Broccoli Purée
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Gorgeously (or shockingly?) green, this broccoli purée is a welcome change from the usual steamed or roasted broccoli. It’s also a great low-carb alternative to mashed potatoes.
Gorgeously (or shockingly?) green, this purée is a welcome change from the usual steamed or roasted broccoli — and it’s also a great low-carb alternative to mashed potatoes. Similar to my cauliflower purée, it’s made by first steaming the broccoli florets in a flavor-infused liquid, rather than boiling them. This not only helps retain nutrients that would otherwise go down the drain, but it also ensures that the veggies don’t get waterlogged, leaving you with a nicely textured purée. I like to add butter and sour cream to lend richness and a hint of mashed potato flavor, but feel free to adjust the quantities up or down as your indulgence meter allows.
Pair this purée with simple grilled salmon, roast chicken, or a juicy steak. And be very happy if you have leftovers — you can thin the purée with chicken or vegetable broth to make a delicious and healthy creamy broccoli soup.
What You’ll Need To Make Broccoli Purée
Step-by-Step Instructions
Melt half of the butter in a large pot over medium heat, and add the onions.
Cook, stirring frequently, until soft, 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the water, salt, pepper and broccoli and bring the liquid to a boil.
Cover the pot tightly and reduce the heat to low. Cook until the broccoli is tender, about 15 minutes.
Transfer all of the contents of the pot to a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the remaining butter and the thyme.
Process until broken down but not completely smooth. Add the sour cream.
Process again until smooth. Taste and adjust the salt, if necessary (I usually add up to 3/4 teaspoon more salt). Note: if your food processor is small, you may need to work in batches.
Transfer to a serving bowl, and top with a pad of butter and chives.
You May Also Like
- Roasted Broccoli with Chipotle Honey Butter
- Garlicky Roasted Broccoli with Parmigiano-Reggiano
- Simple Steamed Broccoli
- Creamed Spinach
- Cauliflower Purée
Broccoli Purée
Gorgeously (or shockingly?) green, this broccoli purée is a welcome change from the usual steamed or roasted broccoli. It’s also a great low-carb alternative to mashed potatoes.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided, plus more for serving if desired
- ½ cup chopped yellow onion, from 1 small onion
- ¾ cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 pounds broccoli crowns, cut into florets, tough stems thinly sliced (see note)
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped chives, for serving
Instructions
- In a pot large enough to hold all of the broccoli, melt half of the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the water, salt, and pepper and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Add the broccoli and bring the liquid to a boil; cover the pot tightly and reduce the heat to low. Cook until the broccoli is tender, about 15 minutes.
- Transfer all of the contents of the pot, including the liquid, to a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the remaining butter and the thyme and process until broken down but not completely smooth. Add the sour cream and process again until smooth. Taste and adjust the salt, if necessary (I usually add up to ¾ teaspoon more salt). Transfer to a serving bowl, and top with a pad of butter, if using, and chives. (Note: if your food processor is small, you may need to work in batches.)
- Note: Be sure to slice the tough stems very thinly, otherwise they won't cook through.
- Make-Ahead Instructions: The purée can be made up to 3 days ahead of time and refrigerated. Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (8 servings)
- Calories: 109
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated fat: 5 g
- Carbohydrates: 9 g
- Sugar: 3 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Sodium: 324 mg
- Cholesterol: 19 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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My daughter spent a semester in Florence with an Italian family in college. She brought back this recipe that was served by her host. It was almost the same recipe (no sour cream and the onions are sauteed in olive oil) except it was used as a “sauce” for pasta. Once blended with the pasta (some little addition of pasta water) it was served with parmigiano cheese and chiffonade of basil leaves. It remains one of our favorite ways to serve pasta.
I served this as one of the sides to fried pork chops (instead of potatoes!), and we gobbled this dish up! I didn’t have sour cream, so I used a bit of parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of garlic powder, but followed your recipe otherwise. Thank YOU!
Absolutely delicious. A wonderful way to serve a green vegetable in a slightly unconventional way. Follow the directions and you will not be upset.
Last week I needed a make-ahead vegetable dish to take in for my granddad’s birthday meal – it had to be made of either broccoli, carrots or cauliflower (the only vegetables he will eat due to digestive/dental issues) and be mild, super soft, reheat-able in a microwave and really quick to make! (Supermarket shopping arrived at 10pm the night before). And still look gourmet – if possible!
So glad I chose this recipe – it ticked all the boxes perfectly. Made exactly as described, apart from omitted the thyme as my granddad is Indian and can be funny about certain herbs. Making it was a breeze – I used a hand blender with no problem.
It was amazingly good – the family were calling it broccoli ‘mousse’, and were even wondering whether it contained chicken stock. Tasted as good re-heated as it did the night before.
Safe to say I’ll be making it regularly for all – whether they’re on soft foods or not!
Thank you, Jenn!
This was a big hit with my family, and something different to do with broccoli. I served Jenn’s recipe for baked Panko crusted salmon on top of the broccoli purée. (Actually I had one piece of salmon left over from that previous recipe that I cut in half and served on top of the broccoli purée, with some lemon- herb yogurt sauce). This was a great way of stretching recipes and saving time. I’m confident that my family thought this was just a whole new recipe!😉😅 and another great recipe from Jenn.
Wow!! This recipe is a winner!!! I used broccolini (that’s what I had), sautéed shallots (also what I had) in Olive oil and butter, and subbed chicken stock for the water…This side turned out amazing even with all the modifications….Served with some seared scallops tonight-can not wait to use the left overs in a pasta dish tomorrow!!!!!
Great recipe. My DH loved it too. Broccoli is one of the few vegetables he will eat so it was fun to serve it puréed as opposed to steamed, for a tasty twist. I changed it a little even personalizing it with some cheese. What really stood out to me was the pleasing texture of the purée.
I’ve been making your cauliflower purée frequently because it’s so delicious. I decided to try something different and made this broccoli purée. It was equally delicious!! I’d like to make it again with an herb other than thyme and I’m wondering if you could recommend one that would work in this recipe. Thanks!
Hi Krista, Glad you liked both of these! You swap out the thyme for fresh marjoram or oregano (if you can find them at your store). 🙂
Fantastic! A new holiday staple – the color is amazing and the flavor is so delicious – I have shared this recipe so many times (:
This is so good! My now favorite way to eat broccoli, thank you!
Hi, Jenn, thank you once again for a wonderful and different side dish. I halved the recipe for my husband and I. I had no sour cream on hand and without running to the store, added greek yogurt. We loved it. Can’t wait to try it again with sour cream.