Southern Broccoli and Rice Casserole is a Southern favorite in our home and one of our most beloved recipes passed down from one generation to the next; made with long grain rice, fresh never frozen broccoli, sautéed Vidalia onions, white sharp cheddar, mild yellow cheddar, sour cream, low sodium vegetable broth, and topped with seasoned breadcrumbs before being baked to perfection.
Did you notice the ingredient list? That’s right, I bet you noticed this delicious recipe for Southern Broccoli and Rice Casserole has absolutely no mention of canned soup or processed cheese included. Now for those of you, that love your Southern Broccoli and Rice Casserole, but hate using those two ingredients these days; you are going to fall in love with this updated recipe.
One of the many things that I have always loved about this recipe is the fact even though my son hated broccoli when he was small and my husband hated rice for some reason they love cheese and anything that has cheese trumps the ingredients they aren’t so fond of, go figure that one out since both literally devour this casserole like no tomorrow when I serve it. I guess cheese makes everything better.
I decided I would make this hearty casserole today for our Memorial Day gathering and I had a good chuckle as one of our friends from New Jersey told me they thought Southern Broccoli and Rice Casserole was a recipe we only served at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Now let me tell Y’all this deliciously cheesy casserole can be served on any given day you’d like to splurge at dinner. Y’all don’t have to wait until the Thanksgiving holiday to enjoy it!
Southern Broccoli and Rice Casserole is pure unadulterated Comfort Food bliss in my opinion. I mean anytime you combine Rice, Cheese, Broccoli, and other favorite ingredients in a recipe, it gets my full attention right then and there. I just can’t help myself when it comes to broccoli and cheese. Totally one of my favorite combinations.
I have actually even added grilled chicken breast strips to this casserole and made an entire meal around it. It’s super simple to make and clean up on a busy night. There are some time-saving options you can use to keep the time closer to 30 minutes,
- Use thawed organic frozen broccoli in place of fresh.
- Use leftover white rice from another previous meal.
- If you add the chicken, use a rotisserie chicken from the market.
In this recipe, I used a White Sharp Cheddar and Mild Cheddar, but let me tell you Colby-Jack and Mild Cheddar are also an awesome combo for the Southern Broccoli and Rice Casserole recipe as well. Try it both ways and be sure to let me know which you like better? I always love hearing from Y’all.
Let me know Y’all, how you enjoyed this old-school Southern favorite of ours in the comments, I love hearing feedback from you on the recipes that you try on the blog. Also, if needed during the off-season frozen broccoli may be used by simply adding it to the casserole while still frozen so that it does not overlook during the baking process.
Ingredients Needed:
- 4 cups Vegetable broth, to cook the rice
- 2 cups Long grain rice
- 4 tablespoons Unsalted butter
- 1 Vidalia onion chopped
- Kosher salt, to own taste
- Freshly ground pepper, to own taste
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 1/4 cups Vegetable Broth
- 2 1/4 cups of Half and Half + more if needed for the sauce
- 3/4 cups Sour cream
- 2 cups Freshly shredded white cheddar cheese
- 2 cups Freshly shredded mild cheddar cheese
- 3 cups Fresh broccoli flowerets cut into small pieces
- Cooking spray
- 1 cup Panko Breadcrumbs
Tip:
- Follow the instructions word for word, changing the recipe may cause the recipe to be the incorrect consistency or taste.
- Before baking be sure to check the consistency of your cheese sauce with the rice mixture, if it seems to dry add more half and half cream before baking.
- 4 cups Vegetable broth, to cook the rice
- 2 cups Long grain rice
- 3-4 tablespoons Unsalted butter
- 1 Vidalia onion chopped
- Kosher salt, to own taste
- Freshly ground pepper, to own taste
- 1/4 cup Flour
- 1 1/4 cups Vegetable broth
- 2 1/4 cups Half and half + more if needed for the sauce
- 3/4 cup Sour cream
- 2 cups Freshly shredded white cheddar cheese
- 2 cups Freshly shredded mild cheddar cheese
- 3 cups Fresh broccoli flowerets cut into small pieces
- Cooking spray
- 1 cup Panko Breadcrumbs for topping
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Boil the vegetable broth in a 3-quart pan, once the water comes to a boil add 2 cups of long grain white rice and stir. Boil for about 3-4 minutes before covering with a tight-fitting lid and reducing heat to the lowest setting. Leave the burner on the lowest heat setting covered for about 10-12 minutes, then completely turn off the heat source and let rice stand for about 10 minutes.
