Cheesy Baked Broccoli Bites

We could all do with finding ways to get more vegetables in to our diet and these little cheesy baked broccoli bites are the best way. Crispy, cheesy and comforting, but packed with broccoli too. Kids will love this finger food and you can be happy knowing they are eating some veg too. You can batch cook them and keep them in the freezer for an easy side dish/snack too.

Broccoli isn't everyone's favourite food, but cheese makes everything better and it certainly makes this green vegetable more appealing to kids. 

If you have tried convincing your kids that these little green trees will make them big and strong and with not a positive result, then try giving it to them a different way. Mixing broccoli with cheese and breadcrumbs and turning it in to finger food makes it much more exciting for kids and it's perfect for baby led weaning. Older kids will enjoy getting their hands dirty and making these broccoli bites too.

Jump to:

• Why should you try them?
• What you will need
• Step by step
• Are broccoli bites healthy?
• How to adapt them
• Can you fry broccoli bites?
• Turn them in to meatballs
• FAQs
• Extra tips
• More Broccoli recipes
• Recipe card

Why should you try them?

What you will need

Step by step

One: Add the broccoli to a pan of boiling water and simmer for 3 minutes. Drain and then add to a large bowl and mash until very fine.

Two: Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl.

Three: Mix well.

Four: Take out 1 tbsp at a time and roll in to a small sausage and repeat until you have 20.

Five: Place on a lined or oiled baking sheet and cook in a preheated oven at 200°C/400°F for 25 minutes until they start to crisp up.

Six:  Serve the broccoli bites with your favourite dip, like our healthy tomato ketchup.

Are broccoli bites healthy?

These are a really nutrient dense snack or side dish, and a great way to "sneak" vegetables in to fussy eaters. I say "sneak" very loosely, as these are very green, so clearly have broccoli in them. But, with the easy bite sized shape and the addition of cheese, it's a simple way to get kids to eat more vegetables.

Broccoli is a good source of fibre (which helps with digestion) and protein, and also contains iron, potassium, calcium and magnesium. It is a good source of vitamins A, C, E, K.

How to adapt them

We love the specks of green you can see in these broccoli bites, but you could always swap the broccoli for cauliflower instead, or use a mixture of the two. For a little extra flavour, finely chop some spring onions or shallots and mix them in.

A really good quality mature cheddar is what we used to make this and because it's such a strong cheese, you don't need to use a lot of it. But, you could use a mixture of hard cheese like cheddar, Parmesan, Gouda or even add some mozzarella.

You could really mix things up with the flavours here. Like things a bit spicy? Add some Mexican seasoning!

Can you fry broccoli bites?

We baked these broccoli bites to keep them that little bit lighter as you don't need to use any oil (apart from a little on the baking tray). However, if you want to get them really crispy, then you can fry them for a couple of minutes each side. If you use Parmesan in the recipe instead of cheddar, this will help to get them really nice and crispy.

You can also make these crispier by swapping the wholemeal breadcrumbs for Panko breadcrumbs.

Turn them in to meatballs

I was just thinking, these would make AMAZING veggie meatballs. Just roll them in to balls instead of sausage shapes and still bake them and then just gently stir them in to some pasta sauce before serving. No need for vegetarians to miss out on meatballs. 

FAQs

Extra tips

• Use a mixture of broccoli and cauliflower, or just cauliflower to change things up.
• You can stick to just mature cheddar, or you can use a mixture of cheddar, Parmesan and mozzarella.
• Roll these in to balls, bake and then stir in to pasta sauce for some vegetarian meatballs.
• Get creative with the flavours! If you like things spicy, then add some Mexican seasoning.
• You can also make these crispier by swapping the wholemeal breadcrumbs for Panko breadcrumbs.

More Broccoli recipes

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Recipe card