Quick & Easy, Cheddar Cheese Cream Soup (with variations)

I started this recipe as I do most of my cooking with a baseline of a recipe and then improvise.  I was looking for a cheddar cheese soup recipe online that I could actually make. Many had carrots, onions, chicken, broths, and various other things that I couldn’t eat myself and I’m sure make super soup, but if you can’t eat it then it’s not really good is it?

So I hunted until I found AllRecipes Cream Soup Base, and had a light bulb moment.  I’ll just add cheese.

Since I am single, I halved the recipe which is very easy to do on their site and then I got started.  Below is the altered recipe I ended up with..

**Warning** This is an extremely rich soup and says 4 servings on All Recipes and they kinda mean it.

1/4 cup butter

2 Tbsp flour (can use various starch, see variations below)

2 cups whole milk

2 cups hand-shredded sharp cheddar cheese (or whatever flavorful cheese you can eat)

3/4 to 1 tsp Salt (to replace the bullion)

1. Mix flour and butter over med-low heat in saucepan until it’s paste-like. Add milk and salt, and cook over low heat until thickened – whisk as necessary.  Soup base done! (Time: 10-15 minutes)

2. Add the shredded cheese and whisk until thoroughly mixed. Season with pepper as desired. Cheese Soup done! (Time: 15-20 minutes)

Variations:

Starch – If you can’t do wheat flour, you can use starch.  Just skip the adding flour step, and heat the milk/butter. Once it’s heated and you’ve added your “flavoring options”, you can add your starch. Mix 1-2 Tbsp starch with 1-2 tsp water. It should be just enough to make it a watery paste, you don’t need to be exact. Mix this little by little into the soup until you get it to the right consistency, make sure to stir constantly while adding to prevent lumps.  Starch will be the last thing you add. (If pureeing the soup, wait to add starch until after it’s pureed as that may change it’s thickness.)

Flavors: From the cream soup base (or cheese soup) you can add any kind of frozen or canned veggies you like, or left-over pre-cooked veggies.  Approximately 1-2 cups of Broccoli, Cauliflower, Celery, Peas. Potato, macaroni, possibly sweet potato or carrots.  (if adding veggies, you’ll want to add another tablespoon of flour to the recipe above) Add additional flavors as you like such as onion, cayenne, curry, mustard, pieces of bacon, or whatever grabs your fancy. Mix and match. The recipe is only as boring as your imagination, and can be left chunky or pureed.

If the soup ends up too thick, just add more milk  or water (bit by bit, don’t add more than 1/4 cup at a time) until it’s the right thickness for you.

**This is an excellent recipe for busy Mom’s with kids who need to put on weight as it’s easy to alter to your child’s tastebuds and easy to make in a hurry and take with you.