Way To Cook Broccolini

We've been making broccolini for years and it is by far one of our family's favorite vegetables – we came up with the Best Way to Cook Broccolini that has become a staple in our home, and the homes of so many readers.

This recipe is easy and simple and delivers a flavorful veggie side dish in 10 minutes that even your picky eaters will want to devour!

At Avdaye, we add lots of tips in all of our recipes – because we are a home cook without any formal training, and we find we are more confident making dishes when we understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. Our goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

10 Minute Broccolini

One of our favorite vegetables has always been broccoli.

We don't know why- but something about the texture, the slight bitterness, the bright green color- we love to add broccoli in about any recipe, or eat it steamed or sautéed.

A few years ago we tried broccolini for the first time- and it was everything we loved about our beloved broccoli, but less bitter- longer, thinner stalks that have a deep, almost asparagus-like flavor, and a deep buttery taste when cooked right.

It quickly became our favorite thing to order out- but we could never master it at home. We recently made some in a hurry, and we found a new way to make broccolini that is now our absolute favorite- all by a happy accident- and we've made this good side dish five nights in a row since!

Broccolini Recipe Ingredients

To make this easy recipe, you'll need:

• Clarified butter. Clarified butter is a great way to help crisp and caramelize vegetables and meats – it has a higher smoke point than butter, but the same rich, good creamy flavor – so it's suited to getting a nice solid sear and crunch on vegetables and meats. If you want to make this recipe vegan, you can skip the clarified butter and use avocado oil or olive oil.
• Olive oil. Olive oil adds with clarified butter to make a solid fat medium to pan fry broccolini in, so it gets caramelized and tender with tons of irresistible flavor.
• Broccolini. Broccolini, or baby broccoli, is a cross between broccoli and gai lan, a leafy plant from China similar to broccoli. This results in a long and lean broccoli that is tender, with a light, vegetal taste that is less bitter.
• Celtic sea salt. We love using a high quality salt that has a salty flavor, without as high sodium as table salt.

How to make Sauteed Broccolini

Once you've gathered your ingredients, we will use this method:

How to prepare Broccolini

Broccolini requires minimal preparation after rinsing well to remove any dirt – trim off the woody ends, and pan fry or roast at a high heat!

How to cut Broccolini

The tough, woody stems of broccolini aren't appetizing, and can be tough to chew. Trim away especially thick and tough ends to broccolini, about an inch off the bottom – but save the long, thin, and softer stalks since they are so good!

How to cook Broccolini

Trim woody ends off broccolini, drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper. Melt clarified butter in a pan and heat until shimmery.

Add broccolini to pan and caramelize until it has browned and is lightly tender. Add water to pan and cook down until it has become as tender as you'd like.

Enjoy!

Kitchen notes

The secret to broccolini that we stumbled upon is pretty simple- we're going to sauté it and let it caramelize, and then flash boil it to make it perfectly tender. By doing this all at a pretty high temperature, we're cutting the cook time dramatically- which ups the flavor for this good side dish.

Let it brown. When letting your broccolini sauté, it's important to let it brown. Browning=flavor!!

Charred bits are ok. Since the broccolini will be a deep, vibrant green, it might almost take on a burnt appearance. Unless you smell burnt bits it isn't burnt- you've given some caramelization to the florets. You want a brown color, not black.

Stir occasionally. toss the broccolini around once a minute (its only sautéing five minutes) so it doesn't burn. Don't worry- you got this. Once it's had a good chance to develop flavor, we need to add some water to soften the stems a bit.

Add water after browning to soften. Since we're not adding much water, it won't take long and will cook off quickly. If you're in a dry climate, or your pan is too hot, you might need to add a little extra water. No big deal- cook it till the water has cooked off, and your broccolini is soft. Don't flood it, and don't worry- this is a pretty hard dish to mess up! You can do it!

Trim woody ends. One note- we do like to trim the bottom 1/2″ off of broccolini. We find its a bit woody, like asparagus stems- but this isn't a hard and fast rule. You might experiment to find what you like the most.

A few answers

How can this recipe be stored?

Leftovers can be stored in a container in the refrigerator for up to five days.

Is Baby Broccoli the same as Broccolini?

Broccolini is often called baby broccoli – but it's actually a cross between broccoli and Gai Lan – Chinese Broccoli/Kale.

Serve it with

Broccolini is good with all kinds of main dishes, from our top rated baked pork tenderloin roast chickenor easy sloppy joes – to easy homemade schnitzelor a comforting and good porcupine meatball recipe!

We also love serving broccolini with Spinach Parmesan Garlic Butter Spaghettior Easy Sheet Pan Oven Roasted Chicken and Leeks!

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Ingredients

• 1 tbsp clarified butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 package broccolini
• celtic sea salt, 1/2 tsp
• ¼ cup water

Method

1. In a large pan, heat butter until it is melted on medium high.
2. Add olive oil.
3. Add broccolini, toss frequently until browned and bright green, about 5 minutes.
4. Add salt, toss over broccolini.
5. Add water, cook until water is evaporated and broccolini is soft, another 5 minutes.
6. Serve hot.