An easy five ingredient recipe using frozen broccoli for maximum ease! You will love how simply this comes together for an easy weeknight meal: you don’t even have to chop anything! It can be livened up with so many different flavors and add-ins to make it perfect for your family.
This recipe was born out of a need for something hearty and something green when the cupboards were very, very bare. We were rescued by a bag of frozen broccoli in the freezer, a package of gnocchi in the pantry, and a block of feta in the fridge. We weren’t expecting this to click into place quite so well, but it really did hit the spot.
It’s so, so simple and yet very satisfying. You can jazz it up to your heart’s content and I have now made it several times, several ways, but I wanted to give you the barest version of the recipe today so that you can build it up yourself in the way you’ll like it best.
It’s as easy as…
On roasting frozen broccoli…
One of the things that works so well in this recipe is that we roast the broccoli from frozen. Roasting frozen broccoli gives you a different result to roasting fresh broccoli. You absolutely get those caramelized edges and the roasted flavor. But because frozen broccoli has so much moisture releasing as it cooks, it comes out a lot softer in the middle and has a “melt in the mouth” quality to it.
That softer texture makes it perfect paired with gnocchi because it stops the dish from feeling too dry, and it contrasts well with the chewiness of packaged gnocchi, if that is what you’re using.
Can we also just acknowledge that using frozen broccoli florets means no chopping? No chop recipes are truly the best recipes.
What to know about your ingredients
- Gnocchi: Can be fresh, frozen or packaged. You will boil the gnocchi after putting the broccoli in the oven, and then add it to the roasting dish to give it a little bit of a chewy edge. This works well with dry packaged gnocchi, which is always best with a little crisp to it. But if you have a type of gnocchi that you prefer straight from boiled, you don’t have to add it to the dish at all – you can toss it with the roasted broccoli at the end instead.
- Broccoli: Frozen broccoli is amazing in this dish, but if you want to use fresh broccoli, go ahead! Your cook time will be a little less, and the overall result could feel a little dry. So my recommendation would be to place the dish back in the oven for a few minutes after adding the feta, to let it melt in and form a sauce. You could even mix in a little cream if you wanted to.
- Feta: As you can see, I don’t hesitate to use the cheap stuff sometimes. A “Greek style salad cheese” will do just fine. On the other side of the spectrum, if you have some jazzed up feta with a marinade or flavors of some kind – use it here! It’s an easy way to liven things up.
- Garlic powder: You can use fresh garlic, but there’s a risk of it burning in the oven while the broccoli is roasting. I tend to find the garlic powder’s flavor sticks a little better here. The jarred or frozen “lazy garlic” is also a reasonable option here.
- Dried thyme: This could really be any dried herb you wish, or something like provencal herb mix will work well too.
Now let’s have some fun: additions and variations
I’ll say this one more time: you CAN make this recipe with just those five core ingredients and it will be great. If you’re feeling like something super simple, it will be perfect. But if you want to do a little something extra, or change up the textures, here are some ideas for you:
- A little lemon zest and juice over the final dish? Always good.
- Parsley, chives, basil, any other fresh herbs you have make a great addition too.
- I think this dish would be amazing with the flavor profile of this broccoli pasta recipe. Roast the broccoli in ground cumin instead of thyme – then finish off with some lime juice and zest.
- Check out the jars in your fridge. Things like olives, capers, sundried tomatoes, artichokes, could all be worth throwing in (you would add them to the roasting dish alongside the gnocchi).
- Toasted pistachios or pine nuts would make a delightful topping.
- A drizzle of pesto makes a great addition too if it’s available.
- I like to add the feta at the very end, so it gets warm from the residual heat of the dish but stays in distinct pieces. You can go a different way with this and turn the feta into more of a saucy coating. Just place it back in the oven for a few minutes once you’ve crumbled the feta in, then give it a stir.
- You can even make a full blown feta cream sauce in the dish if you want. Crumble in the feta, add lots of grated parmesan and a little pour of cream, stir it up and place back in the oven until it is all melted and saucy.
- Make this dish vegan. My favorite way to do that would be ditching the feta and making a creamy avocado sauce instead.
- You can add other cheeses, like parmesan (or an Italian hard cheese) or manchego, or swap the feta for goat or blue cheese.
More Easy, Flexible Gnocchi Dinner Recipes
As ever, I’d love to know if you come up with something great from this recipe so please leave me a comment and let me know!
Broccoli Feta Gnocchi Bake
Ingredients
- 13 oz (370 g) frozen broccoli
- 18 oz (500 g) dried gnocchi, or a few cups of frozen gnocchi
- 1 cup (150 g) feta cheese, crumbled
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- olive oil, for roasting
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F.
- In a large mixing bowl, toss the broccoli in olive oil (just enough to coat each floret), the garlic powder and thyme. Add lots of salt and pepper.
- Scatter in a large shallow baking dish, spacing the florets out as much as possible. Place in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Boil the gnocchi according to package instructions, then drain and add to the same mixing bowl that you tossed the broccoli in. It will pick up on the remaining herbs and oil – add a little more oil to ensure the gnocchi is all lightly coated.
- Check in on the broccoli. At the start of the roasting process, the pan may be quite watery from all of the melting ice, but after 10-15 minutes it should have mostly evaporated. At this point, flip the broccoli around and add the gnocchi to the pan. Give a good sprinkle of salt and pepper, then put back in the oven for a further 15 minutes.TIP: If you aren't super confident that your pan is nonstick, add some parchment paper to the bottom. The gnocchi will stick to the bottom if given half the chance! In my experience, a glass dish is OK as long as the gnocchi is well oiled enough but different brands may be stickier than others.
- It's ready when the broccoli has browned and roasted to your liking, and the gnocchi is a little bit golden.
- Sprinkle the feta over the top and serve immediately.
