• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Green Healthy Cooking logo

  • Recipes
    • All Recipes
    • By Category
      • Breakfast
      • Main Dish
        • Fish and Seafood
        • Meat and Chicken
      • Soups
      • Salads
      • Sides & Sauces
      • Desserts
      • Drinks
      • Snack
    • By Diet
      • Vegan
      • Vegetarian
      • Keto
  • Instant Pot
  • Meal Plans
  • Meal Prep
  • About
    • About Lorena
    • Philosophy
    • Shop
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipes
  • Instant Pot
  • Meal Prep
  • Meal Plans
  • About
×

Home » Sides & Sauces

Broccoli Rice Casserole (all in one baking dish)

September 30, 2019 By Lorena Grater

Pin Recipe Jump to Recipe
Broccoli Rice Casserole Pin Collage

Broccoli rice casserole is a comfort food side dish that is packed with the nutrients of dark green veggies. The cheesy flavor will be an instant family favorite.

Broccoli Rice Casserole Close Up

What kind of rice do I use?

For this broccoli rice casserole, I use white Jasmine or Basmati rice. However, you could also use brown rice.

  • Basmati rice- this is considered to be the best quality white rice available. It is grown in the Hymalian foothills and has a unique fragrance. When cooked, the grains stay separate and are light and fluffy.
  • Jasmine rice- This is sometimes called Thai fragrant rice. It has a distinctive floral aroma. These grains are a little sticky after being cooked.
  • Brown rice- Often called whole grain rice, this has very little of the grain removed from the outside. Only the inedible hull is stripped away. That’s why this variety of rice takes longer to cook and soften. It is dense and nutty when cooked. Plus, it keeps much of its nutritional value. The only downside to using brown rice in a dish like this is that, due to extended cooking time, your broccoli will end up a little mushy.

How to make broccoli rice casserole in one dish

This dish is not only easy to make but easy to clean up. Only one dish is used for all of the baking.

  1. Put rice on the bottom layer
  2. Add broccoli on top
  3. Pour the sauce over it all, making sure everything is submerged
  4. Sprinkle with cheese

Broccoli Rice Casserole in baking dish

What substitutions can I make in this casserole?

We all love the traditional broccoli rice casserole, but to put it in your regular rotation (and you will because it’s so easy!), you may need to switch up some ingredients.

  • Change the kind of rice you use based on the guide above
  • Add protein – chicken, ham, and turkey all taste great in this. And it’s a great way to use up leftovers.
  • Use any kind of cheese you like. Swiss and cheddar are just recommendations.
  • Add other veggies. Cauliflower, carrots or other veggies that can stand up to baking are great to add.

How do you make your own broccoli rice casserole sauce?

You will notice that you don’t use any canned stock or condensed soup in this casserole. Instead, in just a minute, you can make your own rich, preservative-free sauce to cook the entire casserole in.

You will need broth. Any kind you prefer is fine. Use mushroom or veggie if you are keeping it a vegetarian dish. Feel free to use chicken or beef broth if you want a deeper flavor.

The other ingredient you need is creme fraiche. The original creme fraiche that you would find in France is unpasteurized cream that has thickened. It is tart and buttery. Because of regulations in the United States, creme fraiche is made with pasteurized cream that has been fermented with either buttermilk or sour cream.

You could substitute sour cream if you needed to, but creme fraiche is thicker and has a richer flavor, even without added thickeners in sour cream.

Best mains to serve broccoli rice casserole with:

  • Crock Pot Whole Chicken
  • Stuffed Chicken Breasts
  • Roast Lamb Shoulder
Broccoli Rice Casserole Close Up

Broccoli Rice Casserole

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 6 people
Broccoli rice casserole is a comfort food side dish that is packed with the nutrients of dark green veggies. The cheesy flavor will be an instant family favorite.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 large head of broccoli
  • 1.5 cups white Basmati or Jasmin rice
  • 2 crushed and sauteed cloves garlic - or 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 2.25 cups boiling hot broth - chicken, vegetable, mushroom all work
  • 1-3 Tbsp crème fraîche
  • sea salt
  • pepper
  • 100-150 g melty cheese - Swiss, Cheddar, Gruyere
  • fresh thyme - optional
Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400 F.
  • Wash and chop broccoli into small bite-sized florets.
  • Add rice, garlic, and lemon zest to a baking dish and stir to combine.
  • Add broccoli florets on top of rice. Set aside.
  • In a bowl of jug whisk boiling hot broth with crème fraîche and season with sea salt and pepper until well combined.
  • Pour broth over rice and broccoli, then use a spatula to submerge broccoli as well as possible in the broth.
  • Sprinkle everything with cheese, then cover the baking dish with either a baking sheet of aluminum foil if your baking dish isn't flat on top. It's important that there is a tight seal and broth cannot evaporate.
  • Bake for 15 minutes covered, then remove the cover and broil for 5 minutes for the cheese to brown.
  • Sprinkle with a little fresh thyme is desired and serve.

