Balsamic Roasted Broccoli Side Dish (Vegan)
This side dish recipe is super simple and healthy, featuring crispy roasted broccoli topped with a homemade balsamic reduction and fresh basil. This recipe is gluten-free and vegan, but I guarantee even meat-eaters will love it! Oh, and it’s also only FIVE ingredients.
A while back I asked you guys which vegetables you wanted easy side dish recipes for, and one of the most popular requests was for broccoli!
Not only is broccoli incredibly nutritious, but it also can be SO delicious when made correctly. Enter: this easy Balsamic Roasted Broccoli With Basil.
This healthy broccoli recipe is made with just FIVE ingredients – fresh broccoli, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, basil, and salt. It’s so yummy, proving that simple ingredients are truly just the best!
Let’s get cooking!
Broccoli Nutrition Benefits
This green cruciferous vegetable is a great source of:
Micronutrients, including vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin A, folate, potassium, calcium, iron, phosphorus, and magnesium
- Broccoli is one of the best sources of Vitamin C out there – just one cup provides 135% of your daily vitamin C needs
Dietary fibre – one cup provides 2.3 grams of fibre, which is 9% of your daily fibre needs
- Fibre is known to help with digestion, heart health, blood sugar control, and weight management.
How To Roast Broccoli
Hands down my favourite way to cook any vegetable is by roasting it. Broccoli is no different – it gets crispy and oh-so-good.
All you need to do is follow these simple steps:
- Start by chopping two heads of fresh broccoli into ~1-inch florets
- Toss those florets in 2 Tbsp of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt
- Spread florets onto a baking sheet, ensuring some space between florets
- Pop them into the oven at 400F for 20 minutes, or until slightly browned and tender
- Remove from oven and serve!
While the broccoli is in the oven, it’s time to make the balsamic reduction…
How To Make A Balsamic Reduction
Making a balsamic reduction (or glaze) at home is super simple to do, and only requires one ingredient – balsamic vinegar!
All you need to do is:
- add 1 cup balsamic vinegar to a small pot
- bring it to a boil
- then reduce the temperature + simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally
After 15 minutes of simmering, you may think that the reduction appears too thin. I promise you it will continue to thicken as it cools, so be sure not to overcook it!
The first time I made a balsamic reduction, I overcooked it and it was so thick I could barely use it. Lesson learned – stick to 15 minutes!!
If it does end up getting too hard, simply add a bit of water to thin it out.
If you don’t use up all the reduction in this recipe, refrigerate the remainder in a sealed container for a few weeks. You can use it to drizzle over veggies, salads, avocado toasts, and more.
Why Make Your Own Balsamic Reduction?
If you take a look at store-bought balsamic reductions, you’ll notice that they’re full of unnecessary additives!
Things like added sugar, emulsifiers, caramel colourings…even in health food stores, it’s hard to find a balsamic reduction that doesn’t contain these ingredients.
There’s really no need to purchase it when you can make it so easily at home, using only one ingredient (that you probably already have on hand!)
What To Pair With Balsamic Roasted Broccoli
I highly recommend pairing this broccoli side dish recipe with a yummy protein and a starch to round out your meal. Check out some of my favourite recipe ideas below!
Protein ideas:
- Garlic Shrimp With Smoked Paprika & Honey
- Honey Lemon Oven-Baked Salmon With Thyme
- 25-Minute Baked Salmon With Pistachio Pesto
- Crispy Baked Tofu With Maple Miso Sauce
- Crispy Salmon With Coconut, Honey & Lime
- Easy Curry Tofu Scramble
- The Best Canned Salmon Burger
Starch ideas:
- How To Cook & Season Quinoa: 3 Recipes
- Easy Cooked Farro
- Crispy Roasted Potatoes With Chili & Paprika
- Roasted Potatoes With Za’atar & Lemon
More Vegetable Side Dishes
- Grilled Zucchini With Goat Cheese, Basil & Honey
- Roasted Asparagus With Pecan Parmesan (Vegan)
- Crispy Smashed Potatoes With Hemp Seed Pesto (Vegan)
- Juicy Oven-Roasted Radishes (Vegan)
- Roasted Spicy Honey Carrots With Yogurt Parsley Sauce
Did you give this Balsamic Roasted Broccoli Side Dish a try? Let me know by leaving a comment and recipe rating below!
If you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram or Pinterest – seeing your creations always makes my day. You can also subscribe to my email list to never miss a new recipe or nutrition education post!
Get the Recipe: Balsamic Broccoli Side Dish (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 2 heads broccoli, chopped into florets
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 cup fresh basil, chopped
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Chop heads of broccoli into florets. In a large bowl, toss broccoli florets with olive oil and salt.
- Spread broccoli on a large baking sheet. Place in oven for 20 minutes.
- While the broccoli is in the oven, add balsamic vinegar to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer. Continue to simmer balsamic for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
- Remove broccoli from oven and serve into a bowl. Drizzle with balsamic reduction and sprinkle with freshly chopped basil. Enjoy!
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Let me know by leaving a recipe rating below, or by tagging @walderwellness on Instagram. I love seeing your beautiful creations!
Pin it for later:
6 Comments on “Balsamic Roasted Broccoli Side Dish (Vegan)”
I must admit, I haven’t made this in a while, but I happened to see it in my Pinterest board, and decided to come and rate it.
Whenever I try a new recipe I have my family rate it. There are 5 of us, and each will give one star if they enjoyed the meal enough to have it a second time. Now before I say anymore, I have one child who would rather have teeth pulled than eat broccoli, but I make him take one bite every time I make it a new way. This recipe received FIVE stars from my family. That means even my non broccoli eater gave it a star and said, “Mom, you finally found a way that I will eat broccoli!”
Every time I make it a different way now, he says “mom, when are you making the broccoli I like again?” I guess I better put it back in rotation soon. Thanks so much for sharing such a delicious recipe that even my picky child will eat it.
Hi Audrey! Oh my gosh this is quite possibly the best recipe review I have ever received haha!! Thank you so much for sharing this – it made my day. I’m so happy to hear your whole family loved it, and that we have a newly converted broccoli lover because of it !!! Thank you again 🙂
I stumbled upon this recipe and it was really quite delicious and sooo simple! I’ve been working from home for the past year and each weekday afternoon is the same: what’s for dinner? It’s just my husband and me and so I’m always looking for something with no leftovers (a no-no for my hubby). Timing got the best of me last night and I put the broccoli in the over with oil and salt and ended up simply pouring the balsamic on it when I removed it from the oven, which worked fine. I would never have thought to add basil, but wow, it made it even more yummy. Will definitely repeat.
Hi Jeanne!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience – it’s so appreciated! I’m so happy that you stumbled on this recipe and that you (and hopefully the hubby!) enjoyed it. That’s great to hear it worked with straight balsamic vinegar, too 🙂
SO GOOD!!
Thank you so much, Bella!!!