The Secret to Cooking Frozen Broccoli That's Never Mushy
One surprising trick makes all the difference.
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Broccoli is the one green vegetable that my whole family agrees on, so we cook and eat it a lot. While I love fresh broccoli—and almost always buy it precut—keeping frozen broccoli on hand is incredibly helpful for those nights when dinner doesn’t go as planned.
I’ve tried cooking frozen broccoli dozens of different ways—steaming, microwaving, pan frying—but time after time, I always come back to roasting it. I learned a surprisingly simple two-step process that keeps the broccoli from getting soggy and actually helps it get crispy and caramelized.
You can use this technique for tender-crisp broccoli or get roasty toasty broccoli with tons of flavor. Here’s how to make the most out of your frozen broccoli stash for dinner tonight.
My Foolproof Way to Cook Frozen Broccoli
The secret to never soggy roasted broccoli is a two-step cooking process. First you’ll preheat a sheet pan along with your oven. I like 425°F for cooking either fresh or frozen broccoli. When the oven and the pan are preheated, dump the frozen broccoli onto the hot sheet pan and use a spatula to make sure it is in an even layer. Here is the crucial thing: Don’t season the broccoli yet—no salt, no oil, no spices. Roast the plain frozen broccoli for 12 to 15 minutes.
Once the broccoli has been roasting for at least 12 minutes, remove the sheet pan from the oven, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with seasonings, and then toss to coat the broccoli. It will brown and crisp during this second round of roasting.
How long to leave it roasting is entirely up to you. Another 5 minutes of roasting will give you a tender-crisp broccoli that tastes more like steamed, while an additional 10 minutes of roasting will caramelize the broccoli, giving it a sweet, charred flavor.
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Why It Works
During this first round of roasting, the plain broccoli thaws and then gets baked so all the moisture evaporates, including any ice crystals that may have formed in the freezer. Adding oil before roasting acts as a coating to keep ice crystals and extra moisture in, causing soggy broccoli. Once the broccoli has had time to let off moisture and get hot, adding oil and other seasonings helps with caramelization.
I keep our broccoli simple most nights—adding just salt, garlic powder, and olive oil—but you can get creative with the seasonings, adding things like fresh garlic, lemon zest, or Parmesan during the last bit of roasting.
Once you’ve got the basic technique down, you’ll find yourself reaching for frozen broccoli more often because cooking it this way is easy and truly delicious.
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