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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This is fabulous–nicely balanced and satisfying. However I did make a couple procedural changes that I think improve flavor and efficiency. Cook the chicken first in your pan so that you get all those lovely pan juices, then toast the panko in that and even start your broccolli in there too. (Mine did not steam quite enough in the quinoa pot, though it’s probably more because I didn’t cut it up small enough). Also next time I won’t decant the whole shebang into a 9×12 pan-I don’t really see the need since it’s only in the oven for 5 mins. Just mix everything into your quinoa and broccolli dutch oven and pop that sucker in to melt the cheese. My husband requested that this be put into regular rotation. Gonna see how our 10 month old feels about it tonight, I have a feeling he will approve!
LOVED THIS!! My 3 year old gobbled it up too. I cooked my quinoa in chicken broth to give it more flavor.This is my new favorite quinoa recipe! Thank you.
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Hi, I tried making your quinoa casserole and it turned out super tasty! The toasted panko on top was a really brilliant and tasty idea too!
I made this last night, and it was a hit. I did add some onions, garlic, and dry mustard to the sauce to add some seasoning. Thinking about a touch of cayenne for next time (and there will definitely be a next time).
My husband is a quinoa hater, too, but I love the idea of doing quinoa in this instead of rice! I have a feeling he won’t mind once he tastes it.
This sounds amazing!! I don’t eat meat so I am now in search of a way to make it without chicken!
Oh my goodness what an awesome dish! It was a huge hit at our house and this was my first time feeding hubby quinoa. Thank you for posting this recipe. I did add a bit of garlic and cumin to spice it up but otherwise I followed the recipe.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! Even my little picky eaters loved it. I did have to add a little more salt but other than that it was really good. Thanks for the recipe.
I made this last night and we really enjoyed it. It is a bit blander than we’re used to so I will be adding something next time – maybe dijon as suggested above. My mom makes a similar dish without quinoa that has curry powder in it. I’m sure that would be amazing in this.
I make this all the time, I love it. I used cauliflower tonight and it was good with that too. Thanks for the great recipe!
I definitely need to try cauliflower myself – sounds amazing!
Hello. I was wondering if anyone has tried making this ahead and warming later. I have to cook for a babysitter each week and I’m always looking for recipes I can make ahead of time. It would be refrigerated overnight. Advice on temp, warming time? Thanks!
Just made this tonight. It was wonderful! I cut the chicken into bite size pieces and then cooked them. It worked out well. Other than that, I followed the recipe. Thank you
Well, this was damn delicious. I just made it for dinner and will definitely be making it again soon. It tastes just as amazing as it looks from your photos. I followed your recipe almost exactly. Thanks!
btw, I just bought some red quinoa…never used it before…does it taste different? Would it look gross?
I personally like to use red quinoa for salads – it makes them so much more vibrant and more fun to eat. As for taste, I’ve honestly haven’t really noticed a difference between the two.
I was confused here too. So the cooked pinko is set aside to add at the end?
That’s exactly right. It’s simply used as a crunchy topping.
I use a mix of red and white quinoato make this. I don’t notice a difference in taste vs when I make this with only white quinoa!
This reminds me of my recipe for chicken, broccoli, and ziti. I read all the comments and it sounds like it could use a little more flavor. I slice several cloves of garlic as thinly as possible and cook with the chicken. I also use some Parmesan cheese (of course, the cheese takes away from the total health goal, but the quinoa instead of pasta cancels it out, right??), and toss in a bit of crushed red pepper at the end. I will definitely try this…thanks for sharing. Your little Butters is the most adorable!!
This is amazing! Before I made the cheese sauce, I sauteed a mix of onions, mushroom, spinach, and garlic seasoned with paprika and cayenne. I substituted this for the broccoli, as it’s what I had on hand. The mushrooms added nice earthiness and made it a little more grown up. The end product is out of control good! I also added some aged Parmesan. The more cheese the better in my book! This is some delicious comfort food, not totally guilt free, but worth it.
It works well with minced chicken as well. Hearty and Healthy.
This was delicious! I got distracted and forgot to add the greek yogurt, but it was still amazing. I will be sure to add it next time though as I think it would add a zing.
My 20 month old is asking for the chicken and brocoli by name she loves this so much! I can’t wait to make it again and add some cauliflower garlic onion – so good!!