Southern · Authentic-ish Southern
Broccoli Casserole
211 kcal a serving, against 462 for the traditional version. That is 251 kcal off, or 54%, with 16.8g of protein. Serves 6. 1 hour.
What the traditional version is
The standard broccoli casserole needs 700g broccoli, blanched, then drowned in a sauce made from a tin of condensed mushroom soup (about 300g), 200g cheddar cheese, and 100g mayonnaise. Some versions ask for a handful of cooked rice and a crunch of breadcrumbs or fried onions over the top before it bakes for half an hour. It's creamy, rich, and the texture is more about binding than about broccoli.
What changed, and what each change costs
Condensed soup, butter and whole milk for a skimmed milk white sauce
Making a white sauce with skimmed milk and a pinch of flour saves a heap of fat and salt compared to the tinned stuff. It means you control the sodium instead of letting a factory decide.
What it costs you. It's less creamy, and you lose the artificial thickness and stickiness that helps everything hold together. Bind it well and don't skip the flour, or you'll have a puddle not a casserole.
Halve the cheese
Cheese does nearly all the heavy lifting for fat and half the protein. Cutting it from 200g to 100g still gives plenty of flavour, especially with a sharp cheddar or similar.
What it costs you. Oddly, the top melts better and tastes stronger per bite, but the gooey stretch won't survive. If you need strings of cheese, this is going to be a let-down.
Add cottage cheese
Cottage cheese gives you a decent hit of protein and a little body for the sauce, without all the fat of cheddar or mayo. It also helps stop the white sauce splitting.
What it costs you. Tiny curds are visible if you look closely - not everyone's dream. It isn't processed and smooth, it's textured, but once baked with the broccoli you don't notice after a bite or two.
Drop the mayonnaise and cut the rice
Mayonnaise is just oil with PR. I left it out entirely, and swapped most of the rice for a little more broccoli, so all the bulk comes from something green and not extra starch.
What it costs you. It tastes less rich, obviously. No-one gets nostalgic about lighter mayo, but it turns out you don't need it to bind things if you get your sauce thick and bake it long enough.
Up the broccoli to 900g
Extra broccoli means more actual vegetable and more protein per plate. Let's not pretend rice is the main point here.
What it costs you. This is the first time broccoli actually gets to be the lead, not just a supporting act underneath a dairy duvet.
The numbers
| Per serving | Traditional | Lightened |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 462 | 211 |
| Protein | 16.1g | 16.8g |
| Fat | 29.5g | 7.4g |
| Saturated fat | 12.2g | 4.3g |
| Carbohydrate | 35.1g | 22.1g |
| Protein per 100 kcal | 3.5g | 8g |
Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Southern prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked.
Allergens. gluten, milk.
The method is in the book
No one will mistake this for the classic at a potluck, but you can actually taste the broccoli and get some protein in without the salty soup afterburn. The top is golden, the sauce is lighter, and the cheese hits harder per bite. The binding is looser than the original and you'll miss the gluey mayo, but you won't miss the greasy feeling after two helpings. If you're after a nostalgic throwback, add a dash of Worcestershire or some fried onions on top - but the point of this one is that you might actually want seconds.
The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Southern, along with 50 more. It is not out yet. The swap kit is free in the meantime.