Rich and creamy with that feeling of decadence about it, this quick and easy broccoli and stilton soup is a great one to whip up when you have extra stilton cheese in the fridge and a hankering for something tasty and a bit special too.
January, Christmas is over, the dreaded diet is looming as my jeans strain to contain my mince thighs. Alas, the larder and fridge still groan under the weight of all the festive food still to be consumed.
Why do we always assume an imminent apocalypse at Christmas and buy in enough food to feed an army? In an effort to use up some of this bounty I’m making Broccoli and Stilton soup today. Soup, yes that’s heading towards healthy, isn’t it?
Soup is always my line of thought when faced with muchness in the leftovers department. Today the fridge is hosting some broccoli, which quite frankly has seen better days, creme fraiche and of course a vast quantity of Stilton cheese.
Ingredients for broccoli and stilton soup
Your soup base is onion, not even garlic, just onion. I feel this keeps the flavour of the broccoli shining and with the tang from the stilton, there is no need to deepen the flavour.
Broccoli of course, just chop up those florets and stalks too as there is so much flavour in them.
Creme fraiche and of course good old stilton cheese. If you don’t have stilton then any blue cheese would do well in this simple recipe really.
Vegetable stock or chicken if you prefer.
How to make broccoli and stilton soup
Start by sauteing the onion for about five minutes. You want to soften it and bring out the flavour. But you don’t want it to go brown and caramelised as that will not work with this soup.
Add the broccoli to the pan for another five minutes. Remember when I said to chop the stalks too. Well before you chuck all that broccoli into the soup pan reserve some of the tiny bits of floret as they look really good as a garnish for your soup and add a lovely fresh crunch too.
Next comes the stock and just let everything simmer for about twenty minutes till that broccoli is lovely and tender. Then add your crumbled stilton cheese. Again save some tiny crumbles of cheese to finish off your bowls.
Whip out your wand blender (or carefully ladle the hot soup into a blender then back into the pan0 and blend till rich and creamy and smooth.
Now is the time to season to taste and stir through that creme Fraiche. If you don’t have this then cream or Greek yogurt will do just as well.
Soup storage
Your broccoli and stilton soup should keep well in the fridge for up to four days and will freeze for up to six months.
I like to freeze soup in freezer-proof bags laid flat on a tray then when solid I can file them upright and save valuable freezer space.
Looking for more super easy soup recipes? Then check these out before you go;
Rich and creamy garlic mushroom soup
Quick and easy tomato and mascarpone soup
Curried cauliflower potato and kale soup
Spiced carrot and cauliflower soup
Traditional 5 ingredient Scottish cock-a-leekie soup
Scottish classic Cullen Skink soup
Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.
Quick And Easy Broccoli and Stilton Soup
Equipment
- hand blender
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 600 g broccoli chopped into florets
- 1 litre vegetable or chicken stock
- 300 g Stilton cheese
- 150 ml creme fraiche
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a pan and saute the onion for 5 minutes
- Add the broccoli florets and cook for a further 5 minutes
- Pour in the stock and simmer for 15 minutes
- Crumble in the Stilton cheese and cook for further 5 minutes
- Use a hand blender to cream the soup
- Stir through the creme fraiche and season well with salt and pepper
- Serve with little bits of broccoli and crumbled stilton on top
Susan Bucknell says
Excellent recipe – very straightforward, quick, simple and delicious – thank you.
Karon Grieve says
Hi Susan
Glad you liked the recipe so much, thanks for letting me know.
K
Lynne Stait says
This is now my ‘go to’ recipe for using up the stilton, I tried an inferior recipe on a previous occasion and my husband didn’t like it as hes not keen on ‘smelly feet’ cheese, but THIS he wolfed down and said it was delicious, also got the thumbs up from my elderly Mum – thank you Karon
Karon Grieve says
Hi Lynne
So glad this soup was such a hit with everyone and is now a firm favourite.
K
Jo says
Great recipe, thank you!
I didn’t add salt because the chicken stock I used, (as I had run out of vegetable stock), gave enough seasoning. I also didn’t add creme fraiche or cream because the soup was very tasty without it.
If you didn’t have black pepper but wanted the peppery taste, you could substitute finely chopped celery and cook them before adding the stock and provide some further fiber, but then it wouldn’t be so quick to make 🙂
Karon Grieve says
Hi Jo
Glad you lliked the recipe and good ideas of yours too.
K
Jane m says
Great recipe. Easy to do. Love Stilton but never done this before. Outstanding taste, husband loved it, no doubt will be doing it again
Karon Grieve says
Hi Jane
Glad you both lved this recipe so much, always nice to know when people enjoy my recipes.
K