Broccoli Cheese Soup. Is there anything more satisfying on a cold fall evening?
What’s great about this soup is that it’s a hearty way to get and enjoy a healthy vegetable. When the ratio of broccoli to cheese is perfect, it’s a soup that gives your mouth two textures at the same time.
There are some important considerations when making great broccoli cheese soup:
- Use lots of real cheese.
- The broccoli should be fresh so that it keeps its toothsomeness after cooking.
One of the things that makes broccoli cheese soup awesome is that it can pair with so many things. The powerful flavor of the cheese, usually cheddar, hides the green, bright taste of the broccoli.
The soup itself can be varied in lots of ways, something we discuss at the end.
Because the flavor is so familiar, it can pair with almost everything. The hardest part of choosing what to serve with broccoli cheese soup is getting through the variety.
Most people will just put out any old bread or any old crackers and be happy. That’s okay; this soup is good enough on its own.
Still, a great side dish with broccoli cheese soup can turn this amazing soup into an equally amazing meal.
What to Eat with Broccoli Cheese Soup: Because Better is Always Better
It’s time to take your mouth and mind down the road of awesomeness that is some pairings to go with your broccoli cheese soup.
1. Bread Bowl
Sure you could buy bread, but, at this time of year, taking the extra time and making it will only help to warm your home and make it smell amazing.
Once you’re comfortable with this recipe and with making your own bread in general, you can always branch out and try making a sourdough, whole wheat, potato bread, and more.
The right hearty bread makes this soup a complete and very filling meal.
It’s can also be an exciting way to serve your soup.
Rachel at Adventures of a DIY Mom offers this excellent recipe!
2. Garlic Bread Hot Dogs
We are including this one for the kids. Well, then again who doesn’t like good hot dogs?
When you say that you are having broccoli cheese soup for dinner, your kids may be dubious, but when you add that you are having garlic bread hot dogs with it, they will come running to the dinner table.
This is a simple recipe that only takes a few minutes to prepare.
There are very few things that are as universally loved as hot dogs. For the kids, a simple beef frank is fine, but for the adult connoisseurs, you can get handmade frankfurters at the butchers.
The addition of garlic butter and cheese delivers a great new taste that everyone will love. And it’s not your basic garlic bread.
For those of you in Wisconsin (or wish you were), you can trade the hot dogs for brats.
Kristy Norrell put this recipe on 12 Tomatoes just to blow our minds!
3. Potato and Leek Waffles
Just because you are not vegan does not mean that you shouldn’t look at vegan blogs. They often put new spins on classics that will blow your mind and they often use spices and flavors in new and interesting ways.
This is the case with these waffles.
This modern variation of the Irish potato pancake, this a great side dish for your broccoli cheese soup.
It’s adds a crispy texture and a new flavor profile to the dish. The leeks provide a springy taste that will carry over to the denser cheese soup, adding a new dimension to the whole meal.
They’re also wonderful for dipping, making it a playful meal that even the kids will love!
Since this is a gluten-free addition, it’s ideal for anyone avoiding gluten in their meals.
The Euphoric Vegan, Cassidy, makes vegan food super awesome!
4. Cheese and Garlic Crack Bread
That’s what this recipe is called, and it’s outstanding.
A loaf of Italian bread with garlic butter, then stuffed with cheese and baked to perfection.
After you pull it out of the oven, you have a bread that the family will actually fight over.
The bread adds a huge pop of garlicky flavor and pairs perfectly with your broccoli cheese soup.
The playfulness will make everyone, even the adults feel like children again. Pulling out a piece of bread and finding the cheese at the bottom is as much fun as it is tasty.
Don’t let another year of your life go by without having Cheese and Garlic Crack Bread with broccoli cheese soup! This is a bucket list meal.
5. Cheese Mashed Potato Puffs
You may be asking yourself, “Do I really need to have more cheddar with this meal?”
For these potato puffs, the answer is yes! Heck, yes!
These are a unique way to serve mashed potatoes.
While mashed potatoes wouldn’t add a lot of texture to the meal, these little puffs are crispy and tasty and cheesy and perfect and wonderful and… sorry, we got a little excited there.
Best of all, these little puffs are cute.
This is a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes, but even fresh or boxed potatoes will work perfectly.
The key to this match is that the different textures of the cheeses complement each other and the chives and bacon go perfectly with the soup.
The only problem here: Making enough.
6. Honeycrisp Apple Salad
Sweet apples and walnuts. Spicy arugula and frisee. Yum!
This might be the perfect salad to have with broccoli cheese soup. The tanginess of the cheese will battle in your mouth for supremacy against the spicy sweetness of the salad.
