Roasted Broccoli

Make oven roasted broccoli for an easy weeknight side dish. Perfectly crisp with just the right amount of char, everyone will want seconds of the veggies!

After spending WAAAY too long cooking dinner back when we did the Whole30, I felt the need to get back to the basics.

I shared our go-to recipe for Roasted Potatoes, and everyone LOVES them.

What’s weird though is that they love this recipe for roasted broccoli just as much! Hey, I’m not complaining…

Every week I ask my family two questions:

1. What would you like to have for dinner this week?
2. What vegetable would you like to have?

These two questions help me in a few ways…

• I’m cooking foods my family likes, which means less food wasted.
• It also means less whining when I answer the inevitable, “What’s for dinner?”
• They actually ENJOY eating dinner, including the vegetables.
• It helps me see the trends for what my family likes, so I can keep doing more of that and less of what they don’t like.

Believe it or not, when I ask my people what vegetable they’d like for dinner that week, both my husband and my daughter ALWAYS pick roasted broccoli. I’d say we have a winner!

EASY ROASTED BROCCOLI RECIPE

If you have people in your family who hate broccoli (which is traditionally steamed), hear me out. Roast broccoli is NOTHING like steamed broccoli.

Steamed broccoli is mushy, soft, kind of bland, and really vegetable-y. It’s just not as pleasant to smell or to eat.

Perfect ROASTED broccoli, however, is completely different.

It’s firm but tender, has a good bite to it, and has a depth of flavor that can only come from roasting in the oven.

So, if you think you don’t like broccoli, give roasted broccoli a chance!

INGREDIENTS FOR ROASTED BROCCOLI RECIPE

• Broccoli
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Additional seasonings (optional)

BROCCOLI

Fresh broccoli works best. In fact, I’m willing to say that I’d ONLY use fresh broccoli for this roasted broccoli recipe.

I tried frozen broccoli once and it just wasn’t the same. It was like steamed broccoli from the oven. In other words, it was mushy, flavorless, and not appetizing at all.

Go fresh, all the way.

With that said, you can use big broccoli crowns OR you can go the easy route with the bags of pre-cut broccoli florets.

Know though, that 90% of the time the bags of pre-cut florets will cost more than the broccoli crowns. And they aren’t always the right bite-sized pieces which means you would need to cut them anyway.

And really, having some extra broccoli stem in roasted broccoli is a good thing! It gives some extra body and volume to a vegetable that really does feel like you’re eating little trees.

SEASONING

Salt and black pepper are the requirements here. There’s no need to get all fancy if you don’t want to…

… BUT…

I sometimes like to get fancy!

I’ve added every spice blend in my pantry to roasted broccoli and they’re all great…

• Italian Seasoning
• Poultry Seasoning
• Taco Seasoning
• Ranch Seasoning
• Greek Seasoning
• Cajun Seasoning
• Chinese 5 Spice

The best seasoning for broccoli is whatever seasoning you’re in the mood for, or what complements the other things you’re making!

A sprinkle of red pepper flakes adds a bit of heat to the broccoli. Add fresh lemon juice or garlic or grated Parmesan cheese for added flavor or mix the broccoli with carrots and cauliflower for variety.

HOW TO COOK BROCCOLI IN THE OVEN

Learning how to cook broccoli in the oven is as simple as could be!

Step 1. Preheat the oven to 400F.

Step 2. Wash and dry the broccoli. Cut the broccoli into florets, keeping as much stem as possible attached.

This is simply because the stems are edible, and it gives more food to chew when you take a bite. If your family doesn’t like the stems of broccoli, chop them off and save them for something else, like Vegetable Stir Fry or cheesy broccoli soup.

Step 3. Spread the broccoli in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. You can line it with parchment paper for easy cleanup if desired.

Step 4. Drizzle evenly with extra virgin olive oil and toss to coat the broccoli.

Step 5. Season with salt and pepper and additional spices as desired.

Step 6. Roast in the oven until the broccoli florets start to char and develop a deep golden brown color on the edges, about 15-20 minutes.

Roasted broccoli goes from lovely char to flat-out burned pretty quickly. I recommend setting the oven timer to 15 minutes, and then adding additional cooking time in 2–3-minute increments if needed. Don’t leave the kitchen on the additional cooking time though!

BAKED BROCCOLI RECIPE TIPS

When it comes to roasted broccoli, you WANT the florets to be nearly burned. You don’t want to burn the food but getting the florets to the point of dark brown and nearly black in several places makes them irresistible!

Roasted broccoli is best the day it’s made, fresh out of the oven. It doesn’t make for bad leftovers, but it’s certainly not as crisp. Store leftover roasted broccoli in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

You can re-heat this baked broccoli recipe in the oven to crisp it up again, or you can chop up leftovers and add them to scrambled eggs or quiche or any other “kitchen sink” dish that uses up whatever leftovers you have.

I prefer to make “just enough” broccoli to cover dinner and leftovers for maybe a breakfast hash or reheated lunch. For us right now, that’s about 3 big heads of broccoli. Feel free to scale down or up as you need to!

SERVE OVEN ROASTED BROCCOLI WITH

We love oven roasted broccoli so much, that we actually took a break from making Steamed Vegetables and now make roasted vegetable recipes instead. Even if we’re making Kung Pao Chicken or Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli or 30 Minute Cashew Chicken – we roast the vegetables every time!

You can use the same method from this recipe to make roasted cauliflower, roasted asparagus, and all kinds of roasted vegetables! The timing will be different, however, so keep an eye on your food between 10-15 minutes of cooking time.

Roasted broccoli is also a delicious side for:

• Blackened Salmon and Instant Pot Brown Rice
• Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs and Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
• Instant Pot Steamed Shrimp and Coconut Rice
• Almond Crusted Chicken and a Waldorf Dinner Salad

ROASTED BROCCOLI FAQS

MORE YUMMY VEGGIE SIDES

• Sautéed Green Beans
• Lemon Asparagus
• Bacon Brussels Sprouts
• Baked Sweet Potatoes
• Butter Parmesan Zoodles
• Instant Pot Fajita Veggies
• How to Roast Beets