This cheesy vegan chicken, broccoli and rice casserole is perfect for a family dinner or potluck. It’s delicious, easy to make, and comes together quickly.
I can’t tell you how many times we’ve turned a side dish into a full on dinner, but this cheesy vegan chicken, broccoli and rice casserole is one of our favs.
Listen, sometimes casseroles get a bad wrap. There are people that will throw just about anything into one and call it a meal. It’s mediocre at best and because of that a lot of people don’t trust them.
Hold onto your britches because this one is not only delicious but it will blow your mind that it is vegan!
If you have never had a cheesy broccoli and rice casserole and you love broccoli, this will likely become one of your favorite dishes.
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What ingredients do you need to make cheesy vegan chicken, broccoli and rice casserole?
This is definitely not one of our shorter list of ingredients; however, all of the ingredients come together really easily and you will be so excited.
- fresh broccoli
- vegan chicken strips
- cooked brown rice
- sweet onion
- garlic
- butter beans
- vegetable stock
- nutritional yeast
- vegan butter
- lemon juice
- salt
- pepper
- paprika
- cayenne
- poultry or all purpose seasoning
- vegan parmesan cheese
- unsweetened dairy free milk
- chickpea (garbanzo) flour
- vegan shredded cheddar cheese
- seasoned panko breadcrumbs
How do you make cheesy vegan chicken, broccoli and cheese casserole?
This recipe needs cooked broccoli and rice to start, so start by cooking both of those things if you don’t have them prepared already.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Chop up the onions, and garlic.
Add 1 tablespoon of butter to a skillet and saute the onions and garlic together until the onions are soft, about 3 minutes.
Then, to a high powdered blender, add the onions and garlic, along with the butter beans, vegetable stock, nutritional yeast, remaining vegan butter, lemon juice, salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne, vegan parmesan cheese, unsweetened dairy free milk, and chickpea flour.
Blend for 5 minutes until smooth, creamy, and thick.
To the same skillet, cook the grilled chicken strips according to the package. Add in poultry blend to season and stir to combine.
Reserve 1 cup of cheese sauce.
In a large bowl, combine the cooked broccoli and rice, along with the cheese sauce you made in the blended and 1 ½ cups vegan cheddar cheese. Combine well.
Pour into a 9×13 casserole dish that has be greased with 1 tablespoon of butter.
Top with ½ cup of cheese. Then, evenly sprinkle the breadcrumbs across the top and the rest of the parmesan cheese.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the dish is bubbly around the sides.
Pull out of the oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Do not cut into the dish before the 5 minutes is up.
Use the reserved cheese sauce to drizzle more on top, add to leftovers reheated the next day, or in another dish like pasta later in the week.
Store any leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge.
Can you make this a Top 8 Allergen Free Vegan Casserole?
There are a few ingredients that you need to be aware of that may contain allergens; however, this dish could be Top 8 Allergen Free.
You want to make sure that you use a soy free butter, like Earth Balance soy free, it comes in a red tub.
For panko breadcrumbs, make sure that you use a gluten free one.
We like oat milk for this recipe so that is already top 8 allergen free.
Then we are left with parmesan cheese and shredded cheddar. For the parmesan you can use our homemade vegan parmesan cheese with sunflowers to make allergen free. Follow Your Heart Vegan Parm Shreds also appear to be top 8 free.
For the shredded vegan cheddar, check out our vegan shredded taste test post to see one that will work with your allergens.
For the vegan chicken, find one that is gluten free or swap with more broccoli, tofu, chickpeas, or mushrooms.
Can I prep this cheesy vegan broccoli casserole ahead of time?
Yes! This dish once cooked can be stored in the fridge with a cover and reheated either in the oven or microwave. It will be good for 5 days in the fridge.
What other vegan side dishes should I make?
