Broccoli Blue Cheese Bake
This Broccoli Blue Cheese Bake is a savory side dish everyone will love!
We’ve been on vacation for three weeks. Three weeks! We’ve had fun but we’re glad to be home living in our piles of laundry. And did I mention that my dishwasher is broken? It’s amazing how I take modern technology for granted but I really cannot wait to get that thing fixed.
Our first stop was in Colorado to hit the slopes. I’ve always thought I was pretty coordinated until I married my husband who is freakishly good at everything from Words with Friends to wakeboarding. Snowboarding is the one thing we can do together that I can actually hang with him on. Of course he’s really good at that too…but now with a family and job, he’s not pulling any Shaun White type jumps. Here’s an ice castle we took the family to…
I’m still nursing so I boarded half a day at Copper Mountain while my MIL and SIL Kristy, watched my baby for me. Does anyone else get anxiety every single time they get off the lift? I’m so scared I’m going to fall and be THAT person that they have to stop the entire lift for.
We had good intentions to eat healthy. We did p90x in the morning…and then it was a downward spiral from there ending with Taffy truffles at night while playing cards. Dang you Kristy for making those!
This broccoli blue cheese bake isn’t exactly healthy but is a great side dish for those broccoli lovers like me. The broccoli is combined with a creamy sauce and topped with buttery Ritz crackers. I asked my husband to guess what kind of cheese was in this and he couldn’t put his finger on it. So the blue cheese flavor isn’t terribly strong; it just adds flavor and richness. This would be a great side dish for Easter.
Broccoli Blue Cheese Bake
Ingredients
- 4 cups freshsmall broccoli florets
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1-2 large garlic cloves, minced (if you love garlic use 2 cloves)
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbled, (for a milder blue cheese flavor reduce to 1/3 cup)
- 1 cup milk or light cream
- fresh ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 1/2 cups Ritz butter cracker crumbs, (a little shy of two sleeves of crackers)
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a medium cooking dish with cooking spray.
- Steam broccoli florets until firm but tender for about 2-3 minutes. I put my broccoli in a microwave safe bowl with 2 inches of water and microwaved it for 3 minutes. Drain well then pat dry with paper towels to remove as much moisture as possible.
- In a large saucepan melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-low heat; add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the flour and stir for 1 minute.
- Add the cream cheese, blue cheese and milk or cream; stir over low heat until melted and smooth then stir in the broccoli florets.
- In a bowl combine the cracker crumbs with 6 tablespoons melted butter until well combined. Remove 1 cup of the cracker mixture and stir it into the broccoli mixture. Season with black pepper.
- Transfer mixture into a casserole dish. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and sprinkle the top with the remaining cracker crumbs. Return to oven and bake uncovered for another 10 minutes.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving. Makes 4-5 servings.
Notes
My favorite always but this was the best.
Thank you!
This sounds soo delicious, since my family loves all of the ingredients in this dish…. especially the blue cheese and the broccoli. It’s a very nice side dish, to accompany almost anything which I might serve. I can’t wait to try it!
You’ll love it!
Love the ingredients so it must be good. Thank you.
It is!
Quote from dinner, “Man, Mom. This broccoli stuff is killer!” Can’t get a better endorsement than that. Broccoli Blue Cheese Bake is a keeper!
I have made this recipe more times than I can count and it is always a hit! So so good! I’d like to make it gluten free. Anyone have any tips on what a good gluten free substitute for the flour would be? I plan to use GF crackers as well. Thanks!
I don’t know a good substitute besides using GF flour. Shoot. Sorry!
Could you suggest another cheese besides blue cheese.
Honestly the blue cheese is not strong but a similar cheese is gorgonzola.
@A little Bit of Everything,
I think Chicken would be delish in this.
This looks delish! How do you think it would be if you added chicken to it?
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@SeanandMarisa, Yes! We were at the ones in Silverthorne! My husband is from Thornton so we go skiing every March. How cool!
Totally non-food-related comment, but… Did you go to the ice castles at Silverthorne?? My husband took me on a day trip/date there in Feb. We live in Colorado Springs, a couple hours away. Too cool! 🙂
My husband would love this! I guess I’ll probably have to get past the bleu cheese and make it for him! I’d like to invite you to share it over at Sweet & Simple Sunday!!
http://www.cupsbykim.blogspot.com/2012/03/sweet-simple-sunday-3.html
Hope to see you there!!
I LOVE copper Mt.! We went there for a week a few years back, it was amazing. they had a great day care too! And YES, my heart is pounding the whole time on the lift, and yes i usually fall! LOL! Your hubby sound’s like mine, great at every sport! Enjoy conf weekend!
Oh this looks delicious! Glad you had a great vacation!
I have been that person that falls off the lift and they have to stop for. More than once. Let’s just say I’m better on my feet than on anything attached to my feet.
The best I can do is get up and laugh it off.
This looks so good! My kids actually like broccoli, so we’ll love this recipe 🙂
We went snowboarding over Valentines, and while getting off, hubs waited for me while I waited for him, one thing led to another… we where those people! Good memories, though! Thanks for sharing, I <3 brocolli!
I can’t wait to try this. I love blue cheese and my husband loves broccoli!!
Holy yum, this looks good! Good luck with the laundry….and the dishes:)
I can’t believe how big your boys are! I miss the days when they were little…and I was 14…