26 Best Broccoli Recipes Ever Created

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My oldest will tell me straight whether something was amazing, good or mediocre, so broccoli recipes in this house have always had to earn their place. These twenty six did. There is a roasted broccoli that goes into a 475 degree oven and comes out with edges people fight over, a two ingredient soup of broccoli and coconut milk, a pizza crust made out of the stuff, tots, fritters, a salad with apples and one with blueberries, and a mac and cheese where the broccoli never dirties a second pot. Some are side dishes and some are the whole dinner. What they have in common is a real technique behind them, the spacing on the sheet pan, the squeeze in the kitchen towel, the drain that keeps a casserole from going watery, and that is usually the difference between broccoli you eat and broccoli you push around the plate!

1. Broccoli Apple Salad

No cooking at all, which is the reason this one lands on the table so often. Four cups of small diced broccoli florets go in raw with two diced gala apples, walnuts, matchstick carrots, golden raisins and a little red onion, and the dressing is Greek yogurt cut with mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar and honey. That yogurt is what keeps it from tasting like the heavy deli version. Twenty minutes, eight servings, and it holds up in the fridge well enough to be lunch tomorrow.

Get the full tutorial at Cooking Classy.

2. Charred Air Fryer Parmesan Crusted Broccoli

Ours, and the shortest route to good broccoli in the house. Two trimmed heads get tossed by hand with a tablespoon of olive oil, two grated garlic cloves, about three quarters of an ounce of grated parmesan, salt and pepper, then go into a greased air fryer basket. Do grease the basket, unless you enjoy scraping parmesan out of the mesh afterward. It comes out charred at the tips and finishes in a bowl with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, more parmesan and cracked black pepper. No oven, no stovetop, no heating up the kitchen.

Get the full tutorial at Sueeye.

3. Detox Broccoli Soup

Two ingredients. One head of broccoli and a 14 ounce can of coconut milk, simmered together for about five minutes until the florets soften, then blended smooth and seasoned with salt, pepper and nutmeg. The nutmeg is not optional as far as I am concerned, it is the thing that makes a green soup taste finished. Fifteen minutes total, four servings, no dairy and no stock. Crushed macadamias, chopped parsley or sliced avocado on top if you want it to feel like lunch rather than a cleanse.

Get the full tutorial at Contentedness Cooking.

4. Crispy Broccoli Parmesan Fritters

The stem goes in these, which I appreciate, since most recipes have you throw away the part you paid for. Broccoli and chopped stem get pulsed in a food processor, then egg, half an onion, garlic, a third of a cup of flour and shaved parmesan go in for another five seconds of pulsing. Form eight to ten fritters, spray them with olive oil and bake at 400F for twelve to fifteen minutes a side. Almond flour swaps in cleanly if you are watching carbs.

Get the full tutorial at Cafe Delites.

5. Roasted Garlic Broccoli Parmesan Risotto

Risotto has a reputation it does not really deserve. The broccoli roasts separately at 400F for ten to fifteen minutes while the arborio goes in the skillet with onion, butter, white wine and roasted garlic, then two cups of hot broth get ladled in a little at a time, waiting for each one to disappear before the next. Half and half and parmesan at the end, roasted broccoli folded through. Twenty five minutes, six servings, and the stirring is the whole technique.

Get the full tutorial at Whole and Heavenly Oven.

6. Cauliflower And Broccoli Detox Salad

Nothing gets cooked and everything gets shredded small, and that second part is what makes a bowl of crucifers pleasant to eat rather than a chore. Broccoli, cauliflower, kale, parsley and carrots all get chopped fine, then blanched almonds, poppy seeds and dried cranberries go over the top. The dressing is emulsified olive oil, lemon, raw honey, oregano and grated ginger, and it dresses everything lightly rather than drowning it. Fifteen minutes, no cooking, and it is one of the better things to carry to work in a jar.

Get the full tutorial at Chef De Home.

7. Broccoli Mac And Cheese

Thirteen minutes start to finish, and you will only wash one pot. It goes into the pasta water for the last four minutes of cooking, which is one of those small moves that saves a pan and a wait. The sauce is a straight roux, 50g butter, 50g flour and 600ml milk whisked in slowly, then dijon mustard and 150g of grated cheddar off the heat. The dijon is what stops it tasting flat. Serves four and it is on the table faster than the boxed kind.

Get the full tutorial at My Fussy Eater.

8. Chicken And Broccoli Shells And Cheese

Shells instead of elbows, chicken and broccoli stirred in, and a cheese sauce built from butter, flour, milk, chicken broth and cheddar rather than a packet. The broccoli goes into the boiling pasta water near the end, same one pot move. What makes this a weeknight recipe is that it leans on chicken you already cooked, so nobody has to dirty a cutting board with raw meat at six o’clock. Grown up enough for you, familiar enough that the kids do not negotiate.

