Healthy Broccoli Casserole

This Healthy Broccoli Casserole is bound to be a new favorite! It’s a lightened-up version of a classic and completely made from scratch! 

This is the perfect side dish to our Perfect pot roast or our Maple dijon roasted chicken! But it is so good that you will want to eat a whole plate of it! 

Healthy broccoli casserole

Lightened Up Broccoli Casserole

When we were first married, I made what felt like a million versions of broccoli chicken casserole. None of them were very good and I swore off broccoli casserole for years. But the other day I had a ton of broccoli sitting in our fridge and so I decided to try my hand at broccoli casserole one more time.

And guess what?? This time it was DELICIOUS! 

I owe it to the crispy mushrooms, the challah breadcrumbs, and the cheese. They sold me. Not only was I in love, but the hubby and toddler were too. The entire dish was gone by the end of the night!! We will definitely be making this over & over again.

Plus I love the fact that broccoli is a great vegetable choice. Its high in vitamin K and C and is also high in folic acid. 

Broken up bread crumbs

How to Make Healthy Broccoli Casserole

Prep:

  • Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees and preparing your 9×13 inch baking dish
  • Steam your broccoli until they are crisp-tender (if you overcook at this stage you will get a soggy broccoli casserole and no one wants that! It is important to note that the broccoli will continue to cook as the casserole bakes in the oven.) I used a steamer bag for the broccoli and tossed it into the microwave to save time & reduce the number of dirty dishes. Put broccoli in a bowl and set to the side.

Saucepan:

  • Saute mushrooms until they are golden brown. Don’t just lightly cook them. They add so much flavor and depth to this dish… a few minutes more is going to make a huge difference
  • Then add the onion and garlic and saute until they are fragrant. Once finished transfer them to the bowl of broccoli.
  • Then make your roux and when its thickened remove from the heat and added salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper and Greek yogurt
  • Pour the sauce into the bowl with all the veggies and then add the egg, 1 cup of the cheddar cheese, and ½ cup of the breadcrumbs and pour it into the prepared baking dish.
  • In the microwave melt the remaining butter and mix with the remaining breadcrumbs and cheese and use this mixture to top the broccoli mixture.
  • Bake for 30-40 minutes. It should bubble and brown.
  • Let it stand for 10 minutes to let it thicken up. 

Chopped broccoli in bowl

Casserole Variations

There are many ways you can change up this Healthy Broccoli Casserole recipe.

If you don’t want to use greek yogurt, you can use light sour cream

Use whatever breadcrumbs you have- I once made this and used a leftover loaf of challah. I cut it up, toasted it and gave it a whirl in my food processor! Moral of the story-use what you have on hand!

Use fresh or frozen broccoli but note that when fresh broccoli looks yellow and becomes limp it shouldn’t be consumed! 

Broccoli casserole in dish

How to Store, Reheat + Freeze

 You can make this dish ahead of time and keep it uncooked in the fridge for up to 3 days. After it is baked I recommend only keeping it in the fridge for less than a week. To reheat just pop it in the microwave.

This is a great make-ahead casserole that you can freeze for a babysitter to heat up! Go ahead and prep everything except the topping. Place into a foil disposable pan and top with foil and freeze for up to 3 months!

Then finish it with the topping and go ahead and bake it, it might take a little bit longer to get warmed through if it is coming straight from the freezer. You can always take it out the night before and leave it in the fridge to thaw a little bit.

Healthy broccoli casserole recipe on plate

 Watch this Healthy Broccoli Casserole disappear before your eyes. Seriously. This is a great way to get your kids to eat their veggies! Enjoy!

For more broccoli recipes, check out:

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Lightened Up Broccoli Casserole | lifemadesimplebakes.com

Healthy Broccoli Casserole Recipe

This Healthy Broccoli Casserole is bound to be a new favorite! It's a lightened up version of a classic, and completely made from scratch.
4.62 from 18 votes
Pin Rate
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 327kcal
Author: Andrea
Print Recipe

Ingredients

  • 8 cup broccoli florets - about 4 heads
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 cup cremini mushrooms - finely chopped
  • 1 small yellow onion - chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic - minced
  • 3 tbsp butter - divided
  • 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup half and half
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp paprika
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 cup greek yogurt - or light sour cream
  • 1 egg - lightly beaten
  • 1 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese - divided
  • 1 1/2 cup breadcrumbs - divided

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 9x13-inch baking dish; set aside.
  • Steam broccoli for a few minutes (do not fully cook the broccoli). Place the broccoli in a large mixing bowl; set aside.
  • In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, add the olive oil. Add the mushrooms and brown, about 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the onion and garlic and cook until translucent and fragrant. Transfer to the bowl with the broccoli.
  • In the same saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute.
  • Slowly whisk in the milk and half-n-half until smooth. Bring the mixture to a low simmer, whisk until thick. Remove from the heat and whisk in the salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper and Greek yogurt.
  • Pour sauce into the large mixing bowl (with the veggies). Add the egg, 1 cup of the cheddar cheese, and ½ cup of the breadcrumbs, mix until combined. Pour into the prepared baking dish.
  • In a medium microwave safe mixing bowl, melt the remaining tablespoon of butter. Toss the remaining breadcrumbs in and stir to combine, then mix in the remaining cheese. Sprinkle evenly over the broccoli mixture.
  • Place in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until it bubbles and browns (place a piece of foil over top to prevent over-browning at the 30 minute mark). Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

NOTES

-Try adding chicken or ham to this dish for a complete meal!

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 327kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 64mg | Sodium: 536mg | Potassium: 520mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 1113IU | Vitamin C: 82mg | Calcium: 326mg | Iron: 2mg

 

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About the Author

Andrea

Hi I'm Andrea!

Hotelier turned Food Blogger to help make your life simple, one recipe at a time.

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Comments:

  1. This sounds like an excellent broccoli casserole! You mentioned that frozen broccoli could be used.

    However, I didn’t see a note about how many ounces of frozen broccoli should be used to replace the eight cups of florets. Could you please share this information so I can use frozen broccoli?

    Thank you

  2. 5 stars
    Very good. I wasn’t going to add the mushrooms, but am glad I did. Chopped very fine, they added an extra level of flavor.

    I didn’t have any yogurt so I just added a little extra milk. I substituted a bit of hot sauce since I was out of cayenne. I quartered the recipe for the two of us and had just a tiny bit left over.

    My oven must run hot because I had to lop 20 minutes off the cooking time. This is a keeper.

  3. 5 stars
    So happy that this is a light version of this broccoli casserole. My family LOVES this recipe so much. Now I can feel better about making it for them.