How long does it take to roast broccoli at 400 degrees in one? I have the perfect recipe for you!
Broccoli is in season all year, but it’s the tastiest between July and October. It’s easy to grow in a garden and one of the most nutritious and healthy vegetables. No wonder it’s so popular!
You can find them in Michelin-starred restaurants, Sunday dinner at Grandma’s, and next to juicy stakes. It’s a varied dish that needs very little preparation to taste incredible.
It looks like a small tree and is sold by heads that have several florets branching off. People usually throw away the leaves, although they are edible and packed with flavors and vitamins. You can stir-dry, roast, steam, or eat them raw.
Garlic, lemon, and parmesan are frequently paired with broccoli, but you can enhance the flavors with some fresh herbs as well.
Originating from the Mediterranean region, it has been widely popular since ancient Roman times. It spread to the US in the 18th century and is now enjoyed all over the world.
How long does it take to roast broccoli at 400 degrees?
Depending on serving sizes, it can take between 20- 45 minutes to roast broccoli at 400 degrees Fahrenheit in the oven. They can be a side or main dish, with many serving styles, are filling, nutritious, healthy, and taste amazing.
They should be crispy and golden brown after roasting in the oven. For this, you have to leave some space between each floret when baking and cut them into even-sized pieces. If you place them too close together while roasting, they will simply steam.
Sprinkle them with olive oil, butter, parmesan, or any kind of heavier cheese, nuts like walnuts or almonds, or sesame oil.
What do I need for this recipe?
To recreate this amazing roasted broccoli, you will need a handful of things: white pepper, lemon, olive oil, fresh parsley, salt, goat cheese, garlic, and, of course, some broccoli heads. You can either work with regular broccoli or Romanesco.
To store it longer, place it in an airtight container in the fridge. They are very easy to make. By roasting them in the oven, the florets slowly caramelize, making them slightly sweeter. If you love some spice, sprinkle them with some chili flakes.
Let them cool off for 5-10 minutes before serving.
You can enhance their flavor by chopping some fresh herbs and tossing them on after they have been freshly oven-roasted. The heat will bring out the fresh herbal aromatics. Lemon is a staple with broccoli, giving a clear, bright, and bold undertone to the earthy, musky vegetable.
How Long to Roast Broccoli at 400
Ingredients
- 1 kg (35 oz) Regular or Romanesco Broccoli (preferably not frozen)
- 7 oz Goat cheese
- 4 Gloves of garlic, chopped
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Sea salt
- 1 Lemon (halved)
- Fresh parsley
- White pepper (ground)
Instructions
- Wash the broccoli in cold water a few hours before roasting and let it dry completely. Dry broccoli roasts much better.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cut the leaves and set them aside. With the knife, cut the broccoli into roughly the same-size florets, leaving as long stems as possible, almost cutting at the main stem to get an elegant shape.
- Place the florets onto the baking sheet at an even distance from each other, leaving some space between each of them.
- Sprinkle them with olive oil, salt, white pepper, fresh parsley, chopped garlic, and the cut leaves of the broccoli you set aside beforehand.
- Squeeze one-half of the lemon juice all over them. Grind the goat cheese with your fingers onto the broccoli florets.
- Place the other half of the lemon on the baking sheet.
- Roast them at 400 degrees for 35 minutes, until brown and golden.
- Remove them from the oven, and after it slightly cools down, squeeze the roasted lemon juices all over the broccoli. Serve them fresh.
What is the best type of broccoli for roast?
Although most people are only familiar with one type of broccoli, there are dozens of them out there! You can raise most of them, even in indoor containers. The regular broccoli we all know and frequent is called Calabrese. It’s earthy, sold in heads, and moderately firm.
Sprouting broccoli tastes just like it, but slightly sweeter. Despite its name, purple cauliflower is a kind of broccoli that has more antioxidants than green ones but is more sensitive to cooking, so it’s not the best option for roasting.
Stick to steaming or blanching when you prepare purple broccoli, or you can eat them raw after a thorough washing.
Romanesco is an ancient broccoli type from Italy, with a unique spiral shape, coral-like texture, nutty flavor, and a much firmer texture than regular broccoli or cauliflower. It makes the perfect candidate for oven-roasting!
Can I replace some ingredients in the recipe?
Both broccoli and goat cheese can be a dividing ingredients:
- You can substitute broccoli with cauliflower for a milder vegetable with a less greeny taste;
- The same goes for goat cheese. However healthy it is, many people straight-up hate the taste;
- You can swap it for parmesan or feta, the latter being close to goat cheese in texture and more suitable for broccoli.
- Instead of lemon, you can use oranges or lime (I suggest you stick with orange because lime is too tangy for green broccoli).
Whenever you get bored of it, you can make a lemon vinaigrette sauce to mix it up. Sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, or peanut sauce can taste amazing with roasted broccoli.
However surprising, green apples make a great companion to broccoli, especially their juices.
This roasted broccoli recipe is amazing in itself, but you can make a pasta dish out of them or serve them with a juicy steak. This dish tends to be a favorite among people who don’t fancy broccoli that much. They go with almost any dish imaginable.
Tips and tricks to improve the recipe
Whenever you roast veggies, make sure to wash them hours beforehand and let them dry completely. You can pat-dry them or let them drain of moisture.
If they are too wet, they won’t roast, just steam in the oven. Salt them generously. The most common mistake with veggies is undersalting them. Adding some cheese, the bolder the better, creates a crispy and golden finish with an added depth of flavor.
Some cookbooks recommend sprinkling sugar, especially brown sugar, on them. It creates a caramelized glaze on the florets, mixing amazingly with the earthy tones of broccoli.
If you try this one next time, add some more acidity as well, such as red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar, to create a balanced flavor.
Final words
Eating broccoli regularly helps with supporting a healthy gut microbiome and bowel health. They are packed with vitamins and minerals and are especially high in vitamin C.
Surprisingly, broccoli provides a rare and recently discovered taste profile, umami. It’s a great addition to balanced-tasting meals, but with a decent amount of salt, fats can perfectly stand on their own as a main dish.
There are many kinds of broccoli, and I suggest you try more of them. They all taste slightly different and are good to prepare in a variety of ways.
Processing with heat alters the nutrient content of broccoli; steaming and blanching are the most gentle of them all. Stick to these two methods to retain the most nutrients in them, or even better, eat them raw after washing.
Always go for healthy-looking, bright green heads with no signs of damage on them. Keep them in an airtight container in the fridge, and only cut the florets from the main stem right when you start the cooking process with the washing. Don’t store them cut up and unprocessed, because they spoil fast this way.
You can steam, blanche, deep-fry, air-fry, oven-roast, grill, microwave, or boil them.
So, do you already know how long does it take to roast broccoli at 400 degrees in oven? Feel free to leave your opinion in the comments below!
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