The Clever Broccoli Trick I’ll Be Following Forever (“Wow This Just Changed My Life!”)

There are so many great dishes to make with broccoli. Creamy ricotta pasta with broccoli, shrimp lo mein, roasted veggie sandwiches … the list goes on and on. But you know what’s kind of annoying about these broccoli dishes? It’s not like cutting broccoli is that hard; it’s the fact that when you cut it, all of that “broccoli dust” gets everywhere on your board and your counter. Sure, they could make for a great garnish on whatever dish you’re making. But what if you could avoid this nuisance altogether with an easy cutting technique that will eliminate this problem for good?

Instead of slicing the broccoli from stem to floret, only chop the broccoli stem. To do so, place the whole broccoli down lengthwise on your cutting board. With your chef’s knife, chop down the stem from the point to where the florets break apart to the bottom. The pieces will then be detached at the bottom, but the florets will be attached at the top. Pick up the split stems of the broccoli and lightly pull the florets apart to detach.

According to Cook’s Illustrated, the broccoli will naturally come apart in the shapes that were intended, instead of forcing them to cut with a knife. This way the broccoli dust at the top won’t fly everywhere and will stay intact, leaving you with a clean surface.

At this point, you can either cook the broccoli as is with the long stem, or if you’re looking for smaller floret pieces, you can snip them from the larger stem. If any florets are still attached at the top, pull them apart once again.

Now with perfectly chopped broccoli, you can make some of your favorite broccoli recipes without having to clean up all that dust later. You’re welcome!