Roasted Broccoli (Best Ever!)

March 05, 2020

Oven roasted broccoli makes this green veggie taste SO GOOD you can’t stop sneaking bites! It’s charred until tender, then spritzed with lemon juice.

Ready for the absolute BEST way to make this healthy green veggie taste incredible? Roasted broccoli. Alex and I whipped this up the other day, and the florets were as irresistible as french fries (maybe more so!). Roasting broccoli makes it come out tender and charred, with a mild , almost sweet flavor. Combine that with garlic and a few spritzes of fresh lemon juice, and wow! The flavor pops in a way you’d never imagine possible with this humble vegetable. Our 3 year old Larson kept asking, “Can I have more broccoli?” We 100% promise you’ll fall head over heels for this one.

Other favorite ways to cook broccoli? Best Steamed Broccoli & Simple Sauteed Broccoli.

How to make oven roasted broccoli

Once you make roasted broccoli once, you’ll never go back. These crisp tender florets taste as satisfying to me as biting into a crunchy french fry. That’s saying something! You can dip them in sauces (see below), or just serve these florets straight up as an easy veggie side dish. Here are the basic steps you need to do:

Preheat: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. The very hot temperature will get them perfectly crisp tender!
Chop: Chop the florets into medium-sized florets (more on that below). Mix with olive oil and kosher salt.
Roast 20 minutes: Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until tender and browned in parts.
Add flavor: Add another drizzle olive oil, grated garlic and fresh lemon juice. Serve warm!

Chop the broccoli into medium florets with long stems.

Here’s one thing that can make or break your roasted broccoli: how you cut the florets! Now of course there’s no wrong way to cut a broccoli floret! But chopping them into very small florets makes them look stubby and a little uninspiring. Here’s what we do:

Keep the stems as long as possible! When you chop the floret, cut it at the base of where the floret attaches to the main stem. Doing this makes for an elegant and beautiful shape. See the photo below!
Make the florets medium sized, as similar in size as possible. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but keeping the florets similar sized helps them to cook through at the same rate.

Dipping sauces for roasted broccoli

You can easily serve this lemon broccoli straight up alongside any main dish; see below for some ideas! But if you want to step them up, you can add a fun dipping sauce! Here are some favorites:

Creamy Cilantro Dressing This creamy cilantro dressing tastes incredible! It takes just 5 minutes and you’ll want to use it on everything. For vegan, try Creamy Cilantro Sauce.
Spicy Mayo A little spicy mayo drizzle on this broccoli would take it over the top!
Honey Mustard Sauce Dip them into honey mustard sauce for a fries-like experience! (Or ketchup, really.)
Hot Honey Drizzle with a little hot honey, and the sweet savory flavor is insane.

Ways to serve oven roasted broccoli

This oven roasted lemon broccoli is easy to make and a delicious whole food plant based (WFPB) side dish. It pairs with main dishes of all kinds. You could even serve it as part of a grain bowl with quinoa or farro! Here are some ideas:

Shrimp. This Garlic Butter Shrimp is begging for a little broccoli.
Salmon. Easiest would be Broiled Salmon with Bourbon Glaze to keep the oven free!
Pasta. Try with our Roasted Eggplant Pasta or Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo.
Grain Bowl. Add roasted broccoli to a grain bowl with quinoa or farro, and top with our Lemon Tahini Sauce or Cilantro Sauce. An easy lunch or dinner!

This roasted broccoli recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, and gluten-free.