Gordon Ramsay’s broccoli and stilton soup is bright green, tangy and ready in about 15 minutes. It’s built on just broccoli and salted water with crumbled stilton stirred through at the end, which gives it a rich, sharp edge you don’t get from a plain broccoli soup.
The base comes from Ramsay’s broccoli soup in Make It Easy, where he boils florets in salted water for exactly 4 minutes, then blends them with the cooking liquid. That liquid is the secret: it’s concentrated broccoli flavour, and it works better than any stock. I stir in Colston Bassett stilton at the end because that’s the one Ramsay names in Ultimate Home Cooking as his go-to.
The thing that makes or breaks this soup is timing. Four minutes in boiling water keeps the broccoli bright green and sweet. Go past five and it turns grey and bitter, and no amount of cheese will save it.
Gordon Ramsay’s Broccoli and Stilton Soup
Course: Soup, Starter4
5
minutes10
minutes320
kcal15
minutesEasy
Gordon Ramsay’s broccoli and stilton soup, built from his Make It Easy technique of boiling florets in salted water and blending with the cooking liquid. Colston Bassett stilton stirred through at the end turns it rich and tangy. About £5.80 to make, ready in 15 minutes.
Ingredients
1kg (2.2 lb) broccoli, cut into florets (discard the woody stalks)
800ml (3½ cups) water
Sea salt and black pepper
150g (5 oz) stilton such as Colston Bassett, crumbled
75ml (⅓ cup) double cream
50g (2 oz) walnuts, lightly toasted
Extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle
Directions
- Boil the broccoli: Bring 800ml of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the florets, cover with a lid and cook for exactly 4 minutes until tender but still bright green. Drain into a colander set over a bowl so you keep the cooking liquid.
- Blend with the cooking liquid: Transfer the broccoli to a blender and add enough of the reserved liquid to half-fill the jug. Blitz until completely smooth and velvety. Add more liquid if you want it thinner.
- Stir in the cream: Pour the soup back into the pan over a gentle heat. Stir in the double cream and warm through without boiling.
- Add the stilton: Take the pan off the heat. Crumble in about two thirds of the stilton and stir until it melts into the soup. Season with pepper and go easy on salt because the cheese is already salty.
- Serve: Ladle into warm bowls. Scatter the remaining stilton and toasted walnuts on top, then finish with a drizzle of olive oil.
FAQs
Why use the cooking water instead of stock?
That’s Ramsay’s key insight from Make It Easy. The water you boil the broccoli in is packed with flavour from the vegetable itself, so it works as a natural broccoli stock. Using chicken or veg stock actually muddies the taste because you want the broccoli to be the star, not the stock.
What stilton should I buy?
Ramsay names Colston Bassett in Ultimate Home Cooking as his preferred stilton. It’s handmade in Nottinghamshire and has a creamy, rich texture that melts beautifully into soup. Most Tesco and Sainsbury’s stores carry it in the specialist cheese section.
If you can’t find it, Tesco British Blue Stilton at £2.95 for 220g works well. Just avoid the very dry, crumbly ones because they don’t melt as smoothly.
How much does this soup cost to make?
About £5.80 for four bowls. The stilton is the expensive part at around £2 for 150g from a Tesco 220g pack at £2.95. A kilo of broccoli is about £2.46 at £0.82 a head, and cream, walnuts and olive oil fill in the rest.
Swap the stilton for Tesco Extra Mature Cheddar and it drops to about £4. Different soup, still good, but you lose that tangy blue cheese edge. It goes well before something like filet mignon or alongside a Sunday roast as a starter.
Can I use the broccoli stalks?
Ramsay cuts only the florets for this soup in Make It Easy and discards the stalks. The florets blend into a smoother, more vibrant soup. Stalks are woodier and can make the texture fibrous.
That said, if you hate waste, peel the stalks, chop them small and add them to the boiling water 2 minutes before the florets so they get the extra time they need.
Does broccoli and stilton soup freeze well?
Freeze the soup before adding the stilton and cream. The plain broccoli base freezes brilliantly for up to three months. When you reheat, warm it through gently, then stir in the cream and stilton fresh. Blue cheese goes grainy when frozen and reheated, so adding it at the end keeps the texture right.
