This easy Cheesy Vegetable Chowder is packed with flavorful vegetables, a creamy broth, and a secret ingredient that gives the chowder its characteristic cheesy flavor!
Soup with vegetables and cheese served in white bowls.
This cheesy vegetable chowder was my favorite of all the soups my mother prepared when I was a kid.
I have fond recollections of eating it from bread bowls on Halloween night in between trick-or-treating.
While bread bowls are not essential, this chowder tastes great in them because the soup is thick enough to stick to the bread without making it mushy.
It’s a hearty soup that your family will enjoy on any given weeknight, and it’ll be done in under 30 minutes.
You’ll never guess what gives it that cheesy flavor!
Instructions in a Step-by-Step Format
Ingredients for a cheesy vegetable chowder on a table.
COOK and STIR 6 tablespoons margarine and 12 cup finely chopped onion (or onion powder) in a large stockpot till soft.
In a big pot, melt the butter.
To make a paste, stir in 13 cup flour. COOK for 2 minutes, continually swirling to prevent browning.
In a pot, combine the roux.
STIR in two (14 oz.) cans chicken broth (or one of these chicken broth substitutions) until smooth. BRING to a low heat, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
Combination of chicken broth with roux.
12 cup milk, 14 tablespoons black pepper, 1 (16 oz.) jar Cheez Whiz Continue to cook until everything is hot.
In a pot, make a chowder foundation.
Heat through 1 (16-ounce) bag frozen carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and 3 cooked, diced potatoes.
Vegetables chopped in a creamy chowder.
*Serve in bread bowls if desired.
Substitutions and Recipe Suggestions
In a pot, broccoli cauliflower cheese soup.
Yes, Cheez Whiz is required in this recipe. Sure, it’s a little processed, but the flavor is incredible! Velveeta isn’t my favorite cheese, yet this chowder tastes nothing like it.
You may always use shredded cheese instead of Cheez Whiz, but I find that it never melts down completely. The only thing that comes close to Cheez Whiz is store-bought cheese dip.
For a deeper flavor, butter can be used for margarine.
Chowder with cheese and vegetables served in white bowls.
If you don’t like onions (like me! ), you can substitute 2 teaspoons onion powder or dried, minced onion for the chopped onion.
I always make this soup after we’ve eaten baked potatoes for dinner earlier in the week, because this recipe calls for cooked potatoes. I bake a couple extra and store them in the refrigerator.
Otherwise, you’ll have to bake the potatoes or use an Instant Pot to cook them before starting the soup.
