I can be the first to admit that this isn’t the most beautiful dish but honestly, what casserole looks good? Casseroles are messy, mushy, delicious comfort food. They don’t need to be pretty because they taste so amazing. This casserole is made in a slow cooker which makes it even more amazing. It is great as a main or a side dish and you are going to sneak some extra veggies into your diet with it!
RECIPE VIDEO
I wanted to give you guys a recipe that had all the creaminess and comfort of a typical casserole minus all the fat and calories. This dish gets its creaminess from an easy cheesy sauce made from carrots, potato and white beans. (No nuts here!) Combined with the chewy, nutty brown rice and the broccoli this dish is delicious.
I love that the broccoli gets broken down so much you don’t even realize how much of it you are eating. Combined with all the goodness from the cheesy sauce it is such a great way to sneak more veggies in for you or your family. I decided to use brown rice in mine but you can use any rice you like or quinoa. I also think barley would work well in here too.
Finally, I did add some vegan cheese on top. This is completely optional and you do not have to do it. It will still be delicious without it but I like the little something extra it adds. My favorite vegan cheeses are the 365 by Whole Foods, Violife and Daiya Cutting Board Shreds.
INGREDIENTS
1 potato, peeled and chopped [330g]
1 carrot, peeled and chopped [35g]
1 can of cannellini beans, drained and rinse [15 oz]
2 cups non-dairy milk, unsweetened and unflavored [500ml]
*or you can use vegetable broth
2-3 tbsp nutritional yeast [10-15g]
1 cup brown rice, dry [180g]
2 cups low sodium vegetable broth [500ml]
1 bag frozen broccoli [460g]
¼ tsp pepper or to taste
1 ½ tsp salt or to taste
¼ tsp red pepper flakes or to taste/optional
1 cup vegan cheese *optional
METHOD
- Boil the potatoes, carrots and beans for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.
- In a blender add the cooked potatoes, carrots, beans, non-dairy milk, nutritional yeast and 1 tsp of salt. Blend until smooth. If you need to add in more non-dairy milk to help it blend feel free and adjust the seasonings to your taste.
- In the slow cooker add the broccoli, brown rice, cheesy sauce, vegetable broth, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Mix together.
- Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6:30-7 hours.
- In the last half hour add the vegan cheese sprinkled on top and cover to melt.
- When cheese is melted and done cooking wait a few minutes before serving. As this cools it will thicken more.
Serves 4
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Hi I was wondering if it has to be cannellini beans Or can just substitute any kind of bean? Thank you!
Hi Jen ideally you do want to use cannellini beans, you could try with chickpeas or maybe even pinto if it’s all you have right now.
Mmmmm. Looking forward to making this. One question.
It says one potato and one carrot but the weight of the potato is almost 10x that of the carrot. Is there a typo? Thx.
Hi thank you! No typo those are the correct weights 🙂 potatoes are much heavier, larger and denser than a carrot. Hope you enjoy it!
Hello I love your recipes . Going to try this one out. Would you know how many this serves> Trying to log my foods into my fitness pal!!! 🙂 Thanks so much!!!
Lorraine
Hi Lorraine, it serves 4 🙂 hope you enjoy! I always write the serving size right under the recipe
Cooked with cauliflower carrot brocolli mixture( 12 oz) everything else same. Cooking now
hope you enjoyed it!
I made this for my fiance (who isn’t vegan) and myself. He kept telling me there was no way this didn’t have dairy in it, and that it tasted amazing. He also told me I have to make this again! I followed the recipe, except I used Pinto beans because that’s what I had. I also added in some sautéed onions, peppers and celery (to get rid of it). Definitely play around with the seasonings that you love in your casseroles (seasoned salt, onion powder and garlic powder also really tasted great in this!) Next time I may even add some mock ground “beef” crumbles. Yum… this meal was so delicious with a warm dinner roll… I love this recipe and I can’t wait to try more! Thank you!!!
hi!! yay I am so so happy you both enjoyed it, that makes me so happy to hear!!! thank you for taking the time to leave a comment on the recipe it really means a lot!!
Do you think jasmine rice would work?
hi Annabelle, I haven’t tried it but should be fine! let me know how it goes if you do try 🙂
Will do! Just made the Bolognese in the crockpot and it was great 😃 Even my extremely picky eater liked it!
yay!! I am so so glad to hear that woo!!
This looks so good! I can’t wait to try it. Question, could I omit the carrot? My husband has a sensitivity to them.
Thank you Jen! Sure no worries!
I just made this recipe and made a few adjustments: I added 1 whole sweet onion, swapped the rice for brown jasmine rice, and used these spices: ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon dry mustard powder, and ½ teaspoon smoked paprika. I also left out the hot pepper flakes. The smell was incredible—exactly like real cow’s milk cheese, even though there was no cheese in the slow cooker! It was amazing how it smelled just like cheese without any cheese in it!
I did find that splitting it into 4 servings felt pretty big and hard to finish. I think 5 servings would work better. Also, I think it could use something with a bit of crunch for texture—maybe some breadcrumbs? I’m not sure, but I think that would really complement the dish. Thanks for the recipe! It was a hit!
Hi Jane! oh yay I a m so happy to hear how much you enjoyed it. Definitely it is always a bit hard as a blogger to give a serving size as we all have different appetite sizes. Always divide it up and do what is best for you. Sure, you can add some toasted breadcrumbs on top if you like. Glad you enjoyed it thank you for trying and taking the time to leave a comment!