Broccoli Au Gratin Recipe

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Side dishes are a necessary part of any meal. Serving as both a flavor companion and a nutritional balance to a main course, side dishes truly complete most meals. While there seem to be endless fancy recipes for potatoes and an abundance of easy pastas you can prepare, there are never enough ways to fit vegetables onto the dinner table. With the help of a little cream, a lot of cheese, and a sprinkling of buttery crumb topping, though, any vegetable can be a star — even one as hard to love as broccoli, as proven by developer Michelle McGlinn's broccoli au gratin recipe.

Au gratin is one of the many potato dishes France is famous for. The au gratin technique, which involves topping the potatoes with cheese and buttered breadcrumbs, can be applied to any vegetable, and works especially well for tender broccoli. This broccoli au gratin recipe features three types of cheeses, which are first melted into a smooth sauce before coating tender, steamed florets. This cheesy side makes for the perfect pairing for chicken, beef, ham, or even some types of fish, making it a perfect go-to for fancy and weeknight dinners alike.

To begin this recipe, you'll need about 8 cups of broccoli florets, or enough to comfortably fill a casserole dish. You can buy full heads of broccoli and chop into florets, or buy bagged florets that are already sliced and washed. From there, you'll need butter, garlic, flour, milk, salt, pepper, breadcrumbs, and plenty of shredded cheese. We recommend using fontina, which melts easily, cheddar for richness, and Parmesan for a touch of salty flavor. For the best, meltiest results, skip the pre-grated cheese and buy full blocks to grate yourself at home.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Fill a large pot with 1 inch of water and bring to a simmer.

Add broccoli in a steamer basket and cover. Steam until bright green and tender, about 5-8 minutes.

Remove the broccoli from the steamer and spread it out evenly in a large casserole dish.

Meanwhile, melt 3 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium heat.

Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Whisk in the flour and stir until a paste forms.

Slowly whisk in the milk and allow to thicken, about 3 minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat.

Add the fontina, cheddar, ¼ cup Parmesan, salt, and pepper and stir until smooth.

Pour the cheese sauce over the broccoli.

Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and combine with the breadcrumbs and remaining ¼ cup Parmesan.

Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture across the top of the au gratin.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until browned on top.

Serve the broccoli au gratin right away.

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Just as bread that is put into a toaster on low heat browns less deeply than toast at high heat, breadcrumbs brown according to the temperature in the oven. If the breadcrumbs aren't browning, one simple fix is to increase the heat of the oven. You can do this quickly by turning on the broiler and watching the casserole carefully, removing the dish once the top is just beginning to brown. This will only take a couple of minutes, so don't walk away once the broiler has been turned on.

Another reason the breadcrumbs may fail to brown is because they aren't coated in enough fat. Fat, such as butter, aids in the browning of breadcrumbs, giving them the appealing golden color and slightly nutty flavor. If your breadcrumbs aren't browning, try spraying the top of the casserole with oil, or drizzling with a thin layer of melted butter. This, combined with high heat, will allow the breadcrumbs to fully brown.

Au gratin is a flavorful, elegant, and versatile way to make any vegetable extra delicious. The broccoli in this recipe can be swapped for cauliflower, which can be boiled or roasted until tender, then coated with the cheese sauce and baked. You can also use the same cheese sauce to make au gratin with potatoes, which don't require any par cooking and can simply be thinly sliced and stacked into a casserole dish. Other vegetables that work well in au gratin preparations are root vegetables like parsnips and carrots, squash like zucchini, and even steamed Brussels sprouts.

You can also make au gratin with a mixture of vegetables instead of choosing just one. For example, you can layer zucchini slices with yellow squash, or pile eggplant together with diced parsnips. You can also layer any vegetable with sliced onion, which adds flavor between bites of veggie and cheese, or add artichoke hearts, peas, or spinach for more hidden nutrition.

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