Go Back Email Link
+ servings

Broccoli Cheddar Rice Recipe

April Freeman
With cheesy rice combined with fresh, steamed broccoli, this recipe for Broccoli Cheddar Rice is a wonderful side dish to accompany whatever else you have planned for dinner. This side dish recipe is inexpensive to make and very tasty. Add a green veggie, a lean meat, and some bread, and you will have a delicious, easy dinner ready to go. 
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Cuisine American
Servings 6 Servings

Equipment

  • Medium-Sized Saucepan with Lid
  • Spatula
  • Container with Tight-Fitting Lid

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 cup White Rice not minute rice or instant rice
  • 2 cups Chicken Broth
  • 2 tbsp Butter
  • 1 cup Finely Chopped Raw Broccoli
  • 1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese you can choose how sharp, but the sharper the better for extra flavoring
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • ¼ teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Instructions
 

  • In a medium-sized saucepan with a tightly fitting lid, heat the olive oil over medium heat until it sizzles when you flick a drop of water into the oil. Add the rice and cook and stir it for about 60-90 seconds, or until the rice is lightly browned. 
  • Pour the broth into the saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil. When the pot boils, turn the heat down to low, and put the lid on the pot. Cook the rice for 10 minutes or until most of the broth is absorbed. 
  • Add the broccoli and cook the rice for another 3 minutes with the lid on the pot.
    The small pieces of broccoli are added.
  • Remove the pot from the heat and add the butter, along with the cheddar cheese, the salt, and the pepper. Stir until everything is thoroughly combined. Let the pot sit, covered, for about 5 minutes to allow the cheese to melt. Stir the rice again before serving.
  • Store leftover rice in a container with a tightly fitting lid for up to 3 days.  You can reheat leftovers in the microwave.

Notes

Most of what you need is included in the box. However, if you don’t count the time it takes to gather ingredients, they don’t save you very much time at all. After all, rice still takes the same amount of time to cook, whether it’s in a pre-made mix or one that you made from scratch
Those boxed mixes also have a few negatives. First, they are, ounce per ounce, more expensive than buying a large bag of rice and the ingredients to make a side dish yourself. Second, they use dehydrated veggies which are not as nutritious as fresh ones.
Third, they are often loaded with salt, preservatives, artificial colors, and flavor additives. Fourth, they just don’t taste as good as a homemade, from scratch rice side dish. This recipe for Broccoli Cheddar Rice is tasty, inexpensive to make, and healthy. You can be in charge of the level of salt in the dish, and you won’t have to worry about mysterious preservatives in the food. 
Our Broccoli Cheddar Rice is flavored by natural ingredients like chicken broth, butter, and cheddar cheese. We add in finely chopped broccoli to add flavor, color, and nutrition. It is also very easy to make with our instructions. Even a middle school aged kid can learn to make this side dish from scratch. 
We used finely chopped fresh broccoli in our recipe. However, if you do not have fresh broccoli on hand, you can use frozen broccoli. Simply cook the frozen broccoli according to package instructions and stir it into the rice mix at the end of the recipe along with the shredded cheese. Often, frozen vegetables are flash frozen the same day that they are picked, so they retain almost as much nutrition as fresh veggies.
They are a great option to use in a cooked recipe like this one when fresh veggies may not be available, like in the winter time. Also, frozen vegetables are generally less expensive than fresh ones, so if you are on a very tight budget, using frozen veggies is a good way to save money without sacrificing taste or nutrition.
We used Jasmine rice in our recipe, but you can use whatever kind of long grain rice that you have on hand. Jasmine and Basmati rice add a mild flavor and an herbal flavor to the rice, but if all that you have on hand is plain rice, that will be fine too. However, you definitely do not want to use minute rice or instant rice in this recipe. 
Keyword Broccoli Cheddar Rice, Recipe, Side Dish

All Recipes | Breakfast | Dinner (Mains) | Dessert | Side Dishes | Soups | Appetizers | Salads | Snacks | Beverages | Breads