Broccoli Casserole is a cheesy, hearty side dish that’s easy to make & perfect for feeding a crowd especially during the holidays. Try soon!
It can be hard to get your kids to eat Veggies, but you won’t have any trouble getting them to eat them with this tasty Broccoli Casserole. For other delicious sides like this one, try out my Baked Parmesan Broccoli Casserole and my Cheesy Garlic Broccoli Casserole too!
Sabrina’s Broccoli Casserole Recipe
I first came across this Broccoli Casserole recipe while going through a magazine. It was different from the recipes I’d had as a kid, but it sounded warm and comforting. It’s like the broccoli version of Green Bean Casserole. It is perfect for weeknight dinner or you could always serve it up during the Holidays. After hopping from house to house, your guests will be refreshed to see broccoli instead of green beans being served!
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 6 cups broccoli florets
- 1/2 yellow onion , diced
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
- 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup , 10 ¾ ounces
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 2 cups cheddar cheese , grated and divided
- 1 cup Ritz crackers , finely crushed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Place dripping wet broccoli florets and onion in a large microwave safe bowl and cover with wet paper towel and cook for 3 minutes.
- Drain the water from the bowl and add in the butter, mushroom soup, mayonnaise, eggs, salt, pepper and 1 cup of cheddar cheese and mix well.
- Pour into a 9×13 baking dish and top with remaining cheese and the crackers before baking for 30 minutes.
Nutrition
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Chef’s Note
Make sure to use fresh broccoli in this recipe. If you swap it out frozen broccoli, the quality of the recipe will suffer quite a bit because there is a big difference in flavor and texture. The texture breaks down significantly, because the stalk is shaved off. The florets are also soggier in frozen broccoli. Probably the most important reason I don’t use frozen broccoli is that it tends to be cuts of broccoli that are pretty chopped up and small. You can certainly use it if it is all that you have on hand. When making this recipe, I usually buy broccoli crowns and shave off just the outer layer of the stalk, leaving a bit of it behind.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
This recipe is easy, cheesy, has vegetables and tastes fantastic. What more could you want? Since you will have most items on hand it will come together fairly quickly and the best part is that you can bake it along side your protein so dinner will come together all at once. This is perfect for a weeknight dinner side and can even be made for a Holiday meal. If you add some chicken or turkey to this casserole it becomes a one pan meal. Check out more ideas in my Variations section below!
Ingredients
- Broccoli: (6 cups), Use fresh broccoli for this recipe as it will hold up the best. Pick out a firm head of broccoli with deep uniform color. Cut the florets and rinse them with water and 1 tablespoon on vinegar to get off any dirt. Rinse and dry them well before starting the recipe.
- Yellow Onions: (½ onion), The yellow onion is the perfect cooking onion. They have a sharp flavor but once cooked they mellow out because the natural sugars are brought out.
- Butter: (4 tablespoons), Butter acts a binder and brings creaminess to the dish. Use unsalted butter in this recipe. If you only have salted butter on hand, omit the salt in the recipe as it will turn out too salty.
- Cream of Mushroom Soup: (1 can – 10 3/4oz.), I use my own homemade soup in the recipe. This soup is great to batch cook and freeze so you can pull it out when a recipe calls for it. If you don’t want to make your own a store bought can will do in a pinch.
- Mayo: (¾ cup), Mayo brings a fat and creaminess to the casserole. If you don’t want to use mayo, you can swap it out for Greek Yogurt, Sour Cream, or Cream Cheese.
- Eggs: (2 large), These eggs bring some structurally integrity to the dish.
- Salt and Pepper: (½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon of pepper), these are simple seasoning used to flavor the dish. If you are looking to add more seasonings to change the flavor profile a bit check out my Variations Section below for ideas.
- Ritz Crackers: (1 cup crushed), These buttery crackers add the perfect crispy crunch to the top of this creamy veggie dish.
- Cheddar Cheese: (2 cups grated), I like to use a medium cheddar, but you could always use mild or sharp cheddar if that is what your family prefers. It is best to buy a block of cheese and shred your own since pre-shredded cheese doesn’t melt as well.
Can this be made ahead of time?
- Yes, you can do everything except add the remaining cheese and crackers to the dish before the baking step. If you add those too early, the cheese will absorb the liquid of the dish, it won’t melt well, and the crackers will become soggy instead of crisping up.
- You could also prep some of the ingredients ahead of time. The cheese can be grated and store in an airtight container. The crackers can be crushed and stored in an airtight container or Ziplock. (The kids would probably love to help you with this step)! You could also wash and cut your broccoli about a day ahead of time. Seal it tightly while storing.
Pairing Suggestions
Since this casserole doesn’t have any meat in it pairing it along side a Super Easy Grilled Chicken or Grilled Pork Chops would be perfect to make this a complete dinner. If you want to add the protein all in one meal and you have some leftover Homemade Rotisserie Chicken, just add it right in with the mix before baking. If you just want to eat the casserole with some Crusty Garlic Herb Bread that would be perfectly acceptable too!
How to Store
- Serve: Don’t leave casserole at room temperature for more than 2 hours after baking.
- Store: Let the casserole cool to room temperature, then you can cover it to store in the fridge. It will keep well for up to 1 week.
- Freeze: Casserole will also stay good in the freezer for up to 3 months. Cover it tightly in tin foil or seal it in an airtight container. Let the casserole thaw in the fridge before reheating it in the oven.
