Broccoli Recipes

🥦 Welcome to Our Broccoli Recipe Collection

Broccoli is one of the real heroes of the vegetable world and a hero from our farm — packed with nutrients, endlessly versatile, and a joy to grow here on our regenerative farm.

We grow two main types of broccoli for your veg boxes:

• Calabrese broccoli — the classic large green heads you’re probably most familiar with, perfect for roasting, steaming, or tossing into stir-fries.
• Purple sprouting broccoli — a beautiful heirloom variety with slender stems, tender florets, and a slightly sweeter, nuttier flavour. It’s a true seasonal treat in early spring.

And sometimes, when conditions are just right, we also grow a green tenderstem variety, offering tender, delicious stems that cook in minutes.

This page is here to give you plenty of ideas for making the most of your broccoli harvest — whether you want a quick weekday meal, a hearty side, or a simple snack. All the recipes are plant-based, easy to follow, and perfect for celebrating the freshness of your farm veg.

Happy cooking!

🍳 Quick Cooking Tips for Cooking Broccoli

• Prep: Trim the stem ends if needed and slice any large florets into smaller, bite-sized pieces so they cook evenly. Don’t throw away the stems — they’re tender and delicious when peeled and sliced!
• Steam: Gently steam florets for 3–4 minutes until just tender and bright green. Perfect for keeping nutrients intact. Serve with a pinch of salt, squeeze of lemon and maybe a light drizzle of olive oil.
• Roast: Toss broccoli with olive oil, salt, and a squeeze of lemon, and roast at 200°C for 15–20 minutes until crispy at the edges and sweet inside.
• Stir-fry: Cut into small pieces and stir-fry quickly over high heat with garlic, ginger, or sesame for a vibrant, crunchy side.
• Eat raw: Tender broccoli (especially purple sprouting) is fantastic raw in salads — just slice thinly and toss with a lemony dressing.

💡 Top tip: For extra flavour, try blanching broccoli in boiling water for 30 seconds, then tossing it straight into a hot pan to finish — it stays bright and soaks up sauces beautifully.

🧊 Storage Tips for Broccoli

Freezing: Blanch broccoli florets for 2–3 minutes in boiling water, cool quickly in ice water, then drain and freeze. Perfect for soups, stir-fries, or roasting later on.

Fridge: Keep your broccoli in the fridge, ideally in a breathable bag (like a perforated produce bag) or loosely wrapped in a damp tea towel.

Best eaten within: 3–5 days to enjoy it at its freshest and sweetest.

Revive wilted broccoli: If it starts to droop, stand it stem-down in a glass of cold water for an hour — it’ll perk right back up!

🌿 Fun Facts & FAQs About Broccoli

Where does broccoli come from?

Broccoli was first cultivated in the Mediterranean region, especially in Italy, over 2,000 years ago. Its name comes from the Italian word “broccolo,” meaning “the flowering crest of a cabbage” — fitting, since it’s part of the brassica family!

What’s the difference between calabrese, purple sprouting, and tenderstem?

• Calabrese broccoli is the large green-headed variety most people know — it grows best in summer and early autumn.
• Purple sprouting broccoli is more cold-tolerant, producing lots of smaller, tender purple florets in early spring.
• Tenderstem broccoli is a hybrid between broccoli and Chinese kale, prized for its long, sweet, edible stems and quick cooking time.

Why do we love growing broccoli on our regenerative farm?

Broccoli is a brilliant plant for soil health — it has strong, deep roots that help open up the soil structure naturally. Plus, broccoli grown in living soil without chemicals tends to be sweeter, more vibrant, and higher in antioxidants — better for you, and for the land it comes from 🌱