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At this time use a fork to fluff the long grain white rice, the rice may seem a bit dry, however, the liquids you will be adding to the rice will be absorbed in the baking process and make the rice the proper consistency. Once the rice has been fluffed add 1/3 of the cheese sauce mixture, and the uncooked broccoli florets to the rice in the 3-quart saucepan, gently stir to combine ingredients.
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Meanwhile, place a metal skillet on medium heat, add 3-4 tablespoons of unsalted butter to the skillet, let unsalted butter slowly melt, then add chopped Vidalia onion, season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, sauté the onions in butter for about 3 minutes before adding 1/4 of a cup of flour; stir continuously until the raw flour taste cooks off about 2-3 minutes
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Add 1 1/4 cups of vegetable broth to the flour and onion mixture in the metal skillet, stir thoroughly, then slowly add half and half and sour cream to the mixture stirring till it becomes thick and creamy, slowly add the cheeses and stir the mixture till it becomes thick and creamy, if the cheese mixture becomes too thick add a touch more broth or half and half cream to it to thin out. You may season with more kosher salt and freshly ground pepper if desired.
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Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray then ladle another 1/3 of the cheese mixture to the bottom of the casserole dish before adding the rice mixture to the casserole dish, ladle the last 1/3 of sauce over the rice and broccoli, then top with seasoned bread crumbs.
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Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes uncovered. Remove from the oven and serve with your favorite meal.
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Add grilled chicken chunks or strips to the rice casserole and make it an entire meal
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Use organic frozen broccoli in place of fresh when broccoli is out of season in your area.
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Use Colby-Jack and Mild cheddar cheese in place of the Sharp cheese if desired.
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Be sure to check the consistency of your rice and cheese mixture. Before baking to make sure you do not need more liquids. Add slowly as you do not want sticky rice.
Don’t forget to Pin or Print to save the recipe for later!
I’m not sure about the item in the list of ingredients for vegetables broth/whole milk. Can you clarify that for me please?
I’m anxious to try this recipe. It sounds so much richer and tastier than the old one I have.
How many does this serve?
This should serve about 6-8 people easily. Hopefully that helps.
Can I make this in advance and freeze until ready to bake?
I think if stored properly it should be fine Kelly.
I am making this tonight for dinner. Well, we had it for dinner, it is good but I added too much rice to my mixture, used 3 cups. I do like the idea that the sauce is made from scratch so you know what is in it. This was awesome. Definitely will make it again except I will follow the directions closely.
H, Joan, I must have been typing faster than I was thinking lol. Thank you, for catching that error. I used Self-rising—However, you can use either in the recipe.
If this is doubled, would the baking time be the same?
Hi, yes the baking time should pretty much remain the same. I would use a rectangular casserole dish instead of a round deep dish casserole.
You say vegetable broth in the list of ingredients for cooking rice, but could I use chicken broth instead?. I would think this is a matter of taste? Thanks in advance.
This looks so hearty and tasty! I love rice and cheese casseroles!
Thank you, it’s so good and if you add grilled chicken you have an entire meal.
Your photos are lovely. I think I need to add this casserole to my dinner plan for this week!
Thank you, I need to work on my photo skills, but they sure are better than they used to be lol! I appreciate the sweet comment. Thank you.
This looks super yummy!! And I totally agree that cheese trumps anything – can’t even count the things I’ve learned to eat just because I started with a cheese-covered version…
LOL, I sooo agree! Cheese is wonderful!
It’s rare that I stumble across a recipe I want to make AND I have all the ingredients in! It’s my lucky day clearly. Thanks for posting!
I know that feeling all too well myself. I am so glad you have them! Enjoy!
My mom used to make something like this for us on a weekly basis and this brings back so many memories. I need to try this on out on my kids. I think they will love it!
That’s so awesome to hear, I bet it was wonderful! I bet the kids would love this. Thanks for stopping by and sharing.
This recipe was so dry!!! I doubled the recipe it and added more cream after it baked trying to make it moist. Just didn’t work for me. I have frozen four containers for the freezer is there any way to save some of these??? Not sure what else to do!!! Should have followed directions more closely I guess.
I’m sorry to hear this. Please explain to me step by step what you did or if you changed anything in the recipe.
Just curious did you double the recipe or? Please elaborate on the doubling and adding more cream.
Can never go wrong with a broccoli casserole! This will make the best side dish with dinner tonight; looks spot-on delicious!
This looks like a great side dish or a meal in itself! Can’t wait to try!
I’m laughing so hard about your son and husband. So funny how cheese is like a miracle ingredient. The casserole looks wonderful.
I love all ingredients, so I’ll take your husband’s and your son’s leftovers! The idea of not using canned soup is a plus, definitely. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
Broccoli casseroles are my favorite! I LOVE them any time of the year!