Oven roasted broccoli is so tasty you won't believe it's actual broccoli. Crunchy, lemony, slightly spicy, and with the perfect twist of garlic, they are perfect as a pre-dinner appetizer, snack, or side dish.
Introduction to over roasted broccoli
Broccoli often gets a bad rep due to its bland taste and texture. Yet, if cooked properly, this nutritional powerhouse can be turned into one of the tastiest, addictive, and finger-licking snacks.
For this recipe of oven-roasted broccoli, we use simple ingredients such as olive oil, lemon, garlic, and chili flakes to create a flavor bomb of a snack that everyone will love.
What is so special about this dish? The broccoli florets turn out crunchy, lemony, zesty, garlicky, and just a bit spicy. The first time we made them, we ended up skipping dinner, and just eating the whole tray.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Broccoli: a whole broccoli head, or broccolini.
- Olive oil: extra virgin if you can. It adds lots of flavour to this recipe. If you want to give it an asian twist, you can use sesame oil.
- Garlic, lemon and chili flakes: core ingredients to spice this dish. Both lemon juice and zest. Do not forget the zest!
- Salt: be generous with it.
- Almonds: I like to add either coarsely chopped toasted almonds on top to add some crunch and nuttiness. Shaved almonds are great too.
- Vegan cheese: this is optional, but when we have some in our fridge I like to add it on top of the broccoli before baking them.
How to make oven roasted broccoli
Preheat the oven to 390F or 200C. In a large bowl, add olive oil, lemon juice, grated lemon zest, salt, chili flakes, and thinly sliced garlic. Stir everything well and set it aside.
Cut the broccoli head. First, cut the stalk in thin round slices. Then remove the largest florets and cut them in half or in three parts.
Then remove the smaller florets. You can keep them whole or cut them in half.
Toss the broccoli into the bowl with the dressing and mix well, making sure that the dressing coats all the pieces and gets in all crevices.
Transfer the broccoli onto a baking tray. I put them straight on the tray, without baking paper, but if you prefer, you can line the baking tray with baking paper before adding the broccoli.
Spread them around, so that they don't sit on top of each other.
Add some vegan parmesan or other cheese on top if you like. This is optional.
Bake for about 10 minutes at 390F or 200C. Take out of the oven, and add some chopped almonds on top.
We like to serve these straight from the baking tray, it's fun to pick your piece with your hands, straight from the tray.
Tips
Every oven is different: I cook my broccoli for 10 minutes, and it's enough in my oven. However, every oven is different, and so it might take a minute more or less in yours.
Keep in mind that broccoli does burn easily in the oven, so keep an eye on them at around the 8-minute mark.
Different sizes, different times: the bigger your broccoli pieces, the longer they'll take to cook. Try to cut similar pieces, not too small, nor too big.
Salt: broccoli is bland without salt. So make sure you add enough in the marinade.
Storage
Store the oven-roasted broccoli in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. They won't be as crunchy the day after, but they are still tasty. You can eat them cold or warm.
You can add them to a salad or warm them up in the oven or you can sauté them on a pan with some olive oil.
Dinner ideas
Did you know that we develop our recipes to go together for a complete dinner meal plan? Serve this oven-roasted broccoli as a starter, with:
Recipe
Oven roasted broccoli
Ingredients
- 11 ounces broccoli
- 4 tablespoons olive oil extra virgin
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ teaspoons chili flakes
- ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 lemon zest and juice of half
- ½ cup almonds
- 3 tablespoons vegan parmesan or other cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 390F or 200C. In a large bowl, add olive oil, lemon juice, grated lemon zest, salt, chili flakes, and thinly sliced garlic. Stir everything well and set aside.
- Cut the broccoli head. First, cut the stalk in thin round slices. Then remove the largest florets and cut them in half or in three parts. Then remove the smaller florets. You can keep them whole or cut them in half.
- Toss the broccoli into the bowl with the dressing and mix well, making sure that the dressing coats all the broccoli pieces.
- Transfer the broccoli onto a baking tray. I put them straight on the tray, without baking paper, but if you prefer, you can line the baking tray with baking paper before adding the broccoli. Spread them around, so that they don't sit on top of each other.
- Add some vegan parmesan or other cheese on top if you like. This is optional.
- Bake for about 10 minutes at 390F or 200C. Take out of the oven, and add some chopped almonds on top.We like to serve these straight from the baking tray, it's fun to pick your piece with your hands, straight from the tray.
Video Recipe
Nutritional Values
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Did you try this recipe at home? Let us know in the comments below, we love to hear from you!
Buon Appetito!
Nico
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