Perfectly Roasted Broccoli

An Easy Roasted Broccoli Recipe For The Easiest Of Meals

The art of perfectly baked broccoli is one that we encourage you add to your kitchen repertoire–it’s a good return on investment! Salt (just enough, but not too much), pretty good olive oil (whatever you’d make salad dressing with), broccoli (duh) and a hot oven are all it takes to churn out this crazy-delicious side dish. We often upgrade it from the realm of side dish to dinner–it’s irresistible fresh out of the oven! Grab a bowl and add perfectly cooked rice (Brown Rice, White Rice, or Lemon Rice), maybe fry an egg, and it’s just the kind of low-key, not-dinner-dinner that a person needs sometimes.

How to Roast Broccoli

What is the best way to bake broccoli? Roasted broccoli is as simple as it sounds—crank up that oven and let your favorite cruciferous vegetable crisp up and tenderize in the heat. The simple steps for this roasted broccoli recipe are as follows:

1. Chop, then rinse your broccoli. Begin by taking the head of broccoli and removing the long stalk up to the point where the head splits into florets. You can discard the bottom stalk, or we love to peel it and snack on it raw (just as you would a carrot). Then remove the florets by hand or using a knife, whichever you prefer. After you’ve broken the head of broccoli into bite-sized pieces, give them a good rinse and set them aside to dry.

2. Crank your oven up to 400°F. Don’t fear the high heat! It is your friend—let it work its magic.

3. Drizzle with oil. On a baking sheet (no need to line it with parchment paper), spread out the broccoli florets, and glug some pretty-good (or super-good, if you’re feeling luxurious) olive oil onto the broccoli.

4. Salt to taste. Pepper, too, if you like! Go light, since you can always add more after roasting.

5. Toss to coat! We like to just go ahead and get messy (this is a good step for your tiny helpers!) and do this by hand. Just toss the broccoli around on the sheet pan a bit so that every nook and cranny is slicked with oil and salted.

6. Roast! How long to roast broccoli? Keep an eye on it—usually the broccoli is perfect right around the 30 minute mark, but the cooking time will vary depending on how large your florets are. When the edges are turning brown and the stalk is tender, pull it out.

7. Devour. If you stand there at the stove and devour the whole tray hot out of the oven, don’t say we didn’t warn you!

How To Add Flair To This Perfectly Roasted Broccoli

This oven roasted broccoli recipe is a dish whose beauty lies in its simplicity. That said, sometimes you want to dress things up, and we can’t fault you for that. Maybe you’re having company over and you just want to give it that extra something, or the rest of your meal is a little plain—we love to serve it with simple dinners, like Perfect Roast Chicken with Lemon Herb Pan Sauce or Baked Salmon.

Here are some of our favorite ways to zhoosh it up:

A squeeze of lemon juice and maybe even a dusting of lemon zest: pull your roasted broccoli out of the oven, and give it a spritz of lemon. Citrus juice will give it a little zing, but is also a great way to enhance flavor without using extra salt, so this is a great option if you’re wanting to keep the sodium low. You can do a light drizzle of sesame oil or balsamic vinegar for a super simple finish. Roasted broccoli with parmesan: How to bake broccoli with even more flavor? Probably sort of a no-brainer, but a healthy dusting of grated parmesan cheese or toasted sesame seeds is never a bad idea. Oven baked broccoli goes with just about any other vegetable you like to roast: toss any other vegetable that you have on hand onto the tray along with the broccoli. Other roasted vegetable recipes—like Roasted Cauliflower or Roasted Brussels Sprouts—are a natural pairing and will have complementary cooking times, but nearly any vegetable you like to roast will work. If you’re feeling a broccoli theme try starting your meal off with a cup of Broccoli Cheddar Soup.

What Does Oven Roasted Broccoli Go With?

Everything! No really, it pretty much does. But we love to serve it:

• Tossed with pasta, a little more good olive oil and a little parmesan cheese for a simple, fast, pretty-healthy dinner. Or as the star with basil and garlic, as in Broccoli Pesto Pasta!

• With fish! Grab a piece (or a few pieces) of fish—whatever looks good that day—on your way home, drizzle with a little oil, salt and pepper, and throw them on a sheet pan in the oven at the same time as you do the broccoli. **Only roast the fish for 10 minutes per inch of thickness, until the fish is opaque and tender when pierced with a fork but before it starts to flake. Continue to roast the broccoli until tender. If there is a simpler, faster, healthier dinner than that, we have yet to encounter it. This Baked Cod with Parsley Olive Tapenade is also a great basic fish recipe to use as a starting point.

• Ok, well if you serve the roasted broccoli with this Turkey-Quinoa Meatloaf, that would qualify as an extremely-healthy dinner (and delicious) too.

• A Perfect Roast Chicken is a perfect pair for roasted broccoli—classic, comforting.

• Speaking of chicken and broccoli, there’s our favorite Sesame Chicken with Broccoli.

• And let’s not forget about this chimichurri STEAK. Juicy steak and salty, crisp roasted broccoli—I mean, we’ve talked ourselves into it. How about you?

Pro Tip for Reheating Leftover Roasted Broccoli:

One of our favorite things about this roasted broccoli recipe is that it can be made in large batches and used throughout the week! When you want to re-heat it, simply toss it in a hot, dry skillet and cook until its edges crisp back up and it's warmed through. Easy, peasy.

Did You Make and Enjoy This Roasted Broccoli Recipe?

We’d love to hear about it! Post a picture to Instagram and tag @themodernproper and #themodernproper so we can celebrate your dinner win along with you. Happy eating!