Ultimate Cheesy Smothered Pork Chops Broccoli And Rice Casserole

This old family recipe is the perfect comfort food any night of the week! Creamy, cheesy rice topped with fork-tender boneless chops, broccoli, & crispy prosciutto.

I’m teaming up with Swift Meats featuring their amazing Pork Loin. As always, all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting partnerships with brands I trust and believe in.

Fall = Comfort Foods!

It’s technically fall here as the temps are in the high 60’s/low 70’s at night but we’re still hitting 100 during the day. But that isn’t stopping me from making some of my favorite casserole / comfort food dishes.

This is a spin on something I grew up on eating but with a more modern approach.

Grab Your Ingredients

This doesn’t take long to prep to toss in the oven however it’s going to take a few liberties here – you already have cooked rice.

• Swift Meats Boneless Pork Loin – you’re actually only going to use half of this. I love these pork loins as I can easily get several meals out of one package
• Rice – I went with already cooked long grain white rice. You can use cooked brown or wild rice as well
• Veggies – broccoli florets and matchstick carrots
• Cheese – I opted for white cheddar
• Cheese Sauce – you can absolutely make your own or go with a can of condensed cheese soup with heavy cream
• BBQ Seasoning – I went with my favorite pork seasoning
• Prosciutto – this is what really elevated this casserole

Watch The Video

This is such an easy casserole dish to throw together. I always have Swift Meats in my fridge and freezer.

Sear The Chops

To help build flavor, coat the chops in olive oil and some of the BBQ Seasoning and sear on both sides for a few minutes. You want to do this to help build flavor and texture.

Assemble The Casserole

1. To a 9 x 13″ baking dish, add the cooked rice and spread it out in an even layer.
2. Place the 8 chops into the rice. Sprinkle on the carrots and nestle the broccoli in between the chops and rice. 

3. Pour over the cheese sauce and sprinkle with the remaining BBQ seasoning.
4. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and insert a thermometer. The chops should read around 135-140F). If not, cover and bake for a few more minutes.

Prosciutto For The Win

5. When it reads ~135-140F, remove the foil, and add the remaining cheese and prosciutto. Pop it back into the oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the prosciutto is just crisp.

Wait Until You Smell The Deliciousness!

When I pulled this out of the oven you are hit with a waft of warm cheese, bbq pork and that hint baconesque smell of crispy prosciutto.

It was all I could to wait the 10-15 minutes to plate it before we could dive in.

Just Like Mom’s…sort of

Like I said, I grew up on this family recipe but over the years I made some modifications. You see Mom would add uncooked rice and broth to the pan along with the cheese sauce. She would only add onions and carrots and I honestly don’t think she knew was prosciutto was.

I never liked the rice as it never got soft enough for me and I found it almost a little too loose with the broth. So I went with cooked rice, nixed the broth, modified the cheeses, added broccoli and the prosciutto.

So Mom and Grandma gave me the foundation, I just tweaked it…as I do with most recipes.

Pork Loin vs Pork Tenderloin

Do you know the difference?

What Is A Pork Loin

As you can see in the picture, it’s large, wide, and thick. It’s also knows as the center loin roast or pork center rib roast. It can be boneless or bone-in.

It’s very mild in flavor and sometimes has a fat cap that helps to keep the meat moist as it cooks. Because of the size and fat percentage, this cut is best suited for a hard sear then roasting/smoking it on a low heat.

What Is A Pork Tenderloin

Unlike the pork loin, it’s smaller and thinner. Typically it’ll come as a 2-pack.

It contains very little fat thus really benefits from a quick-cook type method like grilling or broiling it whole.

It is extremely lean with very little fat so it can be super juicy and tender when cooked properly.

Recipe Substitutions

You all know how I love this section of my posts:

• Veggies – cauliflower, butternut squash, shallots, halved Brussel Sprouts would work
• Prosciutto – you can omit it or try Speck or another Italian deli meat
• Cheese – you can absolutely make a homemade cheese sauce with your favorite cheese. Asiago, Jarlsberg or a Sharp Cheddar would work

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