Even children who don’t care for broccoli will eat Broccoli Cheese Soup. It’s a soup that can be freshly made from nutritious ingredients in less than an hour. Children love helping to pull the broccoli apart. It’s a good time to teach them how to peel potatoes. This is a nice first recipe to teach a child. It’s easy enough for an elementary student to make. A word of caution is appropriate here. Children need to be very careful around boiling water. They should be supervised.

If you have any left over, it can be easily frozen. I doubt if there will be leftover soup, but sometimes I make a double recipe so that I can freeze some.

Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

6 cups of water
2 teaspoons of salt
6 cups of broccoli florets (Fresh or frozen can be used. This is about 1 head of fresh broccoli.)
4 cups of peeled and chopped potatoes (any type)
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of minced dried onions or ½ cup freshly chopped onion
1/8 cup dried parsley
½ teaspoon of pepper-black or white
½ teaspoon of balsamic vinegar (optional)
1 ½ -2 cups grated cheese (Sharp cheddar gives the cheesiest taste. I use what I have in the refrigerator. It is an excellent way to get rid of the odds and ends of the leftover grated cheeses. I even use cheese slices.)
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese (Dried parmesan is fine.)
12 ounce can of evaporated condensed milk

Method:

In a heavy Dutch oven, add the water, salt, broccoli, potatoes, butter, onions, and parsley. Heat the vegetables over high heat, covered, until the water comes to a boil. Turn the heat down and cook over medium heat until the vegetables are soft. This takes 20-30 minutes. A fork should easily pierce the vegetables. Turn the heat off, and use a potato masher to mash the broccoli and potatoes. Add the balsamic vinegar and pepper. The mixture does not need to be smooth, but the chunks left in the mixture should be small. Add the cheeses and stir until the cheese is incorporated. Add the can of evaporated milk and stir. The soup is ready!

Pairs well with:

*Ham Salad Sandwich
*Rotisserie Chicken Sandwiches
*Roast Beef Saucy Sandwich

While a novice cook can make this soup, it doesn’t taste like it is an easy soup to make. This fresh soup tastes like it was a lot of hard work. Here’s a soup that is perfect for those times when you have a lot of people to feed or you need to take a soup to a potluck dinner. Broccoli Cheese Soup keeps well in a crock-pot on a buffet line. Ham salad sandwiches are fantastic with this soup. Finish the meal with a fresh fruit salad. Good eating!