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Dairy-Free Broccoli Stem Soup

June 1, 2015 40 Comments

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BroccoliStemSoup CD

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I can’t even tell you how many years I spent throwing my broccoli stems in the garbage.  I didn’t even think twice about it until I discovered how delicious the stems actually are. Come to think of it, I’m not even sure why I just assumed they were any less delish than the florets, but I digress…

Here’s the simple truth of it, broccoli stems are as delicious as the florets and if you have a really fresh head of broccoli, dare I say, the stems can be even more sweet and tender than the florets.

And while this Broccoli Stem Soup is one of my favorite ways to use them stems, here are 5 more ways I love to use my broccoli stems:

  1. Slice them into coins and stir-fry with a little ginger, garlic, say sauce, and sesame oil.
  2. Finely chop them and toss them into a salad.
  3. Saute in some coconut oil and scramble them into my eggs (they are great in frittatas and omelets as well).
  4. Slice them into coins and roast at 400 for about 20 minutes (very similar to my Popcorn Broccoli only made with the stems).
  5. Slice them into thin rounds and use as a ‘chip’ to dip into hummus or guacamole.

What about you guys?  Do you save your broccoli stems?  What creative ways do you find to use the stems?

Print Recipe
5 from 40 votes

Dairy-Free Broccoli Stem Soup

If you want to keep this recipe vegan and vegetarian, simply replace the chicken broth with veggie broth or water.
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time15 mins
Total Time25 mins
Course: DIET, LUNCH, soup + stew + chili
Cuisine: American, dairy free, gluten free, low carb + keto
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 31kcal
Author: Dani Spies

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 an onion sliced into half moons
  • 2 cloves of garlic chopped up
  • The stems from one head of broccoli sliced into thin coins (about 4 cups)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 3 cups of low-sodium chicken broth

Instructions

  • Heat olive oil in a medium pot and stir in onions, garlic, and broccoli stems. Season the veggies with some salt and pepper and allow to cook for about ten minutes being sure to stir a few times to ensure nothing burns.
  • Once the veggies have become tender pour the chicken broth into the pot. You can add more or less broth depending on how thick or thin you like your soup. Shut off the heat and blend up your soup (*Its probably a good idea to let the soup cool just a bit before blending and be careful not to fill your blender more than halfway with your soup otherwise you run the risk of the soup exploding all over).
  • Blend for about 10-15 seconds or until the soup is all blended up. You could add little more broth if you want your soup to be thinner. Taste your soup. Adjust your seasonings and enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 31kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 1mg | Sugar: 1g
Course: DIET, LUNCH, soup + stew + chili
Cuisine: American, dairy free, gluten free, low carb + keto

Did you make this recipe? Snap a picture and tag @CleanAndDelicious on Instagram.
I LOVE to seeing your C&D creations. ❤︎ Dani

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Reader Interactions

40 Comments

  1. Marcia

    March 21, 2012 at 8:38 am

    5 stars
    Wow! I’ve always thrown away those stems! These are some awesome ideas! Thanks Dani! I can’t wait to try the soup! Looks great!

    reply to this comment
    • Dani

      June 1, 2015 at 1:27 pm

      5 stars
      You are very welcome! Let me know if you get to try any of them:)

      reply to this comment
    • Grace

      April 15, 2018 at 6:10 am

      5 stars
      May I know if the leftovers can be kept in the fridge for the next few days? Would be great if they do

      reply to this comment
      • Dani

        April 15, 2018 at 7:48 am

        5 stars
        Absolutely!

        reply to this comment
  2. Ren

    March 22, 2012 at 6:57 am

    5 stars
    I love these ideas! I have always thrown the stems away too!

    reply to this comment
    • Dani

      June 1, 2015 at 1:27 pm

      5 stars
      A lot of people throw them away! I hope you get to try some of these ideas.

      reply to this comment
  3. Amber

    March 22, 2012 at 8:20 am

    5 stars
    Great ideas Dani, I love the idea of roasting them in the oven. Thank you.
    I just recently found a green juice recipe which included broccoli stems so now they have a special purpose in getting me more juice for my buck.

    reply to this comment
    • Dani

      June 1, 2015 at 1:26 pm

      5 stars
      Love that idea – I never tried juicing them, but I will now!

      reply to this comment
    • Sunny

      March 1, 2019 at 3:13 pm

      5 stars
      My soup has a lot of broccoli ribs in it, I don’t want to serve it. What did I do wrong?

      reply to this comment
      • Dani

        March 6, 2019 at 4:30 pm

        5 stars
        Hmmmm. The only thing that comes to mind is that you may have had an older head of broccoli. The older (and bigger) the broccoli, the tougher the stems can be. In this case, I would recommend trimming them down before cooking. So sorry this didn’t work out for you.

        reply to this comment
  4. Amy

    March 22, 2012 at 1:17 pm

    5 stars
    I grate them and add to salad or make cole slaw.

    reply to this comment
    • Dani

      June 1, 2015 at 1:26 pm

      5 stars
      Brilliant! Thanks for sharing.

      reply to this comment
  5. Michael

    March 24, 2012 at 5:13 am

    5 stars
    Just made this and the taste of red onion and broccoli is so good 🙂 On top I added som chicken and fromage frais to get a higher protein content 🙂

    reply to this comment
    • Dani

      June 1, 2015 at 1:26 pm

      5 stars
      Sounds delicious… so glad you enjoyed it.

      reply to this comment
  6. Grandma Kat @ Easy Recipes Land

    March 28, 2012 at 10:17 am

    5 stars
    Thanks for the recipe. I’m excited to try this out later in the week for me and my husband.

