When I was growing up, my mom would make us like the same twenty meals all the time. One of those meals was pizza loaf and another was French dip sandwiches with tater tots. A third was a broccoli cheese chicken casserole topped with Ritz crackers. I remember thinking it was like the best thing ever. I actually recreated a grown up version of that easy broccoli cheese casserole recipe here if you want to see my inspiration for these broccoli bites! One of the things that I remember being best about the Ritz broccoli casserole was the melted cheese with the crunchy Ritz cracker top! I host a lot of parties and am always looking for party appetizers that taste good both warm and at room temperature. These broccoli bites are a bite-sized version of that Ritz broccoli casserole I mentioned earlier, and they’re great for serving at any party! Or if you’re not looking for a party appetizer, these make great finger foods for picky eaters and a great option for getting some veggies in for the whole family! They’re always a big hit with kids and adults, and a fun way to serve healthy foods without just doing a standard veggie tray.
Why You’ll Love This Broccoli Bites Recipe
Simple – all you need to do is mash up some crackers, mix all the simple ingredients together, and bake!Healthier Alternative – these are a great healthier alternative for an appetizer compared to something like these bacon wrapped dates or these grape jelly meatballs. Versatile – these work great for all sorts of occasions from a baby shower brunch to a game day football party! They don’t really have a particular theme, which means you could make them all year round!
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
Broccoli – you’ll need three cups of fresh broccoli florets that are cooked and chopped up into small bite-sized pieces. You can either use raw broccoli that you cut and cook yourself or something like broccoli wockly that’s already cut up for you and ready to cook. I do not recommend using frozen broccoli because it adds too much liquid to the broccoli bites.Ritz Crackers – I used about 30 crumbled up crackers to make these but if you want a little less, you can skip adding the cracker crumbles on top of the broccoli cheese bites. Salt – while it’s not pictured above, you’ll also need to add a little salt to pull all of the flavors together nicely. Salt is the easiest way to really bring out the natural flavors of food. Cheddar cheese – you can either buy store-bought shredded cheese or shred it by hand, just make sure it’s thinly shredded so it’ll mix with the other ingredients nicely. You could also make these with a combination of 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, but I prefer the classic cheddar cheese combo.
How to Make Broccoli Bites
Making these broccoli cheddar bites is so easy, seriously. It’ll take you about 20 minutes tops!
Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees and spraying a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. You could also use a mini muffin tin if you want to make mini bites, I just prefer the full-size ones.
While your oven is preheating, cook your broccoli. You can either steam it (here’s a great tutorial if you’re not sure how) or use a micro-steamer like this to make the process faster!
Then throw the pieces of broccoli in a food processor along with 25 of the Ritz crackers, cheese, egg, and salt. Pulse until everything is well combined into one broccoli mixture.
I picked up this food processor on Prime Day last year, and it’s been worth every cent!
Once the egg mixture is ready, spoon the mixture loosely into muffin tins until they’re about 3/4 full either using a large spoon or cookie scoop. Do not press down on the mixture or it’ll get drier than you want.
I prefer to use a silicone muffin pan like this one so that they slide out easily once baked but you can use any muffin tin you’d like. Once all of the muffin tins are filled, sprinkle the remaining crumbled Ritz crackers on top before baking.
Bake in muffin cups for 12-15 minutes and you have yourself bite-sized bites of broccoli and cheese goodness. The cooking time may vary depending on how quickly your oven bakes and the actual size of the broccoli bites.
Let cool for just a minute then use a small silicone spatula to slide those bites out! So much cuter than a casserole.
They were perfect for my game day party!
They’d also go great paired as a great side dish with this almond chicken or even this balsamic chicken – great way to make eating veggies fun for both younger and older kids! Or just stack them on a plate and serve as is!
Expert Tips & Storage Info
Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to three days. After the three days either freeze using the instructions below or throw away. Freeze in a freezer safe airtight container for up to three months. When you’re ready to thaw and reheat, I recommend reheating in the oven by placing them on a baking sheet and putting them in the cold oven. Set the temperature to 350 degrees and let the broccoli bites warm up with the oven. Enjoy once they’re warm. Spice them up. If you want to add a little more flavor and kick (not recommend for kids), you can add 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper to the mixture.
More Easy Finger Foods
If these broccoli cheese bites aren’t quite what you’re looking for, here are some more delicious broccoli cheese recipes!
Bacon brie bites – bacon and brie cheese combines together in these delicious bite-sized snacks! Cheese bomb – bacon and cheese stuffed inside a biscuit turns into a delicious bomb of flavor! Bisquick sausage balls – five-ingredient sausage balls with tons of yummy flavor! Pizza twist recipe – all the flavors of your favorite pizza twisted into a grab and go snack!Pigs in a blanket with cheese – classic pigs in a blanket gets a cheesy upgraded into this favorite!