Also, the fresh crunch is a great contrast to the creaminess of the main dish.
One nice part about this salad is that it’s all smaller pieces so you can easily get a forkful of all the ingredients at once.
For those of you who aren’t as familiar with frisee and arugula, both has more flavor that the usual lettuces, making them perfect for the big flavors of broccoli cheese soup.
Ingrid Beer at the Cozy Apron brought us this. Her last name is Beer! Of course she’s awesome!
7. Crispy Kale
This side dish won’t make you feel too full, but it will add an unctuous, salty crisp to the dish.
This is a great alternative to crackers. The kale is crispy, but light. The greenness of the kale is a nice side to the cheese.
What is an added bonus about this dish is that it’s something that will keep for a while as well. Just like the soup, crispy kale has a long shelf life if it’s treated well. So if you have some left over it becomes a tasty snack for later all by itself.
Some people still struggle to convince themselves that kale is delicious, but this crispy kale, with a touch of salt, will convince anyone.
This is a great as a way to add crispness to your meal.
Crunchy, crispy kale might not seem like the right side for broccoli cheese soup but trust us… it works!
This is just one of Beth’s offerings at Tasty Yummies.
8. Grilled Kielbasa
“What to serve with broccoli cheese soup?”
Polish sausage!
Kielbasa can be grilled whole, cut into pieces, or even sliced. Put it on a grill or even a grill pan to get a bit of crisp on it.
The meaty flavor will be perfect as a side to your soup. There’s a slight spice, no heat, the kielbasa has that works perfectly with cheese. The saltiness of the meat will be a nice choice as well.
If you’re feeling frisky, you can throw the grilled kielbasa into each soup bowl as you serve it, giving your guests a new taste sensation.
This is definitely worth a try.
A.J. Andrews at How to Cook has written an awesome guide to grilling kielbasa.
9. Steak, Step Aside
For some folks, a bowl of soup isn’t enough.
For those folks, try a steak. A simple sirloin cooked to your preference with a little salt and pepper is all you need to grow your simple soup into an amazing meal.
One way to serve the steak is as a shared dish. Rather than everyone getting a whole steak, they can take a piece off and pass it around.
Look at seasonings too, like Montreal steak seasoning, to pack a punch in the meal.
You can also encourage your diners to dip their steak in the soup. Steak and cheese are a natural combination.
Heck, drizzle some soup onto our steak. Don’t worry we won’t tell. Nothing like creating your own delicious steak topping with this combo!
This side dish can help satisfy the meat and potatoes crowd with a hearty protein on the side of their soup.
This recipe from McCormick, the spice company, is ideal for your dinner side dish.
10. Sweet and Spicy Chicken
The rest of the world might have only just discovered sriracha, but for some of us, we use it like ketchup!
The combination of sriracha and honey is amazing. The broccoli cheese soup will help cool some of the fire and the sweetness of this delicious meal.
Believe it or not, this is actually a nice healthy side. Baking the chicken makes it moist and delicious without adding a lot of unnecessary fat.
The simplicity of this dish complements the simplicity of the soup. In fact, they make a great partnership – sweet, spicy chicken – salty, unctuous soup.
Get ready to have a problem getting everyone to stop eating and go home!
Katerina shares her culinary prowess with us at Diethood.
11. Ham, Apple, and Swiss Panini
Apples, ham, and the tanginess of Swiss are all included in this panini recipe.
The nice thing about paninis is that crispy outside. It’s not the same as serving just a sandwich on the side.
The salty-sweetness of the ham, the zing of a good Swiss cheese, and the freshness of apple all combine to add a new level of flavor to pair with your broccoli cheese soup.
What makes this panini recipe fun is the addition of apple. The apple crunch, with the warmth of the soup, make this a perfect autumn meal for those chilly days while the leaves are falling.
If you don’t have a panini press, you can use a George Foreman grill or even a waffle iron. Don’t press too hard and let the heat do all the work.
Try this, you’ll love it.
Bowl of Delicious is where Elizabeth makes us hungry, every time.
12. Reuben Sandwich
If you don’t love the Reuben sandwich, it might be helpful to check your pulse.
Gooey, crunchy, tangy, exploding with flavor! What’s not to love?
The Reuben is an amazing invention that should be on every list of outstanding sides to have with broccoli cheese soup.
The corned beef is tender and delicious. With the addition of thousand island dressing and swiss cheese, we’ve now entered a new realm of awesome. All of that placed on a marble rye.
Hold on a second. We need to catch our breath.
We’re back!
