This instant pot steamed broccoli recipe is ideal for quickly making an easy vegetable side dish, or freezing your broccoli for later. Steamed broccoli in the instant pot only takes 15 minutes from start to finish, and can be seasoned any way you like. It’s healthy, and a great addition for a low carb, Whole30, paleo or gluten free meal.
Reasons You’ll Love Instant Pot Steamed Broccoli
- When you steam broccoli in the instant pot, it is quick and easy, only taking 15 minutes!
- This steamed broccoli made in the instant pot is healthy! It’s low carb (or keto), gluten free, paleo, Whole30, and just simply a healthy, good for you veggie!
- No hot stove or microwave needed. Everything is contained in the pressure cooker where you don’t have to monitor it or stay right next to it.
- It’s an easy side dish to add to any dinner, or to use in a recipe you’re making.
- You can use this instant pot steamed broccoli method to freeze broccoli which is helpful when you have a bunch of broccoli in the fridge you haven’t gotten to yet so it doesn’t have to get tossed!
- There’s many ways to season it! From lemon or lemon pepper, simple salt and pepper, garlic, and more. It’s flexible so it can fit in with what you’re using it for!
How to Steam Broccoli in the Instant Pot
Step 1
The first step in steaming broccoli in an instant pot or pressure cooker is to prepare the broccoli. Do this by washing and chopping the florets. You will want each piece to be roughly the same size, although it does not need to be exact. Smaller pieces will cook faster than larger ones and therefore be softer in the end, so it’s important to try to get them about the same.
Then, you’ll pour 1 cup of water into the bottom of the instant pot and add the steamer basket into the insert. Next, you’ll simply place the cut broccoli into the steamer basket, and secure the lid onto the instant pot.
Step 2
Once your lid is in place, set the valve to “sealing” and set the cook time to manual high pressure for 0 minutes. The instant pot will come to pressure, and then the cook time will end, so it will only take about 10 minutes to steam (the time it takes to come to pressure).
Once the timer goes off, do a quick release and remove the lid. You can do the fork test and stick a fork into the brococli to make sure they are fork tender to your liking. Then, carefully transfer the steamer basket out of the instant pot.
Step 3
The final step is to season the broccoli with salt and pepper, or squeeze some lemon juice over your broccoli if you’d like a lemony broccoli taste. You can also add soy sauce or coconut aminos, or any number of seasonings like garlic powder, lemon pepper, or you can add it into a dish you’re making as part of a larger meal.
Delicious Recipes With Broccoli: Healthy Broccoli Casserole, Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli, Instant Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup, Ground Beef and Broccoli Skillet, Chicken and Bacon Alfredo Casserole
How to Make Steamed Broccoli More Tender
When you’re cooking broccoli in the instant pot to steam it, you have some control over how the broccoli turns out. This recipe instructs you to cook the broccoli for 0 minutes. This results in a crisp, just fork tender end result. You can make it more tender and softer by setting the instant pot for a cook time of 1 minute instead of 0.
The other way to have a result of softer instant pot steamed broccoli is to cook less than what this recipe calls for. You can cook just the florets from only one crown of broccoli instead of 2 to 3 crowns. This will cook the broccoli faster than there would be if there was a larger volume in the instant pot.
Freezing Steamed Broccoli
You can use this instant pot broccoli method to steam broccoli you intend to freeze. Before you can freeze broccoli, it is best to blanch or steam it. I do this often when I have broccoli in the refrigerator that I will not get to before it will go bad. It helps reduce waste and be prepared for making quick dinners when needed!
To freeze instant pot broccoli, simply follow the instructions as listed. Then, when you remove the broccoli from the instant pot in the steamer basket, place it into the sink and run cold water over it. This will stop the cooking process and ensure that it’s still fork tender when you thaw the broccoli.
If you let it continue cooking before freezing and then you reheat the broccoli again when you’re ready to use it, it will cook even more and can end up mushy. Running it under cold water quickly and easily stops that from happening.
Other Vegetable Recipes You’ll Love:
- Air Fryer Butternut Squash
- Air Fryer Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Crispy Shredded Brussels Sprouts
- Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
- Roasted Herb Mustard Potatoes
- Instant Pot Corn on the Cob
Instant Pot Steamed Broccoli
This instant pot steamed broccoli recipe is ideal for quickly making an easy vegetable side dish, or freezing your broccoli for later. Steamed broccoli in the instant pot only takes 15 minutes from start to finish, and can be seasoned any way you like. It’s healthy, and a great addition for a low carb, Whole30, paleo or gluten free meal.
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
- Category: Vegetables
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 2–3 crowns broccoli, florets cut into equal sized pieces
- 1 cup water
- Optional: salt and pepper to taste
- Optional: 1/2 lemon
Instructions
- Pour the water into the bottom of the instant pot and place the steamer basket into the instant pot
- Add the broccoli into the steamer basket and place the lid onto the instant pot. Set the valve to “sealing”
- Cook on manual high pressure for 0 minutes. Once done, do a quick release and remove the lid. Carefully transfer the steamer basket out of the instant pot
- Season with salt and pepper if desired, or squeeze lemon over the steamed broccoli, and serve on it’s own as a side or added as an ingredient in recipe
Notes
- If you are using this method to prepare broccoli for the freezer: once the cook time is up, transfer the steamer basket to the sink and run under cold water to stop the cooking process so the broccoli doesn’t keep cooking as you prepare it for freezing
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Sheree says
This was a great way to steam a lot of extra broccoli I had. Thankyou
Julia says
Turned out perfectly! So simple and quick!!!