Another casualty of the M&M Food Market’s revamp was their soup. They used to come frozen and you’d put this weird cylindrical clump in the oven for an hour until you had a delicious soup with perfectly melted cheese on top. Now they still come frozen but in a plastic container that you have to heat in the microwave, so goodbye cheese. My momsie recently found one of the old style soups in her freezer and gave it to me. It was so excellent that I decided to try making broccoli cheddar soup myself, because god knows I’m never buying the M&M’s one again.
The recipe
Sandy’s Homemade Broccoli and Cheddar Soup from allrecipes.com.
Ingredient changes
The only thing I did differently was that I used old cheddar instead of mild.
I also doubled the recipe because the person who posted it said it was half of the original and a bunch of commenters said they were glad they doubled it when they made it.
Ease (or not) of prep
Because I doubled the recipe, it took me longer than the listed 40 minutes. I’d say it took me an hour, which means I won’t make this terribly often. We had a portion left over so I froze it in a Mason jar. If it survives the freezer well, I might double the doubled batch and freeze the bulk of it so I can make it once instead of twice.
The Boyfriend Test: Solid pass
Jeff enjoyed this more than the potato soup, probably because he loooooves broccoli. He also said this soup wasn’t as heavy so the experience of eating was more pleasurable.
Picky Eater Test: Pass
This soup turned out almost exactly as good as I was hoping. It was thick, creamy, and very delicious. Next time I’ll use a bit less broccoli because the quantity from the recipe added too much texture and I want it to be a bit creamier.
Shenanigans worth mentioning: I am going to need a new whisk. I’m not certain but I think I’ve had this one for a decade and in that time, I used it about six times, three of which were in the last couple years when I made shortbread cookies for Christmas. The last three weeks of cooking has rendered my whisk almost completely destroyed, so much so that Jeff has held it up while doing dishes and said, “what happened to this?” I shall mourn for my poor whisk that has travelled so far with me… but not so much that I’m not going to replace it with one of those heavy duty ones that has all the wires held together. Oh yeah, I mean whisk-business now. What recipe will I do next? That’s none of your whiskness!
I’ll make this again. It was really yummy and relatively simple. I put the leftover soup in a mason jar, which Jeff took to work for lunch. The next time I make it, I’ll store a portion to see how it survives the freezer.
The Curmudgeonly Cook 