Love and Olive Oil
Crispy Oven-Roasted Broccolini

Crispy Oven-Roasted Broccolini

As far as perfect side dishes go, this one checks all the boxes: easy, delicious, crispy and salty—not to mention ready to eat in 15 minutes!

Perhaps one of our all-time favorite vegetable side dishes, this tender broccolini comes out of the oven delightfully crispy. Made with little more than a splash of olive oil, soy sauce, and a sprinkle of flake salt to finish it off, this oven-roasted broccolini makes a great side dish for steak, chicken, or whatever else is on your plate!

Crispy Oven-Roasted Broccolini finished with flake sea salt

One of our favorite side dishes is simple vegetables roasted with a splash of olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. And one of our favorite vegetables to roast in this manner is broccolini.

I mean, it’s almost a non-recipe it’s so easy. That said, some of my previous non-recipes have turned out to be my most popular, so I figure if it’s worth eating, it’s worth sharing here. Maybe you never thought to roast broccolini, or maybe you’ve never even heard of broccolini before. In that respect, this post is a success if only for expanding your culinary horizons.

We often just toss our broccolini with a bit of olive oil, but here I’ve added a splash of soy sauce too for a bit of salt and umami.

Speaking of salt… if you want crispier bits, don’t salt your broccolini before cooking it. The salt will draw water out of the stalk, and any residual water will prevent the broccolini from achieving divine crispiness.

I like to salt my broccolini with coarse flake salt as soon as it comes out of the oven. The slight crunch of the salt a perfect compliment to the crunchy brown bits.

Crispy Oven-Roasted Broccolini with olive oil and soy sause

This recipe is proof of two cooking truths:

1. Broccolini is far superior to broccoli. Sorry, broccoli, but the delicate, lanky little florets of broccolini just mean more surface area for browning and more tender goodness for eating. Stems and all! I treat it much like asparagus, cutting off just the roughest of end pieces. Don’t worry about any leftover leaves either, they’ll crisp up nicely, like broccoli-flavored kale chips.

Broccolini is often referred to as baby broccoli, but it’s actually a natural hybrid between broccoli and Chinese broccoli. It’s much less bitter than broccoli, slightly sweet and earthy with notes of asparagus; to those broccoli-phobic among you, I’d encourage you to try it out, it just might surprise you!

That said. This same cooking technique will also work with regular broccoli; just cut it into bite-sized florets and proceed as instructed. Broccoli needs a bit more cooking time to get the same crispy bits due to its thicker nature; plan on about 30 minutes in all.

2. A little burnt isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, slightly burnt is the best way: the delicate tips and thin leaves cook to a delightful crunch. The entire stalk won’t be crunchy, just the tips of the florets and the leaves, which makes for a lovely textural contrast.

Easy Oven-Roasted Broccolini

This quick & easy side dish recipe would be great alongside a reverse-sear steak, simple roasted chicken breasts, or honey sriracha chicken thighs.

Depending on the flavors of your main dish, you could easily adjust the flavors here to match. Maybe a teaspoon of seasame oil and a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds for a more Asian-forward flavor profile, toss in some fresh chopped herbs to give it a fragrant twist, even a little bit of lemon zest (which would pair perfectly Chicken Picatta!), even adding in some red pepper flakes for a pleasant heat.

Once you’ve mastered the basic roast, you can really take this in any direction your heart desires!

Crispy Oven-Roasted Broccolini

Crispy Oven-Roasted Broccolini

Our favorite vegetable side dish, this tender broccolini is delightfully crispy and perfectly salty—not to mention ready to eat in 15 minutes!
5 stars (9 reviews)

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch / 170 g broccolini, rough ends trimmed off
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • coarse flake sea salt or fleur de sel, for finishing

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil, brush with oil or spray with cooking spray.
  • Trim off any rough ends of broccolini. Leave any leaves still attached.
  • On the baking sheet or in a large bowl, toss broccolini with olive oil and soy sauce. Spread onto baking sheet in a single layer (overcrowded or overlapping vegetables won't get as crispy).
  • Bake for about 15 minutes or until broccolini is tender and tips are golden brown and crisp.
  • Remove from oven; serve while still warm and crispy, sprinkled with flake sea salt to taste.
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23 Comments

  1. Absolutely delicious. Oh my God I’m gonna eat broccolini this way forever. It was so easy but so flavorful this is a must try.

  2. I made it exactly like you did and they turned out awesome! I made mashed taters , roasted broccolini and corn on the cob with it !!!:)Thank you  for the recipe !

  3. This is my family’s favorite broccoli recipe–actually, this is now my family’s ONLY flavored broccoli recipe….  It’s easy to prepare and goes with so many different types of dishes–across cultures and cooking styles.  Thank you for sharing this with us!

  4. This was wonderful! Thank you for sharing your amazing recipe!!!

  5. Thank you for this deliciously simple recipe! I substituted soy sauce for coconut aminos and it was amazing. I even sprinkled salt before the roasting (I must have skipped that part lol) and it was still delish. Will now be cooking broccolini more often thanks to you :)

  6. Rating: 5

    So easy and so good! Never thought to use soy sauce & then salt AFTER. So crispy and delicious. 

  7. Rating: 5

    This was awesome! Such a rich flavor. Definitely tastier than how I normally prepared broccoli, which was to steam it.

  8. Rating: 5

    Delicious and the ideal complement to my chicken rollatini with ricotta and spinach filling!

  9. Rating: 5

    So simple and yet so delicious! Next time I’ll double the recipe as it was a crowd favorite!

  10. Rating: 5

    This was great! So much flavour. Definitely much tastier then steaming which was how I’d usually prepare broccolini. I had some meatloaf cooking on low temp so I just threw the broccolini in for the last thirty minutes and it cooked beautifully. Thanks for a great recipe! Will be using again. 

  11. Great recipe. I have made it a few times. Never cooked Broccolini before. Enjoyed it from the start. I have tried a few variations, Caribbean spice, lemon juice, garlic etc. All good options. I will continue cooking Broccolini and will constantly try new things but I will always use this as the starting point. 

  12. I made this recipe tonight as a side to baked chicken.  I had only roasted broccolini once before.  The addition of the soy sauce was a delicious upgrade!  Don’t remove the leaves…they are wonderfully crispy!  Thank you for sharing this.  

  13. Delicious, was the perfect accompaniment to my stuffed ricotta, spinach chicken rollatini!

  14. 15 min was too much for my oven, they were burnt after it

  15. I make this often. Very yummy and good tip about not salting until after the broccolini is cooked – makes a difference  A few red chilli flakes are a good addition

  16. The recipe looks good, but there’s no “jump to recipe” button. I just needed to know how long to roast and what oven temp. Please put a jump to recipe button so I don’t have to waste a full minute scrolling through your narrative

  17. Fantastic recipe! I’ve made this many times now and it’s always delicious. I’ve found that depending on the size of the broccolini, sometimes I have to cook it a bit longer to get it as crispy as I like; but it always turns out great. Super simple and an makes an excellent side to salmon!

  18. Oh, thanks for the recipe, I want to try it! I adore broccoli, so if broccolini is even better, I think I’ll love this dish

  19. My husband said the broccolini was the best thing on his plate (and he hates veggies) the first time I made it. So easy and so yummy. Ty!

  20. agree on broccolini vs broccoli and also that crispy (even slightly burnt) is better than soggy or not crisp, great side dish, thank you

  21. The recipe sounds amazing! What would you think to sprinkling a little bit of diced red pepper in with it near the end of the roasting time just to give it some color and a little additional flavor contrast?

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