Yes, you CAN roast frozen broccoli — straight from the bag, no defrosting necessary. Trust me, this healthy cooking hack for roasted frozen broccoli will save you so much time and money!
If you’re like me, you live for life hacks… especially in the kitchen. Anything that makes living a healthy life a little easier is a win in my book.
I often buy pre-chopped veggies to save time in the kitchen (FYI: Trader Joe’s is an awesome spot for this!), but until recently I sort of avoided buying frozen veggies because I would much rather eat roasted vegetables packed with flavor than soggy, steamed vegetables.
Well, let me introduce you to my newest little cooking hack: roasted frozen broccoli.
I don’t know why it took me so long to figure this little trick out, but a couple months ago I realized that you can roast frozen broccoli and my world was changed. Of course the texture isn’t exactly the same as roasting fresh broccoli florets, but the frozen broccoli florets still get a little crispy and I honestly don’t mind that the texture is a bit softer — especially when you consider the fact that there is almost no prep work at all. I mean all you have to do is preheat your oven, dump the bag of frozen broccoli on a pan, add a little oil (you can use spray oil for this) and some seasonings, and you’re ready to roast.
If that doesn’t make your day, I don’t know what will. Kidding!
Also, frozen vegetables are awesome for a number of reasons…
- They are super affordable.
- They are frozen when they’re at their peak freshness, so they’re packed with nutrients.
- Since they’re frozen, you don’t have to stress about eating them within X days of buying. And you can keep a few bags in your freezer for emergencies.
So far I’ve tried this roasted frozen veggie hack with broccoli and cauliflower and it works great with both, but for whatever reason I think the roasted frozen broccoli is better, probably because it crisps up a bit more. I’m not complaining because we all need more green veggies in our lives, right?
Feel free to have fun with this recipe and try it with different vegetables, a different oil/fat, different spices — the options are really endless. For the seasonings you can keep it uber simple with a few liberal shakes of sea salt and pepper, which is what I usually do, or get fancy and add on some additional spices like garlic powder, onion powder, curry and/or cayenne. Obviously you don’t have to use all of these. Just pick your favs.
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Yes, you CAN roast frozen broccoli — straight from the bag, no defrosting necessary. Trust me, this healthy cooking hack will save you so much time and money!
Ingredients
- 1 16 oz bag frozen broccoli florets
- 1 Tablespoon avocado or olive oil (or spray)
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
- Additional seasoning options: onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, curry powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Empty bag of frozen broccoli florets onto a baking sheet or stone. If you’re using a baking sheet you can line it with parchment for easy clean-up. Drizzle oil over broccoli, add seasonings and toss to combine. Place in preheated oven and roast for 25-30 minutes, tossing once at the 15-minute mark. Remove from oven and serve warm.
Notes
Be sure to get the frozen florets. Frozen chopped broccoli includes the stems, which is fine if that’s what you like, but I prefer the florets.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 cups
- Calories: 124kcal
- Sugar: 0g
- Sodium: 532mg
- Fat: 8g
- Saturated Fat: 1g
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 12g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 7g
- Cholesterol: 0
I want to hear from you! Do you have any heathy cooking hacks? Have you ever roasted frozen vegetables? Definitely let me know if you try this roasted frozen broccoli hack. I hope you love it as much as we do.
Rocy says
February 16, 2018 at 11:01 pmI never roast the frozen broccoli. But the way you demonstrate it makes me give a try on this healthy one.
The pepper and olive oil is not enough to give a good taste, I guess. Everyone got a different taste though.
I wanna try this healthy roasted broccoli with onion and garlic powder.
Anyway, thank for this recipe, Brittany. Keep up the good work.
Diana says
February 17, 2018 at 10:37 amI want to increase the consumption
Of femented foods. I have ibs. Sauerkraut
Is not good. But vegetables are ok. How can I fermented them?
Also can you provide a receipie for salad dressing that has no fat at all. Thanks so much.
Eddi says
February 18, 2018 at 10:08 pmOh my goodness, I am so glad you tried this! I had no idea you could roast frozen broccoli. I’m definitely going to do this from now on. I just assumed they would end up a soggy mess – but obviously not. With kids I always like to keep bags of veg in the freezer as a back up plan. My best-laid plans of starting to cook dinner early are often delayed so frozen veg is the best because it saves me time. And if I can roast, even better.
Jessica says
February 21, 2018 at 11:06 amI tried this for the first time last night and it was fantastic! I would have never guessed that frozen broccoli would roast so nicely, but it was great. Thanks so much for this kitchen hack, it’s definitely going into regular rotation in my house:)
Hope says
February 24, 2018 at 2:20 pmI can’t wait to give this a try in my Air Fryer. It saves me the time and energy of heating up the oven. Thanks for sharing.
Ashley @ A Lady Goes West says
February 28, 2018 at 11:51 pmBrittany! I’ve done this before and was shocked at how good those frozen broccs were. Thanks for this! 🙂
Liz says
March 28, 2018 at 9:44 pmThis has honestly changed my life. I’ve already consumed more broccoli in the past week than I have for months. Broccoli is never my veggie of choice but I bought two large bags from Trader Joe’s and they crisp up perfectly!! Also perfectly timed with another article I read that frozen vegetables (and fruit) may actually have more nutrients than the fresh stuff due to being frozen at peak freshness. Thank you for the tip!
Brittney says
November 15, 2018 at 9:23 pmJust a tip for everyone, it helps if your veggies crisp up even more if you throw some olive oil on your baking sheet and let it heat up BEFORE you add your veggies. Do that for about ten minutes and you’re good to go! I also used salt free Mrs’Dash to season. Came out great.
★★★★
Brittany Mullins says
November 16, 2018 at 7:40 amOhh! I love this tip, Brittney. Thanks so much for sharing.
Moe says
January 13, 2019 at 2:30 amDidn’t know. Mind blown. Worth.