Whole Oven-Roasted Broccoli

For this roasted broccoli recipe broccoli stalks are roasted whole to end up with a sweet caramelized outside, soft inside. It’s seriously the best broccoli recipe ever! This recipe is sponsored by Pompeian Olive Oil.

Lately, I’ve been experimenting with roasting vegetables whole. It started a while ago when I saw some Whole Roasted Cauliflower on Pinterest. I tried it (just with salt, pepper, and olive oil). It was really good. And then I saw this article from Bon Appetit that mentions roasting carrots and broccoli stalks whole. Carrots, check. Broccoli, double-check! Seriously, I’ve been roasting broccoli stalks whole at least once a week since I first tried it.

Here’s A Video Showing How To Roast Vegetables Whole:

Whole Roasted Broccoli

The head gets browned and caramelized on the outside while the stem and inner parts are soft. And the flavor is sweet and mellow.

For today’s recipe, I rubbed the heads with a cut garlic clove to make it into garlic roasted broccoli. I also put some red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and olive oil. But I should back up a bit. Before you rub it with garlic, season it, and put it in a pan, you need to peel the broccoli stalks. I found this hard to explain so I took pictures of the process and included them in the step-by-step instructions.

Step By Step Instructions:

First, preheat the oven to 400°F. If your broccoli comes as one big attached head, break it into three or four stalks. Use your fingers to tear off any leaves.

Use a paring knife to peel the stalks. Start near the base of the florets (where the florets meet the stalk) and slice down toward the bottom of the stem.

Trim off the bottom 1/4 inch of stalk.

Now your stems are peeled and your broccoli is ready to get seasoned, oiled, and roasted. First, cut a clove of garlic in half and rub the cut side all over the head of the broccoli stalks.

Get ready to roast. Spray a 13×11″ pan with olive oil.

Add the broccoli stalks. Spray them with olive oil. Flip them over and spray the underside too.

Season, in this case with salt and red pepper flakes.

Roast until starting to brown on the head and fork-tender at the stock.

I serve one big stem per person. But I like to make extra because people usually want seconds!

If you love roasting vegetables, you’ll also love my recent Roasted Italian Cauliflower recipe. Cauliflower florets are tossed with olive oil, tomato paste, and Parmesan cheese before roasting. It’s a wonderful side to have with plain spaghetti in olive oil and garlic.

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This post originally appeared in November 2014 and was revised and republished in March 2020.