Easy Broccoli with Parmesan Cheese Sauce (1960s Recipe)

Transport yourself back to the 1960s with this easy-to-make broccoli with Parmesan cheese sauce. A timeless classic, this recipe combines the wholesome goodness of broccoli with the comforting richness of a semi-homemade sauce for a delightful side dish that’s sure to please the whole family.

I love to read vintage cookbooks and vintage magazines and I’ve noticed there are a lot of vegetable recipes but not a lot of broccoli. This is unsurprising as broccoli was not popular from the 1950s through the 1960s.

The average annual per capita consumption of broccoli in the US is now 7.1 pounds. That’s a large increase from the less than 1.5 pounds consumed on average during the 1950s and 1960s. It wasn’t really until the 1980s that we started seeing much of an increase.

I asked my mom if she remembered eating much broccoli growing up in the 60s and 70s and she said “Never. I purposely taught myself to eat it when I got married because I wanted to provide a healthier diet for my kids.”

This is why I was surprised to find a broccoli recipe included in a 1960s issue of Better Homes and Garden. It even suggested using frozen or fresh broccoli and most were eating frozen at the time. 

It was suggested that this broccoli parmesan as they called it would be served for a buffet, luncheon, or dinner with ham or roast beef. 

It’s a really simple recipe and great for those of us who don’t love broccoli, myself included. The cheese sauce makes it delicious. 

Broccoli with Parmesan Cheese Sauce Recipe

This is such an easy-to-throw-together side dish. You will only need a few ingredients. I’ll also give some substitutions in case you need them. You can also scroll down to get the full recipe, including a printable version.

• Broccoli– You can use fresh or frozen broccoli for this recipe. Cauliflower would also work if that’s what you have on hand. 
• Butter- You could use oil for this as it’s what you are cooking your onions in. Butter will generally taste better but whatever you usually cook onions in will also be okay.
• Onions- If you don’t have onion it’s okay to leave it out or add some onion powder. 
• Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup– You can get a natural version of cream of chicken soup from Thrive Market or many other natural food stores. Or make your own cream of chicken soup if you don’t want to buy the conventional kind. 
• Milk– This is one ingredient I likely wouldn’t substitute.
• Parmesan Cheese– You could use just about any cheese you have on hand. It would be great with some cheddar cheese.  

How to Make Broccoli with Parmesan Cheese Sauce

Now it’s time to make our recipe. There are only a few steps so you can have this ready in no time.

1. Cook Your Broccoli: Boil your broccoli in unsalted water until tender. Drain well.
2. Cook Your Onions: Melt butter in a saucepan and add chopped onions. Cook until tender but not brown.
3. Blend: Blend your soup, milk, and cheese with the onions in the saucepan. Heat thoroughly. 
4. Serve: Serve your sauce over your broccoli or you can place it on the side and let everyone choose how much sauce they want on their broccoli

That’s all! Now you have delicious and simple cheesy broccoli. 

More Helpful Tips

You Can Make Your Sauce Ahead

If you want to make things even easier you can make the sauce ahead of time and just heat it. Or even double it to have for a couple of nights of veggies. Just cook your broccoli, you could even use steam in the bag broccoli, and add your heated sauce. 

Steamed Broccoli is Even Better

If you want to elevate this a bit steam your broccoli instead of boiling it. There are steam baskets you can microwave or you can get stainless steel steaming baskets that you use in a pot. This is my favorite option as I don’t love microwaving plastic and I don’t own a microwave. You can get a stainless steel steaming basket like I have on Amazon.

Even More Vintage Recipes to Try

These are some vintage recipes for you to try next if you love this one!

• Oklahoma Onion Burgers (Great Depression Recipe)
• Mashed Potato Stuffed Hot Dogs (1940s Recipe)
• Fruit Punch (1950s Recipe)

Continue to Content

Yield: 6 servings

Broccoli with Parmesan Cheese Sauce

Print

Broccoli with parmesan cheese sauce is an easy vintage recipe the whole family can enjoy.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 20-ounce of frozen broccoli or 2 pounds of fresh broccoli
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 10.5 oz can of condensed cream of chicken soup
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Cook broccoli in boiling, unsalted, water. Cook until tender and drain well.
2. Melt butter in a saucepan; add onions and cook until tender.
3. Add soup, milk, and cheese, blend well, and heat thoroughly.
4. Serve over hot broccoli.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 199Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 563mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 8gSugar: 6gProtein: 10g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

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