Ready in less than half an hour, oven roasted broccoli is a fast, easy and nutritious side dish. My recipe keeps the seasonings simple and yields perfectly textured (not mushy!) results.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- 5 minutes of prep! This roasted broccoli is one of my go-to fast dinner side dishes. Toss it together and prep the rest of dinner while it bakes.
- Minimal ingredients with just a few additional seasonings and a touch of oil. You will probably have everything on hand already!
- Easily doubles to feed a crowd, making it perfect for holidays or potlucks. I have lots more holiday side dishes in my Thanksgiving side dishes recipe roundup!
- Can be customized with your favorite seasoning if you want to switch things up. Lemon pepper, ranch, and ginger garlic would all be tasty on roasted broccoli.
Just in time for the holiday weekend, I’m sharing my super straightforward recipe for easy roasted broccoli. It’s the perfect pop of green to serve with your Easter favorites like baked ham, dinner rolls, and cheesy hash brown casserole!
While I’ll sometimes steam my broccoli, you get a much better flavor roasting it, with a bit of crispness on the edges of the florets. It’s just as easy too–I add a light seasoning with a bit of salt and pepper, and a generous sprinkle of parmesan cheese. So simple and so good!
What You Need
We’ll keep the seasonings to a minimum here so the broccoli flavor shines through.
- Broccoli. Chop your broccoli into bite-sized florets (bigger than you would for broccoli cheddar soup or broccoli salad). You can either discard the stems or chop them up and toss them in with the florets (I usually do!). Or if you’re short on time or just feeling lazy, you can use pre-cut broccoli florets.
- Salt and pepper. Just a bit to add some flavor. I prefer fresh cracked black pepper for the best taste!
- Parmesan cheese. We’ll add half of this before roasting and then half afterward. Either freshly grated or pre-grated cheese works; I usually grate my own!
- Olive oil. 1 ½ tablespoons may not seem like enough oil, but it is. Avocado oil would also work here.
SAM’S TIP: Just like with my roasted potatoes and potato wedges, more oil isn’t better. In fact, it can actually make the broccoli soggy!
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Roasted Broccoli
Season the broccoli
Toss the broccoli with the oil, seasonings, and half the cheese until evenly coated. Do not add more oil–less is more here!
Arrange on the pan
Spread the broccoli on a parchment lined baking sheet until it’s in one even layer. Make sure your broccoli isn’t too crowded on the pan; otherwise it will steam instead of roast.
If you are making a double batch, definitely use two sheet pans so your broccoli has plenty of room.
Roast & add cheese
Bake for about 20 minutes, then check for doneness. You want it easy to pierce with a fork, but with just a touch of resistance (and definitely not not collapsing beneath the fork!). Bake for another 5 minutes if needed, but be careful not to over-bake or it will be mushy!
Add the remaining parmesan cheese, then serve. A squeeze of fresh lemon juice overtop doesn’t hurt either!
SAM’S TIP: I don’t flip the broccoli halfway through; it turns out better if allowed to roast uninterrupted.
What to Serve with Roasted Broccoli
- Meatloaf (don’t forget the mashed potatoes too!)
- Pretzel crusted chicken
- Stuffed shells
- Salisbury steak
- Sloppy joes
- Rigatoni
- Butter chicken
- Baked ziti
- Tuscan chicken
- French onion chicken
- Chicken Alfredo
- Maple glazed salmon
- Lasagna
- Creamy chicken pasta
Prefer your dinner sides on the sweeter side? Try my candied yams or maple bacon brussels sprouts!
Enjoy!
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Oven Roasted Broccoli
Ingredients
- 12 oz (340 g) broccoli florets or one head of broccoli cut into florets (about 4-5 cups)
- 1 ½ Tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt (table salt or fine sea salt)
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 4 Tablespoons (20 g) grated parmesan cheese divided
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F (205C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine broccoli, olive oil, salt, pepper, and 2 Tablespoons (10g) of parmesan cheese. Toss everything together until all broccoli is coated with oil.12 oz (340 g) broccoli florets or one head of broccoli, 1 ½ Tablespoons olive oil, ¼ teaspoon fine salt, Freshly ground black pepper
- Spread evenly onto prepared baking sheet and transfer to center rack of 400F (205C) preheated oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes. When finished cooking, broccoli will be tender when pierced with a fork.
- Remove from oven and sprinkle broccoli with remaining 2 Tablespoons (10g) parmesan cheese. Stir and serve immediately.
Notes
Broccoli note
If you’re cutting your own head of broccoli, you can include or discard the stem. Personally, I like to slice it and include it but my husband will only eat the florets.Feel free to scale up this recipe to use a full pound of broccoli, just increase the oil to 2 Tablespoons and use a heaping ¼ teaspoon salt.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
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