Cheesy baked broccoli snacks, great for a brunch, kid-friendly lunch, or party!
Do you like broccoli? I LOVE, seriously love broccoli. Favorite way to eat it? Steamed, served with a little mayo.
I wish more people shared my enthusiasm.
If you are in the not-so-sure-about-broccoli camp, or are cooking for someone who needs to eat more vegetables but is less than enthused at the prospect, this is the recipe for you.
What’s the one thing that makes broccoli taste great? Cheddar cheese. It’s one of those power combos, hard to go wrong. Just check out our Broccoli Cheddar Casserole, or our Broccoli Cheddar Mac n Cheese. (Black pepper is the other thing that broccoli loves, so make sure to add plenty.)
For these broccoli cheddar bites, we mix chopped steamed broccoli with cheddar, torn bread, onion, eggs and mayo, and bake them in mini muffin tins (or freeform) until toasty brown.
They’re perfect for a quick snack, party appetizer, or school lunch. You can easily make a batch or two ahead, and chill or freeze, then reheat in the microwave when ready to serve. Enjoy!
Broccoli Cheddar Bites Recipe
- Prep time: 15 minutes
- Cook time: 30 minutes
- Yield: Makes 24 broccoli bites
Ingredients
- 1 large bunch of broccoli florets
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup, packed, torn fresh bread (no crust)
- 1/4 cup grated onion
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup (4 ounces, 114 g), packed, grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Method
1 Steam and chop the broccoli: Place 1 inch of water in a pot with a steamer basket. Bring to a boil. Add the broccoli florets. Steam the broccoli florets for 5 minutes, until just tender. Rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.
Finely chop the steamed broccoli florets. You should have 2 to 2 1/2 cups.
2 Make filling: Place the beaten eggs and the torn bread in a large bowl. Mix until the bread is completely moistened.
Add the grated onion, mayonnaise, cheese, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Stir in the minced broccoli.
3 Distribute broccoli mixture in mini muffin pan wells: Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat the wells of 2 mini muffin pans (1 dozen wells each) with olive oil (so the bites don’t stick). Distribute the broccoli mixture in the muffin wells.
4 Bake: Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes until cooked through and lightly browned on top.
If you don’t have mini muffin pans, you can cook the bites freeform. Just grease a baking sheet and spoon large dollops of the mixture onto the pan. Baking time is the same.
