Better than Steamed Sous Vide Broccoli

You can enjoy broccoli in its most nutritious (and delicious!) form with fewer dishes and no risk of overcooking it thanks to sous vide. Simply add broccoli and your favorite seasonings to a vacuum seal bag, seal, and cook in your sous vide water bath! These stalks will be perfectly tender every time.

Look: no one likes mushy broccoli 🤢 Although we typically associate sous vide with steak (and for good reason!), it’s the perfect cooking method for so much more, like veggies! Take the human error guesswork out of the equation and guarantee yourself some deliciously tender stalks with sous vide.

You’ll always find me using sous vide to make my meal prepping routine easier (I mean, I did write a whole cookbook about it!). My strategy is to sous vide a batch of veggies at the beginning of the week, store in the fridge, then use as side dishes or even just throw in mac and cheese. While you’re at it, sous vide a whole chicken to keep on hand throughout the week, too!

Is it worth it to sous vide veggies?

Here’s the deal: if I’m forced to make a choice between sous viding a steak or a side, I’m going to pick the steak. But there’s no reason we gotta choose, so yes: it’s totally worth it to sous vide veggies.

Veggies, especially when serving the role of side dishes, can become an afterthought and may not get the attention they deserve, leading to undercooked crunchiness or overcooked mushiness. With sous vide, you’ll know the veggies will be cooked perfectly every single time.

Veggies like asparagus and beets tend to have really narrow sweet spots. While veggies like corn on the cob and broccoli have more wiggle room, don’t risk it if you don’t have to.

Time and Temperature Options

You’ll see a lot of people prescribing one temperature, period. You’ll also probably see a range of times. I’m going to give a range of 30-60 minutes so you know that you have flexibility (this isn’t shrimp or salmon where the time is very important), but know this will absolutely be done in 30 minutes.

For broccoli with a bit of a bite, sous vide at 180 degrees F for 30 minutes. For more tender broccoli, sous vide at 185 degrees F for 30 minutes. You can also play with temperatures in between.

Result	Temperature	Time
A bit of a bite	180 degrees F	30 – 60 minutes
Tender	183 degrees F	30 – 60 minutes
Soft, but not mushy	185 degrees F	30 – 60 minutes

What You’ll Need (Equipment and Ingredients)

If you already sous vide, you likely have all of these items in your kitchen already. If not, it’s time to get some equipment! Here’s what you’ll need:

• A sharp knife (this is my go-to knife)
• A vacuum sealer and vacuum seal bags
• An immersion circulator (the Breville Joule is my favorite)
• Some kind of container for your water bath. You can just use a stockpot if you want, but I use a clear, dedicated container.
• Sous vide magnets to keep the broccoli submerged are really helpful.

Don’t have a vacuum sealer? No big deal. There are lots of air removal methods.

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The ingredients for this recipe are pretty much pantry staples:

• Broccoli – fresh, not frozen for this
• A lemon
• Garlic cloves OR garlic powder, depending on which method for seasoning you end up using
• Butter
• Olive oil
• Salt (my go to is Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt)
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• Parmesan (I’m using a parmesan from Trader Joe’s that has peppercorns in it)

How to Make Sous Vide Broccoli

Like any other sous vide recipe, start by preheating your water bath with an immersion circulator to your desired temp (see chart above). You have two options for seasoning the broccoli:

1. Take the easy way out and add the seasonings before you sous vide. If you do this, use garlic powder instead of chopped garlic and don’t add the parmesan until it’s done cooking.
2. Add just the broccoli to a vacuum seal bag and make a garlic butter sauce while it cooks to toss the broccoli in.

The second option is the more delicious one, but the first is easier. It’s up to you! Either way, you’ll vacuum seal the broccoli (with all the other ingredients except parmesan or by itself depending on the method).

Then you’ll add it to the water bath. This broccoli will want to float, so weigh it down with sous vide magnets and/or a ceramic dish. Cook for 30-60 minutes (whatever works for you).

If you’re doing the garlic butter sauce, make that while it’s cooking. Roughly mince the garlic – I like to leave it in bigger chunks than normal when mincing for extra garlicky bites.

Add the butter and olive oil to a skillet over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add the garlic and cook until just starting to brown, then turn off the heat. The smell!!! This is my favorite smell in the whole world. Stir in the salt and pepper.

When the broccoli is done, add it to a bowl and pour the sauce over the top. Toss to coat. Swipe your finger along the bottom of the skillet and give it a lick, I ain’t judgin’.

If you picked the easy method, just pour the broccoli and juices into a bowl and toss to coat.

No matter which method you picked, you’ll finish the broccoli by grating plenty of fresh parmesan over it, tossing again, then topping with some more parmesan for good measure. We love the parm.

Serve alongside a perfectly medium rare sous vide steak for a delicious meal.

Common Questions

• Can I use frozen broccoli?
  • You can, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Sometimes a solution is used to coat the broccoli before freezing and the broccoli would cook in this, potentially resulting in some funky flavors. If anything, I’d buy fresh broccoli, cut it up, vacuum seal, then freeze and sous vide at your leisure.
• Can I make this ahead of time?
  • You can certainly sous vide this ahead of time if you like. Drop in a 185 degree water bath for 5 minutes to head it back through or microwave for 30 seconds before serving.

You can also view this recipe as a step-by-step web story here.