If you grow your own, or merely taking advantage of the season and wondering how to freeze tenderstem broccoli, don’t fret.
To freeze tenderstem broccoli you should first soak the forests in brine water for 30 minutes before blanching in hot water for 3 minutes. Immediately cool in a dish of cold water and ice before patting dry and placing in freezable bags to freeze.
Just follow the laid down procedure, and you’ll be sure to enjoy vibrant and ready to cook crowns to push you through the busy weeknights.
Tools & Equipment For Freezing Food
These are my tried and tested tools and equipment for freezing food.
Whether it’s fresh fruits or completely prepared meals these tools will make the process easier, and the food last longer and taste better!
Containers – We opt for glass containers as they are better for the environment, much higher quality and don’t stain like plastic, however they are an investment.
So if you’re short on money buy high-quality plastic containers in the meantime.
Just be sure that you buy your containers in a range of sizes as you’ll be using them to freeze and store a range of different foods.
Ziplock Bags – Invest in quality freezer bags and they’ll help keep out air, prevent frost and keep your food fresh for longer.
The majority of the high-quality ziplock bags come with a small area for you to write information about the food (i.e. what it is, when it was frozen and defrosting instructions) on the bag.
Ice Cube Trays – Ice cube trays can help you freeze more than just water. Instead, we use them for freezing small portions of food such as egg whites, tomato sauce, pesto etc.
Simply add the food to the tray, freeze and once frozen pop the food out and into a ziplock bag, then you can simply take one or two portions of food out and defrost as needed.
Foil Baking Containers – We use foil baking containers when we’re batch cooking frozen meals.
They are affordable, durable and come in a variety of sizes allowing you to portion out or put everything in one large container to be cooked at a later date.
If all that wasn’t enough, the majority of meals are safe to be cooked in the oven with the foil container. This reduces the amount of hassle, time and washing up you’ll have to do – winner!
Can You Freeze Tenderstem Broccoli?
As fruits and vegetables naturally hold water this can work against them when they are frozen, if not frozen correctly they will then gain more water in the freezing process, lose all flavour and are likely to feel soggy when cooked.
This doesn’t mean that broccoli can’t be frozen, it just means there are some steps to take before freezing.
Freezing tenderstem broccoli is a great way of preserving fresh produce to use within the months it is not grown or produced.
How To Freeze Tenderstem Broccoli
Ensure you have crisp fresh broccoli since limp, old ones make for nasty-tasting frozen ones.
Wash them in plain cold running water and split the broccoli lengthwise into 1.5 inches flowerets.
Further, remove the leaves and the woody stalk. You could separate the heads into convenient sizes if you wish.
Soak the heads in brine water to remove insects, all the while setting up a pot of hot boiling(2/3 full) and cold water.
Soaking should take around 30 minutes. After soaking, rinse off the brine under running water and blanch them for three minutes.
If steaming, the duration should last five minutes. Blanching destroys the enzyme that breaks down nutrients over time, changing its colour and flavour.
Once three minutes is over, immediately cool them in the pot of cold water. A rule of thumb is to cool them for the same duration during blanching.
Drain excess water and pat dry them. Bag the broccoli in a Ziploc.
Try to suck out air from the bag as much as you can to prevent freezer burns and degradation of flavor due to oxidation.
You can insert a straw at the end of the bag and suck out the air as you finish pressing the bag.
A good alternative would be a vacuum food sealer. Once done, pop them in the freezer.
How To Defrost Tenderstem Broccoli
Heat a large pot of water. It’s essential to use a large bowl since you don’t want the broccoli to be in hot water for too long.
A smaller pot cools down quickly once the frozen broccoli gets added and may lengthen the cooking process since some of the vegetables won’t have defrosted properly.
Immerse the broccoli in hot water once out of the freezer.
Since cooking them for long will make them soggy and fall apart, you must soak them in hot water for roughly two minutes to maintain its crunchiness and add them to already hot boiling water.
Strictly limit the boiling time to a minute. Drain the water and palace the broccoli in a bowl.
Season it with spices, butter, or salt to your liking and enjoy.
Hi all! I’m Cora Benson, and I’ve been blogging about food, recipes and things that happen in my kitchen since 2019.