This vegan broccoli rice casserole makes such a great side dish! You won't believe how cheesy and creamy it is completely without dairy products. And it's so easy to make!
Preheat your oven to 350 °F. Wash the broccoli and cut it into florets. Cook the broccoli either on the stovetop or in an Instant Pot (choose "0 minutes" on manual).
Grease a large baking dish with vegan margarine.
Heat some oil in a pan and sauté the chopped onion until it's translucent. This should take about 3 minutes.
Place all of the ingredients for the sauce into a high speed blender and process until smooth.
In a large bowl, combine the cooked rice, the cooked broccoli, the sautéed onion, and the sauce. Stir carefully.
Transfer to the prepared baking dish, add the shredded vegan cheese and bake for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley and serve immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
I used brown rice for my casserole to make it healthier. However, it also works with regular white rice.
It's best to make the rice the night before. This way the preparation time will be much shorter.
I highly recommend using a high speed blender to make the sauce. It won't get as creamy in a regular blender as the cashews are hard to blend.
As I used my Vitamix to make the sauce, I did not soak the cashews. I don't think it's necessary if you use a really good high speed blender. However, if you want to make it a bit easier for your blender, you could soak them in hot water for 30 minutes or even overnight.