What’s for dinner? Have you ever heard those words? I know I do, ALL THE TIME lately. When you have a gaggle of kids like I do, you are constantly trying to come up with good meals. That said, more often than not, you need a quick under 30 minutes meal. Cheesy Broccoli Rice provides such a dish. I always try to include vegetables daily into our meals. I usually use brown rice, but on this occasion, white rice was what I had on hand, so it trumped.
Cheesy Broccoli Rice is a great meal that you can cook in UNDER 30 Minutes!
This recipe provides a great way to use up old rice or to include vegetables into your dish. If I had a rotisserie chicken on hand, I would have included leftover chicken in a heart beat. Even as a vegan dish, Cheesy Broccoli Rice turned out to be a winner with by my husband and kids! Yay!
The secret to this dish is the white sauce I made to go with it. I cooked up 2 c of raw rice (about 4 c total). While it was cooking, I chopped up some fresh broccoli and threw it into a frying pan (you could use frozen, but fresh is WAY better). I also chopped up an onion and threw it in. I sautéed the onion and broccoli in a ceramic skillet until the onion was clear.
Next, in a small sauce pan, I started on the white sauce. I melted 1 T of real butter and then added 1 T of flour. I whisked it together and then slowly added 1 c of milk. I heated it on low and stirred continually until it was thick. I then added 1/2 c of shredded fiesta cheese. (You can also add sharp cheddar or a cheese preference of your choice). If you want a cheesier taste and don’t mind the fat or calories, you can add 1 c of shredded cheese. I melted the cheese into the sauce. I then added some salt and pepper, to taste.
At this point, the rice was done. I combined the sauce, broccoli and onion, and rice together in a large pan and cried out, “Time for dinner!” This was a really fast meal and nobody was disappointed. You can sprinkle it with additional cheese and add additional salt and pepper as desired. Enjoy!
- 2 c raw rice
- 1 large head broccoli, washed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 c skim milk
- 1 T real butter
- 1 T flour
- ½-1 c shredded fiesta or sharp cheddar cheese
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Cook rice according to package directions.
- While rice is cooking, sauté broccoli and onion in a large skillet(use water or a little oil)
- Set aside broccoli and onion and start white sauce.
- To make white sauce, melt better in a small sauce pan.
- Add flour and whisk together.
- Slowly add milk, whisking constantly.
- On a medium-low temperature, cook white sauce, stirring constantly, until it has reached desired thickness. Add cheese and melt into sauce.
- Add salt and pepper, to taste.
- In a large pan, combine together cooked rice, vegetables, and cheese sauce.
- Serve warm.
