Panera Copycat Broccoli Cheddar Instant Pot Soup

Do you ever get that intense desire for a bowl of creamy, warm broccoli cheddar soup? The kind that instantly soothes and comforts you? We certainly do. But imagine being able to satisfy that craving at home, creating a version even more delicious than the café classic, and in less time than it takes to order a delivery. With our recipe for Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup, you’ll have a new favourite comfort food on standby.

This recipe is more than just a soup; it’s a brilliant solution for hectic evenings and relaxed weekends alike. We’ve tapped into the power of the pressure cooker to craft a soup with a depth of flavour that suggests hours of slow simmering, yet it’s ready in under 30 minutes. Say goodbye to underwhelming, thin soups. Ours is brimming with fresh broccoli, tangy cheddar, and a velvety base that is utterly divine. This is the definitive Panera Copycat recipe, giving you full command over the quality of your ingredients for a result that’s both tastier and more wholesome. Let’s begin creating this wonderful meal together.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Remarkably Quick: The Instant Pot works its magic, cooking the vegetables to tender perfection in a matter of minutes under pressure. It’s the ideal choice for when dinner needs to be on the table fast.
• Effortless One-Pot Meal: Everything, from sautéing the aromatics to melting the cheese, is done in the single Instant Pot liner. This translates to minimal washing-up and a wonderfully straightforward cooking process.
• Deeply Flavourful and Creamy: We’ve carefully balanced the sharp cheddar, rich cream, and savoury stock to achieve a soup that is both profoundly flavourful and wonderfully smooth.
• Superior to Restaurant Versions: Crafting this Copycat Recipe at home allows you to use premium ingredients, tailor the seasoning perfectly to your taste, and skip the unnecessary sodium and preservatives found in many commercial soups.
• Easily Adaptable: This recipe serves as an excellent foundation. Feel free to add extra vegetables, incorporate some protein, or tweak the spice level to truly make it your own.

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tbsp plain flour
• 500ml chicken or vegetable stock
• 250ml single cream or whole milk
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 500g broccoli, cut into small florets
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and grated or finely diced
• 250g mature cheddar cheese, freshly grated
• 125ml double (heavy) cream, for finishing

Essential Equipment for Success

For this soup, your most important piece of kit is naturally a 6-quart (or larger) Instant Pot, or a similar electric pressure cooker. In addition, we suggest gathering a few other items to ensure the process is as seamless as possible:

• A dependable chopping board and a sharp knife: For preparing your onion, garlic, and broccoli.
• A box grater: This is absolutely essential! Grating cheese from a block is the secret to achieving a flawlessly smooth, non-grainy soup.
• An immersion blender (optional but highly recommended): If you lean towards a silkier soup, an immersion blender lets you partially or completely blend it right inside the pot.
• A wooden spoon or silicone spatula: Ideal for sautéing and ensuring you can scrape up all those tasty, browned bits from the bottom of the liner.

Step-by-Step Instructions: Making Your Instant Pot Soup

We have organised this simple Soup Recipe into a series of straightforward steps. Just follow along, and a perfect bowl of soup will be yours in no time at all.

1. Sauté the Aromatics: Set your Instant Pot to ‘Sauté’ on the normal heat setting. Once it indicates it’s hot, add the butter. As soon as it melts, stir in the chopped onion and cook for 3–4 minutes until softened and translucent. Next, add the minced garlic and continue to cook for one more minute until it’s aromatic, stirring frequently to prevent it from catching.
2. Create the Thickening Base (Roux): Sprinkle the plain flour over the softened onions and garlic. Stir this mixture constantly for around a minute to cook away the raw flour flavour. This simple action forms a roux, which is key to giving our soup its lovely, thick body.
3. Deglaze and Add Liquids: Switch off the ‘Sauté’ function. Carefully pour in the chicken or vegetable stock, stirring as you go. Use your spoon to lift any browned morsels from the bottom of the pot—this process, known as deglazing, adds a fantastic depth of flavour! Whisk in the single cream, Dijon mustard, and smoked paprika. Season well with salt and pepper.
4. Add the Veggies and Pressure Cook: Tip the grated carrots and broccoli florets into the pot and give it all a thorough stir. Lock the lid in place, check that the steam release valve is in the ‘Sealing’ position, and choose the ‘Pressure Cook’ (or ‘Manual’) function. Set the timer for 2 minutes on high pressure. That’s all it takes for the vegetables to become perfectly tender!
5. Release the Pressure: When the cooking time is up, perform a quick pressure release by carefully turning the steam valve to the ‘Venting’ position. Stay clear of the escaping steam. Once the float valve drops, the lid is safe to open.
6. Make it Cheesy and Creamy: Stir the soup. For a smoother consistency, you can use an immersion blender to pulse the soup a few times, while still leaving some chunks for texture. Turn the ‘Sauté’ function back on to its low setting. Gradually add the freshly grated cheddar, one handful at a time, stirring until it has melted completely into the soup. It’s crucial not to let the soup boil, as this can make the cheese split. To finish, stir in the double cream for an extra touch of luxury. Taste and add more seasoning if you feel it needs it.