Get the full tutorial at Love Grows Wild.

9. Vegan Bang Bang Broccoli

A vegan buttermilk gets made first by letting apple cider vinegar sit in almond milk for a few minutes, then whisked into flour, cornstarch, salt and hot sauce for the batter. Florets get dipped, pressed into panko and shallow fried in half an inch to an inch of oil. Three things make the sauce: vegan mayo, chili paste and agave nectar, whisked in a small bowl before anything else happens. Thirty minutes. This is the recipe that converts people who say they do not like broccoli, and it is not subtle about how.

Get the full tutorial at Rabbit and Wolves.

10. Broccoli Cashew Chicken

One pan, thirty minutes, and it is scaled for two, which is genuinely rare in a stir fry recipe. Ginger and five cloves of garlic go into the hot fat first, then cubed chicken for three or four minutes, then roasted cashews and broccoli, then broth, coconut aminos and honey to simmer about nine minutes until the sauce tightens. Coconut aminos instead of soy keeps it gluten free and a little sweeter. Let it rest a couple of minutes before you serve it.

Get the full tutorial at Recipes to Nourish.

11. Crack Broccoli

475F, which is hotter than most people dare, and that heat is the entire point. The crowns get trimmed leaving about two inches of stalk, then sliced into half inch steaks so there is flat surface to caramelize. Olive oil, grated garlic and red pepper flakes go on before roasting, sliced almonds, lemon juice, lemon zest and grated pecorino after. Ovens lie, so if yours runs hot, come down to 425F and stay in the room. This is the roasted broccoli people ask about.

Get the full tutorial at A Beautiful Plate.

12. Parmesan Balsamic Roasted Broccoli

There is one instruction here worth carrying to every other sheet pan vegetable you make, and it is about how much room they get. Give the florets room on the sheet pan instead of piling them, because a tight pile steams and a loose layer roasts, and that one difference decides whether this tastes like a side dish or like cafeteria vegetables. Twelve minutes at 450F, flip with tongs, drizzle balsamic glaze, three to five minutes more, parmesan over the top. About a pound of broccoli, four servings, twenty five minutes.

Get the full tutorial at Averie Cooks.

13. Broccoli And Cheddar Twice Baked Potatoes

Four russets bake whole for an hour at 400F, then get halved and scooped, and the skins are rubbed with olive oil before they go back in, which is the step that makes the edges crisp instead of leathery. The filling is butter, Greek yogurt and buttermilk with chives, garlic powder, onion powder, dill and paprika, plus a cup and a half of cooked broccoli and two cups of cheddar. Eight halves. Make them the day before and bake them off when you need them.

Get the full tutorial at Baker by Nature.

14. Broccoli Cheddar Egg Bites

Baked in mini muffin pans, which means twenty four of them come out of one tray and each one is about two bites. They are essentially a tiny crustless quiche, broccoli, cheese and egg, twenty five minutes of baking, and the real argument for them is that they freeze. Make a tray on Sunday, pull three out on a Wednesday morning. Good for brunch, good in a lunchbox, and one of the few broccoli things small children will pick up voluntarily.

Get the full tutorial at Simply Recipes.

15. Roasted Ranch Broccoli

Tear open a Hidden Valley ranch dip packet, measure out a tablespoon and a half of the dry seasoning, and you have already understood the recipe. It goes on with lemon juice and olive oil over broccoli sliced into inch thick steaks, roasts at 425F for sixteen minutes, then gets a shower of grated parmesan and one or two minutes more. Twenty three minutes, four servings. Nobody at the table will identify the seasoning and everybody will finish their vegetables, which is a fair trade.

Get the full tutorial at Taste and See.

16. Low Carb Broccoli Cauliflower Rice

Run the cauliflower and broccoli through a food processor only until the texture reads as rice, then take your hand off the button. Go past that point and you have mush, and mush does not come back. Spread it thin on a lined sheet with olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and do not crowd the pan. Ten minutes at 400F, stir, ten more. Five ingredients, twenty five minutes, four servings, and roasting it rather than steaming it is why it comes out fluffy.

Get the full tutorial at Living Sweet Moments.

17. Broccoli Cheese Casserole

No canned soup anywhere in this one. The broccoli gets microwaved two minutes and then drained really well, which matters more than it sounds like it should, because water is what turns a casserole soupy. Then a bechamel of butter, flour and two cups of whole milk, eight ounces of cheese, two whisked eggs and fresh grated nutmeg, all folded together and baked an hour at 325F. The low oven and the eggs give it a custard set rather than a bubbling grease layer.

