Broccoli and cauliflower are generously coated in a creamy white sauce, topped with cheese, bread crumbs and baked until bubbly, melty and golden; sounds good right? 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 cheesy scalloped potatoes).
Why We Love this Broccoli Cauliflower Bake
- It’s super simple to prepare
- Made with some humble ingredients
- It’s chock-full of cruciferous veggies
- 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 ’em. 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!
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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!
More Recipe Tips & Variations
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.
Speaking of cheese, a mixture of cheese is used in this broccoli cauliflower bake. Use what 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.
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.
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.
Speaking of steaming, you can easily boil the florets instead. If boiling, give ’em a little shock in cold water afterwards (to stop the cooking process before they’re baked).
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.
More Veggie Side Dishes
Hope you love this broccoli cauliflower bake as much as we do!
If you try this vegetable au gratin recipe, please leave a comment below. Love to hear how you enjoyed!
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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 (5 tablespoons)
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 6 ounces shredded mozzarella, provolone, Parmesan, Asiago and/or cheddar (see 'Notes' below) , divided (about 1.5 cups. I used an 'Italian-style cheese blend', which was a combination of provolone, mozzarella, parmesan and asiago)
- 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, 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. Enjoy!
Notes
- 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.
- Speaking of cheese, a mixture of cheese is used. Use what you enjoy best. Just pick a good melting cheese (or cheeses), liked cheddar, low moisture mozzarella, provolone and/or Gouda. You can also add some parmesan for extra flavour. To keep this veggie bake vegetarian, opt for a vegetarian cheese.
- 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.
- Speaking of steaming, you can easily boil the florets instead. If boiling, give ’em a little shock in cold water afterwards (to stop the cooking process before they’re baked).
- 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.
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.
Michelle | Sift & Simmer
Oooh such a fantastic idea! I think my kids would love this since they love cauliflower, broccoli and mac & cheese!!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Thank you Michelle! It’s a yummy one for sure!
Marissa
This is the kind of ‘side dish’ that I LOVE to make a meal of, Dawn. Heavenly!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Right??! Thank you Marissa!
Valentina
I could totally call this dinner, too. No need for anything else. And yes, doesn’t get much better than a cheese and bread crumb topping! 🙂 ~Valentina
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Yay! Thanks Valentina!
Valentina
Dawn, I made this for dinner tonight and everyone gobbled it up! SO delicious! One of my boys is gluten-free so I skipped the breadcrumbs and used a tiny bit of cornstarch instead of flour. Thank you! 🙂 ~Valentina
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Oh my goodness, Valentina!! So happy to hear that! Thank you!! You just made my day!
David @ Spiced
Oh, that cheese sauce is calling my name! I kinda want to dunk my broccoli straight into that sauce. Oh, just forget the broccoli and hand me a spoon! Haha. Seriously, though, this is such a fun way to upgrade the classic broccoli with cheese sauce. I want to make this as a side dish for the smoked brisket I’ve got on the smoker right now. Mmmm!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Right??! That sounds like a super yummy combo! Thanks David!
Alex
This is the ultimate in comfort food – the best kind of side dish. It goes so well with so many things!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Thank you Alex! For sure!
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers
Yes, I could happily sit down to just this and be very happy 🙂 A great way to enjoy my veggies!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Happy to hear I’m not the only one! Thank you Jennifer!