Broccoli Rice Casserole #SundayFunday

Welcome to #SundayFunday! Wendy from A Day In The Life on The Farm invited fellow bloggers to kick back, relax, and share something tasty and fun each weekend. "Sunday should be a Family Funday. Please join us in sharing recipes that will help you to enjoy your Sunday." If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join - we'd love to have you!

Sneha of Sneha's Recipe invited us to join her in sharing some of our very favorite Main Course Accompaniments or Side Dishes today! The sky is the limit.

This is an old trusted favorite recipe - it's comforting, cozy, utilizes basic staple ingredients, and can easily be changed up to see what you have on hand / prefer. Recipes like this have always been a go-to for me to use up leftover cooked rice, various veggies in the fridge, odds and end cheeses, and partially eaten bags of chips! Mix and match to your hearts content.

The seasoning is fairly mild in this recipe, especially with unseasoned rice and broccoli. If you add seasoning to either of those during cooking, you may not need to amp up the flavor of the cheese sauce as much. You can always add more seasoning to the mixture if you put it all together and thinks it needs more. 

Recipes like this are the perfect side dish to really just about any type of dish. Serve alongside meatloaf, steak, baked chicken, seared salmon, juicy porkchops - etc.! It is a very versatile and deliciously easy dish to prepare and share.

See all of our tasty side dish recipes:

Main Course Accompaniments

• Broccoli Rice Casserole by Making Miracles
• Garlic & Paprika Roasted Cauliflower by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Roasted Veggie Couscous by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Matar Bharay Patties by Sneha's Recipe
• Cherry Tomato and Avocado Salad by Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Creamy Macaroni Salad by Palatable Pastime
• Nasturtium Leaves & Stems Raita (Yogurt Dip) (Using Nasturtium Leaves & Stems by Cook with Renu

Broccoli Rice Casserole

Ingredients

5 cups cooked rice

~ 8 cups broccoli florets

6 TBS butter

1 medium onion, finely diced

6 TBS flour

4 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

salt to taste

6 TBS cream cheese

3 cups shredded cheddar cheese 

3 cups crushed chips (for topping)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a large nonstick skillet over about medium heat, melt the butter and simmer the diced onion in the butter until tender - about 8-10 minutes. Make sure the butter doesn't start browning or cook hot. You don't want to cook off the butter, you just want to essentially simmer the onions in the butter until they are tender.
3. Whisk the flour into the butter. Allow the flour to cook for about 1 minute before whisking in the milk until thoroughly blended. Bring to a simmer. 
4. Add in the seasoning: garlic powder, black pepper, paprika and start with about 1/2 tsp of salt.
5. Add in the cream cheese. It may be lumpy at first, but as it heats and ask you whisk it will blend in. Once the cream cheese is incorporated, whisk in the shredded cheddar cheese until melted. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
6. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli and boil for about 2-3 minutes, until crisp tender. Drain and set aside.
7. Add the par-cooked broccoli into the cheese sauce. 
8. Add the cooked rice into the baking dish, and pour the broccoli cheese sauce over it. Stir gently to evenly coat and distribute all of the ingredients.
9. Sprinkle the crushed chips over the top and bake about 30 minutes, until chips are lightly browned and casserole is hot and bubbly. 
10. Allow to rest a few minutes before serving.

Recipe adapted from Spend with Pennies