Broccoli Casserole

American mid-century broccoli baked with cheese sauce and buttered breadcrumbs

Origin: United States

From the journey of Broccoli.

The broccoli casserole emerged as an American church supper and Thanksgiving side dish in the mid-20th century, when cream-of-mushroom soup (introduced commercially by Campbell's in 1934) became the foundation for an entire genre of American casserole cooking. The cheese sauce enveloping the broccoli, topped with buttered breadcrumbs or crushed crackers, was a way of making a then-unfamiliar vegetable palatable to households still acclimatising to it. This dish is an icon of mid-century American home cooking: practical, generous, and deeply satisfying.

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 900 g broccoli, cut into florets

Cheese Sauce

  • 175 g sharp cheddar cheese, grated
  • 45 g unsalted butter
  • 30 g plain flour
  • 500 ml whole milk
  • 1 onion, finely diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • salt and black pepper

Topping

  • 80 g dried breadcrumbs or crushed Ritz crackers
  • 30 g unsalted butter, melted

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 23×33cm baking dish. Blanch the broccoli florets in salted boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain well and spread in the baking dish.
  2. Make the cheese sauce: melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add flour and stir constantly for 1 minute.
  3. Gradually whisk in the milk and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring until the sauce is thick and smooth, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
  4. Stir in the grated cheddar, Dijon mustard, and Worcestershire sauce until the cheese melts. Season well with salt and pepper.
  5. Pour the cheese sauce over the broccoli and stir gently to coat evenly.
  6. Mix the breadcrumbs (or crushed crackers) with the melted butter and scatter evenly over the top.
  7. Bake for 25–30 minutes until golden and bubbling. Rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Notes

This is a generous Thanksgiving-scale recipe serving 8 as a side. Halve the quantities for a weeknight dinner for 4. Crushed Ritz crackers are more authentically mid-century American than breadcrumbs.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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