Chicken Broccoli Soup
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.
This Chicken Broccoli Soup is creamy, hearty, and perfect for when you’re craving a comforting bowl of soup. This thick and creamy soup comes together in less than 30 minutes and is full of flavor.
Soups are comforting and perfect year-round if you ask me. We always make a big batch of homemade chicken broth and freeze it for later so I can easily make soup whenever. There’s just no comparison when it comes to using homemade chicken broth vs storebought.
This soup is a family favorite and rich and creamy without any dairy. Yes, this is a dairy-free broccoli soup! Don’t worry if you’re not dairy-free, it’s good with regular dairy or dairy-free alternatives.
Recipe ingredient notes
- Butter, Onions, Celery, Carrots, and Garlic – A classic Mirepoix, but we also add garlic.
- Thyme – This is our preferred herb for soup, you could also add rosemary, or even a bay leaf. If you use a bay leaf just remember to remove it before serving.
- Flour – We use flour to thicken the soup, but you could also use cornstarch to keep it gluten free (about 2 tablespoons mixed into the cold milk before adding), by adding potatoes, or blend some of the soup to make it even thicker.
- Whole Milk or Full Fat Oat Milk – We’re dairy free so we use full fat oat milk without any issues, but you can also use regular milk.
- Chicken Broth – We recommend using a flavorful chicken stock or broth. We use our homemade chicken broth for this recipe.
- Frozen Broccoli – You can also use fresh broccoli crowns and chop it up, but we love this time saving hack.
- Chicken Breast – You can use leftover rotissere chicken (our air fryer whole chicken leftovers would be perfect!), oven baked chicken breasts, or any cooked chicken you have on hand.
Recipe add-ins:
You can always add more to soup and here are a few of our favorite add-ins for this chicken and broccoli soup.
- Potatoes
- Corn
- Mushrooms
- Cauliflower
- Bacon
- Cheese
- Rice
Step-by-step instructions
For the full ingredient amount and full instructions on how to make chicken and broccoli soup see the recipe card below.
- Saute the onion, celery, and garlic in butter until soft.
- Add herbs and flour and toss to coat, then add the liquids.
- Add in the chicken, broccoli and carrots and cook for 15 minutes.
- Serve as desired.
Recipe tips and variations
- We use frozen broccoli and frozen carrots to cut down the prep time. You could even use frozen onions to cut down even more time.
- This soup is a great way to use up your leftovers like chicken, rice, or roasted broccoli.
- Serve alongside bread or better yet, try it in a bread bowl!
Storage and reheating tips
- Refrigerate: Store any leftover chicken and broccoli soup in an air-tight container in the refrigerator and enjoy within 3-4 days.
- Freeze: To freeze this soup, pour it in an airtight freezer safe container and freeze for 5-6 months. We like using souper cubes and then transferring into stasher bags. We can fit 6 cups from the souper cubes into one stand up mega stasher bag.
- Reheat: To reheat this chicken and broccoli soup you can place into a bowl and microwave or ladle it into a small saucepan and heat on the stove.
How to serve
We serve this as a full meal, but you could do it as a first course as well. We love serving with garlic bread or fresh bread.
Frequently asked questions
Yes! We recommend getting a broccoli crown and chopping it into small pieces. You could also use broccoli with the stem. Cut the stem pieces very small and add them in with the onions, garlic, and celery. If you’re just using florets you can still add-in when you’d add frozen broccoli.
Yes! We use plant-based butter and oat milk to make it completely vegan you can use your favorite plant-based chicken or even tofu.
The longer you let it simmer the creamier it will get. It’s a nice and creamy soup, but if you want a really thick soup you can cook it with some white potato chunks, puree some of the soup, or simply add more flour instead of 1/3 cup do 1/2.
more delicious soup recipes
Chicken Broccoli Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/3 cup flour
- 2 cups whole milk or full fat oat milk
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 4 cups broccoli frozen
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots *see notes
- 2 cooked chicken breast chopped or shredded
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- To a dutch oven add the butter over medium heat.
- Cook the onion, celery, and garlic until soft, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add in the thyme and stir for another minute.
- Add in the flour and mix coat the vegetables.
- Pour 1 cup of the milk until the flour is dissolved.
- Add the remaining milk and chicken broth and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to medium low and add in the frozen broccoli and chicken breast and cook for 10-15 minutes.
- Serve as desired.
Notes
Nutrition
So nice to have you here! Did you try this recipe? ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Be sure to leave a recipe rating! Also, tag us @courtneyssweets #courtneyssweets on Instagram so we can share it!