Cheesy vegetable bake
This easy cheesy vegetable bake is simple comfort food at its finest. It is the perfect vegetarian meal or decadent side dish.
Ingredients
Full recipe with amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
- Cauliflower.
- Mushrooms. Any variety will work.
- Bell peppers. I prefer using green and red.
- Red onion.
- Olive oil.
- Salt.
- Pepper.
- Cheese sauce.
- Mozzarella cheese.
- Parmesan cheese.
How to make cheesy vegetable bake
- Roast the vegetables: Slice the cauliflower into florets, halve the mushrooms (or slice if using large mushrooms), chop the peppers and onions. Place all the vegetables in a roasting dish and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat the vegetables in the seasoning. Place in a hot oven and roast for 30 minutes until golden brown.
- Combine with sauce and bake: Pour the cheese sauce over the vegetables, top with the mozzarella and Parmesan then place back in the oven and bake until bubbling and golden on top. Remove from the oven, allow to rest for 5 minutes then serve.
Can I make this ahead?
Yes! The vegetables can be roasted and combined with the sauce then refrigerated for up to 3 days before baking with the cheese. You could freeze the bake too (unbaked). Bake from frozen until hot throughout.
What to serve with vegetable bake
This a great side dish for roast meats but makes a great vegetarian dinner served with a simple salad.
Easy vegetarian recipes
Cheesy vegetable bake
This easy cheesy vegetable bake is simple comfort food at its finest. It is the perfect vegetarian meal or decadent side dish.
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Servings: 4 -6
Ingredients
- 4 cups cauliflower florets approximately 2 small-medium heads of cauliflower
- 1 punnet 250g mushrooms, quartered
- 1 large red pepper seeded and chopped into bite-size chunks
- 1 large yellow pepper same as red pepper
- 1 red onion peeled and chopped into chunks
- 2 tablespoons olive oil I used basil flavored
- large pinch salt
- black pepper to taste
- 2 cups cheese sauce
- 1 cup grated mozzarella for topping
- grated parmesan optional
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°c.
- Place all the vegetables on a baking sheet then drizzle with the oil, season with salt and pepper and toss to coat.
- Place in the oven and allow to roast for 30 minutes until golden brown and starting to caramelise.
- Transfer the roasted vegetables to a suitable baking dish and pour over the cheese sauce.
- Add the mozzarella and parmesan then place back in the oven for 20 minutes or until the cheese has melted and is golden brown.
- Remove and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
This, and variations on this recipe, have become a favourite in our household.
If using broccoli I don’t roast it with the other veg, I just put it into the dish raw. If you want the broccoli a bit softer microwaving or steaming it for a short time before works better than roasting it.
If you want to add some meat I recommend chunks of chorizo which flavours the cheese, or smoked sausage also works very well.
Would Monterey Jack work as well?
Of course!
Could this be made with broccoli instead of cauliflower? My hubby avoids all things cauliflower. Looks delicious!
Of course! Any vegetables of your choice will work.
Are leftovers good reheated?
Yes! They’re great reheated.
Amazing idea & recipe! My family can’t get enough!!
Does this work with frozen mushrooms and peppers and cauliflower?
Yes, frozen veg should be fine!
Can you prepare or part cook this recipe the day before and finish it off the following day? Thank you.
You can complete it up to the baking point and then cover with foil and keep in the fridge to bake off the next day.
Do you mean up to the point of roasting the vegetables or can you refrigerate the roasted vegetables with the cheese sauce on overnight and finish cooking the next day?
You can make the entire thing, with the cheese sauce the day before and then just bake the day of.
I make this all the time and it’s SO good. Everyone always asks me for the recipe, which is thankfully quite simple. A real winner.
Yay! I”m so glad to hear that!
This is one of my favourite recipes. I modify it to the tastes of whomever is eating, and it’s the only way to get vegetables into a few of them.
Thanks so much Hannah!
Thanks for sharing this yummy and delicious recipe. Keep it up.
Looks good but very confusing to use Celsius instead of farenheit.
So sorry for the confusion. I am based in South Africa and we use the metric system.
The recipe calls for cheese sauce, but does not give a recipe for it. Strange.
If you click on the words “cheese sauce” it takes you to my cheese sauce recipe. 🙂
Can this be frozen ?
You could definitely freeze it, just make sure to bake long enough to make sure the vegetables are thoroughly heated through.
Wow Alida! This is my kind of dish! All that cheese!! Indulgent!
That cheese is everything!
This was just the ticket on a comfort food mandatory night. The vegetarians loved it as a main and the omnivores as a side dish. So simple, and so adaptable too. Thanks so much!
Oh, I’m so pleased!
Hi Alida,
Like as you, most of all experience the same while opening the fridge, but it is really good that you can find out the way how to make it delectable!
We will give it a try & if it meets to our standard, we will include in our club restaurant list.
Thank you for sharing here.
Bwaaahahahaha….you’re so funny. I’m a Mom of 7-year old twins too….and have nothing to do with food as my day-job…and often have those beeping fridge episodes!! Glad to know I’m completely normal!!!! Thanks Alida for making my day xxxx Linda
Thanks for your lovely comment Linda. Yay for twin moms! 😉
HELLO comfort food!! Cheesy vegetables are the best!
Aren’t they just?