Instant Pot Broccoli Cheesy Rice Soup
Wanting to be frugal I needed to use extra Broccoli and Gouda cheese that we had on hand, so I whipped up a batch of Instant Pot Broccoli Cheesy Rice Soup. This is a three cheese soup, with delicious cream, broccoli and carrots and rice thrown in for good measure. It was fairly easy to put together, although shredding baby carrots was knuckle blistering..ha! I would buy pre-shredded or regular size carrots next time. I just wanted to use what I had on hand. The rice I had extra from a previous meal, so that worked perfectly.
The serving size served our family quite well but if you had a really large family you’d probably want to make extra rice and serve it over the rice to stretch out the soup. I used fresh broccoli but frozen can be used as well. You would want to thaw it enough to cut down any large broccoli stems before hand.
I used the three cheeses I had. Gouda I love to use for Instant Pots and slow cookers because it melts so well. Parmesan adds a great flavor and cheddar tones down the bluntness of the other cheeses. Some other specialty cheeses that would be exciting to use are Asiago and Provolone.
I used my 8 quart Instant Pot to make the soup and previously the day before used it to make the rice. I love how versatile it is! If you don’t have cooked rice on hand and don’t want to use the stove, a rice cooker will work.
Looking for another soup recipe? Zuppa Toscana Soup is delicious!
Instant Pot Broccoli Cheesy Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 6 Cups Chicken Broth Can use low sodium
- 1 Large Yellow Onion, Shredded
- 8 Cups Broccoli Florets Small or chopped
- 3 Cups Shredded Carrots
- 2 Teaspoon Minced Garlic
- 1 Teaspoon Pepper
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Paprika
- 1 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 3 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream
- 2 Cup Shredded Gouda
- 1 Cup Parmesan, Shredded
- 1 Cup Cheddar Cheese, Shredded
- 1 Cup White Rice, cooked leftover rice works great!
- 4 Tablespoons Cornstarch
- 1/2 Cup Water
Instructions
- In the Instant Pot combine the chicken broth, broccoli, carrots, onion, garlic and spices.
- Cover and cook on Manual (so this is pressure cooking) for 4 minutes (choose high if you have this option). Then allow for 6 minutes NPR before releasing the pressure manually. During this time make the cornstarch/water slurry…whisking occasionally.
- Remove the lid when the pressure is gone, and slowly stir in the heavy cream. Turn on Saute. You will need to stir this constantly until it’s nearly ready to bubble (you will feel bubbles forming at the bottom) and then turn it off (I unplugged it). Don’t let it scorch or boil.
- Add your cheeses while you continue to stir and then the cooked rice. Do not stop stirring. You will then slowly add your slurry. You are wanting to thicken up the soup, you will likely not need to add the entire amount but you don’t want to have to make more, so a little extra works better.
- Serve with breadsticks, tortilla chips, rolls or even a bread bowl would be amazing!