Wednesday, December 16, 2020

BROCCOLI CHEESE CASSEROLE RECIPE

We're pretty sure everyone has had a broccoli casserole at one point or another.  They were ubiquitous in the 70's and 80's.  The recipe is pretty standard.
 
Here is the original:

1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped celery
2 Tbsp butter
1 pkg frozen chopped broccoli thawed and drained
1 cup minute rice
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 8oz jar cheez whiz


In the interest of making things a little different, 

Here is our recipe:

1 cup chopped onion and celery total
2 Tbsp butter
4 cups fresh broccoli florets
1 cup rice, cooked
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 15oz jar cheez whiz (melted 30 secs in microwave)

The pics below are ours that we increased the size of for Thanksgiving so we'd have lots of leftovers for the long weekend.  We used 1 1/2 cups chopped onions and celery, 6 cups fresh broccoli, 2 cups of rice (cooked), still 1 can of soup, and then two jars of cheez whiz.

OK so there are three ingredients that are somewhat controversial.  The original recipe uses Minute Rice.  Probably for ease of preparation and that was kinda the thing in the 70's.  2nd Man can cook up a pan of rice in no time and it's always amazing.  If you just do it the night before it's even easier.

Another controversial ingredient is frozen broccoli.  Fresh is so good.  Now in years past, chopping broccoli is a pain.  With today's convenience items, we pick up the bags of ready to go florets.  In this case you can microwave the bag and it cooks right up.

The last ingredient that is definitely controversial is cheez whiz.  Yes, processed cheese in a jar.  Yes, like Velveeta.  We've actually tried making this with cheddar and/or a combination of cheeses.  It's good but it's not AS good, ha.


In a skillet, melt the butter and then sauté the onions and celery.  Have your rice cooked and ready as well.  Remember it's one cup (or two as we used) BEFORE cooking (meaning the cooked amount is a bit more).

The broccoli needs to be cooked a bit, these bags allow it to be cooked in the microwave in the bag.  It worked great.  You can of course steam it or pop in the skillet that the other veggies were in.  Just get it cooked a bit so it's not raw in the casserole.

Then just get a big bowl and mix it all together. The sautéed veggies, the cooked broccoli, rice, soup and cheez whiz.  Mix it well.


Then put it all in a casserole dish. The smaller recipe should fit in an 8x8 casserole dish.  As I mentioned we made a large batch so we used this larger, deeper casserole dish.

Cover with foil and cook for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  Remove the foil and cook for 20 more minutes or until the top starts to brown.  For some reason I forgot to get a picture of it out of the oven.


Here is is on the plate.  Just cheesy and gooey and a great comfort food dish.

Enjoy!



14 comments:

  1. Thank U 4 sharing your recipe.
    Cold & windy here today

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are quite welcome! We had cold and windy but now it's cool and sunny. I think rain coming this weekend maybe.

      Delete
    2. I made one mistake when I made this the other day; I just didn't make enough of it. Instead of a single batch, I should had made a double bath.
      Will know better next time, as I make my own personal notes on a Good or bad recipe.
      Two thumbs up, and is a 5 star, plus recipe. :}

      Delete
    3. There goes my keyboard again. That should saw - double batch; Not bath. (more coffee; Need more coffee).

      Delete
  2. We never partook of these casseroles. My mother didn't serve anything with cheese. Always said she couldn't stand it. Although I view Cheez Whiz with trepidation, I think we'll give this dish a try.

    Love,
    Janie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. no casseroles? I'd miss casseroles if I couldn't have them anymore, ha. This is good and you can TOTALLY make it with a homemade cheese sauce, maybe something you would use for homemade Mac and cheese or something. Thanks!!

      Delete
    2. Mother disapproved of many things.

      Delete
  3. nope, not here. grandmom never made a casserole. it's currently snowing in philly.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It is easy to cook/steam broccoli in the microwave. I use a Corning dish with a lid and a few teaspoons of water. Now, I wish i had some broccoli! I can lick the computer screen.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mmm, this looks so good! It’s been years since I had this. I have some fresh broccoli. This would be a good recipe for it.
    Thank you for sharing your recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've had variations of this since the 80s... somehow my mother never cooked broccoli that I can remember ... when I was younger and lived at home. The first time I had some a friend gave me a taste ... It was wonderful!! There is some combination of flavors that is great!! (probably the cheeze whiz) .. Thanks for bringing this up to my memory files... I'll have to make it again. And yes.. frozen broccoli works great ... and we always have some in the freezer ready to go.

    ReplyDelete

Please leave us a comment! I have some comment moderation on and of course will approve your comment relatively quickly. We love feedback and hearing what others have to share with us all. Please know that I can't always reply to it right away, but ALL comments are read. I will reply just as soon as I can so be sure to come back and see my reply.

Now, let us hear from you!