Not Your Ordinary Broccoli Rice Casserole

There’s a certain famous restaurant who serves the most amazing Broccoli Rice Casserole as one of their sides. It’s a favorite in our family. I could make this side my main course, and so could my grown son.

As a surprise for him, I thought I’d try replicating this recipe last week. I found a simple recipe, tweaked it a bit, and added some special touches (like Club crackers!). It was so good! My son thought it was pretty close to the original. Score!

When I shared it on social media, many asked for the recipe. Here it is. Hopefully you’ll like it as much as we do! Enjoy!

Not Your Ordinary Broccoli Rice Casserole

1-1/2 cups cooked rice (I used long grain white rice)

1 stick butter

1/2 cup onion, finely chopped (I used dried onion flakes to make it go quicker)

1 pound fresh or frozen broccoli, cut into small florets (I used frozen, thawed)

1 can cheddar cheese soup

8 ounces Velveeta, cubed

1 sleeve of Club crackers, broken into pieces

 

Prepare rice according to package directions. Fluff with fork and pour into a large bowl.

If using fresh broccoli, blanch in boiling water, then transfer into cold water. Drain. If using frozen, thaw in microwave (but don’t cook thoroughly). Add to rice in large bowl.

Saute onion until tender, or use dried onion flakes. Add to bowl.

Melt butter on low heat in pan used for the onion and add Velveeta. Stir until melted so the cheese won’t stick to the pan and burn. Pour over the rice, broccoli, onion mixture in large bowl, then top with the canned cheddar cheese soup.

Add the broken Club cracker pieces into the large bowl and mix well. I wanted to make sure the broken cracker pieces were well coated with the cheese mixture.

Pour into a greased 13″ x 9″ casserole dish. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. I stirred it part-way through.

Serves 12.