Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli

Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli features tender florets tossed with fresh lemon zest, toasted pine nuts, and nutty Parmesan cheese.

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Roasted broccoli is one of my favorite side dishes, and I typically drizzle with olive oil and a little salt and pepper. But sometimes you need a little more excitement in vegetables so when I saw this recipe posted by Christina at Sweet Pea’s Kitchen I knew it would be a winner.

The first time I made it, I down-sized from the original recipe to serve two people because I wasn’t sure how well it would re-heat. Although I have a feeling a toaster oven would make leftovers just like new. As such, I have published the recipe to still serve four with some of my own adaptations. You could also easily use broccolini if you want to make it a bit fancier looking as I did when serving alongside Italian Braised Beef.

Quick story. One of the first times I cooked for Brent I made a side of asparagus in a lemon vinaigrette. When I took my first bite I almost gagged. I added WAY too much lemon juice (it actually drained some of the green color out of the asparagus!) and immediately told him not to eat any of it because I knew it was bad and wouldn’t be hurt if he agreed. Unfortunately, he didn’t quite believe me and proceeded to eat most of it while saying it was fine. After I continued to explain that I’d rather him be honest than eat something he hates (because I’ll keep making it if I think you like it!), he finally admitted it was saturated in lemon. Neither of us could go anywhere near lemon for quite awhile – we had had enough to tide us over.

Here we are, years later and I still cringe a little when adding lemon to such things as vegetables, and we continue to joke about the lemon asparagus incident. But the lemon in this dish was not overpowering at all, in fact it was the prefect amount.

Need dinner ideas? Serve this along with Chicken Crescent Rolls or in my original photo below I served it with Chicken Parmesan Quesadillas.

More Side Dish Recipes:

• Brussels Sprouts with Onion Vinaigrette from Hezzi-D’s Recipe Box
• 4 Cheese Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese fromA Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Brown Butter Sage Biscuits from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
• Cheddar Bay Biscuit Green Bean Casserole from Blogghetti
• South Indian Sweet Potato Poriyal from Magical Ingredients
• Horseradish Sauce from Art of Natural Living
• Potato and Celery Root Mash from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Butternut Squash and Apple Soup from A Day in the Life on a Farm
• Magic Chicken 65 Gluten Free from Sneha’s Recipe

Post updated on 11/2/2026. Photo above is the original.

PARMESAN-ROASTED BROCCOLI

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Yield: 4 Servings Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cooking Time: 32 Minutes 32 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp pine nuts
• 4 cups broccoli florets
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 8 fresh basil leaves, julienned

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spread the pine nuts onto a baking sheet and place in preheated oven 5-7 minutes until fragrant. Shake the baking sheet halfway through baking so the nuts will toast evenly. Remove nuts from oven and set aside to cool completely. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees.
3. Place the broccoli florets in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle the garlic on the broccoli and drizzle with 2 Tbsp olive oil. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Roast until crisp-tender and the tips of some of the florets are browned, about 20-25 minutes. Remove the broccoli from the oven and immediately toss with remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil, the lemon zest, lemon juice, pine nuts, Parmesan, and basil. Serve hot.

Source: Adapted slightly from Sweet Pea’s Kitchen.