Incredibly Easy Roasted Broccoli
Updated: Mar 10, 2021
This simple roasted broccoli is so easy to make, my son started cooking it at age 4. It’s a staple in our house; we have it once a week and no one’s gotten sick of it yet! (Knock on wood.) My kids gobble it up and the kids in my daycare munch it down too, usually asking for seconds. (Pretending they are big dinosaurs eating little trees helps.)
I use frozen broccoli florets for this recipe. You can use broccoli cuts, which include the stem, but I find the kids don’t eat the stem pieces quite as happily as they do the florets. You can also use fresh broccoli instead, but then it’s not "incredibly easy" anymore, given that you have to cut up the broccoli first. Also, when I’ve made this recipe with fresh broccoli, the florets come out a different texture that is not as much of a kid-pleaser; the moisture content of frozen makes it more similar to steamed so it’s a bit softer whereas the fresh broccoli is a bit harder to chew. If you’re making this for a grown-up crowd, fresh will be just fine.
Incredibly Easy Roasted Broccoli
Ingredients:
2 10-ounce bags of frozen broccoli florets
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon ground pepper
2-3 tablespoons olive or avocado oil
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut open the bags of florets and dump them on the tray, spreading them out evenly. Drizzle with the olive or avocado oil and evenly distribute the spices. (In fact, I don’t even measure; I just eyeball it as I sprinkle directly from the spice jar; my son does the same. I included measurements for those who might stress about just dumping the spices on!) Once the spices are sprinkled across the broccoli, give it a stir to allow the oil to cover the broccoli pieces. Toss the tray in the hot oven for 20 minutes, ideally stirring the broccoli at 15 minutes if you remember. If you don’t, no biggie.
Notes:
*The length of time you cook this depends on the broccoli brand you buy. You’ll have to watch it after 20 minutes and take it out when it gives a little as you pierce it with a fork. Serve up your dinosaur trees and watch your little herbivores munch them down!