Roasted broccoli and cauliflower is a great side dish you can make with almost no effort and a few ingredients for weeknight dinner or the holidays.
Roasting these veggies at high temperatures makes them tender-crisp, slightly charred, and tasty.
Check out our best vegetable sides recipe collection!
Broccoli and cauliflower are some of the most popular fall and winter vegetables and are also some of the healthiest!
They are both part of the Brassica oleracea family and contain a wealth of vitamins and phytochemicals beneficial for good health.
Roasting is one of the best ways of cooking these vegetables because it makes them taste delicious while preserving most of their nutrients.
This blog post will show you how to make oven-roasted cauliflower and broccoli on a baking tray with simple ingredients.
We season the veggies with heart-healthy extra virgin olive oil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. We then arrange it on a serving platter and sprinkle it with red pepper flakes and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Optionally, you can add grated parmesan cheese or its dairy-free alternative to make this side dish even tastier.
You can eat roasted broccoli and cauliflower florets as a side dish, or you can use them to add to soups, stews, curries, salads, and pasta dishes.
Ingredients
Cauliflower
We use white cauliflower for this recipe. However, you can also use purple, green, or orange cauliflower.
Fresh cauliflower is best for oven-roasting because it stays tender-crisp. Frozen cauliflower will get soft, and it's not as delicious for this preparation.
We only use cauliflower florets for this preparation. You can use the stem to make out cauliflower soup.
Broccoli
Fresh broccoli is best; it has less moisture than a frozen one, stays crispier, and tastes better.
We only use broccoli florets for this preparation, but you can keep the stem to make our broccoli soup.
Olive oil
We prefer extra virgin olive oil because it has a richer, nuttier, and fruitier taste than regular olive oil. Also, thanks to its high content of antioxidants, it's stable at high temperatures.
You can substitute avocado oil for extra virgin olive oil, although its taste is not as nutty and fruity as olive oil.
Garlic powder
Garlic powder is optional, but it does add a nice flavor to those roasted veggies. You can substitute two cloves of crushed fresh garlic for garlic powder.
If you'd like to add other spices or herbs, we recommend cumin, paprika, and dried rosemary.
Salt and pepper
We use sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Red pepper flakes
We like to add a pinch of red pepper flakes before serving the roasted broccoli and cauliflower. This, of course, is optional.
As an alternative, you can add toasted shaved almonds or chopped parsley. They also taste great with broccoli and cauliflower and add some crunch.
Lemon juice
A squeeze of lemon juice freshens up the recipe. The acidity of the lemon makes the dish pop in your mouth.
Some like to sprinkle with lemon zest, although we find that to be overpowering for this broccoli and cauliflower recipe.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400°F or 200°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Rinse broccoli and cauliflower heads, remove the leaves and the stem and cut them into florets. Pat them dry and add them to the baking tray.
Note: if you have raw cauliflower or broccoli leftovers and your baking tray is full, you can store them in a sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator to keep them fresh for several days.
Season with extra virgin olive oil, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper. Toss with your hands, then spread florets across the sheet pan without overlapping. Try not to overcrowd the pan.
Tip: there's no reason to use a large bowl; you can toss them straight into the baking sheet.
Roast vegetables at 400°F or 200°C for about 25 minutes until the florets are tender-crisp and slightly charred.
Transfer onto a serving platter, sprinkle with a pinch of red pepper flakes and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Variations
Roasted broccoli and cauliflower with parmesan
If you'd like them a little cheesy, add your favorite grated, shredded, or dairy-free cheese on top of the florets once they are done baking.
Then, broil for 3 to 5 minutes until the cheese melts. This is a tasty variation of this simple recipe, and it can help you make this dish more appealing to people that don't usually eat veggies.
Serving suggestions
You can serve this recipe as a side with most mains. If you are looking for more plant-forward ideas for your mains, check out our:
Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container (they'll smell if you don't) in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave for 2 minutes or eat at room temperature.
We don't recommend freezing roasted broccoli and cauliflower.
Questions
Broccoli is one of the healthiest veggies, and roasted broccoli is still healthy, provided you don't use low-quality or too much oil.
Oven roasting preserves most of the nutrients in vegetables because it's a dry cooking method, and the nutrients don't get lost in the water like when boiling broccoli.
More side dishes
- Green bean salad with creamy mustard dressing
- Shaved brussels sprouts salad
- Air fryer sweet potato and roasted sweet potato
- Italian-inspired sautéed eggplant
- Breaded eggplant
- Roasted bell peppers
- Roasted brussels sprouts
- Red cabbage slaw
More broccoli and cauliflower recipes
Are you looking for more delicious cauliflower recipe ideas? Check out our:
- Delicious and easy tofu curry
- Creamiest and easiest broccoli pasta
- Creamy cauliflower soup
- Cauliflower pasta with garlic and oil
- Roasted red pepper pasta with cauliflower florets
- The easiest air fryer cauliflower
- Mediterranean-inspired cauliflower lentil salad
- Creamy roasted cauliflower salad
Recipe
Roasted broccoli and cauliflower
Ingredients
- 4 cups broccoli florets
- 4 cups cauliflower florets
- 1½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tablespoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
GARNISH WITH
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- 4 wedges lemon squeezed on top
- 1 handful shaved almonds toasted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F or 200°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.Rinse broccoli and cauliflower heads, remove the leaves and the stem and cut them into florets. Pat them dry and add them to the baking tray.
- Season with extra virgin olive oil, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper. Toss with your hands, then spread florets across the sheet pan without overlapping. Try not to overcrowd the pan.
- Roast vegetables at 400°F or 200°C for about 25 minutes until the florets are tender-crisp and slightly charred.
- Transfer onto a serving platter, sprinkle with a pinch of red pepper flakes and a squeeze of lemon juice, and/or toasted shaved almonds.
Bonita Wright
I will definitely be making this recipe and sharing it with my family and friends on Facebook. I love the simplicity of the recipe.
Nico
Hi Bonita, I'm delighted you like the recipe - thanks for your kind comment! Cheers, Nico