Cheesy broccoli casserole is ultra creamy, loaded with fresh softened broccoli, tender onion, shredded cheeses, and topped off with a buttery and oh-so-flavorful crushed cracker topping!
Enjoy this incredibly simple vegetable casserole as a side dish to an array of recipes or as a hearty meal as is. It’s so delicious, even those who don’t enjoy eating vegetables won’t have a problem indulging!
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- This cheesy broccoli casserole can be paired with so many dishes - ideal for special holiday meals or midweek side dish option.
- Struggling to get kids to eat veggies is a thing of the past with this cheesy broccoli casserole!
- Ditch the cream of soup for this recipe! Fresh ingredients that are also low-carb are used instead.
Everyone needs this cheesy broccoli casserole in their culinary arsenal! It’s an absolute winner for any occasion, as a side or main.
🛒 Ingredients
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Note: The full list of this Cheesy Onion Broccoli Casserole recipe ingredients with their amounts and options are listed in the recipe card below.
- Broccoli fresh, cut into bite sized pieces
- Butter
- Medium onion, diced
- Garlic powder
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Dry mustard powder
- Milk
- Cream cheese, cut into small pieces
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
- Parmesan cheese
- Ritz crackers, coarsely crushed
🗒 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- In a saucepan, cook the onion in butter until tender and translucent.
- Add in flour, garlic, dry mustard, and salt. Allow to cook 1-2 minutes until bubbly. This is making a light roux.
- Add milk a little bit at a time, whisking after each addition until smooth. Continue whisking over medium heat until thick and bubbly.
- Stir in cream cheese until smooth.
- Remove from heat and add in cheddar and parmesan cheese.
- Combine the topping ingredients in a separate bowl.
- Toss the sauce mixture with the pre-boiled and drained broccoli, and pour into the baking dish.
- Sprinkle the topping ingredients over the broccoli cheese mixture. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until heated through and bubbly.
🔪 Equipment
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You’ll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
🤔 FAQs
These are the questions we are most frequently asked about making Cheesy Broccoli Casserole.
I would advise that you do so that you don't get hard or undercooked chunks of broccoli in your casserole.
Yes, you can use 2 pounds of frozen broccoli instead but then you will need to first thaw it and drain it well. The texture of broccoli is softer after having been frozen.
The casserole is thickened with flour and onion roux! If you still feel that the sauce is runny, add 1 teaspoon of all-purpose flour, stirring frequently until the desired consistency is achieved.
This is a delicious combination of cheesy garlic and onion sauce, softened broccoli, topped off with crunchy crushed Ritz crackers. It's totally mouth-watering!
👩🏻🍳 Tips
- If you don’t like boiling vegetables, you can steam the broccoli instead.
- If you use frozen broccoli, you should first allow it to thaw for a bit and then add an additional 10 minutes to the baking time.
- Save some washing up and use an oven-safe skillet. That way, you can just add the broccoli to the skillet, top it off and add it to the oven.
- Don’t go crazy when crushing the Ritz crackers. You don't want the texture to be too fine but rather still have some delicious chunky bits.
- While this casserole serves 8, you can easily double the ingredients to make a larger casserole when serving a crowd.
- Leftover cheesy broccoli casserole can be reheated in the oven till heated through. It’s a great idea to add some freshly crushed crackers to your leftover casserole for additional crunch.
📚 Variations
- Ritz crackers are my top choice for this casserole but you could also use any other buttery cracker. Keebler Club Crackers come pretty close to the taste and texture of Ritz crackers. Cheez-its are another tasty option.
- Make this vegetarian casserole meaty by adding in some shredded chicken, crispy bacon pieces or chopped ham or turkey. It’s a great way to use up any leftover holiday meat!
- If broccoli doesn’t do it for you, make this casserole with cauliflower florets instead. You could also add in various other lightly steamed/boiled vegetables.
- Adding some egg noodles or rice to this casserole with help to bulk it up - great for turning this into a main meal.
