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It’s dinner time and what’s the star of the show? Broccoli Rice Casserole! Tender broccoli meets fluffy rice, all swirled together in a decadent cheese sauce. Whether you’re feeding a hungry family or just craving some serious comfort, all that gooey, melty cheese is an easy way to get people excited about broccoli!
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When it comes to preparing weeknight dinners it’s hard to beat a classic casserole recipe! They’re generally very easy to throw together and all the good casseroles are, in my opinion, loaded with cheese.
This broccoli cheese rice casserole can be served as a main course (make it vegetarian or shred up some of our Instant Pot whole chicken and stir it in) or a side dish and it’s a great way to get the kids to eat some green veggies. The cheese and rice make the broccoli totally kid-approved, in my experience.
If your kids are still learning to love broccoli, this is a great recipe to test out on them. The broccoli is very tender and chopped into small pieces so that it blends in nicely with the rice and cheddar.
We also recommend our broccoli mac and cheese, chicken broccoli casserole, or this classic broccoli cheese soup recipe. Our broccoli cheese casserole has been a family favorite for years as well.
These are all great way to get the family excited to have broccoli for dinner!
♥ What We Love About This Recipe:
- Creamy & Cheesy: Between the cream of chicken soup and the Velveeta, this broccoli & rice casserole is extra creamy and cheese. No bland, boring, or dry casseroles in this house!
- Family Friendly: This is a great way to introduce kids to broccoli. They probably already love cheese and rice, so stirring in broccoli is a way to ease them into things.
- Holiday Ready: This dish is easy enough for a weeknight meal, but decadent enough for a holiday dinner. Serve it next to our crockpot spiral ham this Easter!
Ingredient Notes:
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Broccoli – I’m keeping this nice and simple and starting with frozen broccoli. You could use fresh broccoli as well – it gets steamed or microwaved either way.
Cream of Chicken – This classic soup will add loads of creamy, savory flavor to the casserole! Try it with my homemade cream of chicken soup substitute recipe. It’s way better than the canned stuff! Or keep this meal vegetarian with my cream of mushroom soup substitute!
Cheese – We’re adding some chopped up Velveeta cheese along with shredded cheddar. The Velveeta melts into the perfect decadent gooey experience we’re looking for while the cheddar adds in a sharper flavor.
White Rice – You’ll need some cooked long grain white rice to add to the casserole. Our rice pilaf would work well here, or just follow the instructions on your bag of rice.
Seasoning – Just a few simple seasonings including garlic powder, onion powder, salt and cracked pepper.
Variations for Broccoli & Rice Casserole:
Veggies: Not a fan of broccoli? Stir in a bag of cooked frozen mixed veggies in place of the broccoli!
Rice: We’ve only tested this recipe with white rice, since that’s what my family likes, however it should work well with cooked brown rice too!
Cheese: The Velveeta really does add the ultra creamy texture that we’re looking for here, but you can swap out the cheddar for any type of cheese you like. Gruyere adds some nuttiness, pepper jack will add a little kick!
Protein: Stir in some cooked, shredded chicken or chopped ham to add some extra protein to this dish. Ground beef is also a delicious mix-in!
Step By Step Instructions:
Step 1 – To get started you’ll need to cook the broccoli and drain off any excess liquid. Use a knife to chop the florets into smaller bite-sized pieces.
Step 2 – Add the cooked broccoli to a mixing bowl along with the cream of chicken soup and the chopped Velveeta cheese. Stir all that up to combine.
Step 3 – Add the cooked white rice to the mixing bowl along with the seasonings and stir it up again until well combined.
Step 4 – Spoon the broccoli rice casserole mixture into a prepared 9×9 baking dish and then top it with the shredded cheddar cheese and bake!
Serving Suggestions:
You can enjoy this cheesy casserole recipe all by itself as a main dish (make it vegetarian with cream of mushroom soup!) or serve it with your favorite protein, such as our grilled BBQ chicken!
These air fryer boneless pork chops are another excellent choice!