    Thanks,

    Grandma Kat
    XOXOXOXOXO

    reply to this comment
    • Dani

      June 1, 2015 at 1:26 pm

      5 stars
      You are very welcome! Enjoy!

      reply to this comment
    • Angie

      May 5, 2019 at 9:22 pm

      5 stars
      I’m wondering if putting some coconut milk into the soup to make it sweet & creamy might work.

      reply to this comment
      • Dani

        May 22, 2019 at 2:20 pm

        5 stars
        That would definitely work!

        reply to this comment
  7. Betty

    March 29, 2012 at 11:50 am

    5 stars
    Hi there…love your site!!! Could you tell me the name of your blender…I use mine every day and find that it’s really super loud, but I noticed that you could even talk while blending your soup, very impressive 😉

    Keep up the good work!!!

    reply to this comment
    • Dani

      June 1, 2015 at 1:25 pm

      5 stars
      My hubby may have done some sound editing for the video – which is why I was able to talk over the blender. In this video I was using the Breville Hempishere.

      reply to this comment
  8. Rich

    February 6, 2014 at 1:20 pm

    5 stars
    My peas turned into cocoa-puffs. 20 minutes was too long, but the flavor was still great. Next time it will be 15 minutes.

    reply to this comment
  9. Karen

    August 24, 2014 at 10:34 am

    5 stars
    I’ve always used the whole broccoli. It’s kind of like poultry where some like dark and some like light meat. Some in my family like the ‘flower’, some like the stems. I can’t wait to try this soup, one of the few that don’t use cheese

    reply to this comment
    • Dani

      June 1, 2015 at 1:24 pm

      5 stars
      I agree! I hope you enjoy the recipe:)

      reply to this comment
  10. Ofra

    February 5, 2015 at 5:30 pm

    5 stars
    Don’t you find that you get tough short fibers that the blender could not chop up? That’s what happened to me twice, and I took extra care this time to peel the stems. 🙁

    reply to this comment
    • Dani

      February 9, 2015 at 3:01 pm

      5 stars
      The only thing I can think is if you has vey mature broccoli (older) – I have never had this problem. Total bummer!

      reply to this comment
    • Nupur

      July 22, 2018 at 8:43 pm

      5 stars
      Delicious recipe… was making broccoli pasta and the soup went well with it. I strained the soup after blending it to get rid of the tougher Fiber. I also did peel the tougher skin before starting.

      reply to this comment
  11. Jessica

    June 2, 2015 at 12:47 pm

    5 stars
    Wow, I didn’t know that some people threw away the stems. Sometimes I enjoy the stems more than the florets.

    reply to this comment
    • Dani

      June 2, 2015 at 3:22 pm

      5 stars
      What do you like to do with them?

      reply to this comment
  12. karen

    August 31, 2015 at 6:33 pm

    5 stars
    Someone long ago said I should peel the stems before using, and I think they are very good!

    reply to this comment
    • Dani

      September 1, 2015 at 5:15 am

      5 stars
      As long as the broccoli is not super old and bitter the stems are delicious!

      reply to this comment
  13. Debra

    November 23, 2015 at 3:55 pm

    5 stars
    Always loved stems but never made soup. Thanks for another great video. Love your style. :O)

    reply to this comment
    • Dani

      November 29, 2015 at 12:18 pm

      5 stars
      Thanks Debra!

      reply to this comment
  14. David

    March 18, 2016 at 8:55 pm

    5 stars
    Wow… the broccoli stems you can get are at least four or more times longer than the stems we get in Australia. Now I can understand why your recipe says one bunch/four cups… it would take us Aussies about 10-20 broccoli bunches to collect four cups of broccoli stem!

    reply to this comment
    • Dani

      March 19, 2016 at 2:11 am

      5 stars
      Interesting! You can try using the whole head of broccoli, rather than just the stems… and, of course, I’d love to hear about it if you do 🙂

      reply to this comment
  15. Nani Lu

    March 26, 2016 at 1:54 pm

    5 stars
    Very interesting Dani… you don’t even peel them? I must try! Thanks!

    reply to this comment
    • Dani

      March 27, 2016 at 11:10 pm

      5 stars
      I don’t usually peel them, but if you think they need it, then you can give them a peel 😉

      reply to this comment
  16. Melanie

    September 22, 2016 at 9:34 pm

    5 stars
    Just went out and bought a bunch of broccoli for this recipe… I WAS SO YUMMY! We doubled the recipe and used the entire broccoli head and stem. Yummy and healthy! thank you Dani!!!

    reply to this comment
    • Dani

      September 27, 2016 at 10:39 am

      5 stars
      So gla to hear it, Melanie!!

      reply to this comment
  17. Janet Huyton

    November 20, 2016 at 11:36 am

    5 stars
    I’m going to make this tonight and add a tin of cannelini beans before blitzing, it adds a really velvety texture to soup that means you don’t need cream or potatoes if you are keeping them out of your diet.

    reply to this comment
    • Dani

      November 20, 2016 at 11:30 pm

      5 stars
      Great idea!

      reply to this comment

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Hi, I’m Dani. I'm a Health, Wellness & Weight Loss Coach, Mom of two, and the Founder of Clean & Delicious®. I'll show you how to make healthy eating CRAZY-easy and insanely DELICIOUS! Learn more about me.

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