie chicken, simmer only 8 minutes for the broccoli and add 3 cups of shredded meat in step 5.

  5. 5

    Shred the chicken

    Lift the breasts onto a board, leave the lid on the pot, and pull the meat apart with two forks. Put it all back in the pot.

  6. 6

    Cream and seasoning

    Turn the heat down to low. Stir in the cream, the paprika, the garlic powder, ½ tsp salt and a few turns of pepper. Warm it for 2 minutes.

    Keep it under a boil from here on. Boiling cream and cheese is what makes this soup grainy.

  7. 7

    Melt in the cheddar

    Add the cheese one handful at a time, stirring until each handful melts before adding the next. Hold back a little for the top.

  8. 8

    Bacon back in, let it thicken

    Stir most of the bacon back in and save a spoonful for serving. Leave it on low for 5 minutes, stirring now and then. It thickens as it sits.

    Taste and add salt if it needs it. The bacon and cheese are already salty, so taste first.

  9. 9

    Ladle and top

    Ladle into bowls. Top with the extra cheddar, the saved bacon and parsley, and tuck in a couple of slices of toast.

Parsley being sprinkled over a finished bowl of soup topped with bacon and cheddar.

At the table

The toast

Slice a baguette on the diagonal, brush with butter or olive oil, and bake at 200 °C (400 °F) for 6 to 8 minutes. Or toast the slices in a dry pan while the soup thickens.

Leftovers

  • Keeps 4 days in the fridge in a closed container.
  • It sets thick overnight. Reheat on low with a splash of broth or milk, stirring. Don't boil it.
  • Freezing works, but cream and cheese can turn a little grainy when thawed.

If it went grainy

The heat was too high when the cheese went in. Take it off the heat and stir in a splash of cold cream. It won't fully fix it, but it helps.