Broccoli cheese and rice casserole, on the tail of my tater tot casserole, is my other favorite casserole in the world. A rich, creamy cheesy broccoli and rice casserole topped with crushed ritz crackers!
One of my junk food vices is Ritz crackers. (Ok, I just owned up to my serious candy addiction yesterday), but really, Ritz crackers always sound good. I love them with beer. Especially wheat ale. I love them smeared with sunflower seed butter, I love them dipped in chocolate to make Copycat Girl Scout Thin Mints (yes, really!), but most of all, I love them on top of casseroles.
I'm pretty sure Christy from Southern Plate is the one that introduced me to a green bean and corn casserole topped with buttery crackers. I thought 'how good could a vegetable casserole be?' and then I tasted it. So good.
So, that said, my version of broccoli cheese and rice casserole has crackers on top.
Variations on broccoli cheese and rice casserole:
It's also stuffed with either rice or chicken (sometimes both, with a bit of extra cheese to bind). Often, I find myself with a random ½ cup of wild rice in the bottom of the mason jar, and I've used that, too. Basically, I want you to take this base for broccoli cheese and rice casserole for two and add whatever your Mom added when you were a kid: chopped chicken, white rice, nothing but cheese, whatever.
If you made my small-batch Tater Tot Casserole, you'll recognize the homemade cream of mushroom soup here again. Like I said last time, you can definitely substitute a can of the store-bought stuff. The homemade recipe makes about the same amount as the can, 10 ounces or so.
It's your choice. I love a good homemade condensed soup, though. So thick and creamy!
One final note: I use raw broccoli chopped finely in the casserole because I love for the broccoli to still have some bite after baking in the oven, but you could lightly steam it first if you want the classic soft and creamy casserole filling.
I used two of these small 10-ounce ramekins to make this casserole for two, but any small baking dish would work, too. The 10-ounce ramekin is the classic size for individual soufflés, if you have any of those in your kitchen!
I hope this broccoli cheese and rice casserole for two is so comforting and delicious to you! Let me know if you make it in the comments below!
Dinner for Two: Broccoli Casserole
An easy to make chicken and broccoli casserole for two.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 5 ounces sliced mushrooms
- 1 small white onion, diced
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- pinch of freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 ½ cups grated cheddar cheese
- 1 cup chopped fresh broccoli (small florets)
- ½ cup chopped cooked chicken (or cooked rice, your choice!)
- ~10 Ritz crackers, crushed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350, and have ready two 10-ounce ramekins, or an alternate small casserole dish that holds about 2 cups of liquid.
- Make the homemade condensed soup: In a skillet over medium add 2 tablespoons of the butter, mushrooms, onion and thyme. Saute until the onions begin to soften, about 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the salt and pepper.
- Next, sprinkle the flour on top and stir and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the milk and cream, bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often.
- Turn off the heat to the sauce.
- In a bowl, combine the cheese, raw broccoli florets, and chicken or rice.
- Pour the mixture into the ramekins.
- Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter. Combine it with the crushed crackers. Divide the cracker mixture between the two ramekins.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, until hot and bubbling around the edges.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 800Total Fat: 63gSaturated Fat: 36gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 22gCholesterol: 200mgSodium: 1462mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 5gSugar: 6gProtein: 35g
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
This sounds perfect for any day day of the week! Love that topping.
Erin@WellPlated says
BROCCOLI CASSEROLE FTW. Also ritz crackers + beer? What have you done to me!
Christina Lane says
Love that we both posted broccoli casseroles today! Yours is obviously healthier, though!
Jess @ Clarendon Tinder Diaries says
Ritz crackers are the best! Have you ever made ritz (or saltine) toffee? Divine. I'll definitely be giving this a try!
Sarah | Broma Bakery says
Love that crunchy Ritz topping! And nothing but cheese should be an actual ingredient :)
allison says
Ritz crackers crushed on top of mac+cheese is my absolute favourite way to use them. Need a little crunch on top of all that soft pillowy, carby, love. And YES to using uncooked broccoli; I do the same for quiche and everyone thought I was crazy until they could actually taste/bit into the broc instead of it being green mush.
ali grace | cookies and grace says
Why are Ritz crackers so good?! I'm not exactly sure, but I don't exactly care. This looks awesome!
Kari says
If you lived near me, I'd hug you! This is one of my favorite foods - actually never had it until we got married and a neighbor brought it over. Fell. In. Love.
My husband and I are fairly new empty nesters - both of our sons moved out the same month - so learning to cook for just 2 is my new challenge. Hubs gets tired of eating the same pot of soup or casserole for a week after I eat it!
Thanks, Christina!
Shawnna says
ooh this sounds really good!!
Molly J says
Christina, this sounds great but one question: when do you add the sauce back into the recipe? Once the broccoli/chesse mixture is in the ramekins? or to the bowl with the broccoli/cheese mixture? Not sure if it makes a difference??
Christina Lane says
Sorry, to the bowl. Updating recipe now.
Abby says
Okay, this recipe is AMAZING. Literally one of the top 5 things that has ever come out of my kitchen. I used farro instead of rice because I've been mildly obsessed with it lately and full discretion, left off the cracker crumbs on top because I only ate 1 serving this morning (yes, I made this for breakfast...in our house of early risers, I often have way more motivation to cook breakfast versus dinner :)) and I wanted to save the rest for later, so I didn't want to eat soggy crackers leftover. Also, I totally wished I had bought a can of cream of mushroom before I chopped up the mushrooms and onions because I was feeling lazy, but the homemade soup WAS INCREDIBLE. I will never buy canned soup again. I basically want to go home right now and just make another batch of soup to eat with a spoon. Now I'm rambling...just can't say enough great things about this dish!!