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Looking for broccoli leaves recipes?
We’ve listed a couple of tasty, printable broccoli leaves recipes later in this post.
Plus, we’ve also included tips on how to harvest broccoli leaves if you’re growing your own vegetables. That’s because so many gardeners are growing your own food.
Too, we’ve added a number of links to help you grow abundant foods no matter how big or small your garden. Moreover, if you’d like to learn more in online lesson programs with us, sign up to be the first notified when we open enrollment next.
Now, let’s get back to those broccoli leaves!
Yep, the leaves are as edible as the leaves of their nutrient-packed cousin kale!
When the central head of a broccoli crown is still tightly in bud and tucked several inches below the tops of the highest leaves, it’s time to take your first harvest. If you wait longer and the crown flowers begin to open, your harvest may be tougher and less flavorful.
So don’t keep waiting to see what else might happen.
Young Broccoli crown forming on a plant. It’ll be ready to cut out soon!
How to harvest young broccoli crowns:
Using a sharp knife, slice out that central flower head (or crown), and leave the rest of the plant in place. Smaller broccoli florets will likely form along the intact stalk. That means, they’ll sprout from buds at the base of the remaining leaves.
In fact, you may see some of them already starting to form when you cut out the big, central crown.
How to Harvest axillary (side) florets from broccoli:
The side florets on broccoli can form rapidly. So check your plants frequently. And trim out the side florets when they are no more than about 4-5″ long.
These aren’t likely to get big like the central broccoli crown. So the idea is to harvest many of them while they are small.
In fact, tiny florets are great to toss into our broccoli leaf recipes too.
After the top crown has been removed, side florets like these will form quickly.
Like the central crown, the axillary florets will get tough and unpalatable if you let them grow long and open their flowers. But, the pollinators will love them.
How to Harvest broccoli leaves:
When you harvest your big, central broccoli crown, you’ll probably end up cutting out a few leaves as well. Wait a sec – Don’t toss them into the compost pile! Instead, remove the mid-rib and add these to your broccoli leaf recipes!
Once the central crown is removed from the plant, you can begin trimming out a few leaves from the plant on a regular basis. As you would with Kale, remove the lower leaves on the plant first.
And only take a few leaves from each plant at a time — especially if you are encouraging the plant to grow more axillary florets. They’ll need those leaves to photosynthesize, which is how they feed themselves.
Clip lower leaves on your broccoli plant first, removing them where they meet the stem by cutting or snapping. Don’t tear the main stalk!
Once you have harvested all the side florets from your broccoli plant (at a certain point the plant will either run out of side buds for production or just wear out from having everything taken from it), go ahead and trim out the rest of the leaves as well as the central stalk, much of which is truly delicious as well — just chop off the toughest portions and peel off the exterior layer to reveal the crunchy sweetness of the central stem.
The roots, leaf midribs, and the toughest portions of the stalk are food for your compost heap or your chickens.
Want more info on growing broccoli? Read on!
Small Space Broccoli Growing Tips & Tricks
Cabbage Butterfly Pest Egg Photo ID
How to Use broccoli leaves in the kitchen
**Now with two recipes**
There are so many ways you can eat your broccoli leaves for our recipes.
Remove the mid-rib, tear or chop the supple leaves, and mix them into a saute. Toss them in hearty salads where you might otherwise rely on kale. Or, blend them into a smoothie for a nutrient-rich, not-t00-sweet smoothie.
Sweet broccoli leaf recipe with fruit, fat & protein smoothie
You’ll need a high powered blender to fully macerate all the whole food ingredients in this tasty smoothie. Depending on how much you thin the final blend, this should make a one-pint-glass serving. Check out how many servings of fruits and vegetables you get!
Ingredients:
3 Large broccoli leaves, mid-rib removed
1 Peach, pitted
4-6 Strawberries, hulled
1/2 banana
3-4 ice cubes
1/2 cup water (or more ice cubes if you like a really frosty smoothie)
1 T. hemp seeds
1 T. coconut butter or whole fat coconut milk
1/4 lime, peeled
1″ chunk peeled, fresh ginger
Add ingredients to high powered blender. Start on low speed and work up to high speed, mashing things down as needed. Let run about 1-2 minutes to fully liquify everything. (If your mixture is thicker than you prefer, add a bit more water or coconut milk to thin.)
This year we had several crops of broccoli, with loads of delicious stems & heads. But, we also had loads of leaves. Some went to the chickens; they love broccoli. Much went to making tasty broccoli leaf chips. Much like ever-popular kale chips, these are super easy to make from the gleanings of your broccoli crop!
Broccoli leaf recipe: dried chips
Ingredients:
Large broccoli leaves, mid-rib removed
granulated or powdered garlic
sea salt
olive oil
Tear broccoli leaves into chip sized pieces. Toss with a splash of olive oil, a sprinkling of salt & a generous sprinkling of granulated or powdered garlic.
Spread seasoned leaves in single layers on dehydrator trays.
Place into a dehydrator (on lowest setting if that’s an option) for about an hour. Check. Extend time as needed until chips are fully dried and crispy.
Serve immediately or place into a vacuum seal canister where they can be stored for later.
Also, I use blanched collard leaves for a veggie spring roll! Trim or cut out the center vein, put in hot water for about 5-10 seconds, flip over then put in ice water bath. Dry completely then fill with leftover rice, hummus, tomato, matchstick carrots…whatever veggies you like! Roll up and eat, so good!
Thanks for sharing Pam. Collards aren’t broccoli, but they are related. Could do the same with broccoli leaves!
What type of broccoli that doesn’t have such big leaves.. I have some above ground outside planters. And they grow huge leaves. Is there A name to a smaller type broccoli plant? Thank you for the great tips greatly appreciated.
Moe, you might have luck with a sprouting broccoli, which doesn’t grow a big crown like grocery-store broccoli. But really, broccoli in our experience pretty much produces large leaves. Good luck.