One of my junk food vices is Ritz crackers. (Ok, I just owned up to my serious candy addiction yesterday), but really, Ritz crackers always sound good. I love them with beer. Especially wheat ale. I love them smeared with sunflower seed butter, I love them dipped in chocolate to make Copycat Girl Scout Thin Mints (yes, really!), but most of all, I love them on top of casseroles. I’m pretty sure Christy from Southern Plate is the one that introduced me to a green bean and corn casserole topped with buttery crackers. I thought ‘how good could a vegetable casserole be?’ and then I tasted it. So good. So, that said, my version of broccoli cheese and rice casserole has crackers on top.
Variations on broccoli cheese and rice casserole:
It’s also stuffed with either rice or chicken (sometimes both, with a bit of extra cheese to bind). Often, I find myself with a random ½ cup of wild rice in the bottom of the mason jar, and I’ve used that, too. Basically, I want you to take this base for broccoli cheese and rice casserole for two and add whatever your Mom added when you were a kid: chopped chicken, white rice, nothing but cheese, whatever. If you made my small-batch Tater Tot Casserole, you’ll recognize the homemade cream of mushroom soup here again. Like I said last time, you can definitely substitute a can of the store-bought stuff. The homemade recipe makes about the same amount as the can, 10 ounces or so. It’s your choice. I love a good homemade condensed soup, though. So thick and creamy!
One final note: I use raw broccoli chopped finely in the casserole because I love for the broccoli to still have some bite after baking in the oven, but you could lightly steam it first if you want the classic soft and creamy casserole filling. I used two of these small 10-ounce ramekins to make this casserole for two, but any small baking dish would work, too. The 10-ounce ramekin is the classic size for individual soufflés, if you have any of those in your kitchen! I hope this broccoli cheese and rice casserole for two is so comforting and delicious to you! Let me know if you make it in the comments below!