There are endless possibilities, but here are some of our favorite vegan side dishes that we think everyone will like:
- The Best Vegan Mac and Cheese
- Vegan Cornbread
- Easy Vegan Mashed Potatoes (4 Ways)
- Vegan Green Bean Casserole
- Italian Vegan Pasta Salad
- Vegan Potato Salad
- Vegan Green Bean Salad
- The Best Vegan Baked Beans
- Vegan Glazed Carrots
- Vegan Scalloped Potatoes
Pin this cheesy vegan chicken, broccoli and rice casserole for later:
Cheesy Vegan Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole
Equipment
- 9×13 casserole dish
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh broccoli florets, cooked
- 1 ½ cups uncooked brown rice, cooked (white rice would also work)
- ¼ cup sweet onion, chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter
- 10 oz vegan chicken strips (could sub for crispy tofu, chickpeas or mushrooms)
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning or rub (we make this one)
For the Cheese Sauce
- 1 15oz can butter beans, drained
- ½ cup vegetable stock
- 1.5 cups dairy free milk (we like oat for this)
- ⅓ cup nutritional yeast
- ½ cup vegan butter
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne, optional
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ cup chickpea (garbanzo) flour
- ½ cup vegan parmesan Cheese (click for homemade or we like violife if store bought)
For the Topping
- 2 cups vegan shredded cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup vegan parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup seasoned panko breadcrumbs (ensure dairy free)
Instructions
- If you don't have cooked broccoli and rice, prepare both of those.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Chop up the onions and garlic.
- Add 1 tablespoon of butter to a skillet and saute the onions and garlic together until the onions are soft, about 3 minutes.
- To a high powdered blender, add the onions and garlic, along with the butter beans, vegetable stock, nutritional yeast, remaining vegan butter, lemon juice, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, vegan parmesan cheese, unsweetened dairy free milk, and chickpea flour.
- Blend for 5 minutes until smooth, creamy, and thick.
- In the same skillet, cook your vegan chicken strips according to the package. Chopping into bite size pieces as it cooks and season with the poultry blend.
- Reserve 1 cup of cheese sauce.
- In a large bowl, combine the cooked broccoli and rice, along with the remaining cheese sauce and 1 ½ cups vegan cheddar cheese. Combine well.
- Pour into a 9×13 casserole dish that has be greased with 1 tablespoon of butter.
- Top with ½ cup of vegan cheddar cheese.
- Evenly sprinkle the breadcrumbs across the top and the rest of the parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the dish is bubbly around the sides.
- Pull out of the oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Do not cut into the dish before the 5 minutes is up.
- Use the reserved cheese sauce to drizzle more on top, add to leftovers reheated the next day, or in another dish like pasta later in the week.
- Store any leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge.
Kirstyn
What can be subbed for chickpea flour?
LarishaBernard
almond or all purpose
Hilary
I just made this recipe and it was awesome! Love your videos.
LarishaBernard
We’re so happy to hear you liked it! Thanks for taking time out of your day to leave a review. We really appreciate it.
Jamie Graff
Does anyone know if other white beans will work? Navy? Canolini? This dish is definitely on the menu for this week! Thank you!
LarishaBernard
Hi Jamie! Great Northern and Cannellini beans have been tested. Both will work. We just love the creaminess of butter beans which is why we prefer those! Enjoy the recipe!
Sharon Cameron
Great recipe! Awesome comfort food and great for meal prepping. Next time I’m going to add mushrooms and asparagus! Thank you guys for the delicious meal! I will continue making this recipe! It would be great for the busy weeks of work and school.
LarishaCampbell
We’re so happy that you enjoyed our recipe. We appreciate you trying it. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!
Albertina Geller
This looks really good. I will be adding it to my recipe book. Do you have any other suggestions apart from Violife for store-bought parmesan? Unfortunately, it isn’t available near my house.
LarishaCampbell
If you can get the Follow Your Heart Parm, you could use that. Or you could use our homemade recipe: https://makeitdairyfree.com/dairy-free-parmesan-cheese/
Albertina Geller
Thank you!