Straightforward Broccoli Cheese Casserole {That a} Busy Mother Swears by

Years in the past, once I was flipping by {a magazine}, a tacky recipe caught my eye. It was easy, fast, and low cost — the busy mother’s culinary trifecta. Plus, the shiny image featured a vegetable each children would eat: broccoli.

I bear in mind tearing the web page out and considering it would save me on a busy weeknight, when late afternoons had been a scramble between homework, carpools, and hours on a baseball area.

On the time, I did not actually know learn how to cook dinner and was making an attempt to construct a small rotation of straightforward meals that everybody within the household would eat.

I forgot about it till the vacations rolled round and we would have liked a facet dish to deliver to a potluck get together. The broccoli-cheese duo was an enormous hit — the primary casserole to vanish — and other people even requested me for the recipe.

As somebody who did not get pleasure from being within the kitchen, I knew it was a keeper.

The steps are straightforward

Most each cookbook on my shelf on the time had lengthy, complicated ingredient lists. This one, nonetheless, had no chopping, sauteeing or sophisticated steps—simply 4 components blended collectively.

Relying on whether or not you purchase store-brand or name-brand labels, the whole price of components ranges from $5 to $10, with the most costly ingredient being the Cheese Whiz. It takes about 10 minutes to assemble and might be made a day or extra prematurely. As a lifelong fan of something make-ahead, this was a terrific promoting level for me.

Listed below are the components you have to:

• 1 package deal (20 oz.) frozen broccoli florets, thawed and drained
• 1 can (10¾ oz.) condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup Cheez Whiz Cheese Dip
• 1 field (6 oz.) Range High Stuffing Combine for Rooster

I additionally wish to have about 5 tablespoons of butter readily available to soften and blend with the stuffing.

Preheat the oven to 350°. Subsequent, spray a 2-quart casserole dish with Cooking Spray and set it apart. That is the dimensions I attain for many actually because it provides you a thicker casserole with all of the tacky goodness tucked in.

I’ve some secrets and techniques

However this is a professional tip I’ve realized after years of bringing this dish to get-togethers: in case you’re feeding a crowd or know folks will likely be coming again for seconds, seize a three-quart dish as a substitute. Utilizing the bigger pan lets the casserole unfold out a bit, so it serves extra folks with out dropping any of its taste. It is a small adjustment that has saved me greater than as soon as when additional children or relations confirmed up across the holidays.

Combine the primary three components (broccoli, cheese, and soup) within the baking dish. If you’re saving it to cook dinner for an additional day, that is the purpose the place you’d cowl it with foil and retailer it within the fridge or freezer. The Range High stuffing combine ought to solely be added simply earlier than baking, so it stays crisp.

One tweak I’ve made to the unique recipe is to not cook dinner the stuffing combine, however to make use of it dry, in order that the breadcrumbs stay crunchy for the topping. Additionally, extra butter makes it higher. The unique recipe known as for 3 tablespoons, however I upped it to 5. Belief me on this.

For the proper crispy high, pour the stuffing combine right into a bowl. Soften 5 tablespoons of butter within the microwave and drizzle it over the crumbs. Give it stir so every part will get properly coated, after which unfold it evenly excessive of your casserole.

Pop it into the oven and bake for half-hour, or till the topping begins to show golden brown. It makes eight servings of ¾ cup every.

It goes nicely with any meals

In addition to being economical, it pairs with absolutely anything: roast hen, baked ham, grilled pork chops, even an enormous inexperienced salad—and it is surprisingly tasty the following day. It is also endlessly adaptable. When you’re not a broccoli fan, you’ll be able to swap in cauliflower, inexperienced beans, and even a mixture of no matter frozen greens you may have readily available.

Since that unique potluck get together, I’ve made this casserole quite a few occasions. For a vacation work get together one yr, we had been every requested to deliver one thing to share. A lot of my co-workers had particular diets or allergy symptoms, a number of had been vegetarian, and my deskmate admittedly had the palate of a finicky little one.

After stressing about what to deliver, I ended up making my broccoli cheese casserole. Hoping one or two folks might need a chunk, I deliberate to deliver the leftovers house for my household. As soon as once more, it disappeared rapidly, and my choosy workplace mate informed me I ought to deliver two the following time.

This straightforward facet dish stays a hall-of-famer in my small repertoire. Even now, with grown children, it is nonetheless a favourite in our home. Not unhealthy for a 10-minute recipe.