Broccoli cheese casserole is one of those side dishes that gets gobbled up every time. It’s so creamy, cheesy, and full of flavor. Even your picky eaters will devour this broccoli.
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Would you believe that my parents never made me eat broccoli as a kid?
I honestly don’t think I ever even tasted broccoli until I was a teenager.
Which, hey, I’m not complaining. Broccoli was scary and green looking and I was super picky. My parents picked their battles and broccoli was not one of them.
But now? I LOVE broccoli. It’s probably my favorite veggie and I often eat it steamed with just a sprinkling of salt. No butter, no cheese, just good ol’ broccoli.
Sometimes, though, you’ve got to get a little fancy with your vegetables, whether that’s for Thanksgiving dinner or just a weeknight and a craving hits, and that’s where this easy broccoli cheese casserole comes into play.
Y’all are going to love the decadent cheese sauce that coast the tender broccoli in this low carb broccoli casserole recipe is!
🍗 Variations:
Make it a Meal – Add cooked, shredded chicken or sliced and seared smoked sausage right into this dish to make it a meal.
Add Veggies – Swap half of the broccoli for cauliflower and proceed as directed!
Get Cheesy – Swap the cheddar for a different cheese of your choice, such as gruyere, colby jack, or mozzarella!
Crunchy Topping – Traditional broccoli casserole often has Ritz crackers or other cracker crumbs over the top. Instead, try crumbling up some pork rinds and sprinkle them over the top to add a little crunch!
Broccoli Cheese Casserole
Ingredients
- 20 ounces fresh broccoli florets
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup freshly shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Add the broccoli to a large microwave safe bowl along with 2 tablespoons of water. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and microwave for 2 minutes. Let sit, covered, for 2 minutes.
- Add the cream cheese, mayonnaise, cheddar, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to a small bowl and mix well to combine.
- Stir the cream cheese mixture into the steamed broccoli until well combined.
- Transfer broccoli to an 8×8 baking dish and sprinkle the Parmesan over the top.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
👩🍳 Ingredient Notes:
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Fresh Broccoli – You’ll note that I’m a fan of the fresh broccoli over the frozen! It just tastes better, but I do understand the convenience of the frozen kind. If that’s what you’ve got, it should work. I’ve just never made it myself in this recipe.
Cheese – This broccoli and cheese casserole is loaded up with rich cream cheese, freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese, and some grated Parmesan cheese! That’s going to add tons of creamy, decadent cheesy flavor to this casserole.
Mayo – It’s going to add even more creamy flavor to this keto casserole.
Seasoning – You don’t need many seasonings for this casserole. The rich, cheesy flavors with the broccoli pretty much do most of the work but we do like to mix in some garlic powder, salt, and ground black pepper!
Broccoli and cheese is a classic recipe that just about everyone can enjoy, including the kids!
It’s an easy casserole recipe that you can put together in no time.
With all that rich, creamy cheese nobody will even notice that this is a keto version of broccoli casserole.
How To Make Broccoli Casserole:
Broccoli – We’re starting with fresh broccoli for this recipe, because I personally think it has the best taste and texture. I do usually buy pre-cut broccoli florets in the produce section, but a head of broccoli works just as well. Chop the broccoli into small florets.
Steam – You’ll start out by steaming the broccoli lightly, either in a stove top steamer or in the microwave. For this recipe, I nearly always opt for the microwave, just because it’s easy. Pop your broccoli into a large bowl with two tablespoons of water, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and microwave for 2 minutes.
Cheese – You’ll mix together cream cheese, grated cheddar, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
Mix – Scoop that mixture right on top of your hot and steamy broccoli and start stirring. The mixture should melt right into the broccoli pretty quickly as you stir.
Bake – Transfer this to a baking dish and sprinkle the top with Parmesan cheese. Bake it up and you’ll have this decadent broccoli and cheese casserole that the whole family will love! This easy broccoli casserole is ready to go in just about 20 minutes. Serve alongside our stuffed chicken breast along with our keto coleslaw.
If you love this keto broccoli casserole recipe, be sure to try my broccoli salad or cauliflower potato salad!
❔ FAQs:
You can keep this low carb casserole stored in the fridge for about 3 to 4 days in an airtight or well sealed container.
This casserole should freeze well for up to few months. Keep it in a freezer safe container or wrapped in some foil and plastic.
I’ve never tried it in this recipe and would definitely recommend using fresh broccoli, but I think it would work fine with frozen.
Keto Broccoli Casserole for a Crowd:
This recipe is perfect for a family dinner and the leftovers will reheat well the next day.
If you’re serving a crowd or want to make this for a larger gathering, we recommend doubling the recipe!
Double all of the ingredients and bake for the same length of time in a 9×13 baking dish.
🥘 More Keto Casserole Recipes:
- Philly Cheesesteak Casserole
- Meatball Casserole
- Cheeseburger Casserole
- Spinach Casserole
- Keto Taco Casserole
- Big Mac Casserole
- Spaghetti Squash Casserole
Jade says
How would I add rice to this recipe?
