Ground Beef and Broccoli Casserole
This easy cheesy hamburger broccoli casserole will be your family's go-to quick best healthy homemade food recipe.
Ingredients
- 3 cups chopped fresh or frozen broccoli
- 1 medium size chopped onion
- 1 lb of extra lean ground beef fresh or frozen
- 3 cups of cooked white rice. equal to 1 cup of uncooked rice.
- 1/2 cup whole milk yogurt
- 4 ounces of cheddar cheese sliced or shredded
- 1 tbsp. garlic powder
- 1 tbsp. butter
- 2 tbsp. avocado oil
- Salt & black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 °F.
- Saute onion and ground beef. Add butter and oil to a skillet over medium-high heat. Then saute onion until softened and browned. Set it aside. Then, add the ground beef to the same skillet and saute until all the liquid is released and starts to brown up. Do not overcook the ground meat. Then add to it garlic powder, salt, and black pepper and stir around for one more minute.
- Incorporate all the ingredients. Place all the ingredients in a larger bowl or a tray, and mix them all. Taste and adjust for seasonings.
- Bake it. Transfer the mixed ingredients to a baking dish and bake it uncover for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the top is browned.
- Serve it. Serve it hot out of the oven with fresh salad or fermented vegetables. Enjoy!
Notes
Tips
- Cut broccoli small and thaw frozen broccoli. Cut broccoli into small bite-size pieces. And, If you use frozen broccoli, thaw them well before mixing them into the casserole.
- Sauté onion. This will add more flavor to the dish.
- Sauté ground beef. Saute ground beef before adding it to the mix. This will lessen the cooking time in the oven and adds more flavor to the dish.
- Cook rice. This will shorten the casserole baking time in the oven. You may use less rice to make the dish low-carb and high-protein.
- Use plain whole-milk yogurt. This will add extra creaminess and tangy flavor to the dish.
- Use sharp cheese. Sharp cheese like cheddar complements well with ground beef.
- Add your favorite spices/herbs/sauces. Taste it before baking and feel free to use your favorite herbs or spices in the dish. This is an easy way to make the dish flavorful without adding more calories. Italian seasonings, cumin, tomato sauce, or Worcestershire sauce to customize the flavor of the dish.
- Make a meal plan. Ground beef and rice are easy and cheap ingredients to make dinner. Double the casserole recipe and meal prep it for another day. Freeze it uncooked for later. When ready to serve it, defrost it in the fridge the night before and bake it for additional 10-15 minutes.
- Add more cheese. This is a light casserole recipe. Feel free to add a layer of cheese on top of the casserole for a golden-brown finished look.
- Substitute broccoli. Fresh or frozen vegetables, including cauliflower, green beans, spinach, or kale, are great options.
- Replace onion. Leeks, chives, garlic, or shallot works fine.
- Substitute ground beef. Ground turkey or ground chicken are other great proteins. Or steak and chicken stripes. Make sure not to overcook them.
- Replace white rice. Brown rice, quinoa, barley, or couscous are great alternatives. small-shaped pasta, diced potatoes, and breadcrumbs are other options.
- Substitute whole milk yogurt. Sour cream, buttermilk, or milk kefir are other options.
- Replace cheddar cheese. Cottage cheese, cream cheese, mozzarella, parmesan, or any other cheese you like will work.
- Substitute butter. Use live oil, coconut oil, or ghee instead.
- Substitute garlic powder. Go with fresh garlic instead.
- Serve it as a vegetarian side dish. Leave out the ground beef and serve it as a vegetarian side dish or a light meat free meal.
- Make it low-carb/Keto. Skip the rice, and use cauliflower rice or shredded cabbage. Substitute whole milk yogurt with plain greek yogurt. And replace cheddar cheese with cottage cheese.
- Make it spicy. Add more of black pepper, cayenne, chili, or red flake peppers.
- Make one pot ground beef broccoli rice. Cook the entire meal in one dish. Saute onion and ground beef in the same pot and add to it one cup uncooked rice and 3 cups stock of choice or water and the rest of the ingredients. Bring it to a boil, cover it, and let it simmer on low heat over the stovetop for 3o minutes or until the rice is fully cooked. If needed add a little more liquid. Or bake it at 400 °F in the oven for 3o minutes.
- 10-inch cast iron skillet.
Nutrition
Serving: 1gCalories: 421kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 32gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 94mgSodium: 295mgFiber: 3gSugar: 3g
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