The Costco Frozen Vegetable I Buy All Year — Summer Included
It’s time to rock out with your brocc out. That’s the mentality I have 365 days a year: Always have frozen broccoli around. (And cook while doing kitchen karaoke to Florets and the Machine — especially when the dog days of summer are just starting.)
Broccoli has been my favorite vegetable since I was a kid. My mom used frozen broccoli primarily, mixing it into casseroles galore or serving it as a quick side dish (sometimes with cheese sauce, the best days). Now I too almost exclusively buy it frozen! There’s something about washing a head of broccoli, cutting it properly into florets without making an absolute mess of brocc confetti, blanching or steaming it, and then adding it into a dish or zhuzhing it up that is just too much.
Frozen broccoli, on the other hand, is ready in an instant. A frozen bag can be thrown into the microwave for a quick steam, boiled for a few minutes, or roasted straight from frozen.
What’s So Great About Kirkland Signature Organic Broccoli Florets?
I’ve found with inflation and ever-changing grocery prices that the best bang for my buck is to get four pounds of frozen broccoli at Costco for $9.39 (Los Angeles local pricing; yours may be cheaper). The Kirkland Signature Organic Broccoli Florets come in four, one-pound, individually sealed bags that can be cooked directly in the microwave. It always ends up tender yet slightly crisp, as if it was cooked al dente, in the microwave, so that’s my go-to method.
What’s the Best Way to Use Kirkland Signature Organic Broccoli Florets?
If I am just cooking a single serving of broccoli, I’ll toss it into pasta or rice cooking water for the last few minutes. I’ve also added smaller florets directly into a Trader Joe’s pasta and some rotisserie chicken to bulk up a convenience item. (Ditto to either Kraft or Velveeta mac and cheese.) I’ll also stir-fry it with garlic over medium-low heat with smaller florets picked out of the bag that I know will cook quickly before the garlic has a chance to burn.
I’ll do the same when I want to make broccoli-cheddar eggs for breakfast.
Sometimes I microwave the bag for dinner, eat with butter, garlic salt, and lots of black pepper one night, and then refrigerate the rest to toss into anything I’m making that needs some vegetables or greenery desperately.
I’ve made a cheater’s broccoli-cheddar soup by sautéing onion and garlic, simmering the broccoli in chicken stock and milk, and then just adding a handful of cheese (cheddar, American, or a combo). Sometimes I immersion-blend the broccoli to make it smoother and sometimes I add a cornstarch slurry to thicken it. No matter what, it tastes great, and adding some pasta to leftovers is a killer (and quick) broccoli mac and cheese!
But my favorite way to eat broccoli is on white broccoli pizza (a store-bought pizza crust baked at 400°F with tons of minced garlic, broccoli, mozzarella, and Parmesan for about 10 to 15 minutes). Halfway through cooking, add dollops of ricotta on top, and then, after removing from the oven, also add a handful of spinach to wilt instantly if you want more greens. This also works more simply with toast rubbed with raw garlic, topped with broccoli and sliced sharp cheddar cheese, and broiled. Or some variation of broccoli and cheese in a quesadilla. There are so many ways to brocc out, so brocc all year long.
Find it in stores: Kirkland Signature Organic Broccoli Florets, $9.39 for 4 pounds at Costco (price varies)
What’s your favorite frozen veg to buy at Costco? Tell us about it in the comments below.