Karly Campbell says
Hi Jade! You could add cauliflower rice in with the broccoli, I would think. I’m not sure about regular rice.
Annamarie 0 Reidy says
I had made this recipe and if your a big cream cheese lover you would love this dish. For me all I could taste was the cream cheese. Next time i will use 4oz of cream cheese instead of the 8
Margaret Rowlands says
Annamarie, my cheese sauce is made with butter, cream & cream cheese with added hard cheese of choice… add a teaspoon of mustard, salt & pepper… delish..
Jennifer says
How much is 1 serving? 1/2 cup, 1 cup? Thank you so much!!
Karly Campbell says
Hi Jennifer! I didn’t measure by volume, just divided it out into 6 portions.
Cesar says
Question! Is it 350 Fahrenheit or Celsius ? I
Karly Campbell says
Fahrenheit! 🙂
Sue says
I just made it for the first time and it is great! I added some dried chopped onions,( a bunch) can’t wait till dinner. Only question….. What is a serving size? You have all the nutritional values but no serving size. I am diabetic and although my sugars have always been great, lately they are going crazy and I am portioning. I am on an insulin pump and trying to get things back under controll.
Thanks for the great recipe!
Karly Campbell says
Hi Sue! I bet it will be great with the onions! This recipe was calculated based on 6 servings, but I didn’t measure the servings by volume. Hope that helps!
Dee says
I didn’t have the quantities that the recipe called for so I adjusted it a little. My non-low carb husband gave it a 10! It was delish! A definite keeper.
Jaclynn Miller says
Made this tonight, unfortunately didn’t hit the mark for me. Sound it way too heavy and flavourless. Missing like a “something”, like the sharpness of vintage cheese would have maybe helped, or using sour cream or something.
Karly Campbell says
Sorry to hear this one wasn’t a big hit for you.
Charlotte Phillmon says
Could you add cooked ground Turkey to this recipe?
Karly Campbell says
Yes, that should be fine.
Christine Rodriguez says
Has anyone tried this with riced cauliflower added?
Heather Cherry says
I’m going to make this tonight and put some chicken in it.
Lori says
I wanted to use froze broccoli, but thought I’d better stick with the exact directions so as not to run into any issues the lesser star people had. I enjoyed this. I made sure my cream cheese was softened and used a mixer to blend it altogether smooth before adding the broccoli. It is rather gloopy at first, but the oven fixed that. I did double the time in the microwave and the broccoli was still bright green and crunchy. It’s a matter of taste depending on which of the 3 Bears you’re feeding. All my bears cleaned their plates. Thank you for the recipe!
Karly Campbell says
So glad it was a hit! I’m sure this would work fine with frozen broccoli, if you like frozen broccoli. I’m just not a fan of frozen veggies. 🙂
Angie says
I’m not a broccoli fan, but this was good and I ate it. My husband loved it.
Will definitely make it again.
Rich says
Hi Karla, what size cups do you use plz ??
Karly Campbell says
Hi Rich! They’re measuring cups. It’s a volume measure rather than a weight measure.
Daniel says
Anyone ever add chicken to it?
Karly Campbell says
Yep, if you read through the comments you’ll see that lots of people have. Already cooked, shredded chicken would be the way to go. 🙂
Lori says
I am planning on making this tomorrow using a combo of Broccoli and Cauliflower. Does anyone know how many cups of the vegetables to use? How much is 20 ounces?
Karly Campbell says
Hi Lori! I didn’t measure this by volume since it will vary so much based on the size of your vegetables. If you have a kitchen scale, I’d use that. Otherwise, it’ll probably be around 6 cups.
Jeff Green says
Just made this wonderful, rich-tasting casserole on Christmas Eve, following the original recipe and advice of contributors above. I steamed the broccoli on the stove (about half of the large bag that Costco sells). To lower the fat content without losing flavor, I used 1/4 cup light sour cream, 1/4 cup light mayo and four ounces of light cream cheese. Sharp cheddar indeed provides a nice bite. Topped it with some crispy onions to add a bit of crunch before baking about 15 min. Verdict: My wife loved it … had to stash the rest in the fridge or it would be gone before Santa even arrives. I might add a couple of shakes of onion powder or some minced onion next time.
John Farland says
This has become a staple dish for my fiancé’s Keto diet because I love it too it’s so good!
Jennifer says
I used frozen broccoli and sharp cheddar. I could eat this every night it was that good.
Jenn says
Did you cook the broccoli first?
Karen Allen says
So good!! I could eat the whole thing myself!
Debbie Berger says
Can I make this today to be cooked tomorrow? Or can I bake it today and reheat it tomorrow? If so the reheat how long and at what temp? Thank you!
Karly Campbell says
Hi Debbie! This should reheat fine. I’d let it come to room temperature first, if it’s already been cooked once, and then warm through in a 300 degree oven until hot and bubbly.
Jackie says
This is a favorite recipe of mine especially doing low carb. I do add some minced onion since I don’t like the crunch of raw onion, I just put it in my little mini chopper and almost juice it. It really adds flavor and yes it is wonderful with shredded chicken added. Thanks.