Broccoli Rice Casserole (No Canned Soup)
You may be familiar with the version using cream of mushroom, celery or chicken soup. Some call for Cheese Whiz too. Yikes! Not my style although Im not averse to keeping a few cans of soup in the pantry for emergencies. I wanted a recipe that was fresh all the way. By making the sauce from scratch, I could control the fat and salt content. (Dont worryit's not hard.)
You may be familiar with the version using cream of mushroom, celery or chicken soup. Some call for Cheese Whiz too. Yikes! Not my style although Im not averse to keeping a few cans of soup in the pantry for emergencies. I wanted a recipe that was fresh all the way. By making the sauce from scratch, I could control the fat and salt content. (Dont worryit's not hard.)
- Carbohydrate 61.577363682605 g
- Cholesterol 84.5515625065405 mg
- Fat 28.558282711188 g
- Fiber 9.42813151251605 g
- Protein 23.9593156293031 g
- Saturated Fat 17.8575651892355 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (701g)
- Sodium 480.316114617819 mg
- Sugar 52.149232170089 g
- Trans Fat 1.74039923986248 g
- Calories 584 calories
Step-by-step
- First: Steam or microwave (about 3 minutes on HIGH) chopped broccoli and stems until tender but still bright green. Squeeze lemon over broccoli.
- Second: Melt butter in skillet. Add onions, garlic, celery and mushrooms and saute until softened. Stir in flour and cook about one minute to take away the raw flour taste. Whisk in milk and continue whisking until slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Add 1 1/2 cup cheese and stir to melt.
- [Microwave directions] Add butter, onions, celery and mushrooms to 2 quart batter bowl. Cover and microwave on HIGH for 5 minutes. Add flour to vegetables and stir. Whisk in milk and cook uncovered on HIGH for 6-7 minutes. Whisk after 4 minutes and once a minute thereafter to even out the cooking. Season with salt and pepper. Add 1 1/2 cup cheese and stir to melt. Sauce will thicken more as it sits.
- Third: Combine broccoli, rice, and cheese sauce. Turn into 1 1/2 quart greased casserole dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake at 350 degrees F until bubbly.
Evaporated milk makes a sturdier scratch-made cheese sauce than standard fresh milk because its lower water content prevents the emulsion from breaking under high oven heat. Traditional holiday casseroles rely on processed convenience foods, but building a mornay-style base directly in a skillet produces superior flavor control without sacrificing creamy consistency. Cooking the flour and butter mixture, known as a roux, for precisely one minute eliminates the harsh taste of raw starch before the dairy is introduced. Steaming the broccoli just until it reaches a bright green visual cue preserves cellular integrity, which stops the vegetable from releasing excess moisture into the baking dish later. Cheddar cheese contains proteins that tighten and separate into oil if subjected to boiling temperatures, so remove the pan from the heat entirely before stirring in the dairy. Assembling this dish in advance requires careful consideration of the starchy components. Brown rice absorbs liquid continuously during storage, meaning unbaked assembled portions kept in the refrigerator beyond twenty-four hours will yield a dry final texture. Freezing unbaked casseroles demands tight plastic wrap coverage pressed directly against the surface to prevent ice crystal formation, which dilutes the cheese sauce upon thawing. Reheating frozen portions works best at three hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit for forty-five minutes under aluminum foil, followed by ten uncovered minutes to reestablish the browned cheddar crust. Substituting whole milk for evaporated milk alters the liquid ratio and demands an extra tablespoon of flour to achieve equivalent viscosity.
