Are you looking for an easy side dish for a busy weeknight dinner? Your family will love this Cheesy Broccoli & Rice Casserole and it makes plenty for leftovers!
Cheesy Broccoli & Rice Casserole
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Cheese, rice, bread crumbs, and broccoli. Dare I say it’s pretty close to a perfect side dish? You get some grains and a veggie! This recipe does call for a pound of frozen broccoli. You could easily add more broccoli or a different vegetable to pump up your veggie content even more.
I found this recipe in “Best Ever Casseroles” by Gooseberry Patch, and we love it! Of course, I can’t get our son to be interested in it right now, but John and I think it’s great!
It’s so easy to make and takes almost no time to put together. The hardest thing to do is to remember to thaw the frozen broccoli first. And if you forget that, just defrost it in the microwave! (I may have had to do that very thing… Just be sure to open the bag a little for a vent, and use your defrost setting. Check it frequently so the broccoli doesn’t start to cook while it’s in there!)
The recipe calls for instant rice. The great thing about instant rice is that you don’t need to cook it before adding it to this casserole. There is plenty of liquid in this dish for the rice to soak up, and the rice cooks while the casserole is in the oven. But I thought the texture of the rice wasn’t the best. Don’t get me wrong – we ate every last bit of this casserole! But if you want to be able to see individual grains of rice in your dish, you might try substituting cooked white or brown rice instead. Use your stash of Freezer Rice, and keep your prep time to a minimum!
John and I liked this dish so much, it will definitely be making a repeat appearance on our table. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
Enjoy!
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Cheesy Broccoli and Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons butter melted
- <g class="gr_ gr_74 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="74" data-gr-id="74">15 ounce</g> jar Velveeta cheese spread
- 1/2 cup milk
- 16 ounce package frozen broccoli thawed
- 10-3/4 ounce can cream of celery soup
- 1-1/2 cup instant rice uncooked
- 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, saute onion in 1/2 cup butter until onion is tender.
- Add cheese sauce, milk, broccoli, soup, and rice to onion and butter. Stir until combined.
- Transfer mixture to a greased casserole dish.
- In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs and 2 Tablespoons of melted butter, stir well to coat. Sprinkle over casserole.
- Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes, until hot and bubbly.
made this last night and loved it (used yellow rice) …when the kids eat it all up it’s a keeper!
I’m glad they liked it!