If you’re craving a cozy bowl of broccoli cheddar soup that won’t derail your Weight Watchers goals, this one’s for you! It’s creamy, cheesy, and packed with flavor — all while being surprisingly light. Plus, it’s easy to whip up with simple ingredients you probably already have on hand.
This lighter version of the classic Panera-style soup uses low-fat dairy and a smart portion of cheese to keep the points low while still tasting indulgent.
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🧡 Why You’ll Love This Recipe
As someone who's been eating healthy on a budget and juggling real-life cravings, I can tell you — this one hits the spot.
The weather is cold and frightful this time of year and I just love having a warm bowl freshly made soup.
- WW-friendly comfort food: Warm, cheesy, and filling without the guilt.
- Easy to customize: Dairy-free, gluten-free, and vegetarian options included.
- Batch cook + freeze: Perfect for meal prep lunches or quick dinners.
- Real-food ingredients: No weird diet products or overly processed substitutes.
- Crockpot Enchilada Soup, Weight Watchers Zero Point Tortilla Soup, and Crockpot Enchilada Soup, are some other reader favorites.
Bread Bowls with 2 Ingredient Dough
You can totally make a bread bowl with the 2 Ingredient Dough Recipe for only 5 points. Use ½ cup of Greek Yogurt and ½ cup of self-rising flour and shape it into a ball. Brush the dough ball with an egg wash and Bake the ball of dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 10 to 12 minutes at 400 degrees. Scoop out the inside and ladle soup broccoli cheddar soup in there for a delicious lunch.
Ingredients Needed
- Vegetables: Onion, Broccoli, Carrot, Stalks celery, thinly sliced
- Chicken broth - The best type of chicken stock to use is one that is homemade. For canned stock, I look for ones that say reduced sodium or fat free.
- Kosher salt and Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Reduced-fat velveta cheese, plus more for garnish - has a lower calorie count and less saturated fat than regular cheese, but it may also have a different taste and texture. It also helps with keeping the calorie count pretty low for this recipe.
- Baguette, for serving (optional)
- See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
🔄 Substitution Tips
- Milk: Swap almond milk for oat, cashew, or skim milk — whatever works for your stomach and points plan.
- Cheese: Try a dairy-free cheddar-style shred if needed (like Daiya or Violife).
- Thickener: You can use arrowroot powder or omit entirely for a thinner broth.
- Add protein: Stir in shredded rotisserie chicken or white beans to make it a heartier meal!
How to make Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Step 1 Add onion, broccoli, carrots, celery, chicken broth, salt and pepper to a pressure cooker. Secure the lid in place and turn the valve to "sealing."
Step 2 Select "High Pressure" or manual and cook for 4 minutes. When the cooking time ends, turn off pressure cooker and use a quick release.
Step 3 Turn pressure cooker on to "saute" and add the cubed Velveeta cheese. When the soup has thickened and all the cheese is melted the soup is ready. Use an immersion blender, food processor, or blender to puree the soup if you so desire.
Serve with baguette or bread bowl. (optional)
Serving Suggestions
- Pair with a simple side salad and light vinaigrette.
- Serve with Air Fryer Canned Biscuits or Air Fryer Cheddar Biscuits
- Top with a sprinkle of Trader Joe's Bagel Seasoning Recipe for an extra flavor pop.
Recipe FAQs
Dairy doesn’t freeze very well in the freezer. When warmed up again the soup can become kind of grainy, texture-wise. It is best to keep any soup with dairy in it in the fridge for a couple of days. If you don’t mind grainy soup then go for it.
At Panera, you can get soup served in a bread bowl or a nice toasted baguette would be good here. Garlic Cheddar Biscuits or an Air Fryer Grilled Cheese would also be good.
Most of the broccoli cheddar soups online call for grated sharp or mild cheddar cheese. To keep this soup low in points choose a reduced-fat or low-fat cheddar cheese. Just make sure to adjust the recipe in your WW recipe builder app.
Yes! Just simmer all the vegetables together in the broth and add the melted cheese at the end.
To make this completely vegetarian use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
Other Soup Recipes
If you tried this Weight Watchers Broccoli Cheddar Soup or any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you! Follow along on Tiktok @jennarecipediaries
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Broccoli Cheddar Soup Weight Watchers
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 10 min
- Total Time: 15 min
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Easy
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Description
Creamy and delicious broccoli cheddar soup made in the Instant Pot and ready in under 10 minutes! Serve with a slice of golden crusty bread or a homemade 2 ingredient dough bread bowl.
Ingredients
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 large head broccoli, finely chopped
- 1 large carrot, grated
- 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
- 4 c. low-sodium chicken broth
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 ½ cups Reduced-fat velveta cheese, plus more for garnish
- Baguette, for serving (optional)
Instructions
Add onion, broccoli, carrots, celery, chicken broth, salt and pepper to a pressure cooker. Secure lid in place and turn the valve to "sealing."
Select "High Pressure" or manual and cook for 4 minutes. When the cooking time ends, turn off pressure cooker and use a quick release.
Turn pressure cooker on to "saute" and add the cubed Velveeta cheese. When the soup has thickened and all the cheese is melted the soup is ready. Use an immersion blender, food processor, or blender to puree the soup if you so desire.
Serve with baguette or bread bowl. (optional)
Serving Size: 1 cup
Notes
myWW: blue: 4; green: 4; purple: 4
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 207
- Sugar: 8.3g
- Fat: 8.3g
- Saturated Fat: 4.7g
- Carbohydrates: 17.2g
- Fiber: 3.5g
- Protein: 17.8g
Jenna says
Sorry, that was a mistake. Chicken broth should be added all at once. I fixed the recipe. Hopefully, it still works out for you.
Ashley says
I’m making this as we speak. I divided the broth, but only see one place in the recipe to add broth. I’m in the 4 minute pressure cook with half (2c.) of my broth remaining. Did I miss the place to add the second half?
Jenna says
1.5 c. means 1 1/2 cups. Updated that to make more sense.
Sean says
I'm making it now. I have a block of cheese and no idea how much to add. Can you give the amount of cheese by weight?