My favorite thing to do for the holidays is to come up with different dishes for Thanksgiving and Christmas that are unique to dietary restrictions or allergies!

If you’ve been following me, you’ll know I recently posted recipes for Roasted Broccoli and Flavorful Low Sodium Rice on the stove top.

Both of these recipes are gluten free, vegan and no to little sodium, but lots of flavor. You can certainly use these each as their own side dishes for your meal…

OR

You can use them to make this delicious cheesy rice and broccoli casserole for thanksgiving! It does have heat to it but if you don’t like spicy, feel free to use less than, or omit completely, the red pepper chili flakes.

It’s sure to still have a ton of flavor despite being low sodium. Most of the sodium is from the dairy only, so you could even decrease that amount too or use a replacement of your choosing to make it dairy free!

You could also use steam fresh broccoli and/or rice and make that quickly in the microwave to use in this recipe if that’s easier for you, I would just probably add extra seasonings!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups roasted broccoli
• 3 cups cooked rice
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3-4 cups shredded cheese (you can use what you’d like but I used a blend of sharp cheddar, white cheddar and pepper jack)
• 1/2 tsp each garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and black pepper (use more if you’re starting with plain broccoli and rice instead of the recipes I used)
• 1/4-1/2 tsp red pepper chili flakes (optional)
• 1 cup gluten free panko

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 420°F
2. Mix together the broccoli, rice, seasonings, heavy cream and half of the shredded cheese
3. Spread into a casserole dish and top with the rest of the shredded cheese and gluten free panko
4. Bake until cheese is melty, about 25-30 minutes
5. Enjoy!