Cheddar Veggie Chowder

So I got an Instant Pot for Christmas, which for those of you who haven’t jumped on the bandwagon or even heard of the bandwagon is an electronic multi-cooker that is possibly best loved for its pressure cooking function. That said this isn’t an Instant Pot recipe.  I was so excited to try my Instant Pot and make some soup with really long simmered, complex flavor in a short time in the pressure cooker. So I used Pinterest to search for “Instant Pot Soup” and got a hit on this Cheesy Vegetable Chowder recipe that looked awesome.  Pinned.  Several saved pins later, I come back to narrow things down and start to realize that about half the pins I saved had nothing to do with an Instant Pot.  Come on search function!  But I was in love with the idea of a cheesy, vegetable based soup that was hopefully a little heartier than broccoli cheese. So I went ahead and made my version of the recipe – because I can’t leave anything alone.

The result was a hearty, filling, cheesy, hint of spicy (I’m talking background, “is there a hint of something else there” spicy), veggie filled soup. Excuse me chowder.  When I was naming this recipe, I thought of going back to soup until I googled ‘chowder’ and found that it generally stands for a soup that uses a roux to thicken it often made with seafood or vegetables.  So chowder it was.

This soup is chock full of veggies including carrots, celery, onion, potatoes, celery root (the first time I ever used celery root – hint: you can identify it in the grocery store based on the celery that is likely growing out of the top of it), broccoli and cauliflower.   It’s finished off with a good sharp cheddar.

Here’s what you need:

Note: When I don’t have homemade broth or stock on hand; I have developed a preference for using ‘Better than Bouillon’ paste and mixing it with hot water to make the needed amount of broth of stock.  It seems to have a richer flavor and less salty taste then doing this with bouillon cubes and store bought broth always seems watered down to me.  Feel free to substitute and equal amount of broth or stock.

I started by chopping up all the vegetables.  When I’m not cooking for the blog, I often multi-task and chop the next veggies to go in while the first are sautéing.  And if you like multi-tasking and have decent, quick enough knife skills that plan works great and will shave a few minutes off.  When I cook for the blog though, taking pictures takes more time that you think and throws off my timing, so I chopped everything all at once. All the veggies are divided in bowls based on when they are added to the chowder and what they are added with – in case you want to multi-task you can see what goes with what.

Heat a large soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat and add a tablespoon of butter.  When the butter has melted add in the carrots, celery, and onion.  Sauté until the onion starts getting translucent.  About 4-5 minutes.  Then add the garlic and sauté for another minute until it becomes fragrant.

While the veggies are sautéing whisk together enough Better than Bullion and hot water to make 1 quart.  Pour the mixture into the pot with the veggies and add potatoes, celery root, chopped fresh thyme, salt, pepper, paprika and a little cayenne (remember that hint of heat I promised you?).

Bring mixture to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook covered for about 12-15 minutes until potatoes are almost tender.

Stir in broccoli and cauliflower.

Cook for an additional 5-7 minutes until the veggies are tender.

While the veggies are simmering, make the cheese sauce.  Start by melting butter in a pan over medium heat.  Whisk in flour and season with salt and pepper. Cook flour mixture for a minute or two until it starts to turn a light golden. Slowly whisk in milk, a little at a time.  It will initially just thicken up and become more of a paste but as you slowly add more it will thin out and fully incorporate.  Bring this mixture to a gentle simmer and cook stirring almost constantly until it begins to thicken.

Remove from heat and whisk in the cream.

And then in thirds, whisking until mostly incorporated between each addition, add in the sharp cheddar cheese.  Whisk until smooth. Even if you don’t normally like sharp cheddar on its own, I recommend adding it here because the broth and white sauce will both help to tone down the sharpness.  If you go with mild cheddar, I think it just gets lost.

Poor cheese sauce into the veggies and broth.

Stir until fully incorporated.

Serve up a nice big bowl.  And might I suggest some French bread on the side to dip into the soup?

Cheddar Veggie Chowder

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

50 mins

 

A cheesy, hearty, veggie filled chowder.

Author: Gravel & Dine

Recipe type: Soup

Serves: 7, 2 c servings

Ingredients

• 1 T butter
• 3-5 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 c water
• 1 ½ T better than bullion reduced sodium
• 3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes
• 1 celery root, peeled and cut into ¼ inch cubes
• 1 t fresh thyme, minced
• 1 t salt
• ½ t or so fresh ground black pepper
• Pinch paprika
• Pinch ground cayenne pepper
• 1 bunch broccoli heads, cut into florets (note: my grocery store typically sells about 3 small heads as a bunch)
• ½ a medium head of cauliflower, cut into florets
• Cheese sauce:
• 4 T butter
• 6 T flour
• 3 c 2% milk
• ½ c half & half
• 8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, chopped or shredded

Instructions

1. In a large soup pot or dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat.
2. Add in carrots, onion, and celery. Sauté for about 5 minutes until onion starts to become translucent. Add garlic and saute for another minute until garlic becomes fragrant.
3. While veggies cook, whisk together hot water and Better than Bouillon. Add bouillon mixture, potatoes, celery root, thyme, salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne to the pot. Bring to a gentle boil and reduce to simmer. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes until potatoes and celery root are almost tender.
4. Add broccoli and cauliflower. Cook for another 5-7 minutes until tender.
5. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 1-2 minutes until lightly golden, whisking constantly. Slowly stream in the milk while whisking constantly. Mixture will initially form a paste and then thin out as more milk is incorporated. Bring to a gentle boil, whisking constantly and then cook at a simmer for a couple minutes until it begins to thicken. Remove from heat and whisk in cream. Whisk in cheese, in 3 batches, until sauce is smooth and cheese is fully incorporated.
6. Pour the cheese sauce into the soup. Stir together and turn off heat.
7. Serve with French bread for dipping.

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