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Creamy broccoli cheddar tortellini soup with broccoli florets and shredded cheese in a white bowl
Katie

Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheddar Tortellini Soup

A thick, creamy slow cooker broccoli cheddar soup loaded with cheese tortellini. Mostly hands-off, and the one trick that keeps the cheese silky instead of grainy.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 40 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Dinner, Main Course, Soup
Cuisine: American
Calories: 545
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 24 ounce fresh broccoli florets cut on the larger side
  • 1 ½ cups matchstick carrots
  • 1 yellow onion diced
  • 6 garlic cloves minced
  • 2 tablespoon garlic and herb seasoning blend salt-free
  • 2 teaspoon adobo seasoning or any all-purpose blend
  • 1 pinch ground nutmeg
  • 6 cups chicken broth divided
  • ⅓ cup cornstarch
  • 2 cups heavy cream or half and half
  • 18 ounce fresh refrigerated cheese tortellini
  • 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese freshly shredded from a block, plus more for topping
  • Salt and black pepper to taste

Method
 

  1. Add the broccoli, carrots, onion, and garlic to a 6-quart slow cooker.
  2. Sprinkle the garlic and herb blend, adobo, and nutmeg over the vegetables.
  3. Pour in 5 cups of the chicken broth.
  4. In a separate cup, whisk the remaining 1 cup of broth with the cornstarch until completely smooth, then stir it into the slow cooker. Mixing it with cold broth first is what keeps it from clumping.
  5. Cover and cook on High for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or Low for 4 to 5, until the broccoli is just tender. Check on the early side; it gets another 30 minutes of cooking in the next step.
  6. Stir in the heavy cream and tortellini, tucking the pasta under the liquid. Cover and cook on High about 30 minutes, until the tortellini is tender.
  7. Turn the slow cooker OFF. Wait a minute, then add the cheddar a handful at a time, stirring gently until each addition melts before adding more. There is plenty of residual heat; leaving the cooker on is what makes the cheese turn grainy.
  8. Taste, season with salt and black pepper, and serve with extra cheddar on top.

Notes

Turn the slow cooker off before adding the cheese, not down to low or warm. Cheese is an emulsion, and continued heat makes the proteins tighten and squeeze out the fat, which is what grainy soup is. Once it breaks you can't bring it back.
Shred the cheddar yourself from a block. Pre-shredded cheese is dusted with anti-caking starch that keeps it from melting cleanly.
The broccoli cooks twice: 2 1/2-3 hours in the first stage, then another 30 minutes with the tortellini. Pull it while it still has structure or it will be mush by the end.
Slow cookers are sealed, so almost nothing evaporates and soups come out thinner than stovetop versions. That's why the cornstarch is there. Whisk it into cold broth first; straight into hot liquid it seizes into lumps.
The nutmeg rounds out cheesy, creamy soups and makes them taste richer without tasting of nutmeg.
Leftovers thicken considerably because the tortellini keeps absorbing broth. Stir in a splash of broth or milk when reheating. To keep leftovers soupy, cook the tortellini separately and add it to each bowl.
Reheat gently on low power or on the stove. A fast hot blast can break a cheese soup that survived the slow cooker fine.
Use fresh broccoli rather than frozen, which is blanched before freezing and falls apart over a long cook.