Easy Cheesy Broccoli Casserole

I don’t know about you, but I just realized that I have 8 holiday gatherings scheduled between now and New Year’s Eve. (In fact, I have an early Thanksgiving celebration with my family in less than 5 hours!) For half of these events I am hosting dinners, and for the other half I’m just attending as a guest and bringing goodies. But one thing is certain, if I’m going to survive the holiday season with my sanity intact, I’m going to need some go-to dishes that I can make quickly and easily for these dinners.

Typically, I bring berry salad to every party I attend. (It’s so easy just to wash and cut strawberries, blueberries and raspberries and toss them all in a large glass container! That burst of color really makes an impact.) But there are other times when I need to bring a hot dish. My Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole is always a nice addition, but sometimes I need a savory option. As usual, when looking for inspiration, I turned to some favorite childhood dishes.

Growing up, my hubby’s favorite dish was a broccoli, chicken and rice casserole. It also contained a lot of cheese, a can of mushroom soup and mayonnaise. It was utterly delicious, but not particularly healthy. So, when we got married, I started experimenting with making a lighter, healthier vegetarian version. Thus, my Healthy Easy Cheesy Broccoli Casserole was born.

Healthy Easy Cheesy Broccoli Casserole

a lighter, healthier version of traditional broccoli cheese casserole

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Total Time 30 mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 10

Equipment

• large casserole dish
• cheese grater
• Microwave
• Oven

Ingredients

  

• 2 12-oz packages steamable frozen organic broccoli florets (or the equivalent amount of fresh broccoli chopped into small florets)
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 2½ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (divided into 2 groups: 2 cups and ½ cup)
• 3 TB gluten-free panko bread crumbs

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 375°F
• Steam each package of frozen broccoli for 3 minutes. This thaws and partially cooks the broccoli.
• Grate 2½ cups of sharp cheddar cheese.
• Grease a large casserole dish.
• Add steamed broccoli, cooked quinoa, Greek yogurt and 2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese to the casserole dish. Mix well.
• Sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup of cheese and the gluten-free panko bread crumbs.
• Bake at 375°F for 20 minutes.

Notes

Feel free to use frozen or fresh broccoli, just note that the fresh broccoli may take a few more minutes to cook in the oven.

If you already have a big pot of pre-cooked quinoa that you made earlier in the week, this comes together in a snap. If you don’t, no problem, just cook it in your Instant Pot. It doesn’t take more than a few minutes. See my recipe here.

You can use either whole Greek yogurt or fat-free Greek yogurt. It’s hard for me to find organic whole Greek yogurt in my local grocery store, so I often just use the fat-free. But either will work.

And, to save yourself some time, you can use pre-shredded cheddar cheese if you prefer.

Keyword broccoli, comfort food, greek yogurt, healthy and easy, healthy Thanksgiving side dish, high fiber, quinoa bowls

I love how easy this casserole is to make. I find I can make it quickly and with ingredients I usually already have on hand. It’s savory, cheesy and a great comfort food that happens to be healthy and gluten-free, too.

That said, happy cooking and have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I’m now down to less than 4 1/2 hours before my guests start to arrive. So, I’m off to make some berry salad, a Healthy Pumpkin Pie, some Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole and some Healthy Easy Cheesy Broccoli Casserole for tonight’s dinner and to clean my house! Those bathrooms aren’t going to scrub themselves…