Garlic-Butter Sautéed Broccoli

easy recipesvegetarianquick recipessides & starters

Nov 19

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A healthy and delicious side dish perfect for a quick meal, this **Garlic-Butter Sautéed Broccoli** only needs a few simple ingredients and you can whip it up in just 10 minutes, making this excellent for weeknight meals!

Do you have children who struggle to eat broccoli? If they’re like me, then perhaps broccoli is a challenge to get your children to eat, or maybe even broccoli is not at the top of your vegetable list! I guarantee that this Garlic-Butter Sautéed Broccoli recipe is going to be adored by children and any picky eater, and this will get you to want to cook broccoli more often!

The holidays are just around the corner, and while you may be putting in all your effort into a main, who wants to spend even more time and effort on the side dishes? However, of course they need to be delicious! This Quick Sautéed Broccoli recipe will definitely the save the day! You can easily cook this easy broccoli dish while you are focusing on your desserts, mains, and appetizers. The hands-on time only requires a few minutes! I explain the concept of setting realistic goals in my Make Cooking Fun!! free guide, my top 5 tips to explore your potential in the kitchen! While I’m all for being ambitious and making the best food out there for my loved ones on a special occasion, unfortunately we don’t have the time and energy to put 100% effort in every component of a meal. This garlicky and buttery sautéed broccoli will certainly taste like you’ve put lots of care and time into it, but it’s such an easy side dish to whip up, and it will help you concentrate on the more hands-on parts of your holiday meal! It’s so simple that you can even make this in a pinch for a weeknight dinner! Put your heart on a plate with this broccoli side dish and a wonderful main (I’ve got plenty of serving suggestions at the bottom of this post!) as part of your Live to Cook one-month challenge! Sign up to my newsletter to get these free guides and to never miss a new recipe!

Check out the video at the bottom of this post to see for yourself how fast it is to make the most delicious broccoli you’ve ever had! Please subscribe to my YouTube channel if you’re not already and hit the bell button to get notified whenever a new video recipe goes live! I love to share the videos to complement the written recipes so you’ve got a tangible view of exactly what’s happening! Let’s get cooking!

Can I use frozen broccoli for this sautéed broccoli recipe?

You can, but it’ll be better if you don’t. The texture of frozen broccoli will not be the same as fresh and you may get a least pleasing final dish.

the best way to cut broccoli

Hold the broccoli with the stem and then cut the florets individually. Cut any large florets into 2 or 3 pieces.

Why Boil the broccoli before sautéeing?

Boiling it first helps to par cook it which allows us to quickly saute it to infuse the broccoli with the garlic and butter.

Is garlic-butter sautéed broccoli healthy?

Yes of course! While you may think that the butter here makes broccoli unhealthy, a little bit of butter won’t affect the nutrition of the entire dish. We just need enough to sauté our broccoli and combine with the garlic, which makes this absolutely delicious! We will still keep broccoli as the star. Broccoli is such a super food! It is extremely low in calories, containing only about 30 calories per cup. It is mostly water and contains lots of fibre. Additionally, it is loaded with vitamins in minerals. Vitamins include Vitamin C and Vitamin K1, and minerals include folate, potassium, manganese and iron. These vitamins and minerals assist in promoting cancer prevention and lower cholesterol. I admit I don’t eat much broccoli, but I had more than ever in the few weeks I’ve been making this side dish! This Garlic-Butter Sautéed Broccoli has really made me appreciate broccoli a lot more!

Our easy Sautéed Broccoli is vegetarian, keto-friendly and gluten-free. You can make this vegan and dairy-free by simply swapping out butter with your favourite plant-based cooking oil. To learn more about the health benefits of broccoli, check out this article by Healthline.

Equipment needed to make sautéed broccoli

Cutting board: Pretty important in order to chop our broccoli!
Sharp chef’s knife: A sharp knife will be essential to easily chop the broccoli.
Pot: We’ll need this to steam our broccoli before sautéing.
Non-stick pan: Used to sauté the broccoli.
Sieve: We’ll drain our broccoli out after it has steamed before sautéing.
Garlic press: Needed to mince our garlic cloves.
Wooden spoon: You could also use a spatula to stir the broccoli, garlic and butter in your pan.
Airtight containers: To store any leftover broccoli.

Tips for a superb garlic-buttered broccoli

Ensure to par-cook the broccoli before sauteeing with the butter.
Don’t skip the ice-water bath to ensure the broccoli retains its green colour after cooking.
Give the garlic a bit of colour for extra flavour and saute the broccoli until most of its moisture has been cooked off.

Ingredients for garlicky sautéed broccoli

Scroll to the bottom of this post for the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD with all ingredients and instructions, and to scale the recipe based on how many portions you want to make. All ingredient quantities will automatically adjust for you!

