With just a few simple ingredients and the help of your pressure cooker, you can make a creamy, cheesy, restaurant-worthy Broccoli Cheese Soup at home in less than 30 minutes!

Thanks to my handy instant pot, making broccoli cheese soup at home has never been easier!

Pressure cooking cuts the cooking time down on lots of recipes, including soup. This easy broccoli soup recipe pressure cooks for just one minute! Sure, there's the time needed for the cooker to come to pressure, but the actual pressure cooking time is just one minute long. That's all it takes to get the veggies nice and tender.

Using an instant pot also eliminates the need to use a pan to cook the onions and garlic. The instant pot has a sauté function, so that's one less dish you'll have to wash when you're done.

If you've never tried making broccoli soup in your instant pot, now's the time! You will love how quick and easy it comes together!  Looking for a crockpot version?  Here's a crockpot broccoli cheese soup I love.

HOW TO MAKE BROCCOLI CHEESE SOUP IN AN INSTANT POT

Making broccoli cheese soup in your instant pot is easy! First, sauté onions and garlic in butter on the sauté function, next add the chicken broth, broccoli, carrots, and seasonings to your instant pot. Pressure cook, blend until smooth, then add a cornstarch slurry, heavy cream, and cheddar cheese. See below for detailed recipe instructions.

HOW MUCH BROCCOLI IS A BUNCH OF BROCCOLI?

A bunch of broccoli usually includes two or three broccoli crowns tied together with a rubber band and sold as a bunch in the grocery store. One bunch of broccoli with equal around 4 cups of broccoli florets.

CAN I USE MILK OR HALF & HALF INSTEAD OF HEAVY CREAM IN BROCCOLI SOUP?

You can substitute the heavy cream in broccoli soup with whole milk or half and half, but the consistency of the soup will not be as creamy and rich as when you use heavy cream.

WHY YOU SHOULD INVEST IN AN IMMERSION BLENDER TO MAKE CREAMY SOUPS

In my opinion, the tool that will make the most difference in your quest for creamy soup perfection is an immersion blender! An immersion blender is a handheld blender that can be submerged into liquids to blend. A few zips of your immersion blender in a soup can give you a smooth and creamy soup without having to transfer your soup to a traditional blender to blend. You can find them at most retailers that sell small kitchen appliances!

MORE SATISFYING CREAMY SOUPS

Looking for more soup recipe inspiration? Look no further! Here are a few popular creamy soups from the archives:

Pictured:
Instant Pot Cheesy Cauliflower & Ham Soup
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Shredded Turkey
Grandma's Leek Soup
Loaded Baked Potato Soup

If you try this Instant Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup, I'd love to know what you think in the comments below. Enjoy!

6-8 servings

Instant Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup

With just a few simple ingredients and the help of your pressure cooker, you can make a creamy, cheesy, restaurant-worthy Broccoli Cheese Soup at home in less than 30 minutes!

  prep time: 10 MINcook time: 1 MINtotal time: 11 MIN 

INGREDIENTS

3 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bunch of broccoli, cut into small florets
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup carrot, finely chopped or julienned
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
2 cups heavy cream
3 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Set your instant pot to sauté. Add the butter to the pot. Cook the onions in the butter for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 additional minute.

2. Add the broccoli florets, carrots, chicken broth, salt, and pepper to the pot.

3. Place the lid onto your instant pot and turn the steam valve to the sealing position.

4. Select the manual/pressure cook, high-pressure setting and set the time to one minute. After 10 seconds the display will say On. Once the instant pot is pressurized, the float valve will rise and the cook timer will begin counting down.

5. At the end of the one minute, carefully turn the steam release valve to the venting position. When the float valve drops, open the instant pot. Set the instant pot setting to Keep Warm.

6. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup until desired consistency. (If you don't have an immersion blender, carefully transfer the mixture in small batches to your blender and blend until smooth. Then, return to the instant pot to finish.)

7. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and cold water. Set the instant pot setting to sauté. Stir the cornstarch slurry into the soup and continue stirring until the soup thickens.

8. Stir in the heavy cream and then the cheddar cheese. Stir until the cheese is completely melted. Turn off the instant pot and serve.

NOTES

Recipe time does not include the time it takes for your instant pot to come to pressure.

For a vegetarian soup, sub vegetable broth for the chicken broth.

This recipe is written specifically for the 8 Quart Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 Pressure Cooker. Cooking time may vary if you use a different pressure cooker. This recipe has not been tested on the 6-quart instant pot or in other pressure cooker brands.

Author: Becky

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