Sides / Casseroles & table breads
Broccoli Cheese Casserole from Scratch
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Sharp cheddar sauce, bright green broccoli, and buttery cracker crumbs that crackle under the spoon. Build it ahead of time, and all that's left on the day is the oven.
The short version
Blanch 2½ pounds of broccoli for 2 minutes and drain it well. Make a cheddar sauce with butter, onion, flour, milk, mustard and sharp cheddar, fold in the broccoli, top with buttery cracker crumbs and Parmesan, and bake at 375°F for 25 to 30 minutes. Undercook the broccoli; it finishes in the oven.
What makes ours better
why ours wins the argument at dinner
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Make the cheese sauce yourself. Butter, flour and milk thickened in one pan, then sharp cheddar stirred in, give you a sauce that tastes like cheese and clings to every floret. Canned soup brings mostly salt and starch, and the homemade sauce takes about ten minutes.
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Blanch the broccoli only 2 minutes. A quick boil sets the color and takes the raw edge off, and the broccoli finishes cooking in the sauce. Fully cooked broccoli turns soft and gray in the oven and leaks water into the casserole.
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Grate your own cheddar and add it off the heat. Bagged shredded cheese is coated to stop it clumping, which also stops it melting smoothly. Block cheddar stirred into a hot sauce off the burner melts silky instead of grainy.
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Mustard and a pinch of cayenne. You won't taste either one. They sharpen the cheddar so the sauce tastes cheesier without adding more cheese.
What you need
the stars of the show
- Broccoli2½ pounds
- Unsalted butter4 tablespoons
- Yellow onion1 small
- Garlic2 cloves
- All-purpose flour⅓ cup
- Dijon mustard2 teaspoons
- Sharp cheddar8 ounces
- Finely grated Parmesan½ cup
Broccoli and sauce
Topping
tap each one as it goes in. no double-salting.
Steps
apron on. phone down. mostly.
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Blanch the broccoli
Heat the oven to 375°F and butter a 13×9-inch baking dish. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot, add the 2 tablespoons of salt and the broccoli and cook until bright green and barely tender, 2 minutes. Drain well and spread it on a towel-lined sheet pan to steam dry while you make the sauce.
It should still be firm. The oven finishes the job.
About 2 min. Cook mode has a timer for this step.
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Soften the onion
Melt the 4 tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds.
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Cook the flour
Sprinkle in the flour and whisk for 2 minutes, until it's smooth, bubbling and smells lightly toasted rather than raw.
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Whisk in the milk
Slowly whisk in the warm milk, a cup at a time, whisking out lumps between additions. Add the mustard, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper and cayenne. Bring to a simmer and cook, whisking often, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 4 to 5 minutes.
About 5 min. Cook mode has a timer for this step.
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Melt in the cheddar
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the cheddar a handful at a time until smooth. Taste; it should be well seasoned, because the broccoli is plain.
Boiling the sauce after the cheese goes in is what makes it grainy. Keep it off the heat.
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Combine and fill the dish
Fold the broccoli into the sauce until every piece is coated, then spread it evenly in the buttered dish.
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Top and bake
Toss the cracker crumbs with the melted butter and Parmesan and scatter over the top. Bake, uncovered, until the sauce bubbles at the edges and the topping is deep golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Let it rest 5 minutes before serving.
About 25 min. Cook mode has a timer for this step.
Good to know
read this before somebody asks for seconds
- For a panko topping, toss 1 cup panko with 3 tablespoons melted butter and the Parmesan. It's crunchier and less salty than crackers.
- To make it a day ahead, assemble the broccoli and cooled sauce in the dish, cover and refrigerate. Add the topping and bake at 375°F for 35 to 40 minutes, until bubbling in the center.
- Frozen broccoli works in a pinch. Thaw 2½ pounds of florets, skip the blanching, and pat them very dry, or the casserole will be watery.
- For a half batch, halve everything and bake in an 8-inch square dish for about 20 minutes.
- Storage. Refrigerated, covered, 3 to 4 days. Reheat at 350°F for 15 to 20 minutes, covered with foil for the first 10 so the top doesn't burn. Frozen before baking, without the topping, 2 months; thaw overnight in the fridge, top and bake.
Questions, answered
asked and answered at the kitchen counter
Can I make broccoli casserole without canned soup?
Yes, and this recipe does. A simple cheddar sauce of butter, flour, milk and cheese takes about ten minutes and tastes far more like cheese than the soup version.
Can I use frozen broccoli?
Yes. Thaw it, skip the blanching, and pat it very dry before folding it into the sauce. The texture is softer than fresh, but it works.
Why is my broccoli casserole watery?
The broccoli was wet or overcooked. Blanch it only 2 minutes and let it steam dry on a towel before it meets the sauce.
Why is my cheese sauce grainy?
Either it boiled after the cheese went in, or the cheese was pre-shredded. Grate a block of cheddar and stir it in off the heat.
Can I make broccoli cheese casserole ahead?
Assemble it without the topping up to a day ahead and refrigerate. Add the crumbs right before baking and give it 10 extra minutes in the oven.
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Published October 26, 2026.