Not Air-Fried Or Roasted: The Best Way To Make Broccoli Crispy And Delicious

It's funny that "eat your broccoli" has such unpleasant connotations when there are so many wonderful ways to make it. Sure, air frying broccoli is usually a mistake, unless you have a taste for particularly overdone florets. Roasting, on the other hand, is always a tasty way to get your greens. But grilled broccoli unlocks different dimensions of lightly charred, slightly smoky deliciousness. You'll just need to prep it a bit differently than you would for some of your more standard recipes, as well as brush up on the top vegetable grilling tips.

Broccoli is great for grilling because it's hearty enough to stand up to live fire. It also has just enough natural sugar to turn slightly sweet and caramelize without transforming into some kind of veggie candy. And, unlike some other botanicals, it can be sliced large enough to actually balance atop those grill grates. But you can also flame grill your broccoli regardless of your knife work. You can further optimize some additional flavors with special consideration for grill maintenance.

The least fussy way to grill broccoli is to cut it into long stalks with a decent circumference. You're in good shape if you can approximate the dimensions of a hot dog. Give the broccoli stalks a quick toss or brush with cooking oil, a few shakes of salt and pepper, and arrange them right on the grill. They should soften and get some nice char marks after no more than five minutes on each side. A spritz of lemon will nicely balance the broccoli's newfound sweetness and brighten it up.

You can also chop the broccoli into larger chunks and skewer into kebabs. This lets you mix and match with other ingredients like bell peppers or mushrooms. Borrowing a little inspiration from elote, you can also twirl the broccoli kebabs through a bit of flavorful fat like garlic- or chili-infused olive oil and then give them another whirl through grated Parmesan for an extra winning side dish. You may just want to add a layer of aluminum to the grill to protect it from the sticky cheese and save yourself a little elbow grease when it comes time to clean later on. And if you find you've diced your broccoli too far down to size, a grill basket is your best bet for keeping those tinier items from slipping between grill grates. Just remember that the smaller your broccoli bits are, the quicker they'll cook, so start checking for doneness after just a couple of minutes in this latter case.