Broccoli Quinoa Casserole
Healthy, cheesy comfort food without any of the guilt!
Jason and I have decided to have a mini getaway after his graduation in May. He’s been in architecture grad school for the last 3 years, and seeing that this is the last break he’ll ever have, we will be flying to a gorgeous resort to Cabo for 5 whole days! That being said, I have 2 months to get ready for bikini season, and since I love food too much to “diet”, I’ve lightened up a classic comfort food favorite.
This casserole is made completely from scratch with healthy ingredients – but have no fear – there’s plenty of cheese, creaminess, toasted breadcrumbs for that extra crunch, and an overall balance of veggies and quinoa for that extra protein. And if Jason, the all-time quinoa hater, devoured this without looking up, well, I’m sure your pickiest of eaters will just gobble this up too!
Broccoli Quinoa Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 head broccoli, cut into florets and finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon olive oil, divided
- ⅓ cup Panko*
- 3 boneless, skinless thin-sliced chicken breasts
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups 2% milk
- 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- ⅓ cup Greek yogurt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil an 9×13 baking dish or coat with nonstick spray.
- In a large saucepan of 2 cups water, cook quinoa according to package instructions. Within the last 5 minutes of cooking time, add broccoli on top and steam until cooked through.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add Panko and cook, stirring, until browned and toasted, about 3 minutes; set aside.
- Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in the skillet. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper, to taste. Add to skillet and cook, flipping once, until cooked through, about 3-4 minutes per side. Let cool before dicing into bite-size pieces; set aside.
- Melt butter in the skillet over medium heat. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk, and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in quinoa, broccoli, chicken, 1 cup cheese and Greek yogurt; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Spread broccoli mixture into the prepared baking dish; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Place into oven and bake until cheese has melted, about 5 minutes.
- Serve immediately, sprinkled with Panko, if desired.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Can this be frozen? If so before or after cooking?
Unfortunately, due to the amount of liquid in this dish, I do not recommend freezing this.
Whoever published this needs to reread the instructions. I cannot tell if each section is meant to be cooked in SEPARATE skillets or all the same. I would love to cook this recipe but it sounds way too confusing for something that should be simple. Thank you.
Nicole, you can use the same skillet for steps 3, 4, and 5. Why dirty another pan? But if you prefer, you can certainly use separate skillets. That is completely up to you!
There’s no need to overthink here – I just try my best so we can all save on dirty dishes! 🙂
Hello! I am a HUGE fan of your site and this is one of my fsvorite recipes of yours. I’m finally buying an adult skillet *haha* and I’m wondering what kind you use/recommend (i.e. Iron vs. Nonstick and what size), specifically for uses like those in this recipe. Thanks so much!
I recommend both cast iron and nonstick skillets (about 10-12 inches) – they’re so great to have on hand for so many different recipes. I hope that helps!
I’m a 19 year old guy that’s lives by myself with very little cooking experience and this recipe was easy to make and surprisingly good too.
Wow, this sounds SOOO good! I love broccoli, cheese and chicken together, and I can only imagine the addition of quinoa would make it all come together perfectly. Going to make this for my extended family soon, ’cause there’d be just too much for me alone to eat (unless I just kept on eating it over a few days 🙂 ).
the taste was still good… but it came out very wet and soupy for me… not as i imagined. also when it said chop the broccoli finely … well i guess i overdid it. it was like a buttery cheesy soup with quinoa, some chicken chunks, and broccoli dust. oh well. i really am a terrible cook and even the simplest of recipes comes out disappointing or “ok” at best. totally not the recipe’s fault (i don’t think). i just don’t have any talent or natural ability whatsoever with cooking. “Oh it’s practice” “Oh it’s easy, just follow the directions!” nope. i honestly feel like i am learning disabled when it comes to cooking.
OMG, this was so good, definitely satisfied a craving I’ve had for awhile. Loved the extra flavor from the Greek yogurt, the crunch from the Panko, and all the creamy deliciousness.
