Think it's weird to eat broccoli leaves? It's not — the broad outer leaves of the broccoli plant are edible and delicious, and grow so well in the garden that they beg to be used more in the kitchen! And less in the compost pile. So where does the rest of it go?
Even though the plant is typically grown for its flower bud what you commonly know as a head of broccoli, or a floret or crown , the flower is a relatively small part of the crop, and it seems like you wait alllll spring or fall for the prize. A prize that sometimes never arrives, as anyone who has waited fruitlessly for a bud can attest to!
A broccoli plant only produces one significant head per life cycle, with occasional secondary sprouts that form in the axils of the leaves. These side shoots always turn out smaller than the center head think bite-sized , which is where baby broccoli comes from. Knowing all that, it seems wasteful to use such a modest portion of the plant when the rest of it is so good.
Broccoli is considered one of the most nutritious vegetables on the market, providing percent of the daily value of vitamin C in a single cup of chopped broccoli. It contains a full nutritional lineup of B vitamins, potassium, iron, calcium, minerals, and fiber. When compared to the stems, the florets have a higher concentration of protective phytochemicals like beta carotene and sulforaphane the latter of which has been shown to protect against certain cancers.
If you grow your own broccoli, you can start to harvest a few of the outer older leaves every week once they reach 4 to 6 inches long. After the plant forms a crown, you can harvest the broccoli head but continue to pick the leaves until you can no longer keep up… seriously!
Broccoli is an incredible cut-and-come-again crop, and new leaves remain tender even when the rest of the plant is getting tall and unwieldy.
When I lived in Southern California, I could keep my broccoli growing year-round in the mild coastal climate zone 10b. Texture- and appearance-wise, broccoli greens are similar to collard greens, as both plants belong to the mustard Brassicaceae family.
You can eat broccoli leaves raw or you can cook them a number of ways; heat makes them sweeter. I also like to wrap them around a chicken salad or tuna salad instead of using tortillas or pitas. Look for my recipe for broccoli green and baked falafel wraps in The No-Waste Vegetable Cookbook , which helps you waste less and eat better with vegetables you already grow or buy.
They can even take a quick sear on the grill try misting them with a little oil and seasoning with salt and pepper. You can make broccoli leaf chips the same way you make kale chips.
Broccoli greens can be used in place of collards, kale, cabbage, or chard in many recipes, though they have their own distinct flavor. The leaves taste earthy, mildly bitter, and faintly of broccoli which means people who are usually not fond of broccoli may take a liking to the leaves. But if you harvest the central stalk before it grows too woody, you can peel the tough outer skin to reveal a crunchy sweetness underneath.
Another variety, Spigariello , is a non-heading Italian broccoli grown for its leaves. You may have already eaten it and not known it! Which, by the way, are another misunderstood and highly underused green, since you can eat carrot tops too.
The rest of the brassica family gets no love either. All the leaves on cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, and cabbage plants the wide outer leaves, not the ones that form a tight head are usually tossed into the compost pile, but they are, in fact, percent edible and harvestable at any stage of growth. Considering the amount of water and resources it takes to grow a nutrient-dense and space-hogging broccoli plant, it feels like such a waste for commercial farmers to harvest the heads but discard the perfectly good leaves.
Afterwards, you can continue to pick the leaves until the growing season is over. Like many other greens that you can grow yourself, broccoli leaves are a very prolific cut and come again crop, constantly producing tasty new leaves that remain crisp and tender long after the rest of the plant has stopped producing.
Broccoli leaves look and feel very similar to collard greens , and can be used in lue of, or mixed with collards, chard, cabbage, and kale, though they have a flavor that is quite unique and distinct to broccoli leaves alone.
The flavor is reminiscent of broccoli, and is slightly bitter, earthy, and slightly sweet. Their sweetness increases as you apply a bit of heat, yet unlike many other common greens, broccoli leaves are not quick to wilting and will not cook down to a fraction of their original size once you turn up the heat. Harvest the smaller, younger leaves of the broccoli plant to mix with other leafy greens in a raw salad, as the smaller leaves are the most tender and have a milder flavor than the larger, more mature leaves of the plant.
Medium size leaves are the perfect size and texture to stuff with vegetables and meat like cabbage rolls. Use the mature, larger leaves for braises, soups, and stews, as they can benefit from higher temperatures and longer cooking times.
The larger leaves have a tougher texture when raw, but become tender when cooked. Cooking the larger leaves also allows them to soak up the flavors of the other vegetables, meats, oils, and spices that you are cooking them with.
