Simple Cheesy Vegetable Chowderrn

Name: Simple Cheesy Vegetable Chowder
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 6 Tablespoons butter; ½ cup finely chopped onion; ⅓ cup flour; 28 ounces canned chicken broth (two 14 ounce cans); 16 ounces Cheez Whiz (1 jar); ½ cup milk; ¼ teaspoons black pepper; 16 ounces frozen carrot, broccoli and cauliflower blend; 3 medium potatoes (cooked and diced)

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This simple Cheesy Vegetable Chowder is filled with lots of tasty vegetables, a delicious creamy broth, and a secret ingredient that gives the chowder its distinctly cheesy taste!

$12.40 per recipe / $1.55 per serving

Broccoli cauliflower cheese soup in pot next to bowl of dinner rolls.

Of all the soups my mom made growing up, this cheesy vegetable chowder was my favorite.

I have fond memories of eating it on Halloween night from bread bowls in between trick-or-treating.

This recipe works because it’s:

Delicious in bread bowls. The broth is thick enough in this chowder that it sticks to the bread without making it a soggy mess.
Ready in under 30 minutes. It’s a comforting soup that your family will love any night of the week. And you’ll love making it because it’s so quick!
A great way to use up leftover baked potatoes! I love to make a few extra baked potatoes so that I can make this soup the next day.

Plus, you’ll never believe what gives it the cheesy taste!

Step-by-Step Instructions

Cheesy vegetable chowder ingredients on a table including potatoes, butter and jarred cheese.

Add 6 tablespoons of butter to a large soup pot and melt over medium heat. Add ½ cup finely chopped onion (or onion powder) and cook until tender.

Melted butter in large metal stock pot next to bowl of broth and jarred cheese.

Stir in ⅓ cup flour to make a paste. COOK for 2 minutes, stirring constantly to avoid browning.

Roux mixture in large metal stock pot next to bowl of broth and jarred cheese.

Next, stir in 28 ounces of chicken broth (or one of these chicken broth substitutes) until the mixture is smooth. Bring to a simmer for 5 minutes or until thickened, stirring frequently.

Chicken broth mixed with roux in large metal cooking pot next to wooden spoon.

Add 16 ounces Cheez Whiz, ½ cup milk and ¼ teaspoons black pepper. Continue cooking until thoroughly heated.

Chowder base in pot next to bowl of mixed vegetables and diced potato.

Add 16 ounces of frozen carrots, broccoli, cauliflower blend and 3 cooked, diced potatoes and heat through.

Chopped vegetables in cheesy chowder with wooden spoon inside large metal soup pot.

*Optional: Serve in bread bowls.

Recipe Tips and Substitutions

Bread bowl full of cheesy vegetable chowder on white plate with gray towel nearby.

Yes, this recipe calls for Cheez Whiz. A little processed, sure, but the taste is so good! I’m not a huge fan of Velveeta, and this chowder tastes nothing like that.

If you’re not a fan of onions (like me!), you can omit the chopped onion and replace it with 2 teaspoons of onion powder or dried, minced onion.

Since this recipe calls for cooked potatoes, I’ll always make this soup after we’ve had baked potatoes for dinner earlier in the week. I put a few extra in the oven and save them in the fridge.

Otherwise, you’ll need to cook the potatoes in the oven or in an Instant Pot before starting the soup.

If your frozen vegetable blend has really large pieces in it, you can keep those out and cut them smaller after defrosting in the microwave.

Recipe Costs

This recipe costs $12.40 to make which is $1.55 a serving! A large part of the cost of this recipe is the Cheez Whiz, so you can save even more money by making your own.

Butter – $0.94 (buy grass-fed butter in bulk from Costco to save money!)
Chopped onion – $0.30
Flour – $0.04
Chicken broth – $2.00
Cheez Whiz – $5.99
Milk – $0.12
Black pepper – $0.05
Frozen carrot, broccoli and cauliflower blend – $1.16
Potatoes – $1.80

FAQs

Two bread bowls with vegetable cheese soup on white plates with gold spoon and kitchen towel nearby.

I don’t like Cheez Whiz. What can I use instead?

You can always substitute shredded cheese off the block for the Cheez Whiz. A few other substitutes for Cheez Whiz you can try are:

-Velveeta Cheese
-Easy Cheese
-Old English Cheese Spread
-Store-brand cheese dip or sauce

I hope your family loves this delicious cheesy vegetable chowder! If you make it, be sure to take a picture and tag me on Instagram with @ashcroftfamilytable and use the hashtag #ashcroftfamilytable!