This cheesy Chicken Sausage Broccoli Rice Casserole is creamy, heart, and comforting. It’s an easy, make-ahead, delicious family dinner!
Welcome to the Cheesy Chicken Sausage Broccoli Rice Casserole post! Yes, this casserole is a destination and deserves a warm welcome. This is a stress-free, easy casserole that you can make entirely ahead for a busy weeknight. It has lean chicken sausage, healthy and bright broccoli, hearty rice, and a creamy and cheesy sauce. The This is an all-in-one, make-ahead, hearty and delicious casserole.
Embrace Your Casserole Side
Ok, I’m going to level with you here. When I started my blog, I told myself that I would never post a casserole recipe. I grew up with casseroles. Casseroles are stress-free. They are easy and they can last for more than 1 meal. A delicious casserole is warm and cozy and comforting. Casseroles are hearty and gooey and fill the whole house with the delicious scent of their ingredients while they cook. Why WOULDN’T I post a casserole recipe!?? Well, I would. And I am. So, here you go…
Healthy-ish Casserole
With a Certification in Nutrition and Healthy Living, I am always looking for ways to lighten or add vitamins and nutrients to recipes.
If you follow my blog or newsletters at all, you know that I love chicken. Chicken is high in protein, but not high in calories or fat. Some of my favorite chicken recipes are… Oven Fried Chicken Breasts with Bacon, Easy Chicken Mole Enchiladas (Enmoladas) with Rotisserie Chicken, BBQ Chicken Pizza Recipe, Creamy Garlic Parmesan Chicken, Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps, to name a few.
For this recipe, I used store-bought Italian chicken sausage, which is leaner than pork sausage. You can use whatever favorite sausage you and your family love.
Broccoli gives this recipe great taste, beautiful green color, and it is packed with vitamins.
Finally, to lighten the sauce, I only included ½ cup of shredded cheese in the entire dish. I also substituted low-fat milk instead of heavy cream, which is just enough to boost the creaminess factor.
Prep Ahead Steps for Sausage Broccoli Casserole
For the prep, you can make the sauce ahead. To a preheated saute pan, add 1 teaspoon olive oil and the sliced sausage. Sear the sausage until browned on both sides. To the same pan, add 1 teaspoon olive oil if needed and the onions. Cook the onions until soft and translucent.
Add the flour and butter to make a roux and stir until full mixed. Cook for 2 minutes while stirring constantly so it does not burn. Slowly whisk in the broth and the milk until lumps are gone and sauce is creamy.
Add the shredded cheese and the parsley and whisk to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Finally add back the sausage and stir to combine.
Cook the Sausage Broccoli Rice Casserole
There are only 3 simple steps for this recipe after you prep the sauce and broccoli by cutting and slicing them. Step 1 is to make the creamy sauce with the sausage. Step 2 is to make the rice. Step 3 is to combine it all with the broccoli.
Then bake it in the oven, with panko breadcrumbs added at the very end.
I hope you try this recipe with your family and love it as much as we did!
Enjoy!
Cheesy Chicken Sausage Broccoli Rice Casserole
This cheesy Chicken Sausage Broccoli Rice Casserole is a stress-free, easy, warm and comforting, hearty and gooey casserole with sausage, broccoli, and just a bit of cheese to give it the creaminess you want. Rounded out with Rice, you have a complete meal!
Ingredients
- 4 Cooked Chicken Sausage Links (12oz)
- 2 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- ½ cup Yellow Onion, diced
- 2 tbls All Purpose Flour
- 2 tbls Butter
- 2 cups Chicken Broth
- 1 cup Milk
- ½ cup Shredded Cheddar
- 1 tbls Parsley
- 3 cups Broccoli Florets
- ¼ cup Panko Bread Crumbs
- Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper to taste
- 1 cup Long Grain White Rice, uncooked
- 1 cup water
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
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Cook the Rice: Add 1 cup water and 1 cup chicken broth to small pot, then add 1 cup uncooked rice. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer and cover for 20 minutes. Once 20 minutes is done, keep lid on pot until ready to mix the rice into the casserole.
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Dice the onion, slice the sausage, chop the parsley, cut off the broccoli florets.
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To a preheated saute pan, add 1 teaspoon olive oil and the sliced sausage. Sear the sausage until browned on both sides. If you are using cooked sausage, you just need to sear, not cook through. If raw, then cook a few minutes longer. Remove the sausage from the pan and set aside, leaving the sausage bits and juices in the pan.
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To the same pan, add 1 teaspoon olive oil if needed and the onions. Cook the onions until soft and translucent.
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Add the flour and butter to make a roux and stir until full mixed. Cook for 2 minutes while stirring constantly so it does not burn. Slowly whisk in the broth and the milk until lumps are gone and sauce is creamy.
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Add the shredded cheese and the parsley and whisk to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Finally add back the sausage and stir to combine.
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In a casserole dish, mix the rice, the broccoli, and the sausage-sauce. Once combined, cover and cook in oven for 30 minutes.
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Remove cover and sprinkle panko bread crumbs, salt & pepper over the entire top of the casserole. Put back in the oven for another 5+ minutes until the top is lightly browned.
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Take the casserole out, serve, and enjoy!!
Recipe Video
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