When cooking with the larger leaves, remove as much of the stems as you can prior to cooking, as they like the stems of collards, chard, and other large greens are too fibrous to enjoy. Popular greens like collards, kale, mustard greens, and cabbage, continue to dominate the greens section in the produce aisle, and broccoli is seemingly only valued for its crown.
Meanwhile, broccoli raab, or rapini, a very similar vegetable to broccoli that has grown in popularity in recent years, is produced for its shoots and leaves. Also, spigarello, an Italian variety of broccoli grown exclusively for its leaves, has gained some popularity. However, broccoli leaves, despite being hailed as a superfood, are often discarded, tossed in the compost pile, and left out of recipes, in favor of greens that have always been a part of the culinary cupboard.
Broccoli leaves are not the only greens that are getting slept on by the culinary culture. Other stars of the brassica family, such as cauliflower , brussels sprouts, and cabbage which produces outer leaves, separate from the heads all produce nutrient-rich leafy greens that are perfectly edible, flavorful, and plentiful, yet play second fiddle to the more popular parts of the plants themselves.
Broccoli plants take up a lot of space in the garden. They also require a lot of water and fertilizer in order to grow and thrive. Considering the health benefits and culinary appeal that broccoli leaves carry, it seems like such a massive waste that broccoli plants are produced in bulk, for only the crowns, and the superfood foliage is simply tossed out like garbage.
Garden Betty covers Broccoli Leaves are Edible. Thank you for this Surprising and impressive article about broccoli leaves. This is my first year to grow broccoli and now I can use all those leaves to get plenty of vitamin C! Thank you! I have been growing broccoli and noticed that the leaves look a lot like collards. Symptoms of alternaria leaf spot on broccoli leaf. Symptoms of Alternaria leaf spot begin as small dark spots.
These spots will grow and become brown to gray in color. Small dark spots on leaves which turn brown to gray; lesions may be round or angular and may possess a purple-black margin; lesions may form concentric rings, become brittle and crack in center; dark brown elongated lesions may develop on stems and petioles. Management Plant only pathogen-free seed; rotate crops; applications of appropriate fungicides control disease when present. Irregularly shaped dull yellow areas along leaf margins which expand to leaf midrib and create a characterstic "V-shaped" lesion; lesions may coalesce along the leaf margin to give plant a scorched appearance.
Pathogen is spread via infected seed or by splashing water and insect movement; disease emergence favored by warm and humid conditions. Management Primary method of controlling black rot is through the use of good sanitation practices; rotate crops to non-cruciferous crops every 2 years; plant resistant varieties; control cruciferous weed species which may act as a reservoir for bacteria; plant pathogen-free seed.
Slow growing, stunted plants; yellowish leaves which wilt during day and rejuvenate in part at night; swollen, distorted roots; extensive gall formation. Can be difficult to distinguish from nematode damage; fungus can survive in soil for periods in excess of 10 years; can be spread by movement of contaminated soil and irrigation water to uninfected areas.
Management Once the pathogen is present in the soil it can survive for many years, elimination of the pathogen is economically unfeasible; rotating crops generally does not provide effective control; plant only certified seed and avoid field grown transplants unless produced in a fumigated bed; applying lime to the soil can reduce fungus sporulation. Small white patches on upper and lower leaf surfaces which may also show purple blotching; patches coalesce to form a dense powdery layer which coats the leaves; leaves become chlorotic and drop from plant.
Disease emergence favored by dry season, moderate temperatures, low humidity and low levels of rainfall. Management Plant resistant varieties; rotate crops; remove all crop debris after harvest; remove weeds; avoid excessive application of nitrogen fertilizer which encourages powdery mildew growth; powdery mildew can be controled by application of sulfur sprays, dusts or vapors. The fungus survives in the soil or in crop debris as sclerotia, which act as the primary source of inoculum.
Cool moist conditions favor infection. If stems become infected they will develop white to grayish lesions. Sclerotia will eventually develop inside of infected stems, and if conditions are wet sclerotia will also develop on the outside of the stems also.
Wind borne spores will land on petals that have fallen onto leaves and stems. These spores colonizes the petals and afterwards will infect the plant itself. Eventually a white fluffy fungal mat can be seen along with sclerotia. Irregular, necrotic gray lesions on leaves; white-gray leions on stems; reduced pod set; shattering seed pods.
Management Rotate crop to non-hosts e. Fungus can survive for long periods of time in dry conditions; disease spread by wind. Management Rotate crops; plant only disease-free seed; apply appropriate fungicide if disease becomes a problem.
Category : Bacterial. Damping-off of seedlings; round or irregularly shaped gray necrotic lesions on leaves with dark margins; lesions may be covered in pink masses in favorable weather conditions.