I really liked the soup, my kids liked it more than I do. I used turkey instead of chicken and browned that in butter with 3 chopped cloves of garlic. I cooked the broccoli in 4 cups of chicken broth (only needed enough for 4 people). Added the turkey to the stock and then made the roux adding it slowly, as suggested, to the stock. Finally added LOTS of mild cheddar. It was great! Thanks for the recipe.

I served it to a family of five, and we all loved it! I made numerous changes. I first roasted some chopped onion and garlic in the butter. Like many others, I used the base made with butter and flour as a starter and added the other ingredients. Much easier. I used 10 cups total of half chicken stock, half chicken broth. I personally would not use water, especially tap water. I slowly stirred in the chicken stock using a whisk, keeping it from getting lumpy. I brought that to a slow boil, and added two whole boneless chicken breasts, fresh broccoli (2-3 heads worth), sea salt, black (and a little white) pepper, garlic powder and a sprinkling of Mrs. Dash. I never measure spices. I go by "feel" and taste. I had all of that on a slow boil for approx 50 min. I removed the chicken, and shredded it with two forks and returned it to the pot. I then placed the flame on simmer. Meanwhile, I had cut up a small box of Velveeta into cubes. I slowly stirred this in until melted. I then added the rest of the cheese via fresh shredded mild cheddar. Finally, I used Half and Half instead of light cream and added that in. I let all that simmer for another 15 min or so and then took out a hand masher and mashed the broccoli up so there were very few large pieces. I was going a little more for a cream of broccoli, and I didn't use a ton of chicken either. Probably the best and most well received soup I have ever made, and I have made a lot. Really, really creamy and delicious.

Really easy but did follow others advice of making the flour/chicken broth paste before adding other ingredients. Very simple and delicious especially after a long day. You could really add lots of different veggies. I didn't think it lacked flavor at all. thanks

This is an awesome recipe exactly the way it is.

Very good recipe! Kids loved it, too. Five star-taste; 4 star directions. Really, the directions should probably instruct you to make the roux: gradually add the stock (soup base much better than boullion cubes) whisking constantly to remove lumps; then add other ingredients. Easy and delicious. I suspect that using the roux as written would give you problems with lumps. Love the addition of chicken to broccoli soup! I decreased the cheese a bit and still wonderful.

I followed the recipe and it was ok, but bland.

Great recipe with a little tweaking! As per reviews (and common cooking sense), I left my roux in the pot (including some diced onions I sauteed in the butter) and added the broth gradually to let it thicken up. I used leftover rotisserie chicken and frozen broccoli florets which made for a super easy meal. I used an immersion blender to break up the broccoli a little, though if you do this I would recommend putting in the chicken afterward! If we weren't having this in bread bowls I would have added a little rice too, but I didn't want to OD on the starches! :p

I added a few more spices (a bit of garlic and onion powders and some parsley) and I added a touch more of the bouillon to the water (which i boiled the chicken in.) As far as the cheese, I used about a 1 inch chunk of velveeta instead. THIS SOUP WAS AMAZING WITH MY CHANGES! My family ate it up!

I did read a few reviews saying this was bland and I agree. I added a few spices and extra shredded cheese and it wasn't too exciting. I can see this being something kids would enjoy. The one thing I wish I would have done was throw the cooked broccoli and chicken into the food proccessor. I think that would have went better in the soup than bite-sized chunks. Also, I even added some corn starch and it just wasn't thickening. I spent a lot of time stirring the butter, flour, and liquids and nothing was really working.

Really good, but I agree with other reviewers, just make your rue, add broth with wisk, then add broccoli and other ingredients. I also added a pinch of cayane, a dash of dry mustard and garlic powerder. Turned out awesome.