It’s Friday night. You’re exhausted. You’ve made your contribution for a Bountiful Basket this week, but there is still a week-old (or two-week old, let’s be honest) head of broccoli (or bunch of asparagus, sack of potatoes, head of cauliflower, etc.) in the fridge staring you down, begging to be used. If you are like me, you’ll probably get take-out. But, if you’re more sensible, you’ll throw together a quick and easy cream of broccoli (or asparagus, potato, cauliflower, etc.) soup using this simple, less than 30-minute method. After all, there’s only a month or so left of soup season. (Unless you’re in the Midwest.. I’ve seen the pictures on the news and I’m sorry.)
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp Butter
- 1/2 onion--diced
- 2 Tbsp. Flour
- 2 cups desired vegetable--chopped small (broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, asparagus, etc.)
- 1 1/2 cup milk
- 1 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
- 2 Tbsp. bacon bits (optional)
Instructions
- In a large sauce pot on medium-low heat, melt butter and slowly cook onions until just translucent. Don't brown onions.
- Add flour and cook for a minute.
- Add milk, chicken broth, and vegetable. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until vegetables are tender and soup has thickened (10-15 minutes).
- Add cream and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- If it pairs well with your vegetable of choice (broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, for example) and tickles your fancy, go ahead and add the shredded cheddar cheese and/or bacon bits just before serving. You can also garnish individual bowls with the fixins if you've got picky eaters.
Notes
If you want to make cream of mushroom soup, sauté the mushrooms with the onions first to develop their flavor, then add the liquid and carry on.
I don’t think you are supposed to home can anything with dairy in it, I made potato soup and did can a portion of it, but I did not use flour and I cooked the potatoes in broth only, canned the portion I wanted to preserve (must be done in a pressure canner) and finished the rest with cream, cheese, and bacon for supper, I added these ingredients when I reheated the canned soup.
This is not a canning safe recipe.
Tina, I have no idea. I don’t know much about home canning, but it’s worth a shot. My suggestion would be to leave the veggie a little crisp so it doesn’t become too mushy in the canning and reheating process. Good luck.
Do you know if this recipe can be homed canned?