This Broccoli Rice Casserole recipe is made from scratch with no condensed soup! Fresh broccoli cooked until tender crisp and fluffy rice come together in a creamy cheesy homemade sauce to create a family favorite side dish!
This cheesy broccoli rice casserole is great served alongside our Crispy Baked Chicken with a tossed salad for the perfect easy meal!
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If you’re looking for a side dish your whole family is going to love, this broccoli rice casserole is the answer! I’ve combined my favorite velvety cheese sauce with a combination of broccoli & rice and baked it until bubbly. The result is a side (or a quick meatless meal that my whole family loves)!
How Do You Make Broccoli Rice Casserole?
Don’t let the homemade sauce scare you away from giving this recipe a try, this from scratch cheese sauce tastes amazing (much better than just adding in a can of soup)!
- The sauce for this recipe starts with a roux (which is just butter and flour cooked and milk added). Let the butter and flour cook for a few minutes before adding milk for the best flavor.
- Slowly stir in milk a bit at a time while whisking and cook until thick and bubbly. Add cheeses and stir until melted and creamy.
- Toss cheese sauce with broccoli and rice and bake in a casserole dish.
Variations on Broccoli Rice Casserole
- Lighten it up: To lighten this up a little bit you can use light cheese and lowfat milk with great results. We’ve also subbed in brown rice or quinoa (or even Cauliflower Rice) with amazing results.
- Add protein: We very often add in chicken to make a chicken and rice casserole (the perfect way to enjoy your leftover baked chicken breasts). Turkey or ham work great too.
- Swap the Cheeses: Out of cheddar? Use swiss, monterey jack or whatever you have on hand.
- Add veggies: Add in cauliflower or whatever other veggies you have on hand to turn it from a side into a whole meal!
Serving Suggestions
Broccoli Rice Casserole is great as an entrée for vegetarians, but if you are a meat-eater, it goes perfectly with any kind of protein! It’s a perfect complement to roasted chicken, pork chops, or even a beef roast!
Add a crunchy, cold salad, some dinner rolls with butter!
Cheesy Dishes You’ll Love
- Broccoli Cheese Soup – ready in 20 mins!
- Cheesy Broccoli Cauliflower Casserole – made without condensed soup
- Cheese Grits – deliciously creamy side dish!
- Broccoli Cheese Casserole with Ham – quick & easy cheese sauce!
- Homemade Mac and Cheese Casserole – rich, creamy casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 cups broccoli florets cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 cups cooked white rice
For the Sauce
- 1 small onion diced
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups milk
- ½ teaspoon dry mustard powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt more to taste
- 3 tablespoons cream cheese
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- In a medium saucepan, cook onion and butter on medium-low heat until softened and translucent. Stir in flour, garlic powder, and pepper, and cook for 2 minutes more.
- Gradually pour in milk while whisking. Continue whisking over medium heat until thick and bubbly.
- Remove the sauce from the heat and add dry mustard, paprika, cream cheese, and 1 ½ cups of cheddar cheese. Stir until melted. Taste, and season the sauce with additional salt and pepper if needed.
- Place broccoli in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, until bright green, but still crisp. Drain well.
- Stir together cooked rice, broccoli, and cheese sauce. Place in a greased 2-quart casserole dish. Top with the remaining cheese and bake for 35 minutes. or until cheese is bubbly and lightly browned.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Side Dish
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Gonna try this again because I think I messed it up lol. So the 2 cups of cooked rice is after cooking right? Not cook 2 cups dry rice and then use what it makes? I just want to make sure because the broccoli seems like a lot.
The 2 cups is measured after cooking.
Looks good!
Will jasmine rice work or should I just use regular white rice?
Either will work in this recipe. You’ll need 2 cups of cooked rice.
Hi Holly, this looks fantastic! So I was wondering how far in advance I could prep or make this? Asking because I have 2 bags of fresh broccoli in the fridge but dont need the dish until Saturday. Wanted to know how far in advance you would recommend (or not reccomend) this can be made before cooking. Thanks, looking forward to making this!
