Keto Broccoli Cheddar, What Could Be Better?
Broccoli cheddar soup has always been one of our favorite dishes at Panera. It’s offered at countless restaurants but Panera just does it right. When we first started keto, we assumed broccoli cheddar soups everywhere were safe- what could be wrong with broccoli and cheddar together? Unfortunately, that delicious, creamy consistency is usually caused in part by flour or starch. Many soups are thickened with flour or starch to achieve that smooth, thick consistency. Clam chowder is another great offender!
Fortunately, we’ve got xanthan gum to save the day! Xanthan gum is a thickener used in many low carb/keto recipes. It’s a polysaccaride produced by the bacteria Xanthomonas Camestris. The bacteria is placed in a dish with sugar and produces xanthan gum which is then dried and powdered. It’s generally safe to use, especially since the amount required to thicken most recipes is so tiny. We used 1/4 tsp of xanthan gum for the entire soup and it turned out very thick!
We love using xanthan gum to thicken sauces and soups. Our Low Carb Clam Chowder is a popular recipe that could not have been possible without our handy bag of xanthan gum!
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We also love using our immersion blender. The immersion blender comes in quite handy when you’ve got a chunky soup like broccoli cheddar soup and helps you blend right in the pot! It saves you an appliance to wash and cuts down on the messy process that is transferring hot liquid from a pot to a blender and back into that pot!
Let’s make some keto broccoli cheddar soup! Leave the flours and starches at the door 🙂
| Servings: servings |
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 white onion (chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups broth
- 2 cups water
- 12 oz. broccoli
- 8 oz. cheddar
- salt, pepper
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- Start off by heating a large soup pot with a tablespoon of butter. Saute the onion and garlic until they are fragrant and the onion is translucent.
- Then add your cream, broth (chicken, beef, veggie, doesn't matter), and water. Let this come to a boil. You may season in this step, we used plenty of salt, pepper and paprika.
- While it's boiling, but up or rip your broccoli into florets and measure out 12 oz. This should be about 4-6 cups depending on the size of your florets. Place the florets into the boiling soup broth and reduce to a simmer. Let the broccoli cook for 25 minutes.
- Once the broccoli is cooked, add 8 oz. of cheddar cheese and stir until it is melted through. We used cubed cheese, but shredded would work better as it will melt a bit faster.
- After the cheese is melted, turn off the heat. Either pour the contents of the soup into a large blender and blend until smooth or use an immersion blender. We recommend using the immersion blender because it saves you washing another appliance as you can blend right in the soup pot.
- While blending, add in 1/4 tsp of xanthan gum, a little at a time. The soup should begin to thicken.
- Enjoy with a sprinkle of more cheddar cheese!
Loved this recipe? Let us know! Something didn’t quite turn out right? Ask us in the comments below or contact us– we respond to comments every day and would love to hear from you and help you out! And check out all our low carb dinner recipes to learn to make more delicious and healthy meals!
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The content on this website should not be taken as medical advice and you should ALWAYS consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. We provide nutritional data for our recipes as a courtesy to our readers. We use Total Keto Diet app software to calculate the nutrition and we remove fiber and sugar alcohols, like erythritol, from the total carbohydrate count to get to the net carb count, as they do not affect your blood glucose levels. You should independently calculate nutritional information on your own and not rely on our data. The website or content herein is not intended to cure, prevent, diagnose or treat any disease. This website shall not be liable for adverse reactions or any other outcome resulting from the use of recipes or recommendations on the Website or actions you take as a result. Any action you take is strictly at your own risk.
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Made this today, it was so good. I had about 1/3 of cream cheese so I added it. I don’t have xanthan gum so I omitted it. I’ll be making this again. Thank you!
Made this soup tonight — yum! Thanks for the recipe,
Does blending it keep the cheese from going back to stringy/solid when it’s refrigerated? In other words, does it stay creamy/soupy and not sticking to everything the way melted cheese does?
I would say it definitely helps. Plus, when you reheat the soup for later eating, the cheese will remelt anywhere it could have solidified again. Give it a try!
Made this soup tonight and it was delicious!
Yay! Glad you liked it!
Is there any substitute for the xanthan gum?
You can try coconut flour or arrowroot powder. Or you can omit it and cook the soup a bit longer to let some of the water cook off.
Hi Vicky,
I didn’t have xanthan gum, so I used arrowroot (glad to see this comment that this replacement is approved). It didn’t really thicken, so I wonder if I should have used more than 1/4 tsp? Do you have a recommendation on the ratio? Had soup today for lunch (first Keto day!!!), and it was delicious. Thanks!
Generally, a little more arrowroot is required. A little more cook time will also help in the thickening process.
will it still thicken if I don’t blend it? I prefer a chunkier soup.
Yes, as long as you add enough cheese and xanthan gum, it should thicken a bit. Consider adding more xanthan gum or letting more of the soup’s liquid cook off by gently boiling it a bit.
Delish! By the way, you didn’t include garlic (1st step) in the list of ingredients.
Oops! It’s been fixed. Thanks a lot, Ann.
When I uploaded the recipe over to MFP, I came up with different calories and macros than you show here. It is normally a hardly noticeable difference, but on this recipe mine came out to 508 calories per serving. I’ve checked the ingredients individually and they seem to be right. Any ideas? Or just shut up and eat the soup?!?!
Definitely ask questions!
I think the cheese you used may have a big impact on calories/macros. Different cheese brands use different fat contents. The only other thing that may affect the counts so much is the broth and size of onion used.
Go by your macros! 500 for a broccoli cheddar is still great!
Ohhh this sounds really comforting, perfect for the coming cold weather up there in the Northern Hemisphere