If you have a good steamed broccoli recipe in your arsenal, you may find yourself making it every week! This recipe is perfect. While the broccoli is steaming, make a tasty sauce to drizzle on top. Your side dish is ready in 10 minutes!
Broccoli is a reliable vegetable, always available, healthy and easy to prepare. Plus, it goes with pretty much everything.
If you think you don’t like broccoli because you grew up with it as a tasteless, soggy concoction microwaved in a bag or overcooked on the stovetop, try this recipe and see if we can change your mind!
Why steamed broccoli
Steaming broccoli ensures that as many nutrients as possible are retained in the vegetable, much more so than microwaving, boiling or frying it.
Steaming for the right amount of time ensures that the broccoli retains its vibrant green color and remains crisp and tender.
Plus, once you learn the technique, it’s also one of the easiest ways to cook broccoli.
Ways to steam vegetables
You have several options for steaming.
Basically, you’re trying to create an environment with boiling water at the bottom to create steam. The food should be placed over the boiling water, but without touching it. There should be enough space for steam to circulate around it.
Here are 5 ways to achieve this:
- Bamboo steamer: If you have a bamboo steamer, you can place the broccoli directly in the basket, or on perforated parchment paper, damp cheesecloth, or even a shallow plate, as long as it fits in the basket and there is enough room around the plate for it to circulate the steam. See our article on how to use a bamboo steamer for more details.
- Metal Steamer: A metal steamer works in much the same way as a bamboo steamer. It has multiple levels and gaps/holes that allow steam to rise up and around the food. They are a little more convenient and easier to clean, but unlike bamboo steamers, condensation forms inside them. (This can be a problem for sandwiches/dumplings that don’t handle moisture dripping onto them as they cook.) Fortunately, this isn’t a problem with steaming broccoli, so if you have a metal steamer, use it !
- Wok with Steamer Rack: If you have a wok with a lid and a small metal steamer rack (usually 2 to 3 inches high), you can place a heat-resistant dish (such as a cake plate in glass or a baking tray) of broccoli on the grill. , place on the rack over boiling water, cover and steam!
- With a steamer basket: You can buy a collapsible metal steamer basket (the one that opens like a flower into a round basket, with feet or legs on the bottom) and put the broccoli in it to steam in a lidded pot, with just about 1 inch of water under it. As with all of these methods, the water should not touch the bottom of the grill.
- No special equipment (any pot with a lid and an empty tuna can) – you can create a similar setup without any special equipment. Simply a large pot with a lid and something to place the plate of broccoli on. An empty tuna can is fine.
Read more about these steaming methods in our article on how to steam food.
That’s all you need to know for this steamed broccoli recipe. Once you learn this steaming method, you’ll unlock tons of our other recipes!
Check out our wide variety of steamed recipes for more possibilities!
Steamed Broccoli Recipe Instructions
Using one of our suggested steaming methods (bamboo or metal steamer, wok with steamer rack, metal steamer basket, or our no-equipment method), bring water to a boil, place broccoli into the steamer and cover.
(In our case, we inserted a bamboo steamer into our metal steamer!)
Steam over medium heat for 4 minutes (for crispier broccoli) to 7 minutes (for more tender broccoli), until broccoli is still bright green but cooked to your liking. The cooking time will also depend on the size of the broccoli florets: less time for smaller florets and more time for larger ones.
In the meantime, prepare the sauce. In a small saucepan or skillet over medium heat, add the oil and garlic. Cook for 30 seconds, or until the garlic softens (there should be just a little browning – in the photo below, I actually let it go a little too long!).
Add water, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper. Mix the ingredients together and bring to the boil. Once simmered, turn off the heat.
Plate the steamed broccoli and season it with the sauce. Serve.
Tip! Alternative bleaching instructions
While steaming is a great way to preserve broccoli’s nutrients, you can also blanch (i.e., boil) until tender if you don’t want to steam it or are short on time.
Fill a medium-large pot with water (depending on how much broccoli you have) and add a few drizzles of neutral oil (which will give the broccoli a nice sheen after blanching it). Bring to the boil and add the broccoli florets. Simmer uncovered, for 2-3 minutes, depending on the size of the florets and how much you like broccoli.
Then prepare the sauce as directed in the recipe and pour it over!
Steamed broccoli
If you think you don’t like broccoli because you grew up with it as a tasteless, soggy concoction microwaved in a bag or overcooked on the stovetop, try this recipe and see if we can change your mind!
serve: 4
Preparation: 5 minutes
Cooked: 5 minutes
Total: 10 minutes
Instructions
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Using one of our suggested steaming methods (bamboo or metal steamer, wok with steamer rack, metal steamer basket, or our no-equipment method), bring water to a boil, place broccoli into the steamer and cover.
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Steam over medium heat for 4 minutes (for crispier broccoli) to 7 minutes (for more tender broccoli), until broccoli is still bright green but cooked to your liking. The cooking time will also depend on the size of the broccoli florets: less time for smaller florets and more time for larger ones.
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In the meantime, prepare the sauce. In a small saucepan over medium heat, add the oil and garlic. Cook for 30 seconds or until the garlic has softened (it should not brown). Add the water, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper. Mix the ingredients together and bring to the boil. Once simmering, turn off the heat.
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Plate the steamed broccoli and season it with the sauce. Serve.
nutritional values
Calories: 48kcal (2%) Carbohydrates: 8G (3%) Protein: 4G (8%) Fat: 1G (2%) Saturated fats: 1G (5%) Polyunsaturated fats: 1G Monounsaturated fat: 1G Sodium: 328mg (14%) Potassium: 370mg (11%) Fiber: 3G (12%) Sugar: 2G (2%) Vitamin A: 707UI (14%) C vitamin: 101mg (122%) Soccer: 57mg (6%) Iron: 1mg (6%)
