Creamy Broccoli Casserole with Cracker Topping
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I used to walk straight past the Broccoli Casserole at potlucks. Forty years of cooking vegetarian, and I had decided, without much evidence, that anything built on a can of soup was not worth the plate space. I was wrong, and I’ve been making this one for years since. Steamed broccoli goes into a savory mushroom and mayonnaise base, gets extra-sharp cheddar stirred through it, and bakes under a layer of crushed cheese crackers for forty minutes at 350F.
The thing that changed my mind was the steaming. Five minutes in a steamer basket, not boiled, so the broccoli stays tender rather than turning to water in the dish. That one step is the difference between this and every soggy version I had written off.
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Why You’ll Love This Broccoli Casserole
- The broccoli is steamed rather than boiled, which matters more here than in most recipes. Between a cup of mayonnaise, two beaten eggs, and a can of condensed mushroom soup, the filling is already carrying all the moisture it can hold. Waterlogged broccoli tips it into a loose, soupy casserole.
- Grating the extra sharp cheddar from a block, a cup into the mixture and the remaining half cup over the top, gives you a filling that melts smooth instead of turning grainy and separating into oily patches the way bagged shredded cheese does.
- The topping is crushed cheese crackers rather than breadcrumbs, so you get a salty, buttery crust that browns in the same forty minutes the filling needs to set.
- It travels. This is the casserole I take when I need to bring something to a shared table, because it holds its heat in a covered dish and doesn’t need last-minute assembly.
Ingredients You’ll Need
You’ll need all the ingredients shown in the photograph below.
Fresh broccoli florets. Six cups, steamed for five minutes and then chopped into bite-sized pieces. Frozen broccoli florets work if that’s what you have, but defrost them completely and pat them dry with paper towels first. If you’re using frozen chopped broccoli, there’s no need to chop again.
Condensed mushroom soup. The 10 3/4 ounce can, undiluted, straight from the can into the bowl. It is the savory, creamy backbone of the filling, and using it undiluted is what keeps the mixture thick enough to hold together once the eggs set.
Mayonnaise. A full cup. It carries the richness of the filling and keeps it creamy through a forty-minute bake, where a thinner dairy would thin out and weep.
Extra-sharp cheddar cheese. One and a half cups, grated. One cup goes into the broccoli mixture; the remaining half cup goes over the top before the crackers. Grate it from a block.
Cheese crackers. One cup, crushed, for the topping. If you don’t have them, Ritz cracker crumbs make a good substitute and bake up just as golden.
Eggs. Two, beaten. They set the filling as it bakes, so the casserole holds a clean edge when you cut into it rather than sliding back into the dish.
Butter and onion. Half a stick of melted butter and half a thinly sliced onion. The onion softens over the forty minutes and threads a sharper note through all that cheese and mayonnaise.
Paprika, kosher salt and black pepper. A teaspoon of paprika, half a teaspoon of kosher salt, a quarter teaspoon of black pepper. The paprika is doing more than color here; it gives the filling a low warmth that keeps it from tasting flat.
If you are cooking more than one vegetable dish for the table, my cheesy cauliflower casserole is built on a from-scratch cheese sauce rather than a can, and I like putting the two of them out together for the contrast.
How to Make Broccoli Casserole
A complete printable recipe and the measurements in both US customary and metric are available in the recipe card below.
Steam the Broccoli
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer. Set a steamer basket holding the six cups of fresh broccoli florets over the water, cover with a lid, and steam for five minutes. Take it off the heat and chop the broccoli into bite-sized pieces.
Steam rather than boil, because submerged broccoli takes on water; it will release again in the oven, and five minutes is enough to get it tender without going soft.
Prep the Oven and Dish
Preheat your oven to 350F/180C. Butter a casserole dish, bottom and sides. A light brush is enough to keep anything from sticking, and it makes serving and cleanup considerably easier.
Mix the Filling
Put the steamed broccoli, the cup of mayonnaise, the condensed mushroom soup, the paprika, the two beaten eggs, the melted butter, the sliced onion, the salt, and the pepper into a large mixing bowl and mix well. Take your time with this so every piece of broccoli is coated before the cheese goes in.
Add the Cheese
Stir 1 cup of the grated extra-sharp cheddar into the broccoli mixture and combine well. Hold back the remaining half cup for the top.
Assemble and Bake
Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and spread it evenly. Scatter the remaining 1/2 cup of grated cheddar over the surface, then add the crushed cheese crackers in an even layer. Bake for forty minutes, until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling at the edges. Serve while hot.
Expert Tips for Broccoli Casserole
Steam, don’t boil. Five minutes in a steamer basket keeps the broccoli from waterlogging. The filling is already at its moisture limit, and broccoli that went for a swim will release that water in the oven and loosen the whole dish.
Grate the cheddar from a block. Bagged shredded cheese is coated in anti-caking agents, and they are there specifically to stop the shreds sticking to each other. That same coating gets in the way when you want the cheese to melt into a smooth filling. Grating your own takes two minutes, and it is the single easiest upgrade to this dish.
Spread the cracker topping evenly. Uneven patches brown at different rates, so you get scorched spots in the thin areas and a soft, pale topping where the crackers piled up.
Butter the sides, not just the bottom. The cheese on top runs down the edges as it melts, and bare dish walls are where it welds itself on and turns serving into chiseling.
Ingredients
- 6 cups fresh broccoli florets
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 10 ¾ ounces condensed mushroom soup
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 large eggs beaten
- ½ stick butter melted
- ½ onion thinly sliced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 ½ cups extra sharp cheddar cheese grated
- 1 cup cheese crackers crushed
Video
Instructions
- Bring a large pan of water to a boil and reduce to a simmer, then place a steamer basket with broccoli on it, cover it with a lid, and steam for 5 minutes, remove from the heat and chop into bite sized pieces.6 cups fresh broccoli florets
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C.