This should be ok for a couple of days. You could also prepare (wash and cut the broccoli) and refrigerate it until you’re ready to prepare the dish. Enjoy!
Making this from scratch makes all the difference! This isn’t church potluck, it’s for company. Delicious
Made it, ate it, loved it, leftovers are even better!
Don’t mind me, I just can’t ever leave something alone. I am sure it is just fine the way you posted it.
The changes I made were to use garlic salt, use brown rice, less cheese, and I added cubed, cooked chicken breast. Yum!
Readers should remember to allow the dish to set for a bit before serving, so it can thicken a bit more.
Thank you!
This is delicious. Great recipe! The roux really makes this amazing! I think the people saying it’s bland might have went wrong making their roux and should’ve seasoned to thier family liking. I love this recipe, I am definitely going to never used canned soup again! Thank you!
Thank you Charlotte! So happy to hear how much you love this from scratch recipe!
Was not a favorite of the family. It was too thick/heavy and I even cut back on the amount of rice it required once I saw how thick it was getting when I was adding the rice and broccoli. It also lacked flavor. I’ll just keep looking for another version of this recipe.
Sorry to hear Jules. This is a reader favorite (as well as one of my own). Thank you for trying the recipe.
Homemade Broccoli and cheese casserole was pretty bland. Salt enhanced the taste. Could not believe there was no salt.
The recipe lists salt to taste. You can add as much or as little as you’d like.
This was so good! I loved making my own sauce. It built my confidence in the kitchen to make it from scratch with high quality ingredients. We had this as a side for Thanksgiving. Thank you!
Well didn’t you just make my day Gin! I’m so happy to hear that! We love this side too!
This dish was a big hit! We made it with our Thanksgiving meal and although it doesn’t call for condensed soup, I added in a can of cream of mushroom. It was delicious! Also very yummy with bread crumbs on top.
Oooh, that sounds great Erin!!
In the directions you forgot to tell ppl to add the flour to the butter & onion BEFORE adding the milk to make a roux…not adding the flour makes for a runny dish
The flour and butter are cooked in step 2 of the recipe, the milk is added in step 3 of the recipe. Hope that helps.
Should this be garlic pepper or garlic powder?
I think it says pepper in the ingredients list but garlic powder in the step by step
The ingredients ask for both ¼ teaspoon garlic powder and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Enjoy Maggie!
Salted butter or unsalted? Do you use Sharp Cheddar Cheese?
I would use unsalted butter and add salt to your preference. You can also use sharp cheddar cheese or regular, whichever you prefer!
Silly question- is the rice to be cooked or uncooked when you combine ingredients for baking? Don’t see it mentioned. Thx.
The rice is cooked before adding it to the other ingredients.
I love that this recipe doesn’t call for canned soup. My family loved it and I thought it was delicious. I adjusted the seasonings, added a bit of nutmeg, and used white cheddar and it came out wonderful. Making it again tonight.
I made this tonight with a couple of changes to make it a full meal. I cut back on the rice and broccoli in order to add diced chicken and then tossed some Parmesan cheese on top. It was delicious and very filling.
My husband didn’t care for this at all. I followed the recipe to the letter and it wasn’t well received.
Has anyone tried both broccoli and cauliflower florets in this recipe?
This looks simple and satisfying! Can’t wait to try it. So glad to find a recipe with a homemade sauce. Any chance this could be done in a crock pot? Thanks!
I haven’t tried this in the slow cooker but I think it would work. Let us know how it goes!
I have tried this amazing broccoli casserole recipe and i found this recipe really an amazing recipe. Thanks for sharing this recipe with all of us.
I have searched for a broccoli-rice casserole for some time. This one beats all the other recipes I’ve tried. Perfect blend of flavors, easy to make, and flexible. I’ve made it with chicken and without. I’ve used different veggies. Here’s the thing – the sauce, cheese and rice are a great foundation for most anything. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
So happy you love this casserole Kathy!