Cheesy Broccoli and Rice Casserole Every family has some classic dish, which they prepare for holidays and family gatherings. One of those easy-to-make side dishes is cheesy broccoli and rice casserole. What is better than a hot cheesy casserole straight out of oven? What’s more, this easy casserole recipe can even do triple duty as breakfast. Yum!
This dish is also convenient to prepare because it is one-pot meal, which makes it a fast way to treat your unexpected guests. You can prepare it a day or a month in advance and freeze. That way you let the ingredients sit, which allows flavors to marinate, intensify and make the taste even better! Cheese and soup make a thickened sauce to hold all the ingredients together, broccoli gives a nice crunchy texture to dish with fluffy rice all around.
We all know that broccoli is so good for us. Packed with healthy fiber, vitamin C and A, riboflavin, calcium, it is deliciously healthy and low in calorie.
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked rice
2 (10 ounces) boxes frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
2 (10 ¾ ounce) cans cream of chicken soup (you can also use combination of chicken and mushroom cream soup)
8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
1 small chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter
How do you make this creamy cheesy casserole?
1. Melt the butter in a large pan and cook onion until soft and yellowish.
2. Add rest of the ingredients and cook until cheese melts.
3. When it is done, put it in a casserole dish (best to use 2 quart casserole dish).
4. Bake it for 1 hour on 350 F, uncovered.
5. Serve and enjoy its delicate taste.
This recipe is also great because it can be made ahead and put in freezer. You just need cooked rice, mix it with all the remaining ingredients and divide into smaller dishes. When it’s time to prepare it, cook it for 10 more minutes if you put it in oven straight from freezer, and check when it is done. Fast way to have this delicious cheesy broccoli dish for every occasion without much time spent in the kitchen.
Tips for weight loss:
Getting your family to eat healthy can sometimes be challenging, right? These casserole dishes, for example, are healthy way of eating light meals that are both so delicious and satisfying.
1. You are more likely to keep pounds down and reach your goal if you prepare your own healthy meals at home. This way, you are in control of the ingredients, keep track of what you eat and it is also cost saving.
2. Make clever food swaps. You can enjoy that favorite creamy soup sauce, but with boosted nutritional value. For example, to get a consistency of a heavy cream, you can use pureed white beans or avocado, which are full of fiber and make you feel full and eat less. There is so much more in them than in the processed heavy creams from store.
3. We all like that additional portion of cheese toping, but the best way to achieve your goal in weight loss is to measure out the ingredients. If you are following a healthy food recipe, like the one above, which has cheese in it, stick to the measurements used in the recipe and you will keep your calorie intake under control.
4. Did you know that you can skip butter, oil and heavy creams by using Greek yoghurt? Yes, it will boost levels of calcium and protein in your dishes, and it is way healthier substitute. Just what you are looking for, right?
5. No matter what greens are already in the dish, you can always add more. There is no „too much“ when greens are in question. Be creative and enhance flavor and fiber with handful of leafy greens, it will certainly help your weight loss. Not to talk about all the different colors they will give to your meals, making them even more enjoyable!
6. Frying your meals can be more time saving and quick option, but not so healthy version with all that oil. Baking, even more time consuming, makes reduction in calories and fat worth the effort.
7. If you are cooking for yourself only, make it one serving. That way you won’t be tempted to go for seconds or thirds, and mess your progress so far.
8. When cooking your meal, there is no need for ingredients to swim in oil. It is way better to just spray a thin layer of olive oil on your pan, or even better, use a non stick pan.
9. Rethink of using brown rice instead of white one. Even the procedure of cooking the rice can save you a lot of calories intake.
10. Eat more whole-foods. They take longer to digest, so you feel fuller for longer periods of time, which prevents you from eating all those unhealthy snacks in between.
11. Plan your meals and buy groceries ahead. It will allow you to make healthier food choices and prevent you from ordering at the restaurant on Friday evening or having that midnight snack full of fat.
12. Using a steamer to cook vegetables helps in saving more nutrients in food. Broccoli is the best when cooked on steam, making it preserve all of its valuable nutrients.
13. When making desserts, try using alternate sweeteners, like stevia and xylitol, instead of sugar. Even if you can’t go without sugar, you can always use brown sugar, a way healthier than white one.