My kids love when I make our quick dinner rolls with this cheesy broccoli rice…they like to dip their rolls in the cheesy mixture!
Storage:
Refrigerator: Store this dish, tightly covered, in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave.
Freezer: This dish will freeze well. Freeze for up to 3 months and thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
Leftover Hack!
If you’ve got leftover broccoli rice casserole you can quickly turn that into another meal. Use it as filling for some stuffed bell peppers, topped with more cheese! Or turn the casserole into a soup by thinning it out with some chicken broth and heating it through on the stove!
Recipe FAQs:
Depending on the casserole, both fresh or frozen broccoli will work well. We prefer the softer texture of frozen broccoli in this broccoli rice casserole as it pairs nicely with the rice.
You’ll find tender bits of cooked broccoli and white rice in a decadent cheese sauce in this broccoli rice casserole. It’s all seasoned simply with a mix of garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.
Every recipe will be a bit different, but generally you’ll want to cook vegetables before adding them to a casserole. In our broccoli rice casserole, we microwave the broccoli to soften it up before adding it to the cheese and rice.
See all of our easy casserole recipes here!
Broccoli Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 12 ounces frozen broccoli
- 10 ounces cream of chicken soup
- 4 ounces Velveeta cheese chopped into small pieces
- 3 cups cooked white rice
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper
- 1 cup shredded cheddar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×9 baking dish with nonstick spray.
- Cook the frozen broccoli according to package directions. Drain off any excess liquid and place the hot broccoli on a cutting board. Run a knife through it to make smaller bite-sized pieces.
- Add the chopped broccoli, cream of chicken soup and Velveeta to a mixing bowl and stir well to combine.
- Add the rice and seasonings to the bowl and stir again to combine.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking dish and top with the cheddar cheese.
- Cover the dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for 10 minutes.
- Serve hot.
Halie Smith says
I doubled the recipe and accidentally put in a tablespoon of garlic powder. It was a very happy accident!
Karly Campbell says
Nothing wrong with extra garlic!
Thelles Amie-Goodson says
Love this recipe and definitely cooking for thanksgiving because it’s really simple.
Thanks
Karly Campbell says
Enjoy! <3
Michelle says
Thank you for posting this recipe! My mom used to make it for Thanksgiving (in the 70’s) and was always a favorite. In honor of my mom, I am making this recipe for Thanksgiving this year. Thanks again for posting it and helping me keep the tradition alive. Tastes just like home to me.
Karly Campbell says
I love to hear that! <3
Debra Mclellan says
My husband love’s broccoli so he is going to love this recipe thank you
Tammy Summers says
I have a recipe similar to this so I know it’s delicious! The one I use makes a 9×13 inch pan full and also calls for frozen cauliflower. Thank you for sharing!
Rebecca Dickman says
I made a double batch of this recipe. I sprinkled a little extra garlic powder and onion powder in it. I also baked it about 15 minutes longer. I really loved the flavor of this dish. What I didn’t care for was that the Velveeta chunks even though small don’t really make the dish saucy. The cheese cubes just melted in the dish but didn’t distribute throughout the dish. Next time I will be making a cheese sauce with it to pour over the rice and combine it with other ingredients.
Jennifer Kimbrell says
Thanks for this comment. I’m going to make this for a 4th of July party so I think I’ll heat the chicken soup and stir the Velveeta in and melt it before stirring into the ingredients.
Margie McGee says
About how much protein to add for a meal?
How much broth for soup?
Karly Campbell says
Sorry, Margie, I don’t have exact amounts for you. We will stir in a couple of cups of lefter chopped chicken and an extra handful of shredded cheddar to make it more of a meal. For soup, we’ve only ever added it to the leftovers when reheating and I’ve never really measured. Just pour some into a pot on the stove with it until it’s as thin/thick as you like.
Lois J. Carroll says
I haven’t tried this yet, but it printed so small I will need a magnifying glass to read it!
Karly Campbell says
Oh, shoot! I’m glad you said something, because we definitely have some sort of tech issue going on there. I’ll send in a ticket to my tech support and get them working on it. Thanks for the heads up!