Broccoli: About one large head of broccoli here. You can also use broccolini if you’d like.
Butter: A nice dollop of butter adds lots of flavour and just makes the broccoli so good! I always recommend unsalted butter so that you have more control over the seasoning. You can substitute with olive oil or any non-dairy butter if you are vegan or lactose-intolerant.
Garlic cloves: Our main source of flavour in this recipe, we’ll have quite a few cloves of minced garlic. Nothing beats garlic and butter together!
salt and pepper: To keep things simple and so that you can serve this Garlicky Sautéed Broccoli with a wide variety of main dishes, salt and pepper are the only seasonings we’ll need! If you want to customize the recipe, I’ve got some variations later on in this post.

How to Make easy sautéed broccoli

Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the broccoli florets. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until the broccoli is par cooked and in the meanwhile, prepare an ice-water bath in a large bowl.

Transfer the broccoli to the bowl of ice water bath and let it cool down.

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In a separate pan, add 1 Tbsp of butter and once warm, add the chopped garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant.

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Strain the broccoli and add to the pan.Stir well and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until the broccoli is warmed through. Taste for seasoning and add more butter to your preference.

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Serve hot and enjoy!

Variations

I’ve made this Sautéed Broccoli recipe extremely simple so that it’s extremely versatile and so that it can pair with pretty much everything! However, based on what you’re going for, you can add some little enhancements to switch things up! Here are some ideas:

Chili flakes: Adds a touch of heat to your broccoli.
Grated Parmesan cheese: I always recommend that you grate your own cheese - the pre-grated Parmesan tastes like sawdust! This add a nice nuttiness and of course cheesy goodness to your broccoli! Keep in mind that if you add Parmesan to the broccoli, you should add less salt, since Parmesan cheese is very salty.
Lemon juice: Adds a nice refreshing flavour to your broccoli.
Almonds: Sliced or whole.
Pine nuts

Can you make sautéed broccoli ahead of time?

Sure, why not! This recipe is so simple it’s perfect for meal prep. You can make a big batch of broccoli so that you have it cooked and ready to serve with different meals throughout the week. It’s excellent to have it handy for a healthy side dish and it can prevent you from reaching for less nutritious options!

Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will stay good in the fridge for about 4 days.

Reheating garlicky sautéed broccoli

You can reheat your broccoli in the oven, microwave, or air fryer. To keep your broccoli crunchy and not limp, I would recommend you reheat in the air fryer or oven. Heat the oven or air fryer at 400 F, and heat until warmed through.

What to serve garlic-butter sautéed broccoli with?

This Garlic-Butter Sautéed Broccoli is such a versatile side dish! You can pretty much serve this with any main dish of of your choice! Pair it with animal protein or even pasta, the possibilities are endless! Here are a couple of ideas:

No-Fail Roast Chicken: This is how I first served the broccoli. It’s the perfect green to accompany your chicken and potatoes for a wonderful holiday dinner!
Pan-Seared Blackened Salmon: This salmon sure brings on the heat, and the crunchy broccoli will be excellent with it!
Curried Scallops
Tandoori Shrimp Skewers
Lasagna: A great side to add some greens and fibre to your meal. You can pair it with my 4-Cheese Lasagna, Lasagna alla Bolognese, or Creamy Chicken Lasagna.
Pasta: This would be excellent with some Spicy Bacon & Chorizo Penne, Pasta with Chicken, Tomatoes & Calabrian Chilies; or Creamy Mushroom Pumpkin Pasta.

Other Amazing Side Dishes!

WATCH HOW TO MAKE garlic-butter sautéed broccoli HERE:

Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cookingwithanadi. Thank you!

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sides & starters, vegetarian

American

Yield: 2

Author: Anadi

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Garlic-Butter Sautéed Broccoli

A healthy and delicious side dish perfect for a quick meal, this Garlic-Butter Sautéed Broccoli only needs a few simple ingredients and you can whip it up in just 10 minutes, making this excellent for weeknight meals!

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 15 MinTotal time: 25 Min

Cook ModePrevent screen from turning off

Ingredients

2 Cups Broccoli, cut into florets
1 Tbsp Butter, plus more as needed
2 Garlic cloves, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
ice water bath

Instructions

Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the broccoli florets. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until the broccoli is par cooked and in the meanwhile, prepare an ice-water bath in a large bowl.
Transfer the broccoli to the bowl of ice water bath and let it cool down. In a separate pan, add 1 Tbsp of butter and once warm, add the chopped garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Strain the broccoli and add to the pan.
Stir well and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until the broccoli is warmed through. Taste for seasoning and add more butter to your preference.