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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Thank you for having a broccoli casserole recipe that doesn’t begin with one can of cream of anything. I already have the cooked quinoa in the fridge. Love that you did it all in your skillet too! I’m following suit.
I really enjoyed this recipe. I used tricolor quinoa from Trader Joe’s and cooked it with chicken broth as suggested on the package. I was feeling kind of lazy and didn’t want to cook chicken, so I left it out and cooked extra quinoa instead. I sprinkled some garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne pepper in the sauce mixture when I added the milk. I’ve been craving comfort food, and this really hit the spot. I’ll be saving this recipe to make again.
Where does the panko come in? Is it just sprinkled on top or is it also in the recipe somewhere else? Sorry got a bit confused…
The Panko is sprinkled on top:
Serve immediately, sprinkled with Panko, if desired.
Got home to find out my hubby tossed out my quinoa on accident..boo. Since I had pre cooked my chicken and chopped my veggies broccoli/cauliflower mix I decided to throw some left over brown rice. Needless to say the guys in my house were blown away. I can’t wait to uae quinoa next time. Thank you for sharing.
Has anyone tired freezing this meal? would it freeze well with the greek yogurt in it?
Does this reheat well? I love making quinoa dishes and eating them all week at work, but wasn’t sure if a quinoa casserole would hold up. Also, in the directions it doesn’t say to stir cheese into the roux but that’s what the pictures show??
I’m not entirely show how this reheats as there were no leftovers to reheat! As for the cheese, it actually is indicated in the instructions:
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.
Hi! Thank you for posting this! It looks really yummy! I would like to make it tomorrow night, but was wondering if I could either substitute light sour cream for the greek yogurt or just leave the greek yogurt out altogether…Thanks!
Light sour cream should work just fine.
I actually left out the Greek yogurt in error and it came out just fine. I also added a few slice mushrooms and did a 50/50 split between broccoli & cauliflower. My 2 guys thought it was excellent.
I didn’t see the nutritional value listed….calories, etc?????
Cathy, as of right now, nutritional information is provided for select and new recipes. However, if it is not available, it is best that you use free online resources at your discretion (you can gooogle “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information.
Enjoyed this recipe very much. Nice and cheesy. I cooked the quinoa in vegetable broth for more flavour and would probably cook a little less than the recipe calls for. Might try with a little dijon added for a different flavour next time. Overall very pleased and would recommend this recipe.
I made this meal for my family tonight. It was super easy and my husband and kids LOVED IT!
Thanks for sharing!
I followed it to a T. I don’t think my milk mixture turned out right. I’ve never made a roux (?). I also didn’t melt the cheese into the mixture first. It’s pretty soupy though. My husband and I still ate it. He said he can’t wait for it to tried again. Maybe the picture does make it look a bit thicker than it may. I’m hoping with it sitting out that it will thicken up. Having to eat it with a spoon. Like I said though, we can’t wait until we try it again. Thank you for the reply.
If the roux is not made properly, then yes, it will certainly become soupy! And eating it with a spoon is definitely the way to go for this one 🙂
Turned out like broccoli, quinoa, chicken soup. =(
Steph, I’m sorry that this didn’t turn out for you but it seems like you had too much liquid in your recipe. Did you follow the recipe exactly as written without any substitutions?
Also, I’m not entirely sure what kind of texture you were expecting but this is not meant to be as thick as say, an alfredo sauce.
I hope that helps!
This looks amazing!
I tried to make this tonight and it was a total BUST! I’ve never made anything like this as I’m pretty new to cooking. I didn’t see it the directions that you have to melt the cheese in the milk mixture (that did not thicken at all) before adding in all the other ingredients. I guess I should have looked more at the pictures than the recipe.
Guess i’ll try again when I get more chicken. Totally disappointed in how it turned out as I have really been looking forward to making this since I found it.
I made this last night and my family loved it. It’s pretty funny to read all the comments….I found it delicious as is. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I in turn shared your blog link with my friends.
Could I just omit the chicken and have it still turn out or would the other ingredients have to be adjusted? I would like to make it as a side dish…
Jen, you may have to reduce the amount of the other ingredients to compensate for the absence of the chicken.
Could you assemble this and then stick it in the fridge for a few hours before baking? I was hoping to make it for company but don’t want to be doing all the hard work while they are here!
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried assembling this beforehand myself. Please use your best judgment.
im thinking of making this in muffin tins and freezing them individually after they’re cooked. I was wondering that’s doable? Thanks
That sounds like an amazing idea but I honestly cannot say for certain if this will work or not since I have not tried it myself. I recommend using your best judgement to convert this recipe to be made into muffins and freezing appropriately.
Made this tonight and even my fussy eaters loved it. Only downside was that there were no left-overs for my lunch tomorrow. Will definitely make it again. Thanks.
We made this last night and it was so so goood! Thank you! My husband said, instantly to the top of his favorites! ! Even above my shepherds pie!!! #♡thisrecipe!
Hello, made this yesterday and it was very good! Hubby says the leftovers are even better today. That said, my butter and flour took longer than one minute to brown and the roux took longer than three/four minutes to thicken. Very good and simple recipe, but times listed are a little short.
I’m so glad you tried this out! As for the roux, it usually takes me as short as 2 minutes to thicken so I worry that your heat source may not be high enough. All in all, I am happy that the recipe worked out for you!
I made the recipe exactly as posted and the only negative I found was that I couldn’t stop eating in once I removed it from the oven. So addictive I just kept going back for more. I googled the recipe and your site pop up along with others. I opted to make yours because it is full of healthy ingredients unlike the many others that contained processed ingredients. You are my new fave. Can’t wait to see what other delish meals I will learn from your site. Thank you.
sandra in toronto