Roasted Fresh Broccoli with garlic, lemon, and Parmesan Cheese, this side dish recipe is sure to be the Best Broccoli of Your Life!
Serve this delectable recipe for anything from holiday dinners or just as a simple side for Breaded Chicken Cutlets or Baked Chicken Thighs with roasted potatoes everyone will love!
This simple, yet delicious twist on one of our favorite vegetables is the perfect side dish for almost any meal.
I love this recipe so much that I’ve started creating similar recipes with other vegetables.
So far, I’ve only posted my Garlic Roasted Green Beans, Garlic Roasted Carrots and The Best Brussels Sprouts of Your Life, but I’ve tried it with asparagus and cauliflower too!
Why This Recipe Works
- Cooking broccoli in high heat, caramelizes the outside, creating crispness and a sweet, nutty flavor.
- The crisp caramelized outside of the broccoli contrasts well with the tender inside of the florets.
- The nuttiness of the roasted garlic and broccoli combined with the saltiness of the cheese and sour lemon is a fantastic
The Benefits of Eating Broccoli
Broccoli has so many health benefits. I bet you didn’t know just how good though…
To name a few, broccoli is a good source of fiber, vitamins B6, E B1, and A. It’s a source of phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, omega-3 fatty acids, protein, zinc, iron, and niacin. And that’s not the complete list!
Needless to say, I try to eat a lot of broccoli.
How to Choose The Best Broccoli
- Look for bright green broccoli with firm , strong stalks.
- Avoid woody Stems this will turn out hard and chewy when cooked.
- Don’t purchase broccoli with yellowing florets. Yellow is a sign that it is gone past the stage of desirable texture.
- Choose broccoli with compact clusters in the florets. The more open the florets, the older it is.
Amazing Roasted Broccoli
I discovered roasted broccoli on a blog post titled, The Best Broccoli of Your Life on an amazing blog called, The Amateur Gourmet.
I read the recipe (which is a recipe by the Barefoot Contessa) and thought it sounded good, but as much as I love broccoli, it’s just broccoli – how good could it be? I saved the post and moved on.
Today I had some broccoli to use so I thought I’d try it.
Let me tell you, this seriously is the best broccoli of my life!
Ina Garten uses 4 to 5 pounds of broccoli which I thought would be way too much for a side dish, but boy was I wrong! It may seem like a lot of broccoli, but it shrinks while roasting. Plus, it’s so good that it goes fast!
Roasted Broccoli is now my new favorite way to cook broccoli!
How to Make Roasted Broccoli:
Start with clean, dry broccoli.
Toss the garlic on the broccoli and drizzle with 5 tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper.
I use this garlic slicer for thinly sliced garlic.
I’m telling you, if you don’t have one, you’ll love it because it is amazing! Just fill it with peeled garlic, twist, and perfectly thin sliced garlic comes out! Click this link to get one.
Roast about 20 minutes, until crisp-tender and the tips of some of the florets are browned.
Remove the broccoli from the oven and immediately toss with a bit more olive oil, the lemon zest, lemon juice, and Parmesan cheese.
Serve and enjoy!
Low Carb And Keto-Friendly
This roasted broccoli recipe has approximately 4g of Net Carbs making it perfect for anyone cutting carbs or following a low carb diet.
for Perfect Roasted Broccoli
- Don’t skimp on the oil (even if it seems like a lot), season well, and make sure your oven is hot before adding the broccoli.
- On washing your broccoli: After washing your broccoli, be sure to dry it thoroughly. The drier it is, the more it will crisp up.
- For crispy results: If you want even crisper broccoli, try flipping it halfway through the roasting. It’s a time-consuming task, but it crisps on all sides.
- Short on time? Make this dish even quicker by skipping the fresh garlic and replace it with garlic powder or you can do it simply with just olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- Cooking for kids? I don’t know about your kids, but I have one that won’t eat anything that even resembles being burnt. This recipe does get quite crispy, so you may want to keep an eye on it and cook according to taste.
More Roasted Vegetables
Variation:
- For more texture, try mixing the cheese with breadcrumbs and a little olive oil and sprinkle it on top before roasting.
Did you make this?
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Let’s Make Seriously, The Best Broccoli of Your Life
Ingredients
- 4 pounds broccoli
- 4 garlic cloves peeled and sliced *See the notes section before starting
- Good olive oil or for Keto – butter flavor coconut oil
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ⅓ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C.
- Cut the broccoli florets from the thick stalks, leaving an inch or two of stalk attached to the florets, discarding the rest of the stalks. Cut the larger pieces through the base of the head with a small knife, pulling the florets apart. You should have about 8 cups of florets.
- Place the broccoli florets on a sheet pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Toss the garlic on the broccoli and drizzle with 5 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper.
- Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until crisp-tender and the tips of some of the florets are browned.
- Remove the broccoli from the oven and immediately toss with 1½ tablespoons olive oil, the lemon zest, lemon juice, and Parmesan. Serve hot.
