Broccoli Cheese Casserole with Ritz Cracker Topping

Broccoli cheese casserole with crunchy Ritz Cracker Topping is a family favorite and a staple on every holiday.

Broccoli Casserole

Looking for the perfect Broccoli Cheese Casserole? Look no more!

No one will turn down the greens once they taste this ultra cheesy, perfectly melty broccoli casserole topped with just the right amount of Ritz cracker crunch. 

Scroll to the bottom for a printable version of this post, including all measurements and instructions, so you can follow along in your kitchen without being on your phone. 

Here is what you need to gather to get started: 

• 3-4 crowns fresh broccoli
• mayonnaise
• cream of chicken soup
• butter
• diced white onion
• eggs
• salt
• pepper
• sharp cheddar cheese
• Ritz crackers

RELATED RECIPES:  Broccoli Slaw Salad Recipe, Keto Broccoli Salad with Cheese, Broccoli Cauliflower Casserole, Spinach Casserole, Shrimp and Asparagus Casserole,  Sausage Hash Brown Casserole

 

 

 

Broccoli Casserole Preparation

With all cheese casseroles, they tend to stick to your pan. Make sure you thoroughly spray your pan with cooking spray so you do not have a big sloppy mess of broccoli cheese casserole at the end.

There is nothing worse than stuck on food that will only come off with an hour of scraping.

This before hand step will make sure its a rinse and go situation.

While not totally necessary, I personally always like to have my ingredients ready and measured before I get started, that way I do not have to open the fridge or reach into the vegetable drawers with sticky messy hands grabbing for more jars or spices.

The smudges on my fridge handles are a tell-tell sign of what happens every time I am under-prepped for cooking!

Pre-measuring also helps when you cook with kids so they can just dump and stir.

Both of my kids love the experimentation of cooking and I don’t mind having two perfect helpers in the kitchen (which also gives them some life skills) but if they have to measure it can quickly go insane in the space.

Broccoli Casserole Recipe

Preheat oven to 350 and grab a prepared baking dish ( grease a 9 x 13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray)

Break down your broccoli crowns into bite sized pieces and steal or boil broccoli until soft.

Spread already cooked broccoli into bottom layers of casserole dish.

In a mixing bowl, pour melted butter, mayonnaise, cream of chicken soup, and diced white onion and mix well.

Stir in both eggs, 1 cup of shredded cheese and salt and pepper and mix well.

Spread mixture over broccoli in pan and mix well to evenly coat.

Sprinkle remaining shredded cheddar cheese on top of broccoli casserole and then cover top layer with crushed Ritz crackers.

Bake broccoli casserole for 30-40 minutes or until heated through for a side dish the whole family loves.

Serves 6-8

Broccoli Casserole Variations

While this side dish is focused on delicious broccoli florets, you can alter flavors by using cauliflower or green beans or substitute the cream of chicken with cream of mushroom.

Additionally do not be afraid to experiment from the original broccoli cheese casserole recipe to a totally different veggie cheese casserole.

Last but not least, many people like rice in this dish and if you choose to do that, you will need to cook your rice prior and perhaps double up your soup ingredients. I haven’t experimented with that one yet, so proceed with caution.

The truth is, with all this cheese (and you can never have enough cheese), it doesn’t matter what your end game is on the vegetables, your casserole will be perfect and should hold up under some fun changes.

And at the end, the ritz cracker crunch (or bread crumbs if you prefer) finish off the meal with a buttery taste.

 

 

Frozen vs Fresh Broccoli

Fresh isn’t required (I hear you sighing with relief) !

If you do not like the muss and fuss of steaming  before hand, you really could just use frozen broccoli. Simply pop those steamers into the microwave to cook and drain any excess water prior to the rest of the recipe.

If you do use frozen over fresh, make sure you grab 2-3 16 oz. bags to make sure you have enough for a full sized broccoli cheese casserole

Once your broccoli are cooked up, you can continue to prep them by cutting off and losing any of the “tree” ends on the stalks.

Using fresh veggies? No problem! As far as fresh broccoli, same thing! Just pre-cook your broccoli prior to your next steps as they wont steam enough in the casserole.

 

More Side Dishes you will love:

Before you go, you may want to check out a few other great recipe ideas here!

1. How to Cook Spaghetti Squash (a favorite of mine!)
2. Cucumber Tomato Feta Salad
3. Cherry Tomato Balsamic Salad
4. Roasted Carrots
5. Stuffed Mushrooms