This impossibly smooth and creamy broccoli spinach soup comes together in about 20 minutes.
That’s because, like in many of our other soup recipes kids love, we use frozen broccoli, frozen spinach and frozen onions. Yes! No chopping means getting this velvety soup — that just happens to be packed with veggies — into kids without standing over the stove for 84 years like Rose from Titanic.
What You Need to Make Broccoli Spinach Soup Fast
These are all the shortcuts I use to make this soup quickly. Fresh ingredients work as well.
- Frozen broccoli
- Frozen spinach
- Frozen onions
- Matchstick carrots (shredded carrots, in the produce section)
- Diced garlic (shortcut: try the kind from a jar near the tomatoes in the produce section)
- Chicken stock (I use Better Than Bouillon)
- Butter
- Cheddar cheese for garnish (optional)
- Buttered whole-wheat toast for garnish (optional)
- Sauce pan
- Blender (an immersion blender or a regular blender both work great)
Silky Broccoli Spinach Soup
The beauty of this soup is how quickly you can make it with frozen veggies. But of course fresh work as well!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 small servings 1x
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 10-ounce bag frozen chopped onions (2 fresh onions, chopped)
1 cup matchstick carrots (2 carrots shredded or chopped)
1 16-ounce bag frozen broccoli (1 head fresh broccoli, chopped)
1/2 10-ounce bag frozen spinach (4 cups fresh spinach)
2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves, minced)
4 cups chicken stock
1–2 teaspoons salt*, 1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
1. Sweat onions and carrots. In a large pot on the stove over medium heat, pour in oil. Then add onions and carrots. Cook about 5 minutes, stirring often, until both start to become soft.
2. Add the rest of vegetables. Add broccoli, spinach and garlic to the pot. Stir and add chicken broth plus salt and pepper.
3. Simmer. Bring to a boil then reduce temperature to a simmer. Cook for a total of 15 minutes. (Or more if you need it but this is really all the time it takes since frozen veggies are already partially cooked.)
4. Puree. Use an immersion blender or ladle the vegetable combo into a regular blender (I need to do this in 2 batches with mine, so grab a big bowl). Blend until smooth.
5. Melt butter. Pour the creamy soup back into the pot. Add the butter and stir until melted.
Serve in small bowls with cheese on top plus toasted whole wheat bread as croutons.
Notes
*Start with 1 teaspoon of salt. I like 2 but depending on how salty your stock is, you might not need it.
For Picky Eaters
To help kids who might resist a big bowl of green soup for lunch, try these ideas:
Name the soup something fun. Sounds corny but trust me, kids love this stuff.
- Fairy Soup
- Goblin Soup
- Popeye Soup
- Great Green Goo
- Whatever they come up with
Use cookie cutters for cute croutons. For example one Halloween, I made bats.
Allow kids to put toppings on. A sprinkle of cheese, butter on the toast. A little autonomy goes a long way.
Use SMALL BOWLS. Egg cups, or espresso cups (both below) are perfect. Give each child only a bite or two and let them ask for more.
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sweese-4305-Porcelain-Espresso-Saucers/dp/B073W7ZL8K?ascsubtag=amzn1.osa.3eb4ebea-3519-4b12-a353-74f2d160fbf3.ATVPDKIKX0DER.en_US&cv_ct_cx=espresso+cups&cv_ct_id=amzn1.osa.3eb4ebea-3519-4b12-a353-74f2d160fbf3.ATVPDKIKX0DER.en_US&cv_ct_pg=search&cv_ct_we=asin&cv_ct_wn=osp-single-source-earns-comm&dchild=1&keywords=espresso+cups&pd_rd_i=B073W7ZL8K&pd_rd_r=3ac50a38-79d2-4d6a-aed1-4255efc35485&pd_rd_w=HJKzF&pd_rd_wg=6g860&pf_rd_p=09ff20e9-945b-4b59-906b-be3bf2ef914a&pf_rd_r=1B2HRXDFAXYFDJT88FWV&qid=1611850617&s=home-garden&sr=1-3-64f3a41a-73ca-403a-923c-8152c45485fe&linkCode=li3&tag=foodlets-20&linkId=f59c4a9c134307c313c3c76ab48012cc&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_il" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B073W7ZL8K&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=foodlets-20&language=en_US"></a><img src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=foodlets-20&language=en_US&l=li3&o=1&a=B073W7ZL8K" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;">My kids love this silky soup and I hope yours do too.
More ideas
Chicken Noodle Coconut Curry Soup
Creamy Tomato Soup with White Beans (Non-Dairy)
Simplified Focaccia Bread with Garlic and Rosemary
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