Broccoli Cheese Casserole

Name: Broccoli Cheese Casserole
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 2 lb broccoli (large florets); 4 tbsp butter (divided); 3 tbsp flour; 2 cup milk (whole, warm); 1 tsp mustard (Dijon); 2 cup cheddar (sharp, grated); ¾ tsp salt; ½ tsp black pepper; ¾ cup breadcrumbs (panko-style)

Vegetables & Salads · American

9 ingredients · 60 minutes · 2 servings

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1168kcal55.7g protein72.6g fat81.7g carbs~$4.64/ serving*

Contains gluten, dairy

Restrictions

Containsgluten · dairyIt is in an ingredient you cannot leave out.

Diets

VegetarianPescatarianNo porkNo alcohol

Worked out from the ingredient list. It knows nothing about brands, shared equipment or cross contamination, and it is not a certification — if you have an allergy, you still have to read the label.

Ingredients

Servings:

2 lb	broccoli (large florets)
4 tbsp	butter (divided)
3 tbsp	flour
2 cup	milk (whole, warm)
1 tsp	mustard (Dijon)
2 cup	cheddar (sharp, grated)
¾ tsp	salt
½ tsp	black pepper
¾ cup	breadcrumbs (panko-style)

Optional

Not counted above. The dish works without them.

1 pinch

cayenne (in the sauce)

Steps

Blanch3 min
well-salted water, 2 minutes, drained HARD
- broccoli
broccoli to bright green and barely tender, drained and pressed dry in a towel — two minutes and no more, because it cooks again in the oven; and the drying is load-bearing: broccoli is a sponge, and wet florets bleed water into the sauce until the casserole swims
Whisk6 min
medium, roux then warm milk
flour into 3 tbsp melted butter a full minute, then warm milk streamed in + mustard — the standard white sauce, with the Dijon doing quiet work: it sharpens the cheddar without announcing itself, the difference between cheese sauce and cheese-adjacent sauce
Season2 min
off heat, cheese in handfuls
- black pepper
cheese into the sauce OFF the flame, a handful at a time + salt + pepper — boiled cheddar splits into grease and grit; residual heat melts it into velvet, the same law as every cheese sauce in the catalog
Mix2 min
broccoli folded through, into a buttered dish
florets folded gently through the sauce and spread in the dish — folded, not stirred to death: intact florets give the casserole its architecture, and the sauce finds its own way down
Bake25 min
375°F, crumbs tossed in the last butter, scattered over
- breadcrumbs
breadcrumbs tossed with the remaining melted butter, scattered edge to edge, baked until bubbling at the rim and deep gold on top — the buttered crumb is what the can-based versions crown with fried onions; this one earns its crunch honestly