How To Freeze Fresh and Cooked Broccoli

Raw broccoli can be kept in the freezer for future use. But, freezing the raw one without blanching it is not recommended. Here, blanching helps to retain the flavor and nutrients in the vegetable.

In case, you skip the blanching step and freeze broccoli raw, the taste might become more bitter, the color fade away, and the veggie loses its nutrient value. 

Can You Freeze Cooked Broccoli?

The answer is yes. You can freeze cooked broccoli for longer use. This allows you to use it when you're in need. You will just have to thaw and reheat the frozen broccoli to use this.

One major thing to remember while freezing cooked broccoli is to let it cool down completely before placing it in an airtight container. This is necessary to allow hot steam or moisture gets cool down to prevent any bacterial growth or cross-contamination. 

There are several beneficial reasons why you should freeze the excess broccoli that you have in your kitchen or garden. The reasons we're going to mention apply to both raw and cooked broccoli. Read carefully and know why freezing broccoli is important: 

Preserve nutrients

After picking fresh broccoli from your garden or getting it from the grocery store, keep them in the freezer if you don't plan to use them immediately or within a few hours.

This is because leaving the vegetable at room temperature for a longer time leads to a loss of nutrient values due to dryness. So, store them in the freezer to maintain the essential nutrients.

Retain freshness and flavor

Freezing broccoli helps to maintain its freshness along with its flavor. This allows you to enjoy the same taste of flavor and freshness even after days, weeks, or months. While not doing so leads to a loss of flavor and freshness due to excessive exposure to room temperature and dryness. 

Longer shelf life

Although broccoli doesn't die within a day, but it starts to become dull and deadening. Not paying attention to their texture and appearance surely leads it to be useless. So, freeze whatever amount of broccoli you have, this way you will be able to increase the shelf life of the vegetable and can use it for months. 

Prevent wastage

Timely freezing prevents broccoli from turning into waste. The cooling temperature keeps the vegetable fresh and lively for up to 6-8 months. This step not only reduces the wastage from your kitchen but also ensures proper utilization of nutritious this vegetable. 

Convenience

Convenience is another reason to freeze broccoli. Frozen broccoli can be taken out from the freezer anytime when you're in need. This reduces your need to go to the grocery store time and again. 

Cost-efficient

Broccoli usually costs more in the off-season. When you freeze plenty of raw broccoli while it's in the season, your cost to do that becomes way cheaper. You can use the frozen ones for your use when the price is high. This saves you from spending a significant amount. 

Yes, blanching broccoli is necessary for freezing. Blanching simply means boiling raw broccoli in hot water for 3-4 minutes. This helps to preserve the freshness, texture, color, and essential nutrients like vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals in the broccoli.

Similarly, blanching enhances the flavor by removing the bitter and harsh taste of raw broccoli

Additionally, it also prevents the vegetable from becoming mushy to too soft during the thawing and reheating process. As a result, blanching allows you to experience the same level of freshness, texture, and nutrients that you can find in the fresh one.

Freezing raw broccoli is very crucial to keep it last for a longer time. To do this, you need to collect some ingredients and tools, along with follow the given instructions strictly to freeze raw broccoli properly: 

Ingredients And Tools Required

• Fresh broccoli
• Water
• A pan
• A tong
• A sharp knife and cutting board
• Paper towel
• A tray
• Sealable plastic bag or airtight container

Instructions

1. Prepare the broccoli

First, start by preparing the broccoli. To prepare this, rinse the vegetable under cold water. It washes away the excess dirt or invisible particles. Chop the washed broccoli using a sharp knife. Cut it into usual pieces like you do while cooking it. Make sure the pieces are in even sizes. 

2. Blanch the broccoli

Once the preparation is done, proceed to blanch the broccoli.

How To Blanch Broccoli?

Boil water in a pan. Side by side, prepare a bowl of iced water, and also ready the tray by lining it with a paper towel.  Once the water is boiled properly, add chopped broccoli to it. Leave it to boil for 3-4 minutes. 

Now, take out the half-boiled broccoli using a tong and place it in a bowl filled with iced water. Let it sit there for about 2-3 minutes.

The ice water step helps to neutralize the hotness in the broccoli to prevent it from overcooking even after boiling. Besides that, it also highlights its green color and creates a firm and crispy texture in its stems. 

3. Drain and dry

After blanching is done, use a tong to remove broccoli from the iced water and place it on a tray that is lined with a paper towel. Leave the broccoli to sit there for 5-10 minutes or until it is completely dry. 

You can use a paper towel to pat dry the vegetable to end the drying process quickly. You have to make sure all the broccoli pieces are fully dry. This is crucial to prevent the vegetable from cross-contamination while in the freezer. 

4. Flash-freeze the broccoli

Before rushing to transfer the broccoli in an airtight container, flash-freeze it. Arrange the broccoli on a baking sheet or a tray lined with a paper towel. Leave some space between the broccoli to prevent the sticking issue. 

Place the broccoli in the freezer for 2-3 hours. By that time, the broccoli will be frozen fully. You can tell this by looking at their appearance which will have white icy color. Extend the freezing time, if your broccoli has not turned into icy color yet. 

5. Transfer to an airtight container or bag

Remove the tray or baking sheet from the freezer and start adding broccoli in an airtight container or plastic bag. If you have broccoli in larger amounts, use more than one airtight container or plastic bag. 

Here, you need to ensure that the container or plastic bag is airproof. This is important to prevent any risk of cross contamination in the broccoli. 

6. Store in the freezer

Now, it's time to place the container or plastic bag in the freezer. Don't put the container close to the freezer door. As frequent opening and closing of the door affect the temperature and result in spoilage of the broccoli sooner. 

