Broccoli Cheddar Rice Casserole

a baking dish of casserole with a scoop out and a spoon in the dish

Broccoli Cheddar Rice Casserole

Make this classic even better with no canned soups and see how the flavor shines!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Prep Time 35

Cook Time 30

Total Time 1 5

Servings people

Calories 477kcal

Author Rachel Ballard

Ingredients

For the cream of celery soup

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup celery finely diced; you can puree it if you don't want it chunky (See note 1)
1/3 cup yellow onion diced
1/2 garlic clove finely minced
1/4 cup flour gluten free works (See note 2)
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon salt (See note 3)

For the casserole

1 1/2 cups cream of celery soup or a 10 ounce can of store bought
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup milk
24 ounces frozen broccoli thawed and roughly chopped (See note 4)
2 cups grated cheddar cheese (See note 5)
2 cups basmati rice already cooked; measure after cooking
2 cups crushed Ritz crackers optional
2 tablespoons butter cold, cut into chunks

Instructions

Make the cream of celery soup

In a medium pot, add the butter and melt over medium heat. Add the celery and onions and cook until softened, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant; 30 seconds to a minute.
Add the flour and stir to combine. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly; make sure you don't see any pockets of raw flour.
Add the half and half and broth and stir to combine. Stir constantly until the mixture bubbles and thickens enough to hold a line on the back of a spoon 4 to 5 minutes.
Taste for seasoning and add the salt.
Set this mixture aside until needed or cool and store in the refrigerator for up to three days.

Assemble the casserole

Preheat the oven to 400.
In a large bowl add the cream of celery soup, mayonnaise, milk, broccoli and cheese. Stir to combine.
Add the rice and stir gently until barely incorporated; don't break the rice too much.
Transfer the mixture to a 9x13 baking dish and sprinkle over the Ritz crackers if using.
Dot with cold butter. Bake 30-35 minutes until hot and bubbly.

Notes

Note 1: The celery is really key here. If you need to hide the texture, add it to a food processor and blend until it's finely pureed and proceed with the recipe.

Note 2: A gluten free flour blend like Cup 4 Cup or King Arthur's baking blend would work great here. Remember Cup 4 Cup has dairy in it in case you also need to avoid that.

Note 3: The amount of salt you'll need will vary greatly depending on how salty your stock/broth is. Taste your soup and adjust salt as needed. Sea salt is also less salty than table salt. Add half of the salt, taste and then add the remaining half. If you still need more just keep adding until the desired flavor is achieved.

Note 4: It's impossible to find the bricks of chopped frozen broccoli anymore. If you can't, just get a bag of frozen and let it thaw then use a knife or food processor to roughly chop it. Just a pulse or three in the food processor will do it. If using fresh, it will need to be steamed and chopped before proceeding.

Note 5: Buy a block of cheddar and grate it yourself. Never use pre-shredded. It clumps and gets gluey when melted.

Nutrition