For all of the Wendy’s Broccoli Cheese potato lovers, here’s an easy recipe you can make at home that let’s you pour on as much of the cheese sauce as you want on your potato! This recipe is super budget friendly and so comforting and delicious. There’s a surprise ingredient hiding in the sauce, too, that gives it a little extra creaminess, a light hint of sweetness, and a healthy boost for your immune system.
There’s something about not being able to go to a restaurant that makes you crave restaurant food. Do you find yourself doing that too?
Fast food isn’t something we have done much of for years, but I remember as a kid and even into adult-hood, I always LOVED the broccoli cheese potatoes from Wendy’s. I remember ordering them and secretly hoping they would add extra cheese sauce because that was my favorite. I didn’t want any tiny bit of my potato to missing that luscious sauce. Eventually, I started to ask them to put extra cheese sauce on, and sometimes I was granted my wish, sometimes not.
Well, I picked up a sack of potatoes last time I went to the grocery store, and since I’ve been craving comfort, naturally the potatoes have been calling to me from the pantry. Hey, I don’t want them to be disappointed (or worse, get forgotten and go to waste), so I decided to make me a good creamy cheese sauce. I pulled out the HUGE sack of frozen broccoli I’ve got stashed in my freezer. Frozen broccoli is really perfect for this because you can thaw exactly as much as you need for topping your potato and it’s really perfectly crisp tender already.
So I am guessing you might be wondering what the secret ingredient is. I suppose I’ve kept you in suspense long enough … it’s butternut squash! I had a few butternuts sitting around my house that I know are going to need using soon and I don’t want them to go to waste, so here I am in spring cooking up my butternuts, which is really a good thing because the vitamin A in squash helps keep your immune system strong (and right now, we ALL need a healthy immune system). Squash has a nice creamy texture to start with, a pleasant flavor and a beautiful orange color, so it’s the perfect addition to a cheese sauce. If you don’t have butternut, do you have any other squash or perhaps some pumpkin on hand? I often have a can of pumpkin hiding in the back of my pantry somewhere. Also, in the fall when I’m inundated with squash and pumpkin, I’ll often cook some up and freeze the puree for later.
Of course the yummy cheese sauce also includes butter, milk, some flour to thicken the sauce, onion and garlic for extra flavor and a good amount of shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Together they make the perfect dreamy cheese sauce for your potatoes and broccoli.
What’s the best type of potato to use for baking? Russet potatoes are typically best for baking, but you can also bake golden or even purple potatoes. Red potatoes are not the best for baking … they are better for mashing.
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(Copycat) Wendy’s Broccoli Cheese Baked Potato
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 min
- Yield: 3 – 4 servings 1x
- Category: Sides
- Method: Baked, Stovetop
Description
For all of the Wendy’s Broccoli Cheese potato lovers, here’s an easy recipe you can make at home that let’s you pour on as much of the cheese sauce as you want on your potato! This recipe is super budget friendly and so comforting and delicious. There’s a surprise ingredient hiding in the sauce, too, that gives it a little extra creaminess, a light hint of sweetness, and a healthy boost for your immune system.
Ingredients
For the cheese sauce:
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 2 Tablespoons flour (for gluten free, use tapioca flour or other gf flour)
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- About 1 cup soft, tender, cooked butternut squash (or other winter squash, or canned pumpkin)
- About 3 oz. (1 1/2 cups) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- A pinch of nutmeg
- Salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste
For the potatoes:
- 3 – 4 medium baking potatoes
- Spreadable butter (or melted butter)
- 3 – 4 cups frozen broccoli florets, thawed
- Salt & freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Start the potatoes baking by washing them and then, with wet skin, sprinkling the skin with salt. Set directly on the rack in a 350 F. oven to bake for about an hour.
- While the potatoes are baking, start the cheese sauce. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter, then add the onion and garlic and saute until soft and tender. Sprinkle the flour over and stir to coat the onions and garlic with flour. Stir in the milk and then the squash. Cook until the sauce has thickened.
- Pour the sauce into a blender, add the cheese and blend until smooth (or use an immersion blender). Return to the pan and stir in a pinch of nutmeg and salt & pepper to taste. Cover and reduce heat to low to keep warm until the potatoes are done.
- When the potatoes are nearly done, thaw the broccoli in the microwave and chop. Return to the microwave to get it nice and hot. Take the potatoes out of the oven when a fork poked in the middle goes in easily. Slice them in half lengthwise and set each tater on a plate. Use a fork to lightly mash the flesh. Sprinkle with salt & pepper and spread (or drizzle) with butter. Add the broccoli and again, salt & pepper. Pour the cheese sauce over top and enjoy!
Notes
© Copyright 2020, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. I love it when you share, but please do not use my images on your own site/page without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. Sharing, pinning, and tweeting is always appreciated as long as the shares and pins link back to here for the recipe. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.
Nutrition
- Calories: 392
Keywords: Copycat, Wendy’s, Potato, Cheese, Broccoli
3 comments
[…] For all of the Wendy’s Broccoli Cheese potato lovers, here’s an easy recipe you can make at home that let’s you pour on as much of the cheese sauce as… Source link […]
I Love potatoes
[…] of course I had to put my own spin on it. I had some cheese sauce in my fridge after making that Copycat Wendy’s Broccoli Cheese Potato and thought that all I needed was to give my cheese sauce a little Mexican spin to make this whole […]