As the title suggests, this meal is my go-to for holiday gatherings. You name it...Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter this is the meal I make for little green family. Something about it just hits the spot.
Years ago when I first went vegan, I tried a variety of meals for holiday gatherings such as spaghetti, burritos, stir-frys, and veggie burgers but nothing seemed to taste quite right when everyone else was eating their turkey, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole. That's when I came across this casserole recipe, and it quickly became the perfect main course for our vegan holiday dinners. I've since tweaked the recipe and the way I prepare it to make it as quick and easy to make, while still just as delicious.
It's a combo of potatoes, broccoli, carrots, tofu, rice and a vegan cheese sauce all baked together in a creamy, chunky casserole. Now it takes longer to prepare than most of the meals I make, but the flavor is so worth it.
This casserole is a huge hit with my kids too, in fact, any time I ask Avery what she wants for dinner she replies, "How about Cheesy Casserole?" I'm pretty sure she would eat it daily if she could.
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| "Did you say Cheesy Casserole?" |
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| "Oh yeah, that's my favorite!" |
And well, Mila is a fan of anything cheesy as well, so she's always game. Best part is that they both end up eating tons of vegetables, brown rice, and tofu and they don't even realize it because it's all mixed in the casserole.
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| Cheesy Casserole gives her some spoon practice. |
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| "Finger licking good!" |
Check out a video breakdown of how I make it:
No time for the video? Here's the recipe:
Vegan Cheesy Casserole
No time for the video? Here's the recipe:
Vegan Cheesy Casserole
Modified from "Cheezy Casserole" from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin
Casserole Ingredients:
Casserole Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups dry short grain brown rice
- 1 pkg. of extra firm tofu
- 1 small red onion or 1/2 a large red onion
- 2 large carrots
- 4 small russet or red potatoes (or 3 large)
- 1 broccoli crown
- 1/2 cup cashews (optional for topping)
"Cheese" Ingredients
- 1 pkg. Daiya cheddar cheese
- 2 cups rice milk or other milk alternative
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup brown rice flour
- salt and pepper
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| The casserole ingredient group-shot. |
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| 1. Press your tofu. I use (and love) my TofuXpress. It' makes pressing tofu a breeze! I'll usually press the tofu overnight, but sometimes I forget so just a few hours works too. Once you assemble the press, it looks like this. This will help get all the extra water out of it to make it even more firm. |
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| 2. Cook your rice. I use a rice cooker and it takes 1 1/2 cups of rice with 3 cups of water. You can also make this on the stove. Here's what mine looks like once it's done cooking. |
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| 3. Peel and chop the potatoes into bite-size pieces. |
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| 4. Boil water in a large stock pot. Once boiling, add the potatoes and cook until mostly soft...10 minutes or so. |
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| 5. While the potatoes are boiling chop the carrots into "coins". |
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| 6. Next, chop the broccoli and onion into bite-size pieces. |
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| 7. Once the potatoes are mostly soft, scoop them out with a strainer or slotted spoon into a large mixing bowl with a napkin at the bottom (to absorb the extra liquid). |
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| 8. Now add the broccoli, carrots and onions to the boiling water and let them boil for about 3-5 minutes. Then remove them in the same way you did the carrots and potatoes and add to the large mixing bowl. |
Time to make the cheese!
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| Cheese Ingredient group shot |
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| 9. In a saucepan turn the heat to medium and add 1/4 cup coconut oil, and allow to melt. Then add 1/4 cup brown rice flour to the oil and whisk constantly so it won't burn. |
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| 10. Now add the 2 cups of rice milk and crank up the heat until it starts to simmer. |
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| 11. When you start to see bubbles, lower the heat, and then add the entire package of cheddar Daiya cheese and stir it in. I also add 1 tsp. of salt and 1 shake of pepper at this point to the cheese. |
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| 12. When you first put it in, it will look clumpy like this. |
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| 14. Keep stirring it until it looks more creamy like this. |
Time to bring it all together...
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| 15. Now add the cooked rice, about 3 cups total, to the big bowl. Feel free to use more or less if you want. Be sure you've pulled out the napkin that was at the bottom of the bowl from earlier! |
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| 16. Now add the cheese and stir...don't add the tofu just yet. |
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| 17. Remember that good ol' tofu that was pressing? Time to get it out and pour the extra water out of it. Next chop the tofu into bite-size pieces, as big or as small as you would like. I go with small rectangles. |
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| 18. Once your veggies and rice get all coated with cheese, then add the tofu and stir carefully. I like my tofu to retain it's shape a bit so if I stir it too much I end up with small tofu crumbs. |
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| 19. Now pour the mixture from the bowl into a greased 3 Qt. casserole dish and bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees. |
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| 20. While the casserole is cooking, food process or finely chop 1/2 cup of cashews to add as a topping (optional). |
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| 21. Take the casserole out after 30 minutes, sprinkle the cashew crumbs on top and bake for 15 more minutes. |
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| Then let the casserole cool and enjoy this filling, veggie- loaded, "hits the spot" casserole. |
From there you could serve it in a bowl like this...
Now I just need to find a good gluten-free, vegan roll recipe and I'll be all set! If you have one, share it below.
So there you have it, my go-to holiday meal: Vegan Cheesy Casserole. Do you have a vegan recipe you make like this that is your go-to for the holidays? Or do you switch it up? Post it below and we can all grow our holiday recipe collection.
And one more thing...
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| Merry Christmas from these two! |
