Cheese Sauce for Broccoli
Published 2/20/2023 • Updated 5/19/2023
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Take your broccoli to the next level by smothering it in this cheese sauce for broccoli. It is cheesy, creamy, and ready in under 15 minutes.
Cheese Sauce for Broccoli – It’s the Best!
Have you ever made yourself a side dish of broccoli and thought, this broccoli is missing a little something. We have the answer for you; broccoli cheese sauce. No more boring broccoli!
This cheese sauce is creamy, ready in under 20 minutes, and can be served with your favorite broccoli dishes!
Ingredients Needed
- Unsalted butter: butter is used as the fat for the roux
- All-purpose flour: all-purpose flour is what’s used to create the roux. You can swap this for white whole wheat or 1:1 GF all-purpose flour if you wish.
- 2% milk: we used 2% milk, but any milk will work.
- Cheddar cheese: we suggest buying a brick of your favorite cheddar cheese and shredding it yourself. Freshly grated cheese rather than pre-shredded cheese tends to melt better.
- Spices: we used salt, pepper, and granulated garlic to really add delicious flavor to the cheese sauce.
- Hot sauce: we love adding a little vinegar-based hot sauce to our broccoli cheese sauce for a kick.
Can I use velveeta instead of cheddar cheese? Yes, you can use shredded velveeta in place of shredded cheddar cheese. If you want a more details on how to make velveeta cheese sauce, check out this post!
How to Make Cheese Sauce for Broccoli
This broccoli cheese sauce is made in 5 easy steps. All you need are the ingredients above broccoli (or any of your favorite veggies), and 15 minutes of your day. Here’s how you make it:
Prepare a roux
Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium/high heat, and add butter. When the butter is melted, add flour and whisk until the butter and flour form a crumble or paste.
Whisk in milk
Slowly pour milk to the pot, whisking constantly. Continue to whisk the roux over medium/high heat until the roux thickens.
Remove from heat + add Cheese
When the roux is thick, remove from heat and add the shredded cheese, and whisk until the cheese has melted.
Add spices
Add granulated garlic, hot sauce, and salt and pepper to the cheese mixture and stir the ingredients together until combined.
Serve & enjoy!
Serve the broccoli cheese sauce with broccoli, cauliflower, or eat it with a spoon;).
Tutorial
How to Grate Cheese
Whether you have a box grater at home or find yourself in need of grated cheese and no grater, we’ve got you covered on how to grate cheese without a cheese grater!
How to Serve Broccoli Cheese Sauce
Drizzled over broccoli: make a batch of easy steamed broccoli and drizzle the broccoli cheese sauce over the broccoli for the perfect side dish.
As a dip: you can make a batch of this broccoli cheese sauce and serve it with a variety of vegetables (cauliflower, steamed potatoes, broccoli florets, carrots), chips, crackers, or any other delicious vehicles. Kind of like a cheese fondue!
Served over chicken: Drizzle this broccoli cheese sauce over this broccoli and cheese stuffed chicken breast. You will not regret it.
Broccoli Cheese Sauce FAQs
No! A little cheese sauce never hurt anyone.
This recipe needs a bit of flour, if you are looking for a gluten free option feel free to use a gluten free 1:1 mix! We love Bob’s Red Mill’s mix.
Yes, you can use almond milk rather than cows milk. Just be sure you use the unsweetened and unflavored almond milk.
We do not recommend freezing this cheese sauce.
Yes, you can use shredded pepper jack cheese, monterey jack cheese, or any other shredded cheese you like.
Storing Broccoli Cheese Sauce
Let your broccoli cheese sauce cool completely. Then, transfer it into an airtight container and seal. Store in the fridge for up to 3-5 days.
To reheat: Transfer chilled cheese sauce into a large frying pan. Add a few tablespoons of milk and reheat over medium/low heat until warm. Reheating this cheese sauce for broccoli low and slow will help prevent any changes in texture as you reheat.
Cheese Sauce for Broccoli
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1.5 cups 2 % milk
- 8 oz. cheddar cheese, freshly shredded
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic, or garlic powder
- 1 –2 tablespoons buffalo hot sauce, we used Franks
Instructions
- Prepare the cheese sauce by heating a saucepan over medium/high heat. Add butter.
- When the butter is melted add flour and whisk until the butter and flour form a crumble.
- Slowly add milk to the pot, whisking constantly. Continue to whisk the roux over medium/high heat for about 4-6 minutes or until the roux thickens.
- When the roux is thick, remove from heat and add the cheddar cheese. Whisk until the cheese has melted.
- Add granulated garlic, hot sauce, and salt and pepper to the cheese sauce. Mix well.
- Drizzle the cheese sauce over cooked broccoli or dip the broccoli in the cheese sauce.
Tips & Notes
- We recommend purchasing a block of cheddar cheese and shredding it freshly for best results.
- We used 2% milk, but 1% milk, or whole milk will work too.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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