Broccoli and cauliflower are generously coated in a creamy white sauce, topped with cheese, bread crumbs and baked until bubbly, melty and golden. This cheesy broccoli cauliflower bake is sure to be a favourite veggie side for Sunday supper or special occasion meals. So easy and ultra comforting!
Are you a fan of veggies?
How about cheese?
Well, this vegetable au gratin recipe is for you!
“Au gratin” all the things, I say!
Au gratin is just a fancy way of saying covering something in bread crumbs and cheese and baking. Ain’t nothing wrong with that, if you ask me.
I mean, veggies are delicious on their own, but cover them in a creamy, cheesy sauce, top with more cheese and panko and bake until bubbly, melty and golden? Oh yeah!
This broccoli cauliflower au gratin (or broccoli cauliflower bake) is technically a veggie side, but I could honestly devour a whole bunch and call it dinner (just like scalloped potatoes).
Why We Love This Broccoli Cauliflower Bake
- It’s simple to prepare and made with some humble ingredients.
- It’s chock-full of cruciferous veggies.
- This veggie side is such a great way to get people to eat their veggies, especially since it’s covered in a yummy cheese sauce!
- Of course, it tastes delicious!
How To Make It
Full details are in the recipe card below, but here are the basics:
- Start by steaming your florets just to take a little of the bite (crunch) out of them. You definitely don’t want them fully cooked here.
- Meanwhile, make your flour roux (similar to the one you’d make when preparing cod au gratin or mac and cheese). In a saucepan, melt some butter, stir in flour to form a paste and cook for a little.
- Gradually stir in milk and cook until everything is nice and thick and easily coats the back of a spoon. You can add your seasonings at this point too.
- Off heat, stir in some shredded cheese.
- Coat the florets with your sauce mixture.
- Pour into a greased baking dish.
- Cover with more cheese and some panko bread crumbs.
- Bake until bubbly, melty and straight-up delicious!
Once everything is baked, crack into that melty, crispy top layer and dig in.
Serve yourself a big portion and maybe go back for seconds (I know I do). This broccoli cauliflower bake is quite hard to resist!
Tips and Variations
- A mixture of cheese is used in this broccoli cauliflower bake. You can use a good quality store-bought shredded cheese blend or, even better, grate your own. For convenience, the shredded blend allows you to use a variety of cheese without having to purchase a full block of each. However, if you prefer to grate your own you can use a combination of your favourites or all mozzarella or provolone, for example.
- Use what cheese you enjoy best. Just pick a good melting cheese (or cheeses), liked cheddar, low moisture mozzarella, provolone, asiago and/or Gouda. You can also add some parmesan for extra flavour. To keep this veggie bake vegetarian, opt for a vegetarian cheese.
- Cut your florets into roughly equal-sized pieces so they cook evenly.
- If you have slightly more broccoli than cauliflower (or vice versa), no worries. You basically want about 8 to 9 cups of florets or about 1.5 pounds worth.
- The florets still have a little texture after everything is cooked. If you want them to be a little softer, you can steam them a little more before baking.
- Instead of steaming, you can easily boil the florets. If boiling, give them a little shock in cold water afterwards (to stop the cooking process before they’re baked).
- Garlic powder and onion powder are used here but you can totally cook some garlic cloves and minced onion instead.
- If you don’t need this to be vegetarian, you can add some crispy bacon to the mix.
More Veggie Side Dishes
If you make this vegetable au gratin recipe, please leave a comment below!
Broccoli Cauliflower Bake (Vegetable au Gratin)
Ingredients
- 4 to 4.5 cups broccoli florets, about 1 small head or ¾ pound
- 4 to 4.5 cups cauliflower florets, about half a large head or ¾ pound
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter, divided (5 tablespoons)
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 6 ounces shredded mozzarella, provolone, Parmesan, Asiago and/or cheddar, divided, 1.5 cups (see "Notes" below, Point "1")
- 2 to 3 tablespoons unseasoned panko bread crumbs
- Chopped chives or green onion, garnish to taste (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Meanwhile, place broccoli and cauliflower florets in a steamer basket (one that will fit over the pot that you will be using). Next, place a few inches of water in a pot and place the steamer basket over it. Bring water to a boil, cover veggies with the steamer basket lid and steam veggies for 6 to 8 minutes or until just tender crisp. Set aside.Note: The veggies will soften a little as they bake, but still have a little bite/crunch. If you want them more well done, steam for a little longer before baking.
- Then, in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, melt ¼ cup (or 4 tablespoons) of butter.
- Stir in flour to form a paste and cook, stirring, for a minute or two.
- About ¼ cup at a time, stir in milk. Keep stirring until thickened and the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Don't add more milk until the previous batch has thickened. This could take about 8 to 10 minutes or so until your sauce is made.
- Stir in garlic powder, salt, onion powder, black pepper and nutmeg.
- Off heat, stir in ½ cup (2 ounces) of cheese and mix until incorporated.
- Stir in broccoli and cauliflower florets, stirring to coat.
- Grease a 9 to 10-inch baking pan (or a baking pan of roughly the same size) with remaining 1 tablespoon of butter.
- Pour in broccoli/cauliflower mixture and spread out into an even layer.
- Top with remaining 1 cup (or 4 ounces) shredded cheese and bread crumbs.
- Bake about 35 to 40 minutes or until bubbly and the cheese has melted.
- Garnish, if desired, with freshly chopped chives. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- A mixture of cheese is used in this broccoli cauliflower bake. You can use a good quality store-bought shredded cheese blend (I used an Italian-style cheese blend, which was a combination of provolone, mozzarella, parmesan and asiago) or, even better, grate your own. For convenience, the shredded blend allows you to use a variety of cheese without having to purchase a full block of each. However, if you prefer to grate your own you can use a combination of your favourites or all mozzarella or provolone, for example.
- Use what cheese you enjoy best. Just pick a good melting cheese (or cheeses), liked cheddar, low moisture mozzarella, provolone, asiago and/or Gouda. You can also add some parmesan for extra flavour. To keep this veggie bake vegetarian, opt for a vegetarian cheese.
- Cut your florets into roughly equal-sized pieces so they cook evenly.
- If you have slightly more broccoli than cauliflower (or vice versa), no worries. You basically want about 8 to 9 cups of florets or about 1.5 pounds worth.
- The florets still have a little texture after everything is cooked. If you want them to be a little softer, you can steam them a little more before baking.
- Instead of steaming, you can easily boil the florets. If boiling, give them a little shock in cold water afterwards (to stop the cooking process before they’re baked).
Nutrition estimate (if provided) is based on 1 Serving.
Nutrition information (if provided) is provided as a courtesy and should be considered an estimate only. Ingredients can vary and Girl Heart Food makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are guidelines only.
Tried this recipe?
If you do make this recipe, thank you!! It would mean so much if you could leave a comment below. Love to know how you enjoyed it, and it helps other readers too!