- To make this casserole gluten-free, use a gluten-free flour like Bob’s Red Mill and opt for gluten-free crackers.
- For a kick of heat to your casserole you could add some hot sauce to the cheesy sauce or cayenne pepper.
🥫 Storage
Leftover cheesy broccoli casserole can be stored in an airtight container (or covered tightly in the casserole dish with plastic wrap )and refrigerated for up to 2-3 days. You can also freeze this dish for up to 3 months.
It’s worth noting that the crushed cracker topping will soften during storage so it’s best to use up the leftovers as soon as possible.
📗 Related Recipes
Casserole recipes have to be one of my favorite kinds of dishes - they’re super easy to assemble and often provide hearty wholesome meals for lunch, dinner, or in this case an optional tasty side dish!
If you love veggie casseroles, be sure to check out my Sweet Potato Casserole, or Baked Spinach Gratin.
And for those of you who love cheese, this Beer Cheese Soup is out of this world.
🍽 Serve with
This cheesy broccoli casserole can be enjoyed as a side to your holiday main meals such as Roast Turkey but also works really well any time of the year as a wholesome addition to your Sunday Pot Roast or roast chicken.
📞 Chiacchierata (chat)
If a side of roasted vegetables just seems a little bit boring or predictable, why not dress up a hearty serving of veg in a decadent cheesy sauce for a scrumptious casserole side dish?! That’s exactly what I did to create this mouth-watering cheesy broccoli casserole!
It’s a knock-out vegetarian dish that you can enjoy all year round with endless main meal recipes.
If you love cheesy vegetable casseroles, then next time try this Loaded Cauliflower Casserole recipe. There are never any leftovers.
What's new? Check out my All Our Way Store on Amazon. We'll be adding more items we love and use or wish we had to make cooking fun and easy.
📝 Recipe Card
This easy Cheesy Broccoli Casserole recipe makes this popular vegetable extra special. Even the veggie haters clean up their plate when presented with broccoli that is covered in a delicious cheese-onion sauce that's topped with crunchy buttery crackers. It's so easy to make, you'll want to make it often and not just a vegetable side for holidays.
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
📖 Recipe
Cheesy Broccoli Casserole
Equipment Needed
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Broccoli fresh cut into bite sized pieces (9-10 cups)
- 3 Tablespoons Butter
- ¾ Medium onion dices about (1 cups)
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
- 3 Tablespoons All-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Dry mustard powder
- 2 cups Milk
- 4 oz. Cream cheese cut into small pieces
- 1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese shredded
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
Topping
- 1 cup Ritz crackers other buttery crackers coarsely crushed
- ½ cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese shredded
- 2 Tablespoons Butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375℉.
- Boil broccoli in a large pot for 2-3 minutes or until tender crisp. Drain very well.
- In a saucepan, cook onion in butter until tender. Add in flour, garlic, dry mustard, and salt. Allow to cook 1-2 minutes until bubbly. This is making a light roux.
- Add milk a little bit at a time whisking after each addition until smooth. Continue whisking over medium heat until thick and bubbly.
- Stir in cream cheese until smooth.
- Remove from heat and add in cheddar and parmesan cheese.
- Toss with broccoli and pour into the baking dish.
- Combine topping ingredients.
- Sprinkle the ingredients over broccoli cheese mixture. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until heated through and bubbly.
Notes
- If you don’t like boiling vegetables, you can steam the broccoli instead.
- If you use frozen broccoli, you should first allow it to thaw for a bit and then add an additional 10 minutes to the baking time.
- Save some washing up and use an oven-safe skillet. That way, you can just add the broccoli to the skillet, top it off and add it to the oven.
- Don’t go crazy when crushing the Ritz crackers. You don't want the texture to be too fine but rather still have some delicious chunky bits.
- While this casserole serves 8, you can easily double the ingredients to make a larger casserole when serving a crowd.
- Leftover cheesy broccoli casserole can be reheated in the oven till heated through. It’s a great idea to add some freshly crushed crackers to your leftover casserole for additional crunch.
Nutrition
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