This Cream Cheese Broccoli and Rice Casserole is probably one of my most successful leftover recipes to date!
It was a doubtful, desperate attempt to come up with something to accompany our ribeye steaks we were having for supper last night as well as a challenge to use up some things I had in my fridge before they expired.This casserole would also go great with my Weeknight Roast Beef.
The inspiration: a traditional Broccoli and Rice casserole recipe my family always makes for the holidays. Of course, there are only a select few of us who eat it (the girls) because the others (the guys) seem to have an aversion to either green vegetables, onions or both.
Our traditional version of Broccoli & Rice includes an entire jar of Cheez Whiz. Yeah, I know. I cringe just thinking about eating any amount of Cheez Whiz but once that piping hot casserole comes out of the oven, it’s irresistible and you just have to forget about the fact that an entire jar of that stuff is one of the ingredients.
Anyway, back to the cream cheese version…
Here’s the leftover lineup: cooked rice, part of a bag of shredded Parmesan cheese and half of a block of cream cheese.
I always seem to cook more rice than I need so I often end up with leftovers and that is alright by me. The partial packages of Parmesan and cream cheese are usual residents in my cheese drawer so throwing them all into one big bowl of deliciousness was extremely satisfying for me.
This version is not quite as rich as the holiday version (which makes sense considering there’s not an entire jar of Cheez Whiz in it) yet the cream cheese adds the perfect, velvety texture.
As we were eating, I was raving about how delicious this was considering it was composed from a bunch of leftovers and to my surprise, Bryant actually tried it! He of course took the tiniest bite and made sure there wasn’t even a spec of broccoli in it. But he still said it tasted like broccoli. Oh well, at least he tried it.
Little E gobbled it up and I of course loved it. I’m especially looking forward to taking the leftovers with me for lunch this week!
RELATED: EASY FRIED RICE
Cream Cheese Broccoli & Rice Casserole
This casserole is full of leftovers from the fridge!
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp. butter
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 2 cups frozen broccoli florets
- 1 Tbsp. chopped garlic
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 10.5 oz. can cream of chicken soup
- 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
- Ground pepper
Instructions
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Preheat over to 375°F.
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Melt the butter in a skillet then add the onion and broccoli. Saute until the veggies start to get tender. Add the chopped garlic and cook for another 30-60 seconds.
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In a large bowl, combine the veggie mixture, cooked rice, Parmesan cheese, cream of chicken soup, cream cheese and pepper and stir to combine.
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Add the mixture to a greased 9x9" baking dish and bake, uncovered for 30-45 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and bubbly.
I think this sounds amazing! Bryant doesn’t know what he’s missing!
I know my family will love this! We all love broccoli….good job Sis!