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Chicken Vegetable Soup is creamy, cheesy comfort in a bowl, loaded with tender chicken and a rainbow of fresh vegetables in a rich cheddar broth. I simmer a big pot on the first chilly day of fall, and it warms up the whole family, right alongside our white chicken chili.
If you want a hearty, veggie-packed soup that eats like a meal, this cheesy version is the one to make.
Chicken Vegetable Soup Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 20 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 60 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 80 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 10 servings
- ⚡ Calories: 710kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Creamy, cheesy, and loaded with chicken and fresh vegetables
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, on par with our white chicken chili
Quick Answer
To make Chicken Vegetable Soup, saute chopped celery, carrots, onion, pepper, green beans, and broccoli until softened, then set them aside. Make a roux with butter and flour, whisk in heavy cream, milk, and chicken stock, and simmer until slightly thickened. Stir in cooked chicken, add the vegetables back, then melt in sharp cheddar cheese and season well. Simmer until hot and serve warm.
Jump to:
- Chicken Vegetable Soup Quick Look
- Quick Answer
- Why This Recipe Works
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Key Ingredients
- Variations and Substitutions
- How to Make Chicken Vegetable Soup
- Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Serving Ideas and Suggestions
- Chicken Vegetable Soup FAQs
- Other Recommended Cozy Soup Recipes
- Cheesy Chicken Vegetable Soup
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- A cheesy, creamy base. A roux with butter and flour thickens the broth so the cream, milk, and cheddar turn silky instead of thin.
- Sauteing the vegetables first. Cooking the vegetables before adding them keeps them tender-crisp and deepens their flavor.
- Sharp cheddar for richness. Freshly grated sharp cheddar melts smoothly and gives the soup its bold, cheesy flavor.
- Loaded with vegetables. Celery, carrots, broccoli, green beans, peppers, and peas make this soup hearty and colorful.
- Rotisserie chicken shortcut. Using cooked or rotisserie chicken means dinner comes together faster without sacrificing flavor.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It is rich, creamy, and cheesy, with a whole garden of vegetables in every spoonful.
- One big pot feeds a crowd and makes fantastic leftovers all week long.
- It is the ultimate cozy comfort food, right next to our bacon cheeseburger soup on a cold night.
Key Ingredients
Here is what makes this Chicken Vegetable Soup so creamy and hearty. See the recipe card below for exact measurements.
- Chicken: Shredded cooked chicken or rotisserie chicken adds protein and makes this soup a full meal.
- Fresh Vegetables: Celery, carrots, onion, pepper, green beans, broccoli, and peas give it color and texture.
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese: Freshly grated cheddar melts into the broth for that signature cheesy flavor.
- Heavy Cream and Milk: Together they make the base luxuriously creamy.
- Butter and Flour: A simple roux thickens the soup, the same trick we use in our corn chowder.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
This Chicken Vegetable Soup is easy to adapt to your fridge.
- Lighten it up: Use half-and-half or whole milk in place of the heavy cream.
- Different veggies: Swap in cauliflower, zucchini, corn, or potatoes.
- Add some heat: Stir in a pinch of cayenne or a dash of hot sauce.
- More cozy soups: Try the same comfort in our zuppa toscana.
How to Make Chicken Vegetable Soup
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven and saute the chopped celery, carrots, onion, pepper, green beans, broccoli, and garlic until softened, about 20 minutes. Remove the vegetables to a bowl and stir in the frozen peas.
- Melt the butter in the same pot over medium-low heat, then whisk in the flour and cook until incorporated to make a roux.
- Slowly whisk in the heavy cream and milk, then the chicken stock, and simmer until slightly thickened. Stir in the cooked shredded chicken.
- Add the sauteed vegetable mixture back into the pot and give everything a good stir.
- Add most of the grated sharp cheddar cheese and season well with salt and pepper, stirring until melted and creamy.
- Cover and simmer until hot throughout, then top each bowl with the remaining cheddar cheese and serve warm.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Grate your own cheese. Pre-shredded cheese has anti-caking agents that can make the soup grainy, so grate it fresh.
- Add the cheese off high heat. Stir cheese in over low heat so it melts smoothly instead of separating.
- Do not overcook the vegetables. Sauteing them first and adding them back at the end keeps them from turning mushy.
- Whisk the roux constantly. Streaming in the cream and milk while whisking prevents lumps.
- Use rotisserie chicken. It is the easiest shortcut and adds great flavor.
- Season at the end. Cheese and stock add salt, so taste before adding more.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
This Chicken Vegetable Soup is hearty enough to be dinner on its own, but it is even better served in a bread bowl or with crusty bread for dipping, much like our bacon cheeseburger soup.
Pair it with a simple green salad or grilled cheese for a cozy meal. It is a wonderful make-ahead dinner for chilly nights, right alongside our corn chowder and creamy chicken stroganoff.
