Great Broccoli Cheese Recipes

One of my favorite food combinations is the combination of broccoli and cheese together. There are just so many great recipes that combine these two different foods in different ways to offer a variety of different dishes. These dishes range from simple snacks to full entrees and are as good for individual eaters as they are for potluck gatherings. The best thing about these recipes is that almost every single one of them is simple to make and very few of them require too many ingredients. And for the most part these recipes are relatively healthy (or can be adapted to be healthy by making simple substitutions such as using reduced fat cheese instead of whatever’s called for in the recipe).

Let’s take a look at some of the different types of things that you can make with broccoli and cheese:

Broccoli Cheese Soup

This is probably my favorite recipe that can be made with broccoli and cheese. There are several different types of broccoli cheese soup out there but they all have the basics in common. These are cream-based soups that are rich and filled with flavor. The primary ingredients are cheese (usually a cheddar cheese), broccoli and milk. Broccoli cheese soup is hearty enough to constitute a meal on its own and is great for a winter dinner. However, it can also be made to be lighter and can serve as a side dish during any time of the year. Broccoli cheese soup can even be served cold during the summer using some recipes which offers an interesting alternative to the usual summer soups that people enjoy during warm weather.

There are many different great recipes out there for broccoli cheese soup but some of my favorites come from CD Kitchen, Cooks.com and Recipezaar.

Baked Potato with Broccoli and Cheese

Sometimes I’ll make a big batch of that broccoli cheese soup and then I’ll save some to have later over a baked potato. You can bake the potato like normal and then simply pour the soup on top. This works best with a chunky soup as opposed to one that’s been pureed. You don’t have to make a broccoli cheese soup to enjoy broccoli and cheese on your baked potato though. You can simply cook up some broccoli, add it to the top of a simple baked potato and then melt cheese on top of the whole thing. This makes for a great side dish or even a whole meal depending on how hungry you are.

Here’s a look at some different types of recipes that are available for a baked potato with broccoli and cheese over at Big Oven and Heavenly HomeMakers.

Broccoli Cheese Casserole

Another great broccoli and cheese dish is the casserole. This is a terrific one to make if you’re serving a large group of people and it’s an ideal dish to take to a potluck. A common recipe includes ingredients such as broccoli, eggs, onions, cream of mushroom soup, bread crumbs and seasonings which are combined together and then baked in an oven to create the casserole dish. There are as many variations on these ingredients as there are cooks who write recipes but the basic idea is that you’re taking a broccoli cheese combination, breading it in some fashion and baking it in a casserole dish.

Some of the top recipes out there for broccoli cheese casseroles are found at All Recipes, Food Network and About.com Southern Food.

Broccoli Cheese Pot Pie

Another baked option for your broccoli and cheese meal is the broccoli and cheese pot pie. Most recipes that include these two ingredients also include chicken. The chicken / broccoli / cheddar pot pie is a popular option among those people who are fans of the pot pie. You can go with this or make a vegetarian alternative by skipping the chicken. You can add potatoes in place of the chicken if you want a heartier pot pie. This is a great meal that you can enjoy alone or with a group, as a side or as an entrée.

A few broccoli cheese pot pie recipes can be found at Food Geeks, Home Cooking and Steve's Recipe Database.

Pasta with Broccoli and Cheese

If you want a hearty dish that isn’t quite so unhealthy for you as most casseroles and pot pies tend to be then you might want to think about adding broccoli and cheese to your pasta. You can cook any type of pasta that you like, add some lightly cooked broccoli to it and then top with a cheese-based pasta sauce. If you use whole grain pasta and a light sauce then you’ll be enjoying a fairly healthy broccoli cheese meal that doesn’t require any side dishes.

Some alternative recipes for broccoli cheese pasta include those at Cooking Cache and Cooks Recipes.

Broccoli with Melted Cheese

You don’t actually need a lot of complicated ingredients and recipes to make a great snack out of broccoli and cheese. You can simply cook your broccoli and then melt cheese over it for a delicious, easy-to-make snack that’s relatively healthy for you. Your best bet is to cook your broccoli in a steamer without letting it get too soft. Then you grate cheese over the top and put it in the microwave until the cheese is melted. An alternative to this is to make a cheese sauce separately using cheese, milk and butter and then to pour that over the broccoli that you’ve cooked. These are simple ways to make a great snack that doesn’t require much effort or many ingredients besides the broccoli and cheese.

Raw Broccoli and Cheese Snack

You don’t even have to cook your broccoli and cheese for it to make a great snack. One of the easiest broccoli and cheese combination recipes out there is a simple snack of raw broccoli and cheese. There are quite a few alternatives to this combination. My favorite is broccoli with a side of ranch for dipping along with cubes of cheddar cheese and some crackers. Another option is broccoli smeared with cream cheese or broccoli paired with a softer cheese like mozzarella.