Grab your Cold & Hot Blender, your pressure cooker, or a soup pot and let's get to making some incredible Keto Broccoli & Cheese Soup that also happens to be low calorie! I love when that happens!
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I didn't set out to make this soup keto or even low cal, but I did set out to make it in the Ninja Foodi Cold & Hot Blender and my first attempt simply wasn't thick enough.
I almost switched gears and used the Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker so I could make a traditional roux, but thought I would try to use up some cauliflower that I had on hand and it worked perfectly!
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I use cauliflower a lot in cooking when I want to get a creamy texture without all the carbs. It's funny, because Jeff used to hate cauliflower. The smell of it cooking made him not even want to eat what I was making. I told him over and over that you will not taste the cauliflower, but he remained hesitant.
After 12 years of marriage and plenty of recipes made with cauliflower as a substitution for rice, potatoes, and cream sauces, he is no longer bothered by cauliflower. Although, I can't say he would eat a plate of it raw or even cooked, but in recipes it's all good.
Here are some other recipes where I sneak in cauliflower!
Cajun Jambalaya with Cauliflower Rice: This recipe was made right on the stove, but could also be made using the Ninja Foodi on sear/sauté. I used coconut flour to make the roux and it turned out perfect!
Cauliflower Fried Rice: This is one of my favorite things to make! The flavors and textures are just like a regular fried rice!
Air Fried Cauliflower with General Tso's Sauce: I can't say this is healthy recipe, but it is so delicious! The air fried cauliflower would make the best buffalo bites too!
One of my absolute FAVORITE recipes where I use cauliflower to replace a thick sauce is in this recipe for Guilt-Free Shrimp Alfredo!
If you are in the mood for a potato salad and don't want all the carbs, this roasted cauliflower salad tastes just like a loaded baked potato salad.
Do I Need a Special Appliance to Make this Soup?
Nope! Even though I made this broccoli & cheese soup in the (affiliate link)Ninja Foodi Cold & Hot Blender (which is an amazing blender), this recipe can be made in the Ninja Foodi, Instant Pot, or on the stove.
It's simple to make no matter which appliance you have, and I will give detailed instructions in the article.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! Simply replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock.
You can if you aren't using the Cold & Hot Blender. Simply double all of the ingredients and use one of the other cooking methods described below.
I haven't frozen it because it doesn't last long enough around here! The issue I've run into when freezing soups where the base is mostly pureed vegetables is the soup is very thin when thawed. If you try it, please let me know how it reheats!
I recommend using it because it gives such a nice flavor to the soup, and it's really easy to roast garlic. However, you could omit it or use 1-2 cloves of minced garlic. You would want to sauté the garlic for a minute or two, and you can do that in the blender or in your pot. Here is my technique for roasting garlic: Roasted Garlic in the Ninja Foodi
How to make Keto Broccoli & Cheese Soup in the Ninja Foodi or Instant Pot
There are a few adjustments that need to be made if you are going to use your pressure cooker to make this soup.
Decrease the chicken stock to 1½ cups. There isn't going to be as much evaporation when pressure cooking as there is with other cooking methods, and you don't want your soup too thin.
Add the chicken stock (1½ cups) to the inner pot. Add the cauliflower florets, 8 ounces of the broccoli florets, salt, pepper and the bulb of roasted garlic. Put the pressure cooker lid on and turn the valve to seal. Pressure cook for 3 minutes and, when the time is up, immediately release the pressure.
Use an (affiliate link)immersion blender or you can transfer the contents of the pot to a food processor or blender to blend smooth. If using a blender or food processor, make sure to let the mixture cool before blending.
Once smooth, return the mixture to the pot. Add in the grated white cheddar cheese and the remaining broccoli florets. Heat on medium high sear/sauté, stirring frequently until the broccoli florets are cooked how you like them. The time depends on the size of the broccoli florets. The smaller they are, the faster they will cook. Stir in the cream.
Ladle into bowls and top with grated yellow cheddar cheese. Serve & Enjoy!
How to make Broccoli & Cheese Soup on the Stove
Add the chicken stock, salt, pepper, roasted garlic, cauliflower florets, and 8 ounces of the broccoli florets to a large pot and heat on medium-high for about 20-30 minutes or until the broccoli and cauliflower is really soft.