Slow Cooker Method
- Combine broccoli, onions, melted butter, soup, mayo, eggs, one cup of cheese and salt and pepper into a large mixing bowl. Stir so everything is evenly coated.
- Spray slow cooker insert with cooking spray.
- Add mixture into slow cooker.
- Cook on LOW for 3-4 hours. Or HIGH for 1.5-2 hours.
- 30 minutes before the recipe is done, add the remaining cup of cheese to the top of the casserole and top with the cup of crushed Ritz crackers.
- To stop the casserole from continuing to cook the broccoli and making it soggy, switch your Slow Cooker to the Warming function if it has one. If not, remove it from the Slow Cooker.
Variations
- Cheese: The recipe calls for cheddar, but I have used mozzarella, cream cheese, pepper jack, provolone, and, my favorite swap extra sharp cheddar cheese, which has a ton more flavor for the same amount of calories. Swiss, gouda, and Munster would all make lovely additions to the casserole.
- Cauliflower: If you don’t want to use broccoli, you can make it into a cauliflower gratin using cauliflower and cream of cheddar soup instead.
- Breading: If you don’t want to use Ritz crackers, swap them out for panko bread crumbs you’ve sauteed in butter. You can also break any regular kind of bread into pieces and leave it out overnight to dry out.
- Add-ins: For some more add-ins try chopping up onion, zucchini, or cauliflower to cook along with the broccoli. You can also add slivered almonds in with the Cracker topping for some extra flavor and crunch.
- Seasoning: For extra flavor try adding oregano, basil, Italian seasoning, cayenne pepper, or onion powder.
- Extra Mushrooms: I’ve made this dish with homemade Cream of Mushroom and pre-made mushroom soup. Of, course the homemade is better but the canned will do in a pinch. Either way, I like to add an additional 8 oz. of fresh mushrooms that I have cooked in better for some extra texture.
- Mayo: If you don’t want to use mayo in this recipe you can swap it out for sour cream or Greek yogurt. You could also a block of cream cheese too!
Related Recipes
More Delicious Broccoli Recipes
These photos were used in a previous version of this post:
My grandma used to make this. Once she forgot to get ritz crackers so we used crushed Cheez-its instead. It was so good that way!
I really appreciate that this recipe is not laden down with a very large amount of cheese like so many broccoli casseroles. I had 5 cups broccoli and so added 1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken. It was delish.
So easy to follow recipe and it’ delicious???
I added chicken and noodles with reg saltines and split mayo with sour cream it was delicious.
Could you use French fried onion in place of Ritz?
That sounds amazing!
Is there any way I could add rice and chicken to this recipe, or would that make it too dry a. Thank you.
Here’s the link to that recipe:
https://dinnerthendessert.com/cheesy-chicken-broccoli-rice-casserole/
Sounds so yummy, but we are not mushroom lovers so can I use cream of chicken soup or any other cream soup?
Absolutely. You can put the cheesiness into overdrive by subbing in Cream of Cheddar.
Wonderful, delicious recipe! My husband is watching his weight , so I made a few changes to the recipe. I only used 1/4 cup mayo, and about 1 1/4 cups cheese. I did not add butter to the mixture, but instead I melted 1 T butter and mixed it with the breadcrumbs, and some grated parmesan cheese, before sprinkling them on top. I wanted to make it a meal, so I added chicken. It was fantastic! Thanks for this, and all of your other, great recipes.
You’re welcome, Kelly. Thanks for the 5 stars.
This sounds like a seriously yummy side dish to me, and I plan to make it in the very near future. In the meanwhile, is there a way to adjust this recipe, and add in some leftover (already cooked) chicken…. in order to make this a compete meal?
Of course, add it into the mixture and bake it all together. Easy peasy!
Miss Sabrina , Thank you for all your great recepies , I’m a single man who try to use all of you treat’s when I’m at home . I guess by now I have a whole botton shelf in my cubbard FILLED with spices 40 or more only used once , maybe I can find a pertner to help me use them up . Thank You foe all youe goodies. Denny Holloran.
My mom made a casserole very similar to this one using thawed frozen broccoli spears and we all loved it but lost the recipe. I think this recipe is so close to what we were looking for and tasted fantastic. Had golden mushroom soup and also drizzled butter over the crackers before baking. The mayo and sharp cheddar cheese adds that bit of zip needed to pull all the flavors together. Wont be losing this recipe! Made and reviewed for the What’s On The Menu tag game.
I was recently introduced to broccoli casserole and I’m obsessed!
Baked this for kids Christmas potluck! It was a hit. I added melted butter to the top on the crackers. They were to die for this way!
Thanks for the tip! So glad you all loved it!
Made it as written. My family loved it! Enough said!! ?
Thanks, KT!!
This casserole looks so good! I wish I was eating this for dinner today!
Thanks, Krista!
Oh my goodness, this look sensational! I will definitely have them on my table!
Thanks, Melanie!
This is seriously making me hungry! I know for sure this would be a huge hit in my house!
Enjoy!
This is absolutely incredible. I love this type of comfort food.
This would be a great dish to take to a potluck. I love that crunchy topping!
Perfect for a potluck!
My kids would definitely eat their broccoli if I presented it with this dish; looks delicious!
Oh yes, a great motivator!
Can I use frozen broccoli? Sounds amazing!
I don’t recommend it, sorry.