- Place the broccoli, mayonnaise, mushroom soup, paprika, eggs, butter, onion, salt, and pepper into a large mixing bowl and mix well to combine.1 cup mayonnaise, 10 ¾ ounces condensed mushroom soup, 2 large eggs, ½ stick butter, ½ onion, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon paprika
- Then add 1 cup of cheese and mix well to combine. Transfer into a buttered casserole dish and add the remaining cheese, and crackers evenly to the top of the broccoli mixture.1 ½ cups extra sharp cheddar cheese, 1 cup cheese crackers
- Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, serve while hot, and enjoy!
Notes
- Steam, don’t boil: Five minutes in a steamer basket keeps the broccoli from waterlogging, which matters because the filling already has mayonnaise, eggs, and soup in it.
- Butter the dish generously: Bottom and sides. It stops the melted cheese from welding itself to the dish and makes serving easier.
- Grate your own cheese: Bagged shredded cheddar is coated with anti-caking agents that stop it from melting smoothly. Grating from a block gives you a creamier filling.
- Spread the cracker topping evenly: Uneven patches scorch in the thin spots and stay soft where they pile up.
- Make ahead: Assemble up to 24 hours in advance, cover tightly, and refrigerate unbaked. Add a few minutes to the bake time.
- Store leftovers: Cool completely, then refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat covered in the oven.
- Freezing: Not recommended. The mayonnaise emulsion breaks when frozen, so the thawed casserole separates and goes watery.
Nutrition
Variations
Add garlic. One or two cloves, minced, stirred into the filling with everything else. It gives the mushroom base a savory backbone it doesn’t otherwise have.
Swap part of the mayonnaise for sour cream. Use half of each in place of the full cup of mayonnaise. The sour cream brings an acidity the mayonnaise alone doesn’t have, which gives you a tangier filling against all that cheddar.
Use a different condensed soup. If you have no cream of mushroom, condensed cream of celery keeps the dish vegetarian and gives the filling a slightly different savory note. Cream of chicken is a common swap elsewhere, but it is not one I use, since everything on this site is vegetarian.
Change the topping. Crushed Ritz crackers instead of cheese crackers give you a butterier, less salty crust. Herb-seasoned stuffing mix is another route if you want something closer to a dressing texture on top.
What to Serve With Broccoli Casserole
I put this out next to creamy mashed potatoes most often, because the casserole is rich enough that it wants something plain beside it rather than another competing sauce.
Warm soft dinner rolls earn their place next to this one, because the filling loosens as it sits on the plate and a soft roll is the right tool for the last of it.
For a holiday spread, I add honey-glazed roasted carrots, which bring a sweetness that reads well against all that cheddar and mushroom.
How to Store and Reheat
Once the casserole has cooled completely, transfer any leftovers into an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
To reheat, cover loosely with foil and warm it in the oven until heated through, which brings the topping back without drying the filling. You can also microwave individual portions in 60-second intervals, though the crackers will soften.
That three-day window is for a casserole you have already baked and started eating from. Making one in advance runs on a different and much shorter clock, so it’s worth keeping the two apart.
To get ahead, assemble the whole thing but leave it unbaked, cover it tightly and refrigerate it for up to 24 hours. Then, bake it on the day and give it a few extra minutes in the oven to account for going in cold. Once it comes out of that bake, the three-day countdown starts.
I don’t recommend freezing it. The mayonnaise is an oil-in-water emulsion, and freezing forms ice crystals that break it apart, so the thawed casserole separates and turns watery and grainy instead of creamy. Nothing unsafe about it; it just stops being the dish you made.
If you’re taking it somewhere, let it cool slightly, cover the dish tightly with foil or a lid, and pack it in an insulated carrier so it holds its heat on the way. Once you arrive, it wants to stay at 140F or above on a warming tray. If it’s sitting out instead, plan on it being eaten within two hours of leaving the oven. Above 90F, indoors or out, that drops to one hour. Eggs and dairy are the reason this one is worth watching more closely than most of what lands on a potluck table.
Broccoli Casserole FAQs
Yes. Assemble it completely, cover it tightly, and refrigerate for up to 24 hours, then bake it when you need it. Add a few extra minutes to the bake time because the dish will be going into the oven cold.
Yes. Defrost the frozen broccoli florets completely and pat them dry with paper towels before they go into the mixture. If you are using frozen chopped broccoli, you can skip the chopping step entirely.
Almost always under-drained broccoli. Steaming for five minutes rather than boiling is the first defense, and drying thawed frozen broccoli thoroughly is the second.
I don’t recommend it. The cup of mayonnaise is an emulsion, and freezing breaks it, so the thawed casserole separates and turns watery instead of creamy.
Crushed Ritz crackers are the closest substitute and bake up golden and buttery. Herb-seasoned stuffing mix works too if you want a softer, more savory topping.
I recently made this cheese broccoli casserole, and it was so so good! The creamy, cheesy goodness combined with the perfectly tender broccoli was incredibly comforting. I used a mix of sour cream and mayo as you suggested and loved the flavor profile. This recipe is definitely a keeper, and I can’t wait to make it again and again.
Hi Mandy How do I get your recipes by e-mail. I gave my e-mail add. A few weeks ago. Happened to check my junk mail it showed you send them, but they were all a mess.
Could you please check into that so I can get your e-mails.
Suzanne, sorry about that, that’s not how it’s supposed to work. I’ve got your email on file, I’ll check what’s actually going out to it and get it sorted.