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Cheese Soup with a Twist

3 reviews
Test Kitchen Approved
Total Time

Prep/Total Time: 30 min.

Makes

8 servings (2 quarts)

One of my favorite childhood memories is of my Aunt Claire serving up hearty bowlfuls of her famous cheesy soup. She would pair this cheese soup with a slice of warm buttered bread for a downhome lunch. —Rob Feezor, Alexandria, Virginia
Cheese Soup with a Twist
Cheese Soup with a Twist Recipe photo by Taste of Home
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Ingredients

  • 5 bacon strips, diced
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
  • 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 3 cups cubed Velveeta
  • 1/2 cup sliced pimiento-stuffed olives
  • 1/2 cup grated carrots
  • 2 tablespoons sherry, optional
  • Minced fresh parsley

Directions

  1. In a Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove to paper towels to drain. In the drippings, saute the celery, onion and green pepper until tender.
  2. Stir in flour and pepper until blended; gradually add broth and milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened.
  3. Add the cheese, olives, carrots and, if desired, sherry; cook and stir until cheese is melted. Sprinkle servings with parsley and bacon.

Test Kitchen Tips
  • Buy several pounds of bacon when it’s on sale. Put the strips in a single layer on jelly roll pans and pop them in the oven to bake at 350° until crisp. Then place the strips on paper towels to drain before storing them in single layers in a freezer container. It’s easy to remove only the number of strips you need for a quick breakfast, sandwich or salad. A short time in the microwave reheats the bacon.
  • To keep parsley fresh for up to a month, trim the ends of the stems and place the bunch in a tumbler with an inch of water. Be sure no loose leaves are in the water. Tie a produce bag around the tumbler to trap humidity; store in the refrigerator.
  • Check out the cheesiest recipes we've ever made.

    • Nutrition Facts

    1 cup: 292 calories, 21g fat (10g saturated fat), 50mg cholesterol, 1155mg sodium, 13g carbohydrate (8g sugars, 1g fiber), 14g protein.

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    Reviews

    Click stars to rate
    Average Rating:
    • randcbruns
      Apr 8, 2018

      This needs some tweaking but it is a great soup. I like using heavy cream instead of milk. I leave out the olives and I add in some pimento cheese.

    • regulus
      Mar 31, 2015

      Substitute the pimento-stuffed olives with black olives and use heavy whipping cream instead of milk and you'll have one butt-kicker of a recipe!

    • tcarver
      Mar 21, 2014

      Velveta was way to over powering. Olives didn't taste good with the cheese.

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