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This quick broccoli and cheese recipe is everything cozy, cheesy, and warm—in less than 10 minutes! It’s the ideal easy side dish.
Why we love this recipe
What’s more comforting than broccoli smothered in Parmesan and cheddar? Meet this perfect broccoli and cheese, aka cheesy broccoli. Alex whipped this up for me and one bite in, memories from childhood flooded back. “What’s in this?” I asked. Somehow it transported right me to nostalgia land!
This cheesy broccoli has just the right nuanced flavor from the Parmesan and cheddar cheese, the best tender texture, and the perfect warming vibe. Even better, it’s done in under 10 minutes! It quickly became part of our regular rotation: and we’ll show you how to do it!
Want a classic cheese sauce instead? Go to this Cheese Sauce or Cheddar Cheese Sauce.
Ingredients in this quick broccoli and cheese
This broccoli and cheese recipe is designed for quick weeknights, when you need a great side dish to pair with your meal. Most nights we make pan fried broccoli, but when we’re feeling fancy we whip this one out. It’s always a hit with kids, but perhaps more so with adults. Here’s a quick run-down of the ingredients:
- Fresh broccoli
- Olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Grated Parmesan cheese: The powdery kind, not the kind that looks like sticks (that’s shredded Parmesan)
- Shredded cheddar cheese
How to make cheesy broccoli: a few tips
You might think that broccoli and cheese is as simple as throwing broccoli in a pan, adding cheese, and cooking. Well, it’s partially that simple! But cooking broccoli requires just a few special tips to get the right tender texture and gooey cheese. Broccoli can get dry when pan frying it, so often you’ll need a little water for cooking. Here’s what to know:
- First, sauté the broccoli in olive oil for 3 to 4 minutes. This gets it mostly cooked and a little brown.
- Add the cheese, then ¼ water and cover! Cook 1 minute. This both steams the broccoli and melts the cheese.
That’s it! Remove the lid and you’ve got a gooey, warm, perfectly tender pile of cheesy broccoli. Even better: you don’t have to wait to bake a casserole! it’s done in less than 10 minutes: perfect for hangry moments.
Why it’s a mostly healthy side dish
Adding cheese to vegetables is one of the oldest tricks in the book to try to get people to eat their veggies. Here’s the thing—it’s not a terrible idea! Here’s why this broccoli and cheese can be considered a mostly healthy side dish:
- You get all the fiber and Vitamin C in broccoli! 1 cup of raw broccoli has 2.3 grams of fiber (source) and 140% of your daily vitamin (source).
- The cheese is moderate. The cheese adds 68 calories and 5 grams fat per serving. This is better than many cheese sauces that load on calories and fat.
Want to go super healthy? Try our Pan Fried Broccoli: it’s got no cheese but lots of great flavor.
More great broccoli recipes
Broccoli is one of the vegetables we love most in our house! We make it as a side dish all the time. But it’s great in soups, stews, stir fries, and more. Here are some more fantastic broccoli recipes:
- Fire up the oven for crispy Parmesan Broccoli or Roasted Broccoli.
- Mix up Broccoli Salad or Broccoli Slaw.
- Add carrots for Roasted Broccoli and Carrots, or make Blanched Broccoli.
- Whiz up a Broccoli Smoothie or go cozy with Creamy Broccoli Potato Soup.
- Try it in a Broccoli Stir Fry or Shrimp and Broccoli.
Dietary notes
This broccoli and cheese recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free.
Frequently asked questions
Cheddar cheese is a classic choice, but you can experiment with other cheeses like Monterey Jack, Colby, or even a blend of your favorites.
Reheat leftovers gently in the oven or microwave until warmed through. Be careful not to overheat, as the cheese can become rubbery.
You can use frozen broccoli, but the texture will be softer and less appealing than fresh broccoli. Reduce the cook time by about half.
Quick Broccoli and Cheese (10 Minutes!)
- Prep Time: 3 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 8 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
This quick broccoli and cheese recipe is everything cozy, cheesy, and warm: in less than 10 minutes! It’s the ideal easy side dish.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds fresh broccoli, stem on (about 3 large heads or 6 heaping cups florets)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (see Notes)
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Chop the broccoli into medium sized florets (leave a good amount of the stem for a nice shape; see the photo or How to Cut Broccoli).
- Add the olive oil to a large skillet and heat it on medium high heat. Add broccoli and salt. Cook 3 to 4 minutes until starting to brown, stirring occasionally.
- Sprinkle the grated Parmesan cheese over the broccoli, followed by the cheddar cheese. Add ¼ cup water to the bottom of the skillet and cover with a lid. Cook another 1 minute until cheese is melted and the water cooks out. Serve immediately!
- Alternative: Make Easy Cheese Sauce and add that instead of step 3 above.
Notes
Grated Parmesan cheese is the type of the powdery texture; use that here instead of shredded Parmesan, which doesn’t meld into the texture as well.
- Category: Side dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Vegetables
- Diet: Vegetarian
very easy, and looks delicous!!
THANKS!
Delicious and quick.
How about putting rice in this recipe
Just mad this and it was amazing and simple. Thank you
Delicious and quick! This recipe was exactly what I needed because I didn’t have cheese sauce but I had a ton of Shredded cheese (I love cheese! 😅) I probably used more cheese and salt than the recipe because I didn’t exactly measure but it was still tasty!
Just made this for dinner to accompany baked steelhead trout. Easy-peasy AND delicious! Will definitely be making this again. Thank you!
Smells amazing👏
Your broccoli cheese recipe is very nice and yammy.would love to watch more recipes thanks
Great recipe! I changed the water to lemon juice for additional tang and it worked perfectly. I also added more cheese, but then I firmly believe there’s no such thing as too much cheese. We’ll be enjoying this frequently — can’t thank you enough for a simple, easy, _really_ tasty recipe!
We’ll have to try the lemon juice idea!
Will Mexican blend cheese work as well?
yes
I loved the recipe but i did end up adding more cheese but it was amazing
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