Soup, cream of broccoli is easier to cook with than it looks. Here's how to choose, use, and store it, what to substitute, and 18 recipes to get you started.

What is soup, cream of broccoli?

Cream of broccoli soup is the green-flecked member of the condensed canned soups. It is a thick, pale-green paste of pureed broccoli in a salted, buttery flour base, dense enough to hold its shape coming out of the can.

Cooks rarely eat it straight from a bowl. Like its cousins, it works as a binder and an instant sauce: a ready-made roux carrying mild broccoli flavor and a load of salt, made to thicken a dish without much fuss.

What it adds that the plainer soups do not is a vegetable backbone, which is why it gravitates toward broccoli-and-cheese cooking.

Using It in the Kitchen

It is condensed, so the can expects a measure of milk or broth. In casseroles you usually skip most of that and let it bind the filling instead.

Its obvious partner is more broccoli and some cheese. It carries the sauce in Chicken Mac Casserole, ties together Cheddar Broccoli Chicken Supreme, and gives body to Sausage Broccoli Chowder.

It also works as a head start on broccoli soup. Whisk one can with a cup of milk, warm it, stir in steamed broccoli florets and a handful of cheddar, and you have a bowl in under ten minutes.

Heat it slowly. The flour-thick base scorches on a dry hot pan, so add a little liquid and stir over medium while it loosens.

Pairing and Watch-Outs

It leans toward broccoli, cheese, chicken, rice, and pasta, the lineup behind most broccoli casseroles. A spoonful of sharp cheddar stirred in turns it into a quick broccoli-cheddar sauce.

The flavor is gentle, so do not expect it to carry a dish on its own. Punch it up with garlic, a grind of black pepper, or that handful of cheese.

And hold the salt. The can already brings plenty, so taste before adding more, especially with cheese in the mix doing its own salting.

Substitutes

Cream of mushroom, celery, or chicken will all bind a casserole the same way; you trade the broccoli note for theirs, and in a loaded dish few people notice.

For a fresh version, melt 3 tablespoons butter, whisk in 3 tablespoons flour, add 1 cup broth and ½ cup milk, and simmer until thick. Stir in ¾ cup finely chopped steamed broccoli and season with salt and pepper. It takes about ten minutes and tastes greener than the can.

Buying and Storing

A standard can runs about 10.5 ounces (roughly 298 grams), the "one can" most casserole recipes assume. Cream of broccoli is less common on shelves than mushroom or chicken, so check the soup aisle or grab cream of broccoli-cheese, which works the same way.

Skip any can that bulges or leaks.

Unopened, it holds in the pantry a year or more, usually past the printed date. Once opened, refrigerate the leftover in a sealed container and use it within three to four days rather than leaving it in the can.

Quick facts

Where to find soup, cream of broccoli: Soup, cream of broccoli is usually found in the canned goods section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.

In Chinese

汤，奶油西兰花

British (UK) term

Soup, cream of broccoli

en français

crème de brocoli, conserve, condensée

en español

crema de brócoli, en lata, condensada

Recipes using soup, cream of broccoli

There are 18 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 18 recipes