That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing.
Seriously! This is the best website there is when it comes to some seriously great dishes!!! DAMN DELICIOUS!!! Thank you, for all you do!!! I’m in love with every recipe!! !!!
Could this be made with turkey chop meat instead of chicken?
Of course!
I had such high hopes for this one. My family found it rather bland. I feel like just salt and pepper isn’t enough to season this enough to bring in much flavor. I’ll try again jazzing it up.
This is DEEEElicious, but might I respectfully request you revisit the prep time and total time? Or are you counting the prep time from a mise en place? I’ve made this twice now and even with every ingredient and pan out and ready for prep, it took more like two hours!
I will start off by saying- I don’t leave comments on food blogs, but I have made this countless times now and I felt like it was time.
This is so freaking good. Seriously- make this now. The only change I make is that I cook the chicken breasts in the oven and chop them up rather than on the stove top. Everything else is absolutely perfect. My two year old loves it, I love it, it freezes amazingly well and it’s healthy. It’s perfection.
Hello, This looks delicious. I was wondering if anyone had ever tried making this ahead of time and then heating it in the oven later? Obviously it would need more than five minutes. Thanks!
Make this yesterday. Awesome, nice light delegate flavor. When I cook quinoa after rinsing I roast in sauce pan, stirring while drying or quinoa will stick, Having Chicken or Vegetable broth at hand pouring over quinoa and cooking.
Also changed out milk used 1 cup Coffee Mocha and one cup of milk. Thanks Ms Chungah
Does this keep well? I live by myself and only cook for myself so I would have a lot of left-overs.
Yes, it does!
Just made this dish – was excited to use up a bunch of ingredients on a cold day. It is absolutely delicious! I am a staunch opponent of quinoa in most things – I’m weird about texture in food sometimes – but I had some quinoa around from a previous recipe fail. This casserole is fantastic and has changed my opinion of quinoa! I did need to cook the casserole longer than indicated so it would firm up a bit, but I think that was mostly due to my lack of something with which to drain the soaked quinoa. I did sub in chicken stock for water to cook the quinoa. This is a winner, yum!!
Made this a couple of days ago. It was fantastic! In fact, you might say it was Damn Delicious! I am in a group that swaps freezer meals, does anyone know if this would freeze well? Any tips? Thanks!
Unlike some of the other commenters, I found this dish to be flavorful and had no issues with technical execution. The toasted Panko is listed as optional, but I highly recommend it. I completely forgot the Greek yogurt, but will try it next time. I used broccolette and included stems as well as florets (I think it’s wasteful to throw away stems). If you’re using stems (or even if you’re not), I would recommend sauteing the broccoli for a few minutes to get it a bit softer prior to cooking. I added it raw and cooked the casserole for 10 minutes instead of 5, which worked well, but it was still a little crunchy for my taste. Sauteing in advance also provides an opportunity to add more flavor. I’ll probably saute the broccoli with a little garlic and red pepper flakes next time. Another commenter mentioned that she used almond milk and could taste it. I also used almond milk since that’s what I had on hand, but if you’re using almond milk, make sure it’s unsweetened. Overall, I thought that the dish was very good and I would definitely make it again with some minor tweaks. By the way, for hot sauce aficionados, this pairs well with Frank’s Red Hot.
I didn’t see an answer to the previous questions regarding prepping this ahead of time . Could you prep it and refrigerate overnight or for a few hours to heat in the oven afterwards?
Yes, absolutely.
Just made this! It was phenomenal! 🙂
-Didn’t have greek yogurt, so just didn’t add it. Nothing in its place, dish was still great!
-Put all the cheese in the casserole and added extra on top cuz I’m a fatty.
This was my first time making/eating quinoa, and I was a little scared cuz it smelled so weird after cooking… but in the finished casserole I was amazed at how delicious and perfect the texture was! Thanks so much for this recipe.