Take broccoli from boring to crave-worthy in 2 seconds flat by smothering it in a havarti and white cheddar cheese sauce topped with fried onions and bacon!
You’ll never look at broccoli again without uttering the words “cheese sauce”.
This is one of those side dishes that takes a little bit of work but is worth every moment of your precious time.
The onions are pan-fried with a little sugar to help them caramelize then the sauce is made in the same pan.
It takes a little butter, flour, milk, Havarti, white Cheddar, and Parmesan plus a touch of Dijon mustard for a boost of flavor.
Cheese loves Dijon and the mustard loves it right back.
Baked up until hot and bubbly with a golden brown crispy top that is unbelievably delicious. That’s always one of the best parts of a casserole – the crunchy topping.
Comfort food doesn’t get much better than this.
Craveable, delicious veggies your family will love and ask for by name!
- 24 ounces broccoli florets
- 4 slices bacon
- olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter, plus more for greasing the pan
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 + ½ cups milk
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 + ½ cups shredded Havarti cheese, divided
- ½ cup shredded white cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
- ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, optional
- 2 chopped green onions
- Steam the broccoli until fork tender but not mushy.
Meanwhile Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a small baking pan with foil and lay out the bacon in one layer.- Bake the bacon until crispy 12 - 16 minutes. Drain on a paper
towel lined plate. Chop it up. - Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat and add the onions and sugar. Cook, stirring often until the onions have brown spots on them 10 - 15 minutes.
- Add the garlic to the onions with a couple dashes each salt and pepper, cook 2 more minutes. Remove the onions to a bowl.
- Turn the oven up to 400 degrees F. and butter an 8x8 baking pan or casserole dish.
- Melt the butter in the same pan you used to cook the onions, whisk in the flour and cook 2 - 3 minutes, stirring often.
- Whisk in the milk and mustard - bring to a simmer - cook 3 minutes. Turn the heat down to low and add 1 cup of the Havarti and the cheddar. Stir until melted.
- Remove from heat and stir in the Parmesan plus ¾ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper and the cayenne pepper.
- Spread the broccoli evenly in the baking pan, pour the cheese sauce over it, top with the onions, the remaining ½ cup Havarti and then the bacon.
- Bake 25 - 30 minutes until bubbly and browned on top.
- Sprinkle with green onions to serve.
This broccoli looks yummy. Who could not love broccoli with it smothered in all that cheese and bacon.
Thanks Dawn! Not me! 🙂
This looks amazing. I’ve never heard of Havarti cheese, I’ll have to look and see if they have it in the grocery store here
This is the most decadent broccoli I have even seen – it looks amazingly delicious!
Your gratin looks delicious, broccoli is the best vegetable 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Has the flour been omitted from the ingredients list? I don’t see it, but I assume 2 Tbls will do it. It looks yummy. Something different for a change. Don’t mind the few extra minutes at all.
It’s 2 tablespoons Diane! Sorry I forgot it! 🙂
Caramelized onion cheese sauce…I like the way you think.
Broccoli tastes great even just simply blanched, let alone in such a gorgeous gratin form. It looks divine, Reeni.