Notes

This recipe works with short grain brown rice as well. The broccoli will overcook a little though. 
For the brown rice version, add 1.5 cups short grain brown rice and 3 cups broth and bake for a total of 45 minutes + 5 minutes broil. Everything else, stays the same.

Nutrition

Calories: 276kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 422mg | Potassium: 386mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 970IU | Vitamin C: 91mg | Calcium: 196mg | Iron: 1mg
Course Side, Side Dish
Cuisine International
What's your clean eating vibe?Take this fun QUIZZ and find out in 10 seconds!
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Sides & Sauces, Vegetarian

« Easy Chicken Fajitas
15-Minute Lemon Garlic Shrimp »

You may also like:

  • Fail-proof Instant Pot Beans
  • Close up of a fork grabbing a piece of Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes from a plate.Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
  • 5-Minute Basil Pistachio Pesto in a white bowl with a wooden spoon.5-Minute Basil Pistachio Pesto

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Yogiskimom says

    February 8, 2022 at 7:28 pm

    Rice needs a lot longer to cook. Fingers crossed. Staring at oven. Kids are hungry!

    Reply
  2. Corinne says

    December 1, 2021 at 6:41 am

    4 stars
    This recipe tasted really good! For me though the rice took 45 minutes to cook, even tightly sealed and with the boiled stock.

    Reply
    • Lorena Grater says

      December 2, 2021 at 10:31 am

      Oh wow! I’m so surprised. Does your oven heat properly? Do other recipes take longer than indicated or just this one?

      Reply
  3. Claudine says

    October 19, 2021 at 12:59 pm

    Hi ! Lorena, Please tell me what size baking dish do you use ???
    Thanking you in advance
    Claudine

    Reply
    • Lorena Grater says

      October 21, 2021 at 9:12 pm

      27×20 cm :)

      Reply
      • Claudine says

        October 30, 2021 at 10:21 am

        Thank you Lorena
        P.S. Really enjoy you’re recipes…

        Reply
  4. Kelly says

    July 22, 2021 at 6:52 pm

    3 stars
    This recipe needs to be improved. Please state in the ingredients that the broth needs to be warm. Also, my rice was not cooked after 15 minutes. At all. Also, you do not say in the recipe that the dish needs to be tightly covered. I just so happened to read that in the comments.

    Reply
  5. Jae says

    June 1, 2021 at 3:30 pm

    5 stars
    Hands down, the best broccoli and rice recipe. I couldn’t find the french cream so I used sour cream. it last and making it again this week. Even my pick husband and son loved it. Really like that it doesn’t call for the cream of whatever is in a can stuff (reason I chose this recipe). Thank you!

    Reply
  6. Natalie says

    February 4, 2021 at 6:26 pm

    5 stars
    We’ve made this several times. Our family loves this dish –
    We make it exactly as written.

    Reply
  7. Kathie Sherman says

    January 19, 2021 at 7:36 pm

    Lorena, you DID NOT SAY THE CHICKEN BROTH SHOULD BE BOILING!!!! Big mistake. You say to add boiling water in the video but the directions DO NOT MENTION THE CHICKEN BROTH SHOULD BE BOILING.

    Reply
    • Lorena Grater says

      January 20, 2021 at 10:16 am

      I’m sorry Kathie I’m very confused. Instruction #5 says: “In a bowl of jug whisk boiling hot broth with crème fraîche and season with sea salt and pepper until well combined.”

      Reply
  8. Lydia says

    December 23, 2019 at 9:26 am

    Can raw mushrooms, onion, celery, and grated carrot be added to this recipe? And if so, would any other ingredients, or baking time change?

    Reply
    • Lorena says

      December 23, 2019 at 1:49 pm

      I don’t know, I’m sorry. I haven’t tried it myself. If you try it please let me know how it went :)

      Reply
  9. J'Marinde says

    October 16, 2019 at 5:20 am

    Does the rice need to be already cooked?

    Reply
    • Lorena says

      October 17, 2019 at 1:47 pm

      No :) As shown in the video, I add raw rice but explain the baking dish needs a tight seal so the rice can steam.

      Reply
      • Bob S. Agat says

        February 2, 2021 at 8:29 pm

        2 stars
        The rice is better precooked

        Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Hi! I’m Lorena Grater
and I’m passionate about healthy recipes made with clean ingredients! 
Find out more about me!

FIND OUT ABOUT MY PROVEN METHOD FOR EATING BETTER >>

6-WEEK CLEAN EATING PROGRAM

Ipad with 6-Week Clean Eating Program Thumbnail showing on the screen.

AMAZON DISCLOSURE:

Green Healthy Cooking is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com

Footer

FIND OUT ABOUT MY PROVEN METHOD FOR EATING BETTER >>

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

MORE INFORMATION

  • About Lorena

Copyright © 2022 Green Healthy Cooking on the Seasoned Pro Theme