Mexican Broccoli is an incredibly delicious and easy side dish that goes well with other Mexican inspired flavours, perfect for any dinner menu. We love this style of food. It’s the perfect combination of spice and fresh ingredients that can make a wonderful dinner, lunch or breakfast.
You’ve come to the right place if you’re looking for inspiration, as this tangy side puts a different spin on the humble Broccoli. It adds a little something to a healthy staple veggie and is a recipe suited for a Mexican restaurant.
The Basics of Flavours in Mexican Food
The definitive Mexican flavour is usually made up of a few building block spices such as cumin, chilli or chili powder, paprika, cinnamon and fresh coriander. A few others like anise, allspice and avocado leaves can also be used. These spices come together when coupled with lime, garlic, onion and often tomato.
Of course, you can find many spice combinations, but these traditional spices make Mexican cooking so unique. And finding the right balance between chilli and spice can be a fun trial and error exercise.
Flavours that Lift Broccoli
Vegetables like Broccoli and tomato come to life when you add acidity and sweetness to the mix. So when it comes to Mexican cuisine, you can achieve a good flavour balance by adding lime juice to tomato. Generally, lime, coriander and tomato are the perfect complementary flavours.
You’ll also find this technique of combining tomato with acidity in Italian cooking. . Adding a little bit of Balsamic vinegar to the tomato creates that extra depth of flavour in a well rounded tomato-based pasta sauce. Why not serve with a side of guacamole? You can use the guacamole recipe from our guacamole toast post.
Mexican Broccoli – Side Dish Recipe
To make Mexican style broccoli, you’ll need Broccoli crowns, tomato onion, corn, jalapenos and fresh limes. You can swap it out for lemons if you don’t have lime. The flavour will be slightly different but still delicious!
Mexican Broccoli – A Delicious Side Dish Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 head of organic broccoli
- 2 tbsp of organic olive oil or avocado oil
- 2 organic tomatoes chopped
- 1 organic chopped onion
- 1/2 cup organic corn, either fresh or alternatively frozen
- salt and black pepper to taste with
- a sprinkle of feta cheese and a handful of chopped coriander/cilantro to garnish
For the Sauce
- the juice of one lime
- 1 jalapeno chilli chopped, or you can use pickled and add to taste
- 1 clove crushed organic garlic
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 4 tbsp plain organic yoghurt or vegan alternative
- 1 tbsp freshly chopped coriander/cilantro
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine all the ingredients for the sauce and set aside.
- Prepare the broccoli by separating the broccoli florets from the stems and chopping them into bite-sized pieces. For this dish, we'll mainly use the florets rather than the stems.
- In a medium-sized pan heat the oil, and add the onion and corn. Saute on medium-high heat for a few minutes until the onion softens. Then add the broccoli to the pan. Stir and fry until the broccoli softens slightly. The trick is to cook and soften the veggies but still retain a bit of crunch. Once cooked take off the heat, add the tomato and stir well. Drizzle with the sauce, mix well and sprinkle over the garnishes. Serve warm with your favourite Mexican main or as a veggie burrito filling with black beans and cheese.
Anyone have thoughts on using sour cream instead of yogurt?
Sour cream will work well in this recipe, the end result will be a bit more indulgent of course. But sour cream is very often used in Mexican dishes and will fit well with the rest of the flavours for sure.