Tips + Notes
- *This recipe makes very crispy garlic. In some ovens it could burn or become bitter. If you are worried about the garlic getting too dark for your liking, add at the last 5-7 minutes of cooking time coated in a little oil and scattered around the pan.
- Don’t skimp on the oil (even if it seems like a lot), season well, and make sure your oven is hot before adding the broccoli.
- On washing your broccoli: After washing your broccoli, be sure to dry it thoroughly. The drier it is, the more it will crisp up.
- For crispy results: If you want an even crisper broccoli, try flipping it halfway through the roasting. It’s a time-consuming task, but it crisps on all sides.
Low Carb, Keto Friendly Roasted Broccoli
This roasted broccoli recipe has approximately 4g of Net Carbs making it perfect for anyone cutting crabs or following a low carb diet.Nutrition Information:
Update Notes: This post was originally published in 2014, but was republished with new photos (old photos below), step by step instructions and tips, and video in June of 2018.
Recipe notes: for this recipe, I went by The Barefoot Contessa’s Recipe but omitted the pine nuts and basil because, after the first taste, I just didn’t think it was needed so my recipe below won’t have it. I also made a much smaller batch, but I’ll give you her measurements of the ingredients I used.
Bill says
Four POUNDS broccoli? I don’t cook for a small Army. What are u thinking??
Erren's Kitchen says
It may seen a lot but once trimmed down and then whilst roasting it shrinks, it does say this in the post, try it and let me know how it goes!
Lana says
Loved it! Our guest loved it as well. Making it again a week later.
Erren's Kitchen says
That is awesome to hear Lana!
nia says
I made this recipe this evening and made only one change…I used avocado oil instead of EVOO to roast, due to the higher smoke point in avocado oil vs evoo. Once roasted, I added the extra 1 1/2 TBS of olive oil to toss. Delicious and by using avocado oil, (to roast) I maintained the healthy integriry of the oil!
Erren's Kitchen says
Sounds good, Nia!
Michele says
I have made this many times and its always a big hit for my family. Today I decided (after I had been to the store) that this would be great with dinner but I didn’t have fresh broccoli so I used frozen and because its August I didn’t want to turn on my oven. So I used a pound bag of frozen broccoli (I had thawed the broccoli for a few minutes in a bowl of hot water and drained really well) and “stir fried” it with the olive oil, garlic and s-n-p until it had the crispy bits then tossed in the rest of the ingredients. I am happy to report that it turned out excellent. Thank you for the great recipe!!!
Erren's Kitchen says
That is awesome to hear Michele, I’ve never tried frozen so thank you for letting me know, and others, a great tip to know!
Daryl says
Just made this, well something close as I tend to not follow directions very well but used the idea. The combo of cheese, salt, garlic and lemon was so good. This is my new go to.
Erren's Kitchen says
That is awesome to hear Daryl!
Lori says
Sounds delicious. I’m gonna try this one for a change. Thanks
Erren's Kitchen says
Touch base and let me know what you thought Lori!
Barbi says
Excellent roasted broccoli!!! I am not a garlic fan, so I used a little garlic powder and some minced onions. It was perfect!!
Erren's Kitchen says
That does sound good, Barbi and thanks for your feedback!
jispa says
This recipe looks SO fresh and delicious! Perfect for summer picnics and barbecues! Broccoli
Erren's Kitchen says
Jispa your feedback is awesome to hear thank you!
Natalia Moreno says
This broccoli is amazing! Delicious and fast to make. Recommend trying this recipe out for anyone who hasn’t already done it
Erren's Kitchen says
Natalia thank you so much for your feedback!
Linda B says
We added the thinly sliced garlic with about 9 minutes to go, and it became charred and bitter. I’m curious how you were able to roast it for 20 minutes, and it still looks good in the photo?
Erren's Kitchen says
Sorry, Linda, I don’t know what happened for you there, it is a hard one as I wasn’t there when you made it, maybe try again?
Spencer89 says
I’m curious as to how you got the calorie count. I’m reading a total of 6.5 TBS of olive oil, which would be 780 calories by itself (divided by 6 servings would mean 130 without any other ingredient.) I’m new to “cooking while counting” So I’ve been giving olive oil it’s full value. If I’m doing something wrong, or there’s a conversion I don’t know about, that would be amazing to understand.
Erren's Kitchen says
I have an APP that does the counting for me so I’m afraid I can’t help much either!
Debbe says
Spencer89 –
I am SO into EVOO I even put it on popcorn!
Extra virgin olive oil has truly changed my life. I have a genetic predisposition for high cholesterol and, since I started eating EVOO on my popcorn regularly, I brought my ‘bad cholesterol’ numbers DOWN to normal levels! (And they WERE up over 800 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) – heart attack levels!) So huzzah for olive oil!
Also, I firmly believe that caloric values can be overstated, especially since the majority of these values come straight to us from our ‘all wise and powerful’ government. I will take ‘high calories’ from EVOO ANY day to attain lower cholesterol levels. PLUS, there is the topic of ‘good fats’ vs. ‘bad fats’ and EVOO is one of the good guys!