Forget fancy and complicated side dishes! Back to the basics, this simple yet scrumptious side reminds you how good uncomplicated and basic keto ingredients can taste — and how easy they are to transform into delicious dishes!
How to make this 5-Ingredient Steamed Broccoli with Bacon and Butter
There is absolutely nothing complicated when making this simple keto side dish. You need common ingredients: fresh broccoli, fried and crumbled bacon, melted butter, as well as salt and onion powder to season the dish.
Naturally, you’ll get ample tips for variations at the end of this post, so be sure to check those for further ideas — if you desire something fancier, that is.
One note, though: be sure to steam the broccoli until crisp-tender, so don’t overcook it. Steaming is a wonderful way to cook veggies as the nutrients don’t get wasted in the cooking water, which naturally happens if you cook the veggies in water.
That’s it, let’s take a look at how to prepare this scrumptious and straightforward keto side dish:
Take 1 large fresh broccoli. Rinse it and pat dry.
Cut the broccoli into bite-sized pieces.
Be sure to use the stem, too. When you remove the hard outer parts, you will be rewarded with a succulent interior.
Transfer the broccoli pieces to a steamer.
Steam until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
Transfer the hot, steamed broccoli to a heat-proof bowl.
Add 4 slices of crumbled fried bacon. Of course, you can add as much bacon as you wish! 4 slices is just my suggestion.
Add also 2 tablespoons melted butter…
…1/2 teaspoon onion powder…
…and about 1/2 teaspoon (or to taste) unrefined sea salt.
Toss until well combined.
Serve immediately as a tasty side.
How I came up with this easy keto side recipe
As you might guess, coming up with the idea of this dish wasn’t rocket science — it just required a few decades of knowledge about cooking and especially the keto diet.
There are never enough good keto side dishes, so I decided to make a side dish with broccoli since it’s a wonderful low-carb veggie and perfect for a keto side.
And, as on a keto diet, you get most of your energy from fats, I wanted to add healthy fats to my broccoli dish. If you do SAD (Standard American Diet), you most likely add margarine or vegetable oil to your dishes, but as those are even more inferior than you might think, they are not a part of a clean and health-promoting keto diet.
I was pondering which fat would be the best for my broccoli dish and decided to use good old butter.
I also opted for bacon to lend some flavor and provide protein since, as we (almost) all agree, bacon makes everything better.
Now, I had broccoli, butter, and bacon. What a wonderful combo! Next, I needed something to season my dish. As I wanted to keep the flavors simple, I chose my favorite natural flavor enhancer, onion powder, and, naturally, some unrefined sea salt as a companion.
For a moment, I thought of adding pepper but pondered that onion powder lends a more versatile taste and a pinch of umami. Pepper lends just a fiery kick and pungent taste. Those I didn’t want this time.
I usually either cook or bake my veggie side dishes, but now, I wanted to steam the broccoli and add the rest of the ingredients to the steamed broccoli and mix until well combined.
I had planned to add the butter in small pieces but then considered melted butter would spread more evenly to the broccoli, reaching each nook and cranny — which that wonder veggie has in copious amounts.
After guestimating the measurements, I was ready to shoot my photos for the recipe. I didn’t have time to do any experiments, so I trusted the measures were ideal. With a few decades of cooking experience, things seldom go wrong, especially with these simple ingredients.
The result was as delicious as I had been hoping. The steamed broccoli retained its bright green color and delicious crunch. Bacon added both flavor and satiety, and so did the melted butter. Onion powder was the perfect flavor enhancer, and sea salt lent elegant saltiness.
Nowadays, I tend to use unrefined sea salt rather than Himalayan salt (which I used to use most) because of the higher iodine content of sea salt. Many people are iodine deficient, so including natural iodine sources in their diet (yes, mine too) is a good idea.
Here’s the recipe for you to enjoy:
Steamed Broccoli with Bacon and Butter
Forget fancy and complicated side dishes! Back to the basics, this simple yet scrumptious side reminds you how good uncomplicated and basic keto ingredients can taste — and how easy they are to transform into delicious dishes!
Ingredients
- 1 large fresh broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 4 slices fried bacon, crumbled
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (or to taste) unrefined sea salt
Instructions
- Steam the broccoli until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
- Transfer the hot, steamed broccoli into a heat-proof bowl.
- Add the bacon, melted butter, onion powder, and the salt.
- Toss until well combined.
- Serve immediately as a tasty side.
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| Nutrition information | In total | Per serving if 4 servings in total |
| Protein | 7.9 g | 4.1 g |
| Fat | 43.9 g | 11.0 g |
| Net carbs | 10.4 g | 2.6 g |
| kcal | 604 kcal | 151 kcal |
Tips for variations
For a dairy-free version, use extra-virgin olive oil. It’s a healthy fat and perfect for a keto diet.
For extra crunch, add toasted almond flakes on top or mix them in with other ingredients.
If you want tang to your dish, add a tablespoon or two of freshly squeezed lemon juice and mix it in. Apple cider vinegar is another healthy option, so you can also use it. However, go light on it, as the taste is much tangier than lemon juice.
For fiery flavors, add some red pepper flakes or a pinch of cayenne pepper to the dish. You can also add a good squirt of Sriracha sauce on top of the dish before serving.
If you want your dish fruity, add a tablespoon of freshly grated peel from organic orange. Orange peel is an awesome way to get juicy orange flavor to your keto dishes and still keep the carb count low.
General prattling
This week wasn’t as busy as the past weeks, so I could concentrate on the pending tasks. I was working on linguistic things as well as Ketokamu-related duties.
I also developed a funny keto donut recipe for Halloween from our Ketokamu baking mix. Well, I developed the donut and chocolate glaze recipes a long time ago (you’ll find the chocolate glaze recipe here).
The spider web pattern (and the self-made donut wall) is a new invention, though. I created a decoration mass with mascarpone, heavy cream, sweetener, and orange flavoring — it had just the perfect consistency and taste that crowned the donuts in the most delicious way!
Happy Halloween!
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