Pan-Fried Broccoli

Pan-fried broccoli with onions is made with 7 ingredients only and it’s ready in 15 minutes! The flavoring is provided by the great Japanese seven spice! This is an easy vegan keto side dish.

I love broccoli as much as the next person!

But, I need to change it up ever so often.

Adding onions to it and flavoring with Japanese Seven Spice makes all the difference!

I dare you to not love broccoli after this recipe!

Ingredients

Here is a quick look at the ingredients. It is to understand why these specific ingredients were chosen. To get the full recipe, go to the bottom of this post.

• Broccoli – Broccoli is a superfood for good reasons! It’s a nutrition powerhouse because they have antioxidants, Vitamin C, vitamin A, Vitamin K, calcium, potassium and Iron. Source: Diet Doctor, Good Housekeeping.
• Onions – They have anti-inflammatory properties, help lower blood sugars, and reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease. Source: WebMD, TODAY.
• Japanese Seven Spice (Shichi-mi tōgarashi) – I have been in love with it ever since I flavored my edamame with Japanese Seven Spice. This spice has a unique flavor that is salty and umami. It’s a blend of red and Sichuan pepper, ginger, white and black sesame seeds, orange peel, and nori flakes. It can be found in grocery stores or on (Affiliate Link) Amazon.
• Lime Juice – The Vitamin C in lime juice helps the absorption of iron in broccoli and Japanese Seven Spices. It also adds a tang to the broccoli and onions, making them taste delicious.

🥦 Buying Tip: ALWAYS use organic broccoli because it is free of pesticides which can get into the groves of the florets.

Instructions

Step 1: Chopping the broccoli and onions

The secret to cooking this recipe in 15 minutes is how you cut the main ingredients. Broccoli are sliced into small florets, so they will cook quickly.

Onions are cut lengthwise and they are the thickness of a quarter (USA 25 Cents). This size will make them cook evenly and not overpower the broccoli.

Also, I use the broccoli stalk too. They are packed with nutrition and fiber, so it’s important to have them in this recipe. Cut them lengthwise and the size of a baby’s pinky finger.

Step 2: How to make pan-fried broccoli

1. Preheat a stainless steel pan for 30 seconds on medium heat. Then add oil and garlic, mixing it. (Affiliate Link) This is the stainless steel pan I use.
2. Gently add the onions to the pan. I didn’t caramelize them because I like them crispy. You can caramelize it by letting it cook for about 4-5 minutes or until it turns light brown.
3. Add the broccoli gently.
4. Top with salt and the Japanese Seven Spice. I mentioned ½ tsp of salt but ended up adding another ½ because my seven spice is not very salty. Adjust the salt to your taste.
5. Gently mix well making sure that all broccoli is coated with the oil and spices. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. If you like it crispier, cook for 7 minutes, but no more.
6. Drizzle with lime juice and serve.

🔥 Cooking tip: Keep the heat at medium through the cooking process. This will make the ingredients cook evenly.

Answering Common Questions

🌿 Vegan Tip: Japanese Seven Spice is vegan-friendly because nori flakes are just pressed seaweed plants.

Oven roasting this broccoli recipe

Don’t want to pan-fry broccoli? You can roast the broccoli in the oven. Here’s how:
1. First, in a bowl, mix broccoli with all the ingredients (except the onions).
2. Then, spread out the broccoli on a baking sheet. Keep the oily mixture remaining at the bottom of the bowl.
3. Put the baking sheet in a 325°F pre-heated oven (162°C) and cook for 3 minutes.
4. While the broccoli is roasting, put the onions in the same bowl that you mixed the broccoli. Let the onions soak up the oily mixture in the bowl.
5. Pull out the broccoli sheet pan, put the onions next to the broccoli, and place the tray back into the oven.
6. Cook for 2 minutes, remove, and let it cool to touch before serving.

Got leftover broccoli? Put it into an easy broccoli casserole that is so easy to make and very filling.

Make ahead and store leftovers

This pan-fried broccoli can be made in advance and used in meal prep recipes. I prefer making this right when I am ready to cook it because it doesn’t take more than 15 minutes.

If you have that option, cook this pan-fried broccoli fresh and consume it immediately. Reheating broccoli will make it lose more nutrition.

To store it, as always, I recommend using glass containers like these (Affiliate Link) Homberking glass meal prep containers. They are oven-safe so, reheating will be easier.

I am not going to give you my usual disclaimer of not microwaving them, because you already know the dangers of it by now, lol. I would rather eat cold broccoli than microwave it!

The onion adds a nice punch to the broccoli, so don’t skip on it. Talking about onions, have you tried this onion volcano on your Blackstone?

🕰 Consuming tip: Ideally, you want to eat this pan-fried broccoli immediately because the nutrition is at its maximum.

How to serve this pan-fried broccoli

I have enjoyed this broccoli by itself, but it is the perfect side to any meal. I have served it as a side to my whole cauliflower and my air fryer tempeh recipe. It makes for a more wholesome meal.

You can up its protein content by topping it with tofu crumbles or Thai-flavored edamame. Can’t decide which protein to use? I have a list of 8 complete vegan proteins to choose from. Learn more about complete proteins.

On date night, make these ravioli bake or butternut squash risotto and serve this pan-cooked broccoli as a side. It makes the meal look like eye candy.

Yesterday, I served this pan-fried broccoli with my pineapple-fried rice and it was so good. If you are avoiding rice, then it tastes good with Cuban quinoa too.

💪 Protein Tip: This broccoli meal is great by itself but you can up its protein content by adding tofu, tempeh, or edamame.

Try these broccoli recipes

• Now that you have mastered cooking broccoli in a pan, try these Instant Pot steamed broccoli or sheet pan broccoli and potatoes. They bring out the best of broccoli.
• I love this broccoli casserole made with rice and cooked in a cast iron pan. It’s cheesy and delicious!
• Flavoring broccoli in different ways has kept me from getting tired of it. I think you, too, will benefit from changing it up. This stir-fried recipe with broccoli and putting it in quinoa soup are fantastic way of enjoying broccoli.

How do you keep from getting bored with broccoli?

Sharing is caring

Don’t be shy, chime in below in the comments. Let me hear your opinion on this pan-fried broccoli recipe. If you enjoyed this, please give it 5 stars and share it on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram