In The Kitchen with Laura McKenna: Mama Linda’s Broccoli Casserole


November 6, 2024 8:13 PM CDT
By: Laura McKenna
Supported by
This is a staple at every Thanksgiving at the McKenna household (and every Christmas, too!)
This is my family’s absolute FAVORITE holiday side dish. I know it will soon be yours, too! My Mom (Linda) hates to cook and if SHE can do it, you definitely can! So trust me when I say, this is super easy and a whole new level of delicious!
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
-1/4 cup butter |
-1/3 cup milk (using dairy free versions won’t hurt!) |
-1 medium diced onion |
-2 packages of frozen broccoli (12 or 16 oz bags are fine) |
-15oz. jar of Cheez Whiz (Mom uses the generic/store brand kind) |
-2 cans of Cream of Mushroom soup (10.5oz each)* |
-1 small can mushrooms (with the juice) |
-1 cup dry white Minute Rice |
.
WHAT YOU’LL DO:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, then:
In a large saucepan, melt butter. Add milk, onions, and broccoli**. Cook until broccoli is tender.
**If broccoli florets and stems are large in size, feel free to chop them into more bite size pieces.
Add in Cheez Whiz, soup, mushrooms, and rice. Mix all together.
Spray a 13×9 casserole baking dish (or any similar size) with non-stick spray. Pour everything in and cover with foil.
Bake for 1 hour. Oven baking times may vary but you’ll know this is done when it’s all bubbly.
Prepare for this to become a family favorite around your holiday dinner table, too!
*Don’t like mushrooms? You can use a different cream soup (like Cream of Onion or Celery). You can also omit the can of mushrooms but since that will omit some of the liquid as well, just add another TBSP of milk and perhaps a little more diced onion for flavor.
I like to use plant based ingredients so swapping in those soups for the traditional dairy kind won’t change the flavor either.
Want to contact Laura McKenna about some of your favorite holiday recipes or cooking tricks you do? Anything else on your mind? Email anytime, she’d love to hear from you: [email protected]
And tune in weekdays starting at 10am to St. Croix Country & WCFW!

More Articles By Laura McKenna

05.07.25
Mother’s Day is Sunday. The perfect gift won’t cost you a thing!
Kelly Clarkson may have just made Mother’s Day shopping easier and more awesome for everyone! What is the perfect gift for Moms? It doesn’t cost a thing….. Even for me as a Cat Mom, I agree! I hope my kitty, Phil Dawson, wants a good sleep-in day on Sunday. Although I’m not going to count […]
Read More >

05.05.25
Movie Monday: It’s only May. Do we already have the biggest movie flop of the year?
One of the most talked about movies of the year opened in theaters over the weekend. Sadly, it wasn’t that the hype came from anticipation of plot or special effects or anything that would bring a smile to movie goers faces… Rust will always be the movie people talk about for the death, injury, court […]
Read More >

04.30.25
Let’s get “Real”. Your deadline is coming soon to get a REAL ID.
If you haven’t updated your license to a REAL ID, the deadline is coming up quickly. On May 7, 2025, U.S. travelers must be REAL ID compliant to board domestic flights and access certain federal facilities. So how do you know if you have one already? Take out your license and look in the upper […]
Read More >

04.28.25
Movie Monday: Documentary about one of the most influential painters in our modern lives- the “light” and the dark side
Think of a famous painter that existed in your lifetime. Maybe Bob Ross comes to mind with his “happy little trees”. He hosted the popular The Joy of Painting, an instructional television program that aired from 1983 to 1994 on PBS. His iconic hair and soothing instructional voice mesmerized a lot of us viewers for many […]
Read More >