As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Save time and money by making roasted frozen broccoli a part of your weekly dinner rotation. It’s so easy to whip up this crispy oven-roasted broccoli for a fast and tasty side dish.
Frozen vegetables are simple to incorporate into your weekly meal repertoire.
The ability to open up a bag of already washed and prepped veggies can be a total game-changer when it comes to getting tasty food on your table in a flash.
Five Pro TIPS FOR ROASTING FROZEN Broccoli
- Use frozen broccoli florets instead of “cuts and pieces”. Bags marked cuts and pieces or “chopped” include pieces of the stem as well as the floret. The cuts and pieces are of various sizes and will roast unevenly.
- Do not defrost the broccoli before roasting.
- Fully preheat the oven. It is so tempting to start cooking the broccoli while the oven is preheating, but doing so will give you soft and mushy (smushy) broccoli instead of perfectly roasted veg.
- Preheat the sheet pan. Place the sheet pan in the oven while the oven is preheating. A hot pan will give the broccoli a jump start on the roasting process.
- Don’t crowd the sheet pan! Give the broccoli plenty of space to roast. Too much veg all smushed together will cause the water in the frozen broccoli to steam instead of evaporate. Steaming = mushy vegetables. Try using two or even three sheet pans if you want to roast larger batches.
Crispy Oven Roasted Frozen Broccoli
Save time and money by making roasted frozen broccoli part of your weekly dinner rotation. It's so easy to whip up this crispy broccoli for a fast and tasty side dish.
Ingredients
- 1 lb frozen broccoli florets {do not thaw}
- 2 tsp olive oil {or avocado or coconut oil}
- 1 tsp garlic powder {optional}
- pinch sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 435˚F. Place the pan in the oven while it preheats.
- In a medium mixing bowl, toss the broccoli with the olive oil and the garlic powder (if using).1 lb frozen broccoli florets, 2 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp garlic powder
- Add the broccoli to the hot pan and bake for 12 minutes. Stir and bake an additional 7-10 minutes depending on how crispy you like your roasted broccoli.
- Top with a pinch of salt.pinch sea salt
Notes
- Do not thaw the frozen broccoli prior to roasting.
- You can reheat your roasted frozen broccoli, but I find it best eaten within 1-2 days of roasting.
- Don’t crowd the pan! Give the broccoli plenty of space to roast. Too much veg all smushed together will cause the water to steam instead of evaporating. Try using two or even three pans if you want to roast larger batches.
Nutrition
Serving: 0.25cupCalories: 58kcalCarbohydrates: 8gProtein: 3gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 37mgPotassium: 358mgFiber: 3gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 706IUVitamin C: 101mgCalcium: 53mgIron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tried this recipe?Mention @sustainablecooks or tag #sustainablecooks!
I would love to try this but have one question. Do you need to thaw the veggies beforehand?
Hi Amy, no, you do not need to thaw it first. That’s what makes it such a simple recipe, and a game changer for my family!
I was literally telling my BFF that I wish I could figure out how to cook frozen veggies other than steaming them because it would just be a game changer! I’m totally going to try this. Thanks!!
It was perfect timing and meant to be! 🙂
I love using frozen veggies so I have no stress of the vegetable going bad before I get to using it. And this was a wonderful side! I just wish I’d read a bit closer–I saw 7-12 minutes, so pulled it out at 12 minutes and went, “Nope”. Everything else was ready 5 minutes later so we ate it, but I was thinking “This could have used about 5 more minutes.” And then I look again later and yep, it should have had that! 🙂 Recipe 5 stars, my reading comprehension skills, 2 stars. 😉
Ha, you know me too well, Tina. 🙂 Glad it worked out and you all enjoyed a fast and tasty side.
My family LOVED this.
Said it tasted like ‘restaurant broccoli’.
I don’t usually leave comments, but gotta say, I stumbled onto this recipe in a hurry, but now it is going to be my go-to technique from now on.
And I definitely am interested in trying more of your recipes.
Deceptively simple, spot on, with creating the perfect flavor and texture.
I am very impressed!
Laura, the term “restaurant broccoli” made me smile so much! I’m thrilled your family enjoyed it, and welcome to the world of fast side dishes using frozen veggies. 🙂
Interesting. I would have never thought to try to roast a frozen vegetable. Certainly makes it easier. I’ll give it a try. thanks
It’s life-changing, Judee!
Did I read this right? Heat The oil in pan to 435? My kitchen almost went up in smoke. When I turned it at 12 minutes it was still mushy. I’ll put it on for another 10 but I have to watch it really closely.
Hi Joannah, I’ve never had that smoke issue before and I have very basic (read: cheap) oven. An alternative for you could be to add the oil to the pan about 1 minute before adding the broccoli.
And yes, it will still be soft at 12 minutes when you flip. That’s why I recommend baking it another 7-10 minutes. Some people prefer it when it’s still soft but I’m certainly not one of them. 🙂
Tried this yesterday and it worked perfectly! My wife thought it worked better than our attempts roasting fresh broccoli. Seasoned with salt and garlic powder. No issues with sticking or smoking at all.
So glad it worked for you two! Gotta love the convenience of frozen veggies. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review. 🙂
I had zero motivation to chop up broccoli when I remembered I bought a bag of frozen broccoli to try this recipe! Score!! It was a big hit even with my 8 month old! I tossed the broccoli in lemon juice and garlic and sprinkled with lemon pepper seasoning and it was delicious! I don’t want to waste time with fresh broccoli every again!
Haha, you’re my people Bethany! Healthy eating with limited meal prep is our jam!
So glad you and the kiddo enjoyed it. I’m a sucker for lemon pepper and it would be so good on broccoli.
It sounded so good and I love roasted vegetables so I gave it a try. The oil really stuck to the pan and caused a lot of smoke during the pre-heating process and when I tried to cook it the smoke just got out of hand and I had to open all the windows and turn it off. Is there something wrong with my oven? What did I do wrong?
Hi Sarah (great name!), what kind of oil did you use? I find some smoke more than others, but I’ve used olive or avocado oil(s) for about five years with no issue. Sometimes it comes down to the individual oven.
Another thing to examine might be the actual pan AND how long it takes to preheat your oven. My oven is really crappy and will take a solid 10-15 minutes to get up to 425 degrees F. The oil is on the pan the whole time and I’ve never had an issue with smoking or sticking.
Was your pan nonstick? Teflon? Let’s try to solve this!