Use an (affiliate link)immersion blender to blend the soup. You can also transfer the soup to a food processor or blender or use a hand masher. Let the soup cool some before using a food processor or blender.
Grate the white cheddar cheese and stir into the soup until melted. Serve and top with grated yellow cheddar.
How to make Broccoli & Cheese Soup in the Ninja Foodi Cold & Hot Blender
Chop the cauliflower and broccoli into florets about the size of a quarter.
Add the chicken stock to the blender or you can use a vegetable stock or this delicious (affiliate link)vegetable base from Minors if you wanted to keep it vegetarian.
Add the chopped cauliflower and 8 ounces of the broccoli. Reserve the other 4 ounces to add at the end. If you want a completely smooth soup without any pieces of broccoli, you can add all of the broccoli in now.
Add in the bulb of roasted garlic. I really urge you to use the roasted garlic, the flavor it gives this soup is amazing. You can add in 1 clove of minced garlic if you don't want to use roasted garlic.
Here is my recipe for roasted garlic and it is super easy to make!
How to Roast Garlic in the Ninja Foodi
Add in the salt and pepper and cubes of the white cheddar. I use the white cheddar in the soup and yellow cheddar as garnish, but you can use all white or all yellow. The white cheddar keeps the soup from getting a yellow color, but it doesn't change the flavor of the soup. Both work just fine.
The blender is going to be full. Don't worry, it will cook down very quickly.
Put the lid on the blender and pulse a few times to break up the cauliflower and broccoli. You will see the mixture start to drop down in the blender.
Select the smooth soup function. When the time is up, add in the cream and the remaining broccoli florets. Pulse 1-2 times so the broccoli is cut up some and heat on manual high cook for about 10-12 minutes.
When the broccoli is done to your liking, the soup is done.
Ladle into bowls and top with shredded cheddar. Enjoy!
Keto Broccoli & Cheese Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 12 ounces cauliflower
- 12 ounces broccoli divided in recipe
- 4 ounces white cheddar
- 1 bulb roasted garlic
- ½ teaspoon fine grind sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 ounces yellow cheddar for garnish
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Instructions
- Add 2 cups of chicken stock to the blender. Add in 12 ounces of cauliflower florets and 8 ounces of broccoli florets. The florets should be cut up to between a nickel and quarter size.
- Add roasted garlic, salt, pepper and the cubed white cheddar cheese. Put the lid on the blender and pulse a few times to break up the broccoli and cauliflower. Select the smooth soup function
- When the time is up, add in the heavy cream and the remaining broccoli florets. Pulse 1-2 times to break up the broccoli florets and heat on high for about 10 minutes. When the broccoli is done to your liking, the soup is ready.
- Ladle into bowls and top with shredded yellow cheddar. Serve & Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
About the Recipe Author, Louise Long
Louise is a full-time recipe creator and food blogger @ The Salted Pepper. She has over 30 years of experience with cooking and recipe development. She owned a restaurant for several years and was a full-time RN until retiring to blog full-time.
She published her first cookbook in the Fall of 2018 and is very interested in writing several more.
Louise is also the creator of an online Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooking Course with over 100 instructional step-by-step videos. People absolutely rave about the course and all the value they have received from it.
Louise has several very active Facebook groups that help people with the basics of cooking and learning more about the appliances they love.
Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker & Air Crisper 101
Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Grill & Smoker
Louise is also a YouTube creator and you can find most of her recipes in video format on The Salted Pepper YouTube channel.
She is very responsive to messages and eager to help in any way she can. Get more Information about Louise & contact information
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Ruth Keeble
This soup was unbelievably good. Thank you for all of your hard work developing these recipes.
Louise
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Irene Martinez
Hi Louise,
I just bought the Ninja Foodi Deluxe two days ago and I'm just starting to learn. Thanks for all your videos, recipes and tips.
What does 1x, 2x and 3x mean in the ingredients?
Thank you
Irene
Louise
My recipe plug in gives the option to double or triple the ingredients with auto calculations. I don't recommend using it though because with certain recipes it won't be accurate.