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This roasted broccolini recipe is impressive with little effort! The baby broccoli comes out tender and browned, seasoned with garlic and lemon.

Here’s a favorite easy side dish around here: roasted broccolini! Broccoli’s cooler and more sophisticated cousin is absolutely worth trying. Somehow it’s even more delicious than roasted broccoli (if that’s possible!), with a sweet flavor and tender crunch. Even better: its long, elegant stems makes it look fancier and it takes less time to cook. Here’s how to cook broccolini into a delicious and impressive side dish!

What is broccolini, exactly?

With its long, thin stems and small florets, broccolini might look like baby broccoli. In fact, it’s sometimes labeled that way in the grocery store. But it actually isn’t an immature version of standard broccoli!

Broccolini is a cross between standard broccoli and Chinese broccoli. It has the long stems of Chinese broccoli and the florets of broccoli. Broccolini has a milder, sweeter flavor than standard broccoli.
Broccolini was invented in 1993. It might seem like an Italian ingredient with hundreds of years of history, but broccolini is the new kid on the block.
How to find it? Broccolini is becoming easier to find at standard grocery stores. It’s usually right next to the standard broccoli, so look for the small bunches of broccoli with long stems.

How to make roasted broccolini (basic steps)

Roasted broccolini is quick and easy, but it looks like a fancy side dish! It’s so irresistible that we ended up eating most of it right off of the roasting pan. Something about the sweet flavor makes it hard to stop eating. It doesn’t have that faint bitter aftertaste like broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables like kale, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. Here’s how to make roasted broccolini:

Chop 2 inches off of the ends. The ends can be tough, so chop them off before cooking. Then mix with olive oil and salt, and lay the stalks in a single layer on the baking sheet.
Roast at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes. This baby broccoli is very quick, compared to the 20 to 25 minutes roasting time for standard broccoli. Cooking it in a very hot oven makes it crispy and browned at the edges!
Spritz with lemon and add grated garlic. Our favorite way to flavor broccoli: just fresh lemon juice and a little grated garlic. It takes it from good to transcendental!

Ways to serve roasted broccolini

Roasted broccolini pairs with all sorts of main dishes! It’s especially perfect for entertaining, and makes any dinner party entrée seem that much fancier. Here are some ideas on how to serve it:

Salmon or shrimp. Try it with Garlic Butter Shrimp, Baked Shrimp, Broiled Shrimp, Baked Salmon or Salmon with Capers.
Pasta. Serve alongside Roasted Eggplant Pasta, Vegan Lasagna, Fettuccine Alfredo, or Mushroom Pasta.
In a bowl meal. It’s great to add to a grain bowl! Substitute it for broccoli in Easy Sheet Pan Dinner, or make a bowl with quinoa and chickpeas and top with tahini sauce or lemon tahini dressing.
In a stir fry. Substitute it for broccoli in this Teriyaki Vegetable Stir Fry.

More ways to cook broccolini

There are of course other ways to cook broccolini: but none as delicious as roasting, in our minds! Here are the basic ways to cook it:

Roasted in a hot oven. See the recipe below!
Sauteed. Go to Sautéed Broccolini.
Grilled. Go to Grilled Broccolini.
Stir fried! Try our Broccoli Stir Fry.
Add it to pasta! It’s delicious in our Vegan Pasta Primavera.
Raw. Or try it raw in a Broccolini Salad.

This roasted broccolini recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.