Sheet Pan Broccoli Cheddar Soup

This easy, 45-minute Sheet Pan Broccoli Cheddar Soup combines roasted broccoli and onion, a medley of herbs and spices, and two cheeses for a soup that's light, creamy, and delicious. It's best paired with parmesan crusted grilled cheese for dipping!

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We love making sheet pan soups because the process is just simpler than usual soup making. Instead of sautéing each ingredient, anything that needs to be cooked is added to a sheet pan, roasted, and then blended up with the rest of the ingredients. The whole process takes about 45 minutes, which leaves you plenty of time to whip up a grilled cheese!

If broccoli isn't your thing, then check our our other sheet pan soups, like this one that's packed with green vegetables, or this one that's got a roasted red pepper and carrot base.

Jump to:

• Sheet Pan Broccoli Cheddar Soup Ingredients
• How to Make this Sheet Pan Broccoli Cheddar Soup Recipe
• Substitutions and Variations
• What to Serve with Sheet Pan Broccoli Cheddar Soup
• Equipment
• Storage
• Tips and FAQ
• Cover the broccoli during cooking
• More easy soup recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Reviews

Sheet Pan Broccoli Cheddar Soup Ingredients

For the Soup

• Broccoli: We used mostly florets from crowns of broccoli and some of the stems, mostly because they cook a little more quickly and aren't as tough as the stems. You can use a mix of stems and florets, just make sure they're all fork-tender before blending.
• Onion: Half of a medium onion was the other vegetable that gets blended up alongside the broccoli.
• Garlic: This is roasted alongside the broccoli and onion, and the roasted garlic gives the soup a great depth of flavor.
• Spices: Dry mustard powder complements broccoli really well (mustard is in the same family--Brassicaceae--as broccoli), nutritional yeast adds cheesiness, cayenne adds a hint of heat and salt and pepper round out the flavor profile.
• Chicken broth: We used regular chicken broth, but you can use a low sodium variety if you're watching your salt, or vegetable broth if you want your soup to be vegetarian.
• Baby spinach (not pictured): This is added to the blender for a touch of green color, and an extra dose of vitamins and minerals.
• Cheese: Cheddar (the sharper the better to make sure you can taste it!) is a classic complement to broccoli, and parmesan adds a ton of umami flavor. Be sure to use real parmesan, not the dried out artificial stuff.

For the (optional) grilled cheese

• Bread: We like to use fresh sourdough in our grilled cheeses, but you can use whatever bread you have on hand.
• Butter: Butter is essential for achieving that golden brown color on your bread.
• Cheese: We used slices of sharp cheddar and also crusted the bread with parmesan.

How to Make this Sheet Pan Broccoli Cheddar Soup Recipe

PREP: Preheat oven to 350˚F.

STEP 1: Slice the top off the garlic bulb to expose the cloves. Add broccoli, onion and garlic to a sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil, then season the broccoli and onion with mustard powder, salt, pepper, nutritional yeast and cayenne. Toss to coat.

Cover the sheet pan with foil and roast for 35-45 minutes, until the broccoli is fork tender and lightly browned.

STEP 2: About 10 minutes before the vegetables are done, heat the broth in a small pot until it’s very hot.

STEP 3: Right after they come out of the oven, add the roasted vegetables (we use half of the garlic cloves and save the other half for another recipe!), broth, spinach and both cheeses to a heat safe blender and blend until completely smooth. Enjoy warm!

Substitutions and Variations

• Cheese: You can leave it out entirely if you have a dietary restriction, or you can add your favorite cheese in place of the cheddar and parmesan. Just make sure you're using a cheese that melts pretty easily, like provolone, muenster, or mozzarella.
• Broccoli: If you don't like broccoli, you can swap in cauliflower or kale instead.
• Baby spinach: If you don't have any spinach on hand, feel free to use another green instead.
• Broth: We used chicken broth, but if you're making this vegetarian or vegan you can use vegetable broth instead.

What to Serve with Sheet Pan Broccoli Cheddar Soup

This soup is definitely best with a grilled cheese. You can dip it into the soup, or slice it up into croutons and dump them directly on top of the soup. You can follow the steps in the instructions section above to see how we made ours, or make your own!

We also like to top ours with a swirl of olive oil and some more cracked black pepper. You could also try a dollop of sour cream and a few chives.

Equipment

You'll need a large sheet pan. We like these pans from USA Pan - they're basically non stick, transfer and retain heat well, and are very durable.

You'll also need a high-speed blender to blend everything up. A heat safe blender would be best, and if it's not heat safe, you'll want to vent it every few seconds during blending to let some of the steam and pressure out.

Storage

Refrigerator: Kept in an airtight container, this soup can be enjoyed within 3-5 days. To reheat, you can use the microwave, or the stovetop. Just cook on medium low heat and stir frequently until it's warmed through.

Freezer: You can freeze in an airtight container and enjoy the soup within 3-6 months. To reheat, we'd recommend letting the soup thaw out overnight in the refrigerator, and then adding to a saucepan on the stovetop over medium low heat until it's warmed through.

Tips and FAQ

More tips

• Don't cut the onions or the broccoli too small. The smaller the pieces, the more likely they are to burn on the sheet pan.
• Be sure to heat up the broth before adding it to the blender. This way, you won't need to reheat the soup on the stovetop before serving.
• Don't roast the baby spinach! This just gets added to the blender before blending. The more you add, the more green your soup will be.
• If you don't have a heat safe blender, make sure you let steam vent from your blender during blending to prevent pressure build up. To be extra safe, you can also just blend with room temperature broth and reheat on the stovetop.
• Make sure your cheeses are shredded or grated before blending. If you add a chunk of cheese to the blender, chances are it isn't going to blend very well.
• The sharper the cheddar you use, the better. The flavor of milder cheddars will likely be lost in the soup.

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