Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup
A creamy, cheesy broccoli cheddar soup that's made in the pressure cooker!
It's a SNOW DAY!!!
We had almost a foot of snow yesterday here in Minneapolis and so I'm thinking we'll be staying home all day. I just don't want to risk it with two little ones in the car. Not worth it y'know? Plus, there is some serious snow to be played in!!
Yesterday morning when the snow was just starting to come down, I ventured out with Soren while Lars was at preschool to run some pre-snowstorm errands. I was craving broccoli cheddar soup, so I picked up the ingredients to make it for dinner, but quickly realized I really wanted it for lunch. I had planned to make it in the slow cooker, but since I was going to have it for us for lunch, I decided to give it a try in the pressure cooker.
So, let's talk pressure cookers real quick. I have a Fagor Multicooker, which is a pressure cooker/slow cooker/rice cooker in one. I love its versatility and use it all. the. time. It's basically the same thing as the super popular Instant Pot, with a few subtle differences like no saute option and no yogurt making option. But when it comes to the pressure cooking function, it's basically the same.
The wonderful thing about pressure cookers is that they cook things SUPER fast. Like, a fraction of the time it would take a slow cooker. This soup, for example, cooks in 12 minutes. However, it does take some time to build up the pressure, so it's more like 20 minutes total.
The difficult thing about making something creamy/cheesy in a slow cooker or pressure cooker, is that unless you use a condensed soup, you really have to make the cheese sauce separately. I have found that if you put milk and cheese in a slow cooker/pressure cooker together, it tends to curdle. So, I usually end up making the cheese or cream sauce on the stovetop and adding it in at the end. This is exactly what I did for this recipe and it worked out great.
I made the cheese sauce while the pressure cooker was going, and the timing worked out almost perfectly. Just as it was finishing the cooking in the pressure cooker, I was stirring in the cheese to the roux. Then I simply quickly released the pressure, stirred in the cheese sauce, and lunch was ready!
We all REALLY loved this soup. In fact, I was so excited to share it with you, I bumped it up in front of two other (also very delicious) recipes to post it today! If you're having a snow day today too (which obviously calls for soup), you MUST make this recipe! It's too good not to.
Pressure Cooker Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Ingredients
- 1 head broccoli florets chopped off stem
- 4 carrots shredded
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 ½ cups vegetable/chicken broth either work!
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 3 cups milk I used whole milk
- 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ teaspoon mustard powder
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place broccoli florets, carrots, onion, garlic, and vegetable broth into your pressure cooker.
- Cook on high for 12 minutes and do quick release of pressure.
- While pressure cooker is cooking, make your cheese sauce.
- Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium high heat.
- Add flour and stir to combine with butter, and cook for 1 minute.
- SLOWLY add milk, whisking continuously so it incorporates with the flour/butter.
- Stir in cheese and mustard powder until cheese is melted.
- Pour cheese sauce into pressure cooker.
- Season with salt and pepper, as needed.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
