Boil Frozen Broccoli Right In Your Pasta Water For A Quick Upgrade

Pasta dishes are famously easy to prepare and offer unlimited versatility depending on your sauces and added ingredients. Pasta can also be a really heavy meal, and the perfect way to add freshness and some nutritional variety is with a bright vegetable like broccoli. Sure, you could serve it on the side, but why not make life easier and boil your meal all in the same pot?

While your pasta is cooking, throw your pieces of frozen broccoli into the pot for the final minutes of boiling. Make sure your broccoli is thawed first for the best results. Not only does this save water and mean fewer dishes to clean up, but the flavors of the pasta and broccoli get a chance to meld even more. Your dish will be easier to prep and more cohesive than if all the ingredients were cooked separately. Frozen broccoli is perfect for this kind of thing because it stores for a long time and won't get too mushy when you add it to the boiling pasta water. You'll thank yourself later once you try this delicious, time-saving hack.

While this may seem like the world's easiest hack, there is a bit of an art to it that will make your pasta dish all the better. Using the same pot that your pasta is boiling in, add frozen broccoli to the water when the pasta has about 3 minutes left. If you give the pasta a taste, it should be al dente when you add the broccoli. There's no need for extra dishes, and you can strain the contents of your pot all at once for no additional hassle. You can also do this with fresh broccoli, but that requires a lot more prep ahead of time and means putting the broccoli in the boiling water sooner. While frozen broccoli is recommended, fresh broccoli can be a good alternative if it's all you have on hand. 

One of the most important parts of this kitchen hack is knowing which frozen broccoli to buy. You might be used to picking any random one off the shelves, but your dish deserves a proper look through the frozen aisle. For store brands, Trader Joe's routinely ranks high in the frozen food department, and their frozen veggies are no exception, making them a good option. But while many store brands tend to be cheaper, don't miss out on independent brands like Stahlbush Island Farms, which is only slightly more expensive but gives great taste.

Broccoli is such a classic dinner vegetable, and though toddlers may claim it's yucky, there's no denying the tastiness of a hearty bite of pasta and broccoli. Of course, these two ingredients are seldom served alone, although you can simply coat them in parmesan and breadcrumbs for a quick and easy plate. But don't be afraid to dive into a more well-rounded dish like creamy chicken and broccoli trumpet pasta. The chicken adds protein to this already nutritious combo, and the parmesan sauce helps hold it all together.

Many pasta and broccoli recipes call for a white cream-based sauce, but red sauce lovers should have no fear. A pasta with broccoli rabe and bolognese sauce is the perfect meaty solution to your red sauce cravings. Note that broccoli rabe is actually a leafy vegetable, but you can easily swap the rabe for simple, frozen broccoli florets as well. Fortunately, broccoli rabe is also sold in many frozen aisles so you can implement all the same cooking techniques for the perfect pasta.