Roasted Broccoli

Roasted Broccoli is one of the easiest ways to prepare fresh broccoli as a dinner side dish.

The trick to getting perfectly roasted broccoli lies in the few simple ingredients as well as the cooking method. Never again will you have to serve soggy broccoli after trying this recipe!

Roasted Broccoli makes an appearance on our dinner table weekly. It is our favorite side dish when we make Salmon Patties. Any time I make mac and cheese, there's usually fair amount of broccoli mixed in to offset the naughtiness of all that pasta and cheese.

There are so many health benefits to eating broccoli, and when prepared correctly it is a great tasting vegetable. But, my friend, I think you might agree when I say that there's nothing worse that mushy broccoli. Yuck. Mech. Gross.

Follow my recommendations below and your oven roasted broccoli will turn out perfectly every time!

If you love roasted broccoli, you'll also love my Broccoli Casserole.

How to roast broccoli:

Let me first start by telling you how not to roast broccoli. I used to put broccoli on a baking sheet and drizzle olive oil on top. While that method works, it doesn't work great. Why? Because the olive oil isn't evenly dispersed when you do it that way.

My recommendation is to toss the broccoli in a bowl with the olive oil first, along with some salt, lemon juice, and minced garlic. You can always throw in a little something extra like finely grated parmesan cheese or red pepper flakes for a little zing.

I almost always use fresh broccoli. Also, I don't wash it. For those of you who have to wash your veggies, just make sure you do it way ahead of time so it has time to fully dry. If you ever try to roast vegetables, you want to minimize the amount of moisture so that it will brown and not turn soggy.

Be sure to use a baking pan that is big enough to ensure all the broccoli is in a single layer. If it's crowded, the moisture it releases during the cooking process will steam the surrounding broccoli to the poing of mushiness. Mushy broccoli makes nobody happy. I've been using parchment paper when I cook more and more lately. It helps tremendously with the clean up and nothing sticks to it.

Finally, roast the broccoli long enough for the tips of the crowns to start to brown. Those little brown bits have such great flavor.

What temperature do you roast broccoli in the oven?

There are different schools of thought on this, as with many recipes.

When I roast, whether it be chicken, potatoes, or vegetables, I prefer to do it at a high heat. I find that the high heat gives me the browning that I desire while allowing whatever I'm cooking to be moist and not over cooked.

For that reason, I recommend roasting broccoli at 425 degrees F. When roasting at high temperatures, however, you must keep an eye on your food as it can go from being perfectly done to burnt in a matter of minutes.

Many people choose to roast broccoli at lower temperatures like 400 or even 350 degrees F. If you choose to roast at a lower temperature, you'll just need to increase your cooking time.

How long to roast broccoli:

When I roast broccoli in the oven at 425 degrees F, it takes me exactly 15 minutes to achieve the desired doneness. Just be sure to preheat that oven!

That's why this is one of my favorite vegetable side dishes. Roasted broccoli is super quick, undeniably easy, and healthy.

How many calories are in 1 cup of roasted broccoli?

I include the nutritional information (to the best of my ability) at the end of my recipes.

Let's do a little math for fun.

That being said, this oven roasted broccoli recipe calls for 12 ounces fresh broccoli florets. That's roughly equivalent to about 2 cups. Since I based my serving size on a half a cup and the calorie count for that amount is 93 calories, I estimate there's roughly 186 calories in a full cup of roasted broccoli. Most of that, mind you, comes from the olive oil.