Use the whole head of broccoli

Can you eat broccoli stalks?

Yes. Under its tough skin a broccoli stalk is sweet and crunchy, like the florets but firmer. Peel it, then slice half into a broccoli and stilton soup for the freezer and cut the other half into sticks for dips or a lunchbox. The florets are tonight’s side, and nothing goes in the caddy.

Broccoli: one of the five foods UK homes bin most

A good part of a head of broccoli is stalk, and it usually gets cut off and thrown away because it looks woody. It’s only the skin that is. A vegetable peeler takes it off in a few strokes.

So when the florets come off for tonight, the stalk gets a job too. Half goes into the soup pot with the potato, where it cooks down soft in the same 15 minutes. The other half is a snack that needs no cooking at all.

In a WRAP survey in June 2024, UK households named the foods they threw away most of, and broccoli came third on the list (Resource Media, reporting WRAP). Usually it’s the part left over after the recipe you bought it for. Giving every part a recipe in the same session adds about 5 minutes of hands-on time.

One session, in order

1. Boil the kettle once, for the broccoli and the soup.

2. Cut the florets for tonight. Peel the stalk and slice half of it into the soup pot.

3. While the soup simmers, cut the other half of the stalk into sticks for dips.

4. The florets cook for 4 minutes near the end.

5. Blend the soup and stir in the stilton. Once it’s cool, it goes in the freezer.

• Side of broccoli Tonight’s side
• Broccoli and stilton soup For the freezer, 4 portions
• Broccoli stalk sticks For dips or a lunchbox

How we’d cook it, not advice. We don’t check recipes for allergens, and ingredients vary by brand, so check the label on everything you use. Prepare and cook food the way the Food Standards Agency says. Allergens and food safety

What each one adds

• +2 min Broccoli and stilton soup Peel the stalk and slice half of it 1 cm thick. It simmers with the potato for 15 minutes.
• +3 min Broccoli stalk sticks Cut the other half of the peeled stalk into sticks while the soup simmers.

Hands-on minutes on top of a session you’re already cooking, our estimate. Time in the oven or on the hob isn’t counted. How we work out the minutes.

More ways to use it up

Saving stalks for soup

Cooking broccoli on a weeknight? Slice the stalk into a container in the freezer, and add it to the next batch of soup.

More foods to use up

• Use the whole bag of carrots
• Use the whole bag of potatoes
• All five foods