Cheesy Broccoli Bake
This Cheesy Broccoli Bake takes one of my favorite vegetables and makes it infinitely more delicious by smothering it in a rich Cheddar cheese sauce (doesn’t that make anything better?). It’s the perfect comfort food side dish to almost any main course (it’s great with meats off the grill for Summer time) and it’s also a fantastic way to get any picky family members to eat their vegetables. Caution: the cheese sauce is so delicious and easy to whip up you may just want to start putting it on everything. Plus, even though the sauce is rich, creamy and cheesy, a serving of Cheesy Broccoli Bake is just 161 calories or 5 Weight Watchers SmartPoints on all three myWW plans! To view your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!
If you’re interested in more tasty, healthy comfort food sides, check out my Spinach and Parmesan Orzo, Garlic Roasted Green Beans with Almonds, Loaded Cauliflower Bake, Zucchini Casserole and more in the side dish category of my recipe index!
Cheesy Broccoli Bake
Ingredients
- 20 oz fresh broccoli florets, about 8 cups
- 3 tablespoons light butter, I used Land O’Lakes
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 ½ cups skim milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dry mustard powder, I used Colman’s
- 4 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (I used Cabot Seriously Sharp)
- 4 oz 50% reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (I used Cabot)
Instructions
- Steam the broccoli. If you have a preferred method, feel free to use that. I just put about an inch of water in a pot and add the broccoli in (water should not cover broccoli). Then cover the pot and put it on the stovetop over med-high heat for 5-8 minutes until the broccoli is bright green and tender (poke with a fork to check tenderness). I usually stir the broccoli once quickly while it’s steaming and then replace the lid. Drain the broccoli completely and transfer it to a 9x13 baking dish. Spread evenly throughout the dish and set aside.
- Pre-heat the oven to 350. In a medium saucepan, bring the butter over medium-low heat until melted. Add the flour a little at a time, whisking it into the butter until combined. Add the milk a little bit at a time, whisking it into the flour mixture until smooth and well combined. Turn the heat up to medium for a few minutes until the milk is warmed. Add the salt, pepper, mustard powder and 6 ounces of the shredded cheese (reserve 2 oz for topping) and whisk the mixture together. Continue to heat for another 3-5 minutes, whisking periodically, until the cheese is melted into the sauce and sauce has thickened.
- Pour the cheese sauce over top of the broccoli in the baking dish, making sure broccoli is evenly coated. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes until cheese is melted and the dish is heated through. Allow a few minutes to cool before serving.
Notes
4 per (2/3 cup) serving (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)
I’m loving this dish! Yummy cheese and broccoli AND low calories?? Count me in! Great recipe, Emily!
I can’t wait to try this recipe but I have to ask – where did you get that baking dish?? It is beautiful and I love the handles!
It’s from Target! I got it on clearance near the end of last Summer so I’m not sure if they have something like it again this year, but it’s worth checking 🙂
Planning to try this with someone super picky about vegetables. Can you substitute a type of regular mustard for the dry? Thanks!
Sure, you can try yellow mustard. It just gives the cheese sauce a little zip. 🙂
Emily, do you think this could be made ahead of time and then reheated in the oven? I’m hoping to make this for Thanksgiving but want to make them a head of time.
Hi Abigail! I think you could definitely prep it ahead of time and then bake it when you’re ready. I would do the first two steps (steam the broccoli and make the sauce) ahead of time and combine it all in the baking dish. Then you could probably just refrigerate it until you want to bake it (though I recommend taking it out of the fridge for a bit before putting it in the oven because I have heard of casserole dishes breaking in the oven if you put them in cold). Hope it’s a hit!
Hi Abigail–So many of your recipes sound yummers but I have no idea how to substitute with Canadian ingredients. Where I live you can’t get low fat cheese to shred.
Hi, this is Emily :). It’s hard for me to recommend substitutions since I don’t know what you *do* have out of the country, but I’m guessing you’ll just have to recalculate the recipes using full fat cheese using the recipe builder.
I was wondering if you could use cauliflower instead of broccoli?
Sure!
A quick question…. you cook the broccoli until tender and then bake it for 20 min? Doesn’t that make the broccoli mushy? Could you skip the first part to make the broccoli more al dente? This sounds delicious but I do have mushy broccoli.
Emily, can I use thawed packaged-frozen broccoli instead?
While your casserole looks delicious I am going crazy over your bakeware. Could you tell me the manufacturer and where it can be purchared?
I got it from Target!
Hi Emily! 🙂 Do you have to use mustard powder? I’m just not a fan of mustard and I was thinking of making this as a side dish for Thanksgiving. Would it be all right without it? Thanks!
The sharpness of that cheddar really comes through and the sauce is so creamy, it’s like whiz on steroids! Very good dish!
Best broccoli cheese recipe I’ve tried!