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

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: Laura.McKenna@civicmedia.us
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