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

11.06.25
Pro Travel Tip
I was watching the news last night and they were talking about the number of flights being cancelled already and how much that number was set to grow throughout the weekend with the government shutdown. They had a travel expert talking about travel tips for airline passengers. There was one in particular that made so […]
Read More >

11.03.25
Movie Monday: Out with the SPOOKY and in with the CHEESY
While Hallmark’s Countdown To Christmas officially began in mid-October with new holiday movies and series, I have to wait until after we take the Halloween decor down before I can jump aboard. I’m a one holiday at a time gal, what can I say? But now that Halloween is over, spooky movie season is out […]
Read More >

10.31.25
Ghost Stories from Laura McKenna
My family has had quite a number of experiences on Organ Grinder Road over the years…. Read my story HERE. And how it all began with my Dad HERE. My Dad will be turning 80 tomorrow and I just asked him again, “Would you take another walk down Organ Grinder?” He simply said: “Are you […]
Read More >

10.28.25
In The Kitchen with Laura McKenna: The Best Black Bean Pumpkin Soup
This soup is wonderful!! So good, in fact, that I will need to make it again very soon because I’ve already almost scarfed down the entire pot. As I was flipping through the recent Eating Well Soups magazine (which is AMAZING), I came across this recipe. Pumpkin in soup? Hmm, I don’t know about that. […]
Read More >




