When it’s cold outside and you’re in the mood for hearty, starchy comfort food, make this broccoli, ham, and cheese soup. When I was unable to decide between making potato, ham, or broccoli-cheese soup one evening, I threw this dish together. A whole supper in a bowl was the outcome.
| Prep Time: | 25 mins |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 10 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, sliced
- 1 carrot, peeled and diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon ground thyme
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 large egg
- 4 cups milk
- 2 cups diced cooked ham
- 1 head broccoli, chopped
- 3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat butter in a large stockpot over medium heat. Cook and stir onion, celery, carrot, and garlic in hot butter until onion is translucent. Stir in potatoes, chicken stock, parsley, thyme, and cayenne pepper; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, mix together flour and egg in a bowl using a fork until mixture resembles grains of rice.
- Stir milk and ham into the stockpot; bring to a simmer. Slowly sprinkle flour-egg mixture into soup, stirring constantly to prevent clumps. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in broccoli and Cheddar cheese; cook until broccoli is tender and cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 569 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 53 g |
| Cholesterol | 115 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Protein | 31 g |
| Saturated Fat | 14 g |
| Sodium | 968 mg |
| Sugars | 12 g |
| Fat | 27 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This soup was very hearty, thick, rich and filling. I didn’t add any salt because of the ham and cheese, but did end up needing a little bit at the end. Followed the recipe as written and will definitely make again. I saw a couple reviewers that said they ended up with a ball of dough when making the baby dumplings….they overworked the flour/egg mixture. It’s not meant to come together completely. Leave it raggedy looking with a little flour still loose and your soup will be perfectly thickened.
As another reviewer said, “Trust the recipe”. Soooo good.
The consistency of the soup was terrible. The next day I had to puree it for it look appealing.
The prep time took a lot longer than I thought it would. Took me an hour and a half start to finish, and I was busy almost the whole time cutting stuff or cleaning up even while the soup was cooking. But it was tasty! I used cassava flour as i am gluten free and the dumplings didn’t form. Instead it just made a REALLY thick soup. It was tasty that way, though, so I didn’t miss the dumplings. I also doubled the cayenne and we still couldn’t really taste the spice.
So good! Left out broccoli, due to dietary restrictions and used gluten free flour it turned out fantastic.
This soup makes me happy! I was unsure about the dumplings, but another reviewer said to trust the recipe, and I’m glad I did. I followed it to a T, other than I held back on some of the cheese, as I want to pair it with grilled cheese sandwiches this cold, snowy week. I just finished eating 2 large bowls. Yum!
Excellent base recipe, though I did adjust a bit. Cut back a bit on the thyme because I like a more subtle taste. Save a cup of the broth and cooked/steamed broccoli in it. Used an immersion blender to puree and then added it to the cooked vegetables. Rather than making dumplings, I used the butter, flour, and a big pinch of nutmeg and lightly browned to a roux. Allowed the roux to cool down and then used the immersion blender to incorporate the milk into the roux. Used only about one cup of cheese to try to cut down on the fat in the soup. Soup was very thick, so I added a bit more water–maybe 1 cup. The hubby said “This is really good!” He is a man of few words so I think it’s a winner.
Just made this and it is delicious! This recipe is spot on for a cold wintry day! Other than decreasing the cheese some, (cause I had less) and using 1/2 can of evaporated milk and 1-1/2 C of 2 percent Milk and a pinch of nutmeg and dusting of cinnamon at the end.. I made this exactly as written. The dumplings were an added treat I really love the baby pieces, not too overwhelming, just right, light and easy! Thank you for the delicious recipe
Soup was amazing brought the soup to work for soup day took home an empty crockpot ??
This was a nice recipe. I tend to make some variation of a potato, broccoli, cheese soup quite frequently. It’s hardy and warm and it reheats nicely for several days. I omitted the ham as I served it as a “side”. It needed a bit more seasoning so I added 2 large tablespoons of a chicken bouillon paste and lots of fresh and dried garlic. This addition really helped. I made small “balls” out of the dumpling ingredients. Make sure to keep them small or they won’t cook up in time with the rest of the soup. I add the cheese to each individual bowl instead of to the whole pot. I will for sure make this again the family loved it.
I made it without the dumplings because lack of time, but the family loved it.
Loved it! Great soup/stew/chowder??? What ever you want to name it…it’s yummy! My husband and son also loved it. It’s not easy to find a dinner that we agree on. This was it. I will include this in my “soup rotation”. Thanks for posting
I made this recipe for dinner tonight and my family loved it! I followed the recipe exactly except I doubled the celery and carrots. I loved how thick it was and the tiny dumplings were so good. To me this is an elevated version of broccoli cheese soup and I will definitely make it again.
My husband and I really liked this soup. It was very hearty, but we weren’t able to notice the baby dumplings in the soup. I would put them in again just as a way to thicken up the soup.
Delicious!
Nice hearty soup, would make it again.
Easy and good! Loved by the whole family.. Will definetly make again! Only thing I did different was used two cups of cheese instead of 3 and added some hot peppers.
Loved it, real depth of good flavors. I made only half the amount but scaled everything exactly. Didn’t have any thyme but used everything else and added nothing. Because of dental work I pureed the vegetables after they were cooked then I added ham and ( thawed ) frozen broccoli to the blender. I put it back in the pan, added milk then melted the cheese in once the soup was hot enough. Really was exactly what I was looking for. Will make a whole batch next time and hopefully won’t have to puree it. Thanks!
I make a couple good soups after holidays. I had the ingredients, so I gave this a try. I agree, it is just ok. I will improve it with a block (1 lb, maybe more) of Velveeta. On the dumplings, yeah that can be a big clump disaster, even with a ricer. I ended up making 1/4 tsp dumplings. Love dumplings. For salt/pepper, using Montreal Steak seasoning. Guarantee this will become good. Thanks for the base recipe.
The noodle trick is a perfect thickener for this hearty soup, I will try it on other soups as well.
I was a little tired of my mom’s wonderful potato soup, so I thought I’d try this one. I won’t make it again. It tasted fine. But what it did to my pots! I have good, solid, stainless steel pots. That much work to get the pots clean completely outweighed the unimpressive flavor.