Years ago after I had an appendectomy, a sweet friend of mine brought homemade potato soup to my house for dinner while I was recovering. She was so kind to share the recipe, which included swiss cheese as a secret ingredient. Since then, I’ve been adding a little swiss cheese to potato and broccoli soup. It’s a subtle flavor, but I think it adds so much. Homemade Broccoli & Cheese Soup is one of my favorites, but when researching the nutritional information, most recipes I found were too high in carbs for my keto lifestyle. Upon further research, I found several recipes on Pinterest that were much more Keto friendly, so I started experimenting. I usually add an ingredient from one recipe, take away an ingredient from another recipe then tweak other ingredients to make a recipe of my own. I think this recipe for Keto Broccoli & Cheese Soup is the best I’ve ever tasted, and it was easy to whip up at lunch today.
Update: After hearing that some were having trouble getting the cheese to melt properly I have revised this recipe. Although it adds an extra step, it is foolproof in getting perfectly melted cheese
Keto Broccoli & Cheese Soup {low carb}
Ingredients
For the Soup
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 14 oz frozen broccoli florets or 4 cups fresh
- 3 cups cheddar cheese
- 3 slices Swiss cheese
- 1 oz cream cheese softened
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp parsley
- 1/2 tsp pink salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 3/4 tsp Xanthan Gum (thickens the soup)
For the Topping
- 3 pieces of bacon crumbled
- 1/2 cup shredded cheese
Instructions
- In a large saucepan add 3 cups of chicken broth and bring to a boil.
- Add broccoli and cook on medium/low for 6 minutes with the lid on the pot until broccoli is tender.
- While the broccoli is cooking, melt butter in a skillet and saute diced onions and garlic until onions are translucent.
- Add 1 cup of chicken broth, heavy whipping cream, cream cheese, spices, and salt/pepper to the onions and garlic in the skillet.
- Bring mixture in the skillet to a boil and whisk continuously. Once it starts boiling, add all of the cheeses, stirring with a whisk as it melts.
- Reduce heat to low and continue to simmer for 6 minutes then remove from heat.
- Add cheese mixture to saucepan with the broccoli and chicken broth.
- Summer on low for 5 minutes.
- Turn stove off and remove from heat.
- Optional: to thicken soup add 3/4 tsp of Xanthan Gum. Stir well with a whisk then allow to thicken for a few minutes before serving.
- Serve each bowl with shredded cheese and bacon on top.
Nutrition
For more Keto Recipes, check out my Keto Recipe Index.
Kim spies says
February 5, 2018 at 6:19 pmMade this tonight absolutely turned out perfect ! No problems with melting cheese either I added rotisserie chicken as well. So good! Thanks so much this ones a keeper!! Kim
Kasey says
February 28, 2018 at 10:40 pmSounds like a great idea to add rotisserie chicken. SO glad you enjoyed it!
Tiffany P says
February 6, 2018 at 1:59 pmMine came out great!! I thought of adding a few tablespoons of almond flour to the skillet and to the broccoli when they were both in the final stages prior to adding cheese.
No clumps
Great taste
Smooth broth
I did use sliced Gouda instead of the Swiss cheese and I cut chunks of sharp cheddar into the cream base and whisked about 8 pieces at a time worked very good!
Kasey says
February 24, 2018 at 2:02 pmFantastic! Thanks so much for the tips!
Belinda Williams says
March 1, 2018 at 9:27 pmUsed a cast iron skillet and had no trouble with my cheese clumping!! Loved the finished product.
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
Kasey says
March 4, 2018 at 9:31 pmAwesome! So glad you enjoyed it.
Nancy LeTard says
March 8, 2018 at 7:14 pmWe just made the soup, it’s better than any broccoli cheese soup I’ve ever had. Certainly better than I’ve had in a restaurant. I had no problem with clumping. I used kraft with Philly cheese!
Kasey says
March 15, 2018 at 10:32 amSo glad you loved! Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Betsy says
March 14, 2018 at 9:21 pmThis was fabulous!! Trick w the cheese is to heat the cream in a separate sauce pan, When hot, add cheeses while whisking til a creamy cheese sauce. No clumping, no need to add cheese uber slow, just sensibly so. Then, add to hot chicken stock mixture and whisk it in. Make sure cooked broccoli is hot as well before combining. Works great! Tastes so rich and yum and I substituted 1/2 the cream for 1/2 c chicken stock to reduce calories! I like the broccoli mashed a bit once cooked for this soup. Will be my got to for Broc/cheese soup! Thx
Shawntel says
April 14, 2018 at 6:33 pmIt’s the xantham gum making the soup glob up. How can we add the xantham gum so that it doesn’t do that?
Angel Gutierrez says
September 21, 2018 at 6:26 amI made this soup yesterday and it turned out so good. I don’t consider myself a great cook, at all, and I managed to pull this one off. Yay me! Reminds me of Panera Bread broccoli & cheese soup and I served a cup with a wedge salad (also low carb) and it was delish. Thanks for the recipe. I’ve passed it on.
Kasey says
October 1, 2018 at 10:31 pmFantastic I’m so glad it turned out for you and that you enjoyed it.
Kathrine Rickerd says
September 27, 2018 at 12:29 pmDelicious. I just made this. I added 1/4 cup red pepper and 1/4 pumpkin spice.
Kasey says
October 1, 2018 at 10:21 pmPerfect! Glad you enjoyed it.
Michelle says
October 10, 2018 at 11:26 amCan coconut flour be used as well for thickener
Kasey says
October 10, 2018 at 2:29 pmIn my experience so far it has not worked.
Kristen says
October 12, 2018 at 6:57 pmWow! This was amazing. I fell in love with your website last week when I made the pumpkin cream cheese muffins (OMG… so good!) so when I came across this recipe, I knew it would be good. I read the reviews and I was a little worried about getting a clumpy cheese ball, but as soon as my cheese sauce started to get thick, I would add about a cup of the hot broth that the broccoli was boiling in and it would thin right back out. The end product was so delicious. My kids loved it, and the picky one even got seconds. Thank you so much!
Kasey says
October 13, 2018 at 7:38 pmAwesome! I’m so glad you loved both of the recipes.
Cheryl says
October 21, 2018 at 11:20 amThis the most awesome soap I have LOVED!
Kasey says
October 30, 2018 at 11:44 amYay! I’m so glad you loved it.
Stephanie says
October 23, 2018 at 10:56 amTried this last night, and loved it!!!! I added ghee butter instead of regular butter. Is that ok?
Kasey says
October 28, 2018 at 5:22 pmAwesome. Sure! The great thing about recipes is that they can always be customized to your personal liking.
Martha says
November 12, 2018 at 7:31 pmI made this tonight. It was delicious. Husband approves. No problems on the cheese melting. I used a Enameled Cast Iron Pot on a low setting. I whisked and whisked till all the cheese melted. I used Glucomannan instead of Xantham Gum.
Kasey says
November 14, 2018 at 4:56 pmAwesome! I’m so glad you loved it.
Mary says
March 5, 2019 at 11:55 amIs this 391 calories per cup? Per 1/2 c? How do i figure out per serving size? I keep track of my food intake n having PER SERVING size would be most helpful
lynn Hector says
March 26, 2019 at 6:03 pmAwesome soup, thanks for sharing!!
Kasey says
March 30, 2019 at 12:34 amSo glad you enjoyed it!