One more thing, the freezer temperature should be 0˚F (-18˚C) or lower. This is important to maintain the freshness and quality of the broccoli for a longer time. Your broccoli can last up to 6-8 months. 

The process to freeze cooked broccoli is mostly similar to that of raw one. However, there's a slight difference while beginning this process. Follow the given guide to freeze cooked broccoli properly:

Ingredients And Tools Required

• Cooked broccoli
• Baking sheet or tray
• Paper towel
• A tong
• Airtight bag or container

Instructions

1. Prepare the baking sheet or tray 

Start by preparing the baking sheet or tray. First, clean the baking sheet and place the paper towel over it. This will be useful in placing the cooked broccoli for cooling and flash-freezing. The baking paper will be helpful in preventing the stickiness and also make the cleaning process easier afterward. 

2. Cool down the cooked broccoli

Once you have cooked the broccoli according to your preferred recipes, transfer the cooked broccoli to a baking sheet or tray. Leave the broccoli to cool down for about 30 minutes to 1 hour. During this time, the hot steam goes away and makes the broccoli completely cool. 

In case, you missed to cool down the cooked broccoli and flash-freeze it, this leads to poor quality. As a result, you will see a change in texture, color fade, doesn't taste good, and loss of nutritional value.

Additionally, this may lead to the spoilage of the broccoli sooner and the formation of bacterial growth. This all happens when warm or hot food is directly exposed to freezer temperature. 

2. Flash-freeze the broccoli

After cooling down the broccoli, place the baking sheet in the freezer and let it sit there for about 2-3 hours or until the broccoli is fully frozen. Frozen broccoli will have a white icy texture on its appearance.

Here, you should make sure that the cooked broccoli is layered in a single line, meaning not overcrowding one layer over another. This will allow quick and even flash freezing. 

3. Transfer to an airtight bag or container

Transfer all the frozen broccoli to an airtight bag or container. Ensure the bag or container is free from scratches or holes to prevent any air pass. This is important to stop the broccoli from getting contaminated with external factors. If this happens, broccoli spoil quickly. 

4. Freeze the broccoli

The final step is to place the airtight container filled with cooked broccoli in the freezer. Avoid placing the container near the freezer door. Since quick opening and closing of the freezer door influences the temperature which later leads to reduced quality of the vegetable. 

Also, make sure the internal temperature of the freezer is maintained at 0˚F (-18˚C) or lower for better quality and freshness. Cooked broccoli lasts for up to 1 year. This way you can enjoy the frozen cooked broccoli anytime you want. 

Before using frozen broccoli, it needs to go through a thawing process. Thawing simply means to turn the icy crystals or layer in broccoli into liquid form.

There are mainly 3 thawing methods that you can follow: 

Refrigerator thawing method

If you choose to follow this method, you need to place frozen broccoli in the refrigerator for about 4-6 hours or overnight for better quality. This helps to melt the ice in the broccoli slowly while maintaining its freshness and quality. 

Microwave thawing method

Microwave things is a suitable method if you want your broccoli to be quickly thawed. This takes less than 5 minutes. All you need to do is place the broccoli on a microwave friendly container or dish and place it inside the microwave by turning on the deforest setting. 

Check the broccoli in between and stir gently to ensure proper thawing. Once the estimated time reaches, remove the broccoli. If you want to make it more tender, pour some water and microwave until you see the desired texture. 

Cold water thawing method

This is another method to easily thaw frozen broccoli at home. Fill a bowl with cold water and place a container filled with frozen broccoli in that water. Once the first 30 minutes are reached, change the water and again fill the bowl with cold water. Continue doing this process for about 1-2 hours. 

Here, you're not supposed to directly add frozen broccoli to the water. otherwise, it will make the vegetable too soft and mushy. 

Whether it's noodles or soup, frozen broccoli is one of the ingredients to incorporate. This vegetable fits well almost with any other veggies. You can use your creativity to transform it into a final dish.

Here are some ideas you might want to try with your frozen broccoli: 

1. Roasted veggies

Frozen broccoli can be paired with other green veggies like carrots, potatoes, and eggplants to make a platter of roasted veggies. The preparation requires you to clean and chop the veggies properly, roast them in a pan with some olive oil, and finally garnish the dish with chopped green herbs for a refreshing fragrance. 

This dish can be served with fried rice, grilled fish or any meat. To create a chilled vibe, accompany the dish with a glass of cold beer. 

2. Noodles with broccoli

Noodles are widely consumed because of their instant cooking feature. Frozen broccoli can be included in the noodles to make it more healthy and green. 

To do this, simply boil dry noodles in a pot, add required seasonings like salt, black pepper, and green chili, and boil the mixture along with some frozen broccoli. There you have quick and hot noodles with broccoli ready. This is an ideal choice during rainy days and winter days.  

3. Mac and cheese with broccoli

The creamy and cheesy macaroni has been everyone's favorite. This dish is primarily popular among kids. So adding some frozen broccoli would help to add a bit of nutrients to it. This allows your kids not only to enjoy the creamy and cheesy mach but also helps to provide health benefits. 

4. Mixed veg salads

Veg salads are deemed to be the healthiest snacks that you can enjoy in the breakfast. Healthier in the sense that the veggies are filled with essential nutrients like vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. This helps to alleviate overall health. 

Making frozen broccoli a part of this snack further helps to add nutritional value as broccoli itself is densely filled with vitamin C, iron, and other essential nutrients. 

5. Veg soup

Whether you are planning to prepare mushroom soup or tofu soup, frozen broccoli adds flavor to it. Add some broccoli to the soup while making it and let it blend with other veggies. This will create a refreshing flavor along with adding nutritional value to the dish.