I cannot understand how this recipe received such rave reviews. I will admit I used pre-made meatballs to make this easier for me on a weeknight meal, however my daughter would not eat this, and I managed to finish off a small bowl of this. This ended up being more like a thick stew as opposed to a soup. That did not bother me in the least, I prefer a thicker chunky type soup/stew. This recipe SOUNDED good, I thought that perhaps the idea of a cheesy meatball soup WAS a good idea for dinner tonight, but I'm just as glad my friend opted out of joining us for dinner, I would have been embarrassed to serve this. The appearance was not good and the texture was weird and not at all pleasing on the palate. The Cheez Whiz may have been the fatal flaw in this recipe. I just don't know. The potatoes turned almost to mush before the carrots and celery were finished cooking. The caricature of this soup as a “cheeseburger” was totally inaccurate and did not at all resemble a cheeseburger, or taste anything like a cheeseburger. I thought the hot sauce was a bad addition to this recipe as well, as it gave the whole dish a tang that didn’t enhance the flavor at all and my daughter said she could “feel” on the back of her throat and she did not like that either.

Reviewed On: Nov. 17, 2008

I read a lot of reviews on this recipe before I made it. I was a bit concerned from the onset that it didn't have enough seasoning in it. I added quite a bit of seasoning in addition to what was asked for. It's surprising to me that everyone is/was adding nutmeg to this soup, claiming it was missing something. It was obvious to me that no one mentioned lemon pepper. I find that I use lemon pepper in almost everything, it's an excellent spice and lends itself to almost everything, but particularly to broccoli. I did change the whole premise of the soup though, because I used 4 cans of chicken broth and 2 one pound packages of broccoli cuts. I also increased the amount of butter/flour for the roux and in addition to spicing the chicken broth and broccoli with lemon pepper, onion (dried), garlic powder, onion powder and about 2 tablespoons of chicken base (paste) I spiced the roux with the same measurements that were already in the broccoli base, adding about 1 tablespoon of celery salt. I cooked this mixture for about a minute added 2 cups of milk, and 1 cup of heavy whipping cream. I cooked the roux for about 5 minutes to let it thicken and then mixed with the broccoli and chicken broth. I let it set for about 15 minutes to meld the flavors and realized it needed more salt. I added about a teaspoon and it was perfect. I'm giving the recipe as is a three star rating, but with the addition of what I put in, absolutely 5 and I am considering submitting it to Allrecipe

Reviewed On: Oct. 8, 2008

I only made a couple of adjustments to this recipe, which is a first for me, since I change EVERYTHING...First and most importantly, I NEVER use margarine, I ONLY use butter...same fat content as margarine and margarine is one molecule away from being plastic! (in case you didn’t know), to that I added my own blend of seasonings including garlic powder and dried onion (hate the real stuff), onion powder and a bit of lemon pepper (use it in almost everything). Second, I wanted something a little more refined looking so I strained out some of the vegetables about 2 cups total and then I blended the rest of the soup using the potatoes from the blended soup to thicken instead of the cornstarch. The result was actually a very nicely colored light orange soup. I then added back in the reserved veggies, served this with homemade garlic bread (ok, really homemade garlic butter on fresh bread) and a garden salad (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese and croutons). I made this for a dinner party and it was a huge hit. My guests even took home the left over soup! **I have made this actually a couple of times since and have gotten rave reviews each time. This is an easy and inexpensive way to feed a crowd, and I love finding those kinds of deals :> **

Reviewed On: Oct. 1, 2008