After you build the sandwich, you grill it (with butter, please) and put some crisp on the outside of the bread.
The cheese melts, the flavors meld together, and we eat it as we take out of the pan. Who needs a plate for something that won’t last?!?
Serve the Reubens on the side of your broccoli cheese soup and you will ascend to legend status among friends and family.
By the way, if you want to forgo the sandwich broccoli cheese soup would be incredible a as corned beef and cabbage side dish.
This is Heidi’s favorite Reuben at foodiecrush. Yes, Heidi. Ours too!
13. Tortilla Wrapped Sandwiches
A wrap, a delicious sandwich rolled in a tortilla is a gift from the gods. They are easy to eat, delicious, and, when done right, every bite gives you the full flavor.
A turkey wrap is simple, right? A little mayo. Maybe some cheese. Roll it up and off you go.
Now, let’s follow this recipe and add chipotle chiles in adobo sauce.
Adding in the garlic and Dijon mustard gives you a complexity that a normal wrap can never hope to be.
The spiciness can be controlled by the amount of chipotle you add, but the soup is the thing that will cut the heat on the tongue.
That’s why they’re a great pair. One is the spicy foreign flavor, and the other is an American standard.
Now, go out, get what you need, and make this wrap. This is what to eat with broccoli cheese soup.
Or keep reading. It only gets better from here.
Bringing the Southwest home to us is Ashley at CenterCutCook.
14. Crispy Roasted Rosemary Potatoes
Potatoes and cheese are a standard pairing. How many of us put cheese on our potato soup?
Ok, but this time, put those potatoes in a delicious mixture of herbs, smoked paprika, and garlic.
No more boring baked potatoes. These are potatoes that will easily hold up to your broccoli cheese soup.
Easy, tasty, and oh so perfect as a side.
Laura in the Kitchen is cooking up this wondrous wonderful!
15. Supremely Made Nachos
Try this out for a new twist: Put down bowls of broccoli cheese soup. Next, deliver a big pile of nachos.
How about loaded chicken nachos?
Okay, awesome!
Seasoned chicken. Veggies. Corn. Beans. Cheese. Crispy chips.
That’s all perfect. These can also be dipped into your broccoli cheese soup for a contract of cheese flavors and textures.
The chicken and beans add an element of protein to the dish and the classic Mexican flavors expand the table and deliver the awesome!
Show Me the Yummy! Thanks, Jennifer!
More of What to Serve with Broccoli Cheese Soup: The Fun Never Ends!
The choices are unlimited, but here are a couple of ideas that you can add to your list:
Breaded fried broccoli
It might not seem right to add more broccoli, but… it’s fried. ‘Nuf said!
Fun crackers
Look for crackers that are really different. They can add dimension in the simplest ways. Find a variety pack that will provide multiple choices.
Homemade croutons
Good bread, lots of butter, seasoning. They can float in your soup and be little rafts of delicious.
Lettuce wraps
A little beef, chicken, or turkey, some diced tomatoes and whatever else you have and you’ve got a crunchy healthy addition.
Crusty baguette
We know that we started talking about how bread might be boring, but a crusty French baguette is a gift next to soup. Warm it, slice it, and serve it with butter on the side.
Broccoli Cheese Soup Variations: Great to Greater
“What to serve with broccoli cheese soup?” MORE CHEESE!
The biggest variable is the type of soup you choose. Most soups will use cheddar, but you can use all kinds of cheeses.
Swiss adds a fun little zing. Blue cheese can be added to give it that distinctive flavor. You can use some pepper jack to bring the heat. Mozzarella will give it a stringy playful quality.
Any cheese that melts can be added to your soup. All of them will make it great.
Try a white cheddar with Gorgonzola cheese for a unique choice, especially if you float the Gorgonzola right before you serve the soup!
The mixture of cheese flavors is a simple and fun way to expand the flavor of your broccoli cheese soup.
With this list, you’ll never have to ask “What to serve with broccoli cheese soup” again!
What to Serve with Broccoli Cheese Soup
Ingredients
- Bread Bowl
- Hot Dogs
- Leek Waffles
- Crack Bread
- Mashed Potato
- Apple Salad
- Crispy Kale
- Grilled Kielbasa
- Steak
- Sweet & Spicy Chicken
- Swiss Panini
- Reuben Sandwich
- Wrapped Sandwiches
- Rosemary Potatoes
- Nachos
Instructions
- Choose your desired Broccoli Cheese Soup side dish recipe.
- Gather and organize needed ingredients.
- Create a tasty Broccoli Cheese Soup side to complete your meal!