This vegan broccoli quinoa casserole recipe is loaded with healthy ingredients. It's guilt-free comfort food! Dairy and gluten free.
There are no mushrooms in this casserole. It was supposed to have mushrooms, but it doesn't.
That's because we mixed all of the other ingredients together, assembled the casserole, put it into the oven, started cleaning up the kitchen, and found the mushrooms hiding behind a dirty mixing bowl.
It felt like an episode of Chopped when a contestant makes the dreaded mistake of forgetting an ingredient.
Only this is a blog and there's not $10,000 on the line and I make the rules around here. So mushrooms or no mushrooms, this casserole was making its way onto the Internet because you need it in your life.
What's more important is what did make it into this casserole. And that's a bunch of good-for-you stuff that also tastes really good.
It starts with a layer of red quinoa buried with our healthy green friends, kale and broccoli. But then comes the sauce. The savory, creamy sauce made without a can of soup.
There's also no butter or dairy anywhere in sight because coconut milk is the best thing ever and it's capable of creating a deceptively rich sauce without the guilt.
Casseroles are not my strong suit, by any means. I've only made two for the blog – a spicy one with sweet potatoes and another with a whole bunch of veggies – because they're kind of hard to get right.
You put a ton of ingredients together, douse them in some sauce, bake it and hope for the best. There's a lot that can go wrong while that casserole bakes! Too much liquid? Too dry?
Veggies undercooked or mushy? Pasta or rice crunchy? Heck, it could all bubble over and make a huge mess of the oven. Casseroles are a science, people.
My mom didn't make many of them growing up, which was fine by me because I used to be one of those people who didn't like foods touching other foods.
Gravy on mashed potatoes? Nope. Mixed vegetables had to be separated. A big dish of foods mixed together was my nightmare. But then I grew up and realized the magic of flavor combinations and one-pot dishes.
I used to think grown-ups were full of shit when they talked about things being an "acquired taste" but here I am eating broccoli-kale casseroles, putting sriracha on everything, and drinking coffee, so maybe they were right about something.
If you enjoyed this vegan broccoli quinoa casserole dish then let us know in the comments!
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Vegan Broccoli Quinoa Casserole
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
Green veggies, crunchy quinoa, and a creamy, dairy-free sauce make this savory casserole a new comfort food favorite.
Ingredients
- 3 cups chopped kale, packed
- 3 cups cooked quinoa
- 2 cups broccoli, chopped
- ½ cup onion, chopped
Sauce
- 1 can whole coconut milk (15 oz)
- 1-15 oz. can cannellini beans, drained
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast (what is nutritional yeast? i'll explain! click here.)
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- ½ teaspoon rosemary
- pinch of cayenne (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375º.
- Make quinoa. For directions on making quinoa, click here.
- While the quinoa is cooking, add the sauce ingredients to a blender and process until well-combined.
- Grease an 8 x 8 casserole pan. In a large bowl, mix the kale, quinoa, broccoli, and onion. Add to the casserole pan.
- Pour the sauce over the ingredients evenly and bake for 40 minutes.
- Allow to cool and enjoy!
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Category: Main
Nutrition
- Calories: 267
- Sugar: 3.2 g
- Sodium: 43.7 mg
- Fat: 14.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 9.3 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5.3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 32.1 g
- Fiber: 9.2 g
- Protein: 15.9 g
- Cholesterol: 0 g
Was good! I used oat milk with a thickener instead of coconut milk, also added Parmesan cheese and diced ham. Totally not vegan or vegetarian with those changes but…
★★★
Has anyone ever frozen this caserole?
I haven't tried freezing it. If you try that out, please be sure to let me know how it works. :)
Instead of kale, can spinach be used instead?
I would think so. You might want to add a bit more spinach since it tends to wilt down more than kale!
Is the nutritional yeast necessary for the integrity of the cassrrole or is it just to boost the nutrition content? I would like to make this as a side dish but do not have nutritional yeast. Nor do I want to go get it
You could certainly try making it without the nutritional yeast, but I would strongly recommend replacing it with parmesan cheese. The 1/4 cup adds cheesy, savory flavor, and body to the casserole.
Great sounding recipe. Can I substitute the cannellini beans for pinto beans?
You could certainly try that! I've never made it that way so I can't say that it will taste the same, but it should not affect the texture.
I’m going to make this tomorrow for a party. I want to put the mushrooms in. Is one 8 oz. pkg good? Can they be raw ?
Hi Christine! I've never re-tried the recipe using mushrooms, so I can't say for sure. I would think it would turn out just fine with using raw mushrooms – definitely slice them vs. leaving them whole. Let me know how it goes!
It was a big hit!!! I didn’t want to try the mushrooms since you hadn’t tried it and it was a party. Even my carnivorous husbands ate 3 helpings! I will add the shrooms next time and maybe a little curry. The person I was cooking for is a recent cancer survivor and is eating a plant based diet. She really loved it, ate 5 helpings and asked for the recipe. Thanks for the yummy satisfying foods.
So where it says 3 cups cooked quinoa, I measure out ONE cup of uncooked quinoa, is that correct? Thank you.
Yep! 1 cup uncooked quinoa should equal about 3 cups after it's cooked.
Thank you. Well, you said casseroles are not your strong suit but this went down SO well! It was delicious - and I’m going to make it again today! Thank you for a straightforward and tasty recipe!
★★★★
Ah! Yay! I'm so glad you liked this recipe. :D
Would it be possible to substitute the coconut milk for soy cream in this recipe? What would you recommend? I'm dealing with egg, dairy and coconut allergies for my daughter but really want to try out this recipe! Looks delicious.
Hi Liz! I've never cooked with soy cream before, but as long as the thickness is similar to canned, whole coconut milk – it should work just fine. If you've never used coconut milk, it has a similar consistency to heavy cream. If your soy cream is more runny than that, you could try thickening with all purpose flour (or gluten free if necessary.)
Would it be possible to substitute the coconut milk for soy cream in this recipe? I'm dealing with egg, dairy and coconut allergies for my daughter but really want to try out this recipe! Looks delicious.
This looks delicious! So much so that I would appreciate permission to reprint this as an addition to an article that I am writing on nutritional yeast (for Healthy Cells Magazine). It would be reprinted with appropriate credit, of course.
★★★★
Hi Benjamin –
Sure thing! Go right ahead. :)