This delicious, tender-crisp steamed broccoli is topped with a simple dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic. Ready in 15 minutes, it's the perfect side dish that goes with anything!
Broccoli is one of the vegetables I make regularly for my family. It's an easy choice because it's delicious, and everyone likes it (or at least tolerates it) - including The Picky Eater. There are many fancy ways to prepare broccoli, such as beef and broccoli, roasted broccoli, and broccoli quiche. But this steamed broccoli is especially easy and also tastes amazing, as long as it's not overcooked and remains tender-crisp.
Ingredients
See the recipe card for exact measurements. Here are my comments on the ingredients.
- Fresh broccoli: When I want to make my life easy, I buy a bag of pre-washed broccoli florets. Since these florets come in different sizes, if you go this route, you should cut the biggest ones to ensure they are all about the same size.
- Fresh lemon juice: It's better than bottled - fresher-tasting and more flavorful.
- Olive oil: Extra-virgin olive oil tastes best. Sometimes, I use melted butter instead of olive oil.
- To season: Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, and garlic powder.
Instructions
The detailed instructions and step-by-step photos are included in the recipe card. Here's a quick overview.
Add water to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Place the broccoli florets in a steamer basket. Carefully place the steamer basket in the saucepan and cover.
Steam the broccoli until tender-crisp. Immediately remove it from the saucepan.
While the broccoli is steaming, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Place the broccoli in a bowl. Pour the dressing on top and gently mix. Serve immediately.
This is a lovely and delicious recipe that the entire family enjoyed. Thank you!
Sergiu
Read more comments
This is a lovely and delicious recipe that the entire family enjoyed. Thank you!Recipe Tips
Timing Your Meal
Timing this dish as part of a complete meal can be challenging. Sometimes the broccoli is ready, but the rest of the meal isn't. It's tempting to keep the broccoli warm in the steaming basket, covered. But that's a mistake. It's better to enjoy crisp broccoli at room temperature than to suffer through mushy, limp, warm broccoli!
So, as soon as the broccoli is ready, remove it to a platter. Dress it with the olive oil-lemon dressing, loosely cover it with foil, and serve it when the rest of the meal is ready.
Broccoli Bunches vs Crowns
When I make roasted broccoli, I like to get broccoli bunches - those are sold with the thick stalk attached - because I can then make roasted broccoli stems, which are delicious.
But when steaming broccoli, I prefer to use broccoli crowns - those are just the heads. The stems have been cut off. Steamed broccoli stems are not as good as roasted, so this way, I only pay for what I'm actually going to use.
Recipe FAQs
It only takes 5 minutes. The key is to cook it until tender-crisp and bright green. So, minimal cooking is the secret. You want your broccoli to be a beautiful bright green, not an olive green, which means it's overcooked.
Avoid overcooking it. Limp broccoli? Not so good. But tender-crisp broccoli that remains bright green, simply dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper, is delicious.
In fact, as long as the broccoli is fresh and not overcooked, it will taste great with just a sprinkle of salt.
Having said that, if you're dealing with picky eaters, add a cheese sauce. This broccoli and cheese recipe is amazing.
Yes. The easiest way is to use your microwave and make microwave broccoli. Another option is to place the broccoli directly in one inch of boiling water. It's not ideal because the parts submerged in the water will boil. But it's better than completely submerging it in water.
You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat them gently in the microwave at 50% power. Sometimes, I add them cold to a salad. They are great in this turkey salad and make an excellent addition to tomato salad.
Serving Suggestions
This is such a versatile side dish. It goes with anything. I often serve steamed broccoli with one of the following:
- Pork roast
- Baked chicken breast
- Baked salmon
- Pan-fried salmon.
- Pulled chicken
- Turkey burgers
- Grilled halibut
- Sauteed shrimp, as shown in the photo below.
It's also excellent with a couple of fried or poached eggs as a tasty and filling meatless lunch.
Recipe Card
Easy Everyday Steamed Broccoli
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh broccoli
Dressing:
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice - freshly squeezed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil - extra-virgin
- ½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt - or ¼ teaspoon of any other salt, including Morton kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper - freshly ground
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Add 1 inch of water to a saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Rinse the broccoli. Use a vegetable peeler to peel the stalks. Cut the broccoli into bite-size florets and pieces and place them in a steamer basket.
- Carefully place the steamer basket in the saucepan and cover.
- Steam the broccoli until tender-crisp. Start checking after 5 minutes. As soon as a fork can pierce the stalks, the broccoli is done and should be removed from the saucepan.
- While the broccoli is steaming, in a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Place the broccoli in a bowl. Pour the dressing on top and gently mix. Serve immediately.
Notes
- If you don't own a steamer, use your microwave and make microwave broccoli. Another option is to place the broccoli directly in one inch of boiling water.
- Sometimes the broccoli is ready, but the rest of the meal isn't. It's tempting to keep the broccoli warm by keeping it in the steaming basket, covered. But that's a mistake. It's better to enjoy crisp broccoli at room temperature than to suffer through mushy, limp, warm broccoli! So, as soon as the broccoli is ready, remove it to a platter. Dress it with the olive oil-lemon dressing, loosely cover it with foil, and serve it when the rest of the meal is ready.
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat them gently in the microwave at 50% power. Sometimes, I add them cold to a salad.
Nutrition per Serving
Save this Recipe!
We'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
We will also add you to our weekly newsletter. Unsubscribe anytime. See healthyrecipesblogs.com/privacy/ to learn how we use your email.
Disclaimers
Most recipes are low-carb and gluten-free, but some are not. Recommended and linked products are not guaranteed to be gluten-free. Nutrition info is approximate. Please verify it independently. The carb count excludes non-nutritive sweeteners. Please read these Terms of Use before using any of my recipes.
Sergiu says
This is a lovely and delicious recipe that the entire family enjoyed. Thank you!
Vered DeLeeuw says
Glad you liked it, Sergiu! Thank you for the comment.