Leftovers thicken as they sit, so thin them with a splash of milk or stock when reheating. Store the soup in the fridge for up to 4 days for easy lunches all week.
Chicken Vegetable Soup FAQs
Yes. It reheats beautifully and tastes even better the next day. Store it in the fridge for up to 4 days and reheat gently, thinning with a splash of milk or stock if needed.
Cream-based soups can separate slightly when frozen. For best results, freeze the soup before adding the cheese and cream, then stir those in when reheating.
Shredded or chopped cooked chicken works great, and rotisserie chicken is the easiest shortcut. Use whatever you have on hand.
Grate the cheese fresh, add it over low heat, and stir until just melted. Pre-shredded cheese and high heat are the usual culprits behind a grainy texture.
Yes. Substitute half-and-half or whole milk for the heavy cream and use a little less cheese. It will be slightly less rich but still creamy and delicious.
This version uses celery, carrots, onion, red pepper, green beans, broccoli, and peas, but you can swap in cauliflower, corn, zucchini, or potatoes.
Craving more cozy soups? Try our white chicken chili or a bowl of corn chowder next.
Cheesy Chicken Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 2-3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 2 stalks of celery chopped
- 2 large carrots sliced thin
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 red pepper chopped
- 1 cup green beans chopped
- 1 small head of broccoli chopped
- 2 large cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter divided
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups 2% milk
- 4 cups Chicken Stock
- 4 cups freshly grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- 4 cups of shredded or chopped chicken or a rotisserie chicken
- sea salt
- black pepper
Instructions
- In your pot or Dutch Oven, heat the olive oil and start sauteing your vegetables (except for the frozen peas). I like to start with the toughest first, like the carrots and broccoli.
- Keep adding vegetables, while stirring until they are all softened, about 20 minutes.
- Remove the vegetables from the pot and place them in a large bowl and set aside.
- You can add the frozen peas to this veggie mixture at this time.
- Melt the 1/2 cup of butter in the pot on a medium/low heat.
- Add the flour and mix together until incorporated.
- Slowly add the heavy cream, and the milk, while whisking together.
- When it becomes slightly thickened, add the chicken stock and whisk to combine.
- Turn the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add the vegetable mixture back in, give it a good stir, cover and simmer on low 20 more minutes.
- Add 3 1/2 cups of the Cheddar Cheese and season well with the sea salt and pepper. I use about 2 1/2 tsp. of salt and 1/4 – 1/2 tsp. black pepper, but start out with a little and keep tasting until you get it the way you want- you can’t take out salt but you can always add more:)
- Top with remaining grated Cheddar Cheese and serve warm in homemade bread bowls or with fresh crusty bread.
Nutrition
Love This Recipe?
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Hi Arlene! The broccoli and carrots really need the extra time to simmer/cook in the soup. They are still pretty crunchy after softening with the other vegetables. I add them with the onion and garlic in the beginning so the flavors really mingle, but it’s really the onion, pepper and garlic you want to become softened and translucent in the beginning. After cooking, I found the texture to be perfect and not soggy, but I guess you could keep an eye on them depending on the size you cut the carrots and the size of your broccoli florets. Hope this helps, and I hope you enjoy the soup!
Looks yummy and I plan to make it soon. The question I have is this: are the vegetables really soggy after cooking for 40 min. total? I’m wondering why they need softened first as I would think simmering 20 min. in the soup base would be plenty of cooking time for any vegetable.
Just stopping by to let you know we’ve featured this soup on tonight’s Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop!! Be sure to come by and check it out 🙂
This looks so good! I’m drooling right now. Pinned. We had so much fun partying with you at our last party. We hope to see you tonight’s party at 7 pm. We love to see what you have been working on! http://loulougirls.blogspot.com/
Happy Monday! Lou Lou Girls
Wow! This looks SOOOOO good! I can’t wait to make this! Thank you for sharing this fabulous recipe. I know my husband is going to love this one! oxox, Amanda
This looks great! I love all the vegetables and I don’t think cream is bad for you, so there goes your naughty ingredient! Julia Child famously said, “If you’re afraid of butter, use cream.” 🙂 So, you’re spot on with this recipe 😉
I made this soup for my family and everyone loved it. The only thing I did was use 1/2 & 1/2 instead of the milk because I only had almond milk. I warned them though I cant make it to often as it is really rich so it will be a monthly treat. Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe.
Karren
5 Stars
Thank you so much for bringing this yummy soup to our Wonderful Wed. Blog Hop. I featured it on my fb page and can’t wait to see what you bring next week. Carrie, A Mother’s Shadow
Yep, I want to dive right into that. I absolutely love soup and it’s pouring down rain here, supposed to all weekend, so soup is sounding especially cozy and comforting right now!! Thanks for sharing!
This looks delicious, and it’s definitely a soup that my family would love. Pinned and tweeted!