Get the full tutorial at The View from Great Island.

18. Skillet Creamy Garlic Chicken with Broccoli

Paprika goes on two pounds of chicken breast, which browns in butter for five minutes a side and then waits on a plate while the garlic cooks in that same pan. A can of condensed cream of chicken soup and a cup of water whisk in, the chicken goes back with the broccoli, lid on, ten more minutes. Add the broccoli later if you want it with some bite left. Thirty minutes, six servings, one skillet, and yes, there is a can involved. Some nights that is the correct answer.

Get the full tutorial at Best Recipe Box.

19. Cheesy Chicken And Broccoli Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

The squash does double duty as the dish, so there is one less thing to wash. Chicken cooks with shallot, garlic and red pepper flakes, then cream cheese, chicken broth, mozzarella, sharp cheddar, broccoli and a little Greek yogurt get stirred through the strands and the whole thing goes back into the shells. Call it seventy minutes, most of which is the squash roasting while you do something else, and it feeds three. The yogurt is doing the job cream usually does, which keeps it lighter than it looks.

Get the full tutorial at Recipe Runner.

20. No Mayo Broccoli Salad With Blueberries And Apples

A pound and a half of broccoli with blueberries, red onion, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds and chopped apple tossed in lemon juice so it does not brown on you. The dressing is plain Greek yogurt with honey, lemon, cider vinegar and poppy seeds, no mayonnaise at all. One honest warning from the source: once it is dressed, eat it within a day, because broccoli releases water and the dressing thins out. Fifteen minutes, eight servings, and it travels well undressed.

Get the full tutorial at Kristine's Kitchen.

21. Chicken And Broccoli Stir Fry

There is a step in here most home stir fries skip and it is the one that matters. Cook the broccoli and mushrooms first, take them out, wipe the pan clean with a paper towel, then turn the heat to high for the chicken in a single layer, in batches. Crowd the pan and everything steams, which is the real reason home stir fry comes out grey. Whisk the sauce before you start: oyster sauce, broth, a little sugar, toasted sesame oil, soy and cornstarch. Thirty minutes, four servings, better than delivery.

Get the full tutorial at Dinner at the Zoo.

22. Low-Carb Broccoli Tots

Boil the florets three to five minutes, pulse them, then wring them out in a kitchen towel and do it again with a dry towel, and then once more. Excessive, I know. It is also exactly what separates a crisp tot from a sad one. The maker says so plainly, having made them the lazy way first. What holds them together is onion, yellow bell pepper, an egg with an extra white and half a cup of fine breadcrumbs. 375F for forty minutes, makes about twenty four.

Get the full tutorial at Primavera Kitchen.

23. Vegan Broccoli Rabe Pesto Ravioli

This is the ambitious one on the list, and worth knowing about for a Sunday. The pasta dough is made in a food processor from all purpose and semolina flour with water poured in through the opening, then rested while the filling comes together. Broccoli rabe gets blanched two or three minutes, shocked in ice water, squeezed dry and blended with toasted pine nuts, nutritional yeast, lemon and red pepper flakes. Forty minutes, six servings, no dairy anywhere in it.

Get the full tutorial at Rabbit and Wolves.

24. Easy Fettuccine Alfredo With Broccoli

Twenty minutes, six servings, and the broccoli comes bagged and already cut, which the recipe says outright instead of pretending everybody trims their own on a Tuesday. The sauce is a whole stick of butter and two cups of half and half, seasoned with garlic powder, salt, pepper and an eighth of a teaspoon of cayenne. That cayenne is invisible and it is the reason the sauce tastes like something rather than just tasting rich.

Get the full tutorial at Baking Mischief.

25. Crustless Broccoli Quiche

Frozen broccoli is welcome here, and for once a recipe tells you exactly how to treat it: six minutes in the microwave with a quarter cup of water, a stir at the halfway mark, then drain it properly. Fresh takes three. Eight eggs, half a cup of sour cream, scallions, garlic powder and a cup of sharp cheddar go over it in a buttered nine inch pie dish at 400F. Eight slices, no crust to make, and it is just as good cold out of the fridge the next morning.

Get the full tutorial at Healthy Recipes Blogs.

26. Broccoli Crust Pizza

Same principle as cauliflower crust and, to my taste, better flavor. Rice a small head of broccoli in a processor or on a box grater, microwave it one to two minutes under plastic, then let it cool and squeeze it in a clean washcloth until you are holding a dry ball. That squeeze is the recipe. Two eggs, parmesan, mozzarella and Italian seasoning bind it, then bake at 400F, top and bake again. Twenty five minutes and four servings.

Get the full tutorial at Gimme Delicious.