Why does nobody talk about how long frozen veggies take to actually cook?

I spent 45 minutes trying to get frozen broccoli to brown in a pan last night, way longer than any recipe says. My roommate even joked it was a science experiment by the time it was done. Has anyone else run into this timing issue with frozen stuff?

2 comments

2 Comments

brookefox17d ago

Your pan probably wasn't hot enough. Frozen broccoli needs screaming high heat and not too much crowding or it steams instead of sears.

blake43216d ago

Brooke's dead on with the heat thing... gotta get that pan ripping hot before the broccoli ever hits it. Crowding is the real killer though - if you pile too much in there it's basically steaming in its own water. I do it in batches now, even if it takes an extra round. And let the broccoli sit without touching it for a solid minute or two so it actually gets that brown color instead of just turning limp and sad. A little oil on the frozen pieces before they go in helps too, they don't need to be thawed just coated quick. That's how you get the good char without the mush.