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Elevate your next meal with this mouthwatering cheesy broccoli rice casserole. This casserole is just about as effortless as it gets and is ready in about an hour.
Have you ever tried a dump and bake casserole? We were new to the idea until recently but after discovering it, we knew that we had to make one for the blog! We were introduced to the idea from Caitlin over on From My Bowl and you should definitely check out her blog for more variations of this awesome dish!
This recipe was a hit with my family and I really hope that you enjoy it, too!
This recipe was adapted from our vegan broccoli cheddar soup. It’s full of flavor, creamy, and made with whole food ingredients. We love how easy it is to make, too. It’s also perfect for meal prep and it can be frozen for future enjoyment.
What you’ll need for this recipe:
- Cheesy cashew cream (recipe is below)
- Onions and garlic
- Celery
- Low-sodium vegetable broth
- Uncooked brown rice
- Chickpeas (optional)
- Shredded carrots
- Broccoli florets– cauliflower would work, too!
Here are a few other recipes that we think you may also enjoy:
- Vegan Green Bean Casserole with Baked Onions
- Fall Sweet Potato Breakfast Casserole (Vegan & Gluten-Free Option)
- Vegan Enchilada Casserole with Homemade Sauce (Oil & Gluten-free)
- Easy Vegan Sushi Casserole | 6-Ingredients!
- Vegan Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Make sure you tag us on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan if you recreate this cheesy broccoli rice casserole, we’d love to see your photos!
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Cheesy Broccoli Rice Casserole (Vegan)
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: About 6 servings
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Elevate your next meal with this mouthwatering cheesy broccoli rice casserole. This casserole is just about as effortless as it gets and is ready in about an hour.
Ingredients
Cashew Cream
- 1/2 cup (65g) raw cashews
- 1 cup filtered water
- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon turmeric
Rice Casserole
- 1/2 medium (about 1 cup) yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 rib celery, finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 1/2 cups hot low-sodium vegetable broth (see step 5)
- 1 cup brown rice
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas (optional)
- 1/2 cup shredded carrot
- 3 cups broccoli florets, cut into bite sized pieces
- Vegan parmesan cheese, as desired for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and get a (9×9-inch) casserole dish ready. (see notes)
- Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Once it is boiling, remove the pot from heat and add in the cashews. Soak for 20 minutes or until softened and drain.
- Add the soaked and drained cashews to a high speed blender along with the remaining ingredients for the cashew cream. Blend until smooth and set aside.
- In a medium pan over medium heat, add in 2 tablespoons of water broth along with the diced onion, celery and garlic. Sauté until softened, about 3 minutes, adding 2 more tablespoons of water as needed to prevent burning. Alternatively, you can cook these in 1/2 tablespoon of cooking oil.
- Heat your vegetable broth just until it begins to boil. We do this in a microwave to keep it quick but you can also do it on the stove!
- Transfer the cooked mixture to a 9×9-inch baking dish along with the cashew cream, vegetable broth, brown rice, chickpeas and shredded carrots. Mix everything together until uniform.
- Evenly arrange the broccoli over the casserole.
- Tightly cover the dish with foil and place it into the oven for 60 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven and cool for 10-15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- This recipe was inspired by From My Bowl and our Broccoli Cheddar Soup.
- We have tested this in a smaller and taller baking dish and it worked as well! We just suggest you use a small-medium sized dish.
- Cauliflower would work great in this recipe too.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Category: Entree
- Method: Oven
Keywords: vegan, broccoli, cheddar, cashews, casserole, dump and bake, entree, dinner, lunch, brown rice
Disclaimer: The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional’s advice. This page may contain affiliate links, which simply means that we earn a commission if you purchase through those links, but your price remains the same. Thank you for supporting Sweet Simple Vegan!
This was seriously phenomenal (though of course every recipe from Sweet Simple Vegan that I’ve tried has been). Vegan toddler-approved as well! This will be made again in our household for sure.
★★★★★
So happy to hear that, thank you 🙂
How come the recipe is no longer on the page?
The recipe is still here!
Can this be made with left over already cooked rice?
Unfortunately not, it’s designed with the liquid ration to cook the rice as it bakes!
could i pre make the cheese sauce the night before?
Yes, most-definitely!
This was bomb! I was so impressed by the cheesiness even though there wasn’t any cheese! It was a bit more time consuming than I anticipated so I will need to plan to start this much earlier than I did the other day because this is going to be in my rotation of dinners for the next couple of weeks. Love that it is pantry friendly too! My non-vegan boyfriend really really enjoyed this too so thumbs up from us both 🙂
★★★★★
This is so dang good! I made it two weeks in a row for dinner. It’s going into our regular rotation! I double it so we have leftovers and cook it in a 9×13 pan which works great.
★★★★★
10/10 from us!
★★★★★
Made this for dinner last night, so yummy!! Thanks for sharing!
Is there a way to make this with frozen broccoli?
Yes, frozen broccoli would work! Just add it in as you would fresh broccoli and it will cook in the oven.
Hello there,
When you put the brown rice in the dish to bake is it cooked already.
Thanks for sharing wonderful recipes.
Hello! No, the rice will cook in the oven. Let us know if you need anything else 🙂