Tips for the Perfect Creamy Texture

Nailing that iconic silky-smooth consistency is what makes a truly exceptional Broccoli Cheddar Soup. Here are our essential tips to ensure you get it right every time:

• Grate Your Own Cheese: We cannot emphasise this enough. Pre-grated cheese is coated with starches to stop it from clumping in the packet. These coatings will interfere with the melting process, leaving you with a grainy or stringy soup. As the culinary experts at The Kitchn point out, a humble box grater is indispensable for cheeses destined for melting.
• Add Cheese Off the Heat: Intense heat is the adversary of a good cheese sauce. It can cause the proteins to seize up and expel fat, a phenomenon known as ‘breaking’. To prevent this, make sure you add the grated cheese after the pressure cooking is finished, with the heat set to low or switched off entirely.
• Don’t Over-Cook the Broccoli: A 2-minute cook time under pressure is just right for achieving tender broccoli that retains a slight bite and a lovely vibrant green hue. Any longer, and you risk ending up with mushy, dull-coloured florets.

What to Serve with Your Soup

While this soup is wonderfully satisfying on its own, the right accompaniment can turn it into an even more memorable meal. We adore dipping a thick slice of crusty sourdough bread into the rich, cheesy broth, or serving it inside a hollowed-out bread bowl for an authentic café-style treat. A simple green salad tossed in a light vinaigrette also offers a lovely, fresh contrast. For a more substantial dinner, why not pair it with a light protein? A side of simple Bruschetta Chicken provides a fresh and flavourful complement that isn’t overly filling.

Variations and Add-Ins

One of the greatest features of this Instant Pot Soup is its wonderful adaptability. Here are a handful of our preferred ways to change things up:

• Add Some Heat: For a bit of a kick, introduce a pinch of cayenne pepper, a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, or a dash of your preferred hot sauce along with the other seasonings.
• Boost the Protein: For a heartier meal, stir in some cooked and shredded chicken. Our easy Baked Ranch Chicken is ideal for shredding into soups. Crispy bacon lardons or pancetta sprinkled over the top are also delicious additions.
• Mix Up the Veggies: Try swapping half the broccoli for cauliflower to create a delightful broccoli-cauliflower cheddar soup. You could also add finely chopped celery at the same time as the onions for an extra layer of flavour.
• Make it Lighter: If you wish to lower the calorie count, you can replace the double cream with more single cream or whole milk. Just keep in mind that the resulting soup will be slightly less rich.

FAQ

A Bowl of Comfort, Ready in Minutes

And there you have it—a straightforward, delicious, and practically foolproof recipe for the ultimate homemade broccoli cheddar soup. By harnessing the power of the Instant Pot, we’ve transformed a timeless comfort food into a dish that’s perfectly suited for even the most hectic of schedules. This rich, cheesy, and deeply satisfying soup is the perfect testament to the fact that you don’t need to spend hours at the stove to create a meal that tastes phenomenal and warms you right through.

So, why wait any longer? It’s time to set aside the takeaway menu and discover the delight of a homemade classic. Dust off your Instant Pot and prepare to create a bowl of pure, unadulterated comfort. We would be thrilled to hear how your Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup turns out! Please leave us a comment and a rating below to let us know what you think. #InstantPotSoup #BroccoliCheddarSoup #SoupRecipe

Recipe Card

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 20 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tbsp plain flour
• 500ml chicken or vegetable stock
• 250ml single cream or whole milk
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 500g broccoli, cut into small florets
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and grated or finely diced
• 250g mature cheddar cheese, freshly grated
• 125ml double (heavy) cream, for finishing

Instructions

1. Set the Instant Pot to ‘Sauté’. Melt the butter, then add the onion and cook for 3-4 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute until fragrant.
2. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir constantly for 1 minute to form a roux.
3. Turn off ‘Sauté’. Pour in the stock, scraping the bottom of the pot. Whisk in the single cream, Dijon mustard, paprika, salt, and pepper.
4. Stir in the broccoli florets and grated carrots. Secure the lid, set the valve to ‘Sealing’, and ‘Pressure Cook’ on high for 2 minutes.
5. Once finished, perform a quick pressure release. Carefully open the lid once the float valve drops.
6. For a smoother soup, use an immersion blender to pulse a few times. Set the Instant Pot to ‘Sauté’ on low. Gradually stir in the grated cheddar until fully melted. Do not let the soup boil.
7. Stir in the double cream to finish. Taste, adjust seasoning if needed, and serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 661, Carbs: 26 g, Protein: 24 g, Fat: 52 g