Creamy Vegan Potato Broccoli Casserole

Casseroles are definitely among our absolute favorite feel-good dishes, no matter what occasion they show up on the table for. Whether it’s a leftover meal, Saturday-night comfort food, or the big family visit, you really can’t go wrong with one. Who can resist a golden-brown vegan cheese crust hiding bits of potato and sweet potato, crisp broccoli, and a savory vegan cream sauce? Today’s casserole is the slightly greener version of our potato casserole with plant-based minced meat.

Why We Love Casseroles So Much

A casserole really doesn’t just make life tastier, but easier, too: you chop a bit of veggies, stir together a quick cream sauce, put everything in a baking dish, and slide it into the oven. With this casserole, all of that takes just 30 minutes. While it bakes, you can tidy up the kitchen, set the table, or get cozy. For a dinner with guests, simply time it so it’s ready right when the first ones ring the doorbell. And whatever’s left over can be frozen in portions, so you get to enjoy it again on a stressful day.

How to Switch Up the Casserole

Even though our recipe is „only“ called potato-broccoli casserole, it actually contains two kinds of potatoes: yellow potatoes and sweet potatoes. If you don’t like one of them or don’t have it on hand, you can swap them for each other and just use only sweet potatoes or only yellow potatoes. If you have other leftover veggies, just toss them into the baking dish, too. This casserole has open arms for them.

For the sauce, you sauté diced onion in vegan butter, sprinkle the flour over it, and pour in vegetable stock and vegan cooking cream. Nutritional yeast gives the sauce a savory, slightly cheesy note, but it’s optional and can be left out if needed. We also season the sauce with nutmeg, rosemary, and thyme to taste. But here, too: if you don’t like one of the spices, leave it out or replace it with another one.

A Tip to Make Vegan Cheese Really Melt

We get asked all the time WHICH vegan shredded cheese we recommend for melting, and we always give the same answer: it’s not the vegan cheese that makes the difference here, but a little trick beforehand. Mix it with a bit of oil and/or water first, then spread it over the casserole. That way, it melts much better in the oven.

You can also try this trick right away with more vegan casserole recipes, for example our cauliflower-broccoli casserole with vegan mince or our vegan potato pancake casserole.

One last note: this recipe has been on our blog for many years and definitely deserved some new photos. While we were at it, we also tweaked it ever so slightly. For one, we adjusted the amounts of the veggies, and for another, we added some vegetable stock to the sauce. If you want to cook the old version of the recipe, just replace the stock with even more vegan cooking cream.