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A bowl of cooked broccoli, resting on a blue check napkin.

Instant Pot Frozen Broccoli

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Did you know that you can cook your frozen broccoli in your Instant Pot? Not only is it hands off, but it's an easy way to get more vegetables into your diet, or even do some advance meal prep!
Course Slow Cooker Side Dishes
Cuisine American
Prep Time 13 minutes
Cook Time 1 minute
Additional Time 1 minute
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Calories 40
Author Dorothy Bigelow

Ingredients

  • 1 pound frozen broccoli florets
  • ½ teaspoon salt optional
  • 1 ½ cups water

Instructions

  • Add the water to the insert of a 6 quart or 8 quart Instant Pot.
  • Sprinkle in the salt (if using), and whisk to combine.
  • Add your steamer basket (*See notes for making without a steamer basket) to the insert, and add the broccoli to the steamer basket.
  • Secure the lid on the Instant Pot and move the valve to "sealing."
  • Set your pot on manual pressure and set the time for "0" minutes. Once the pot beeps, you'll know it has started to build pressure.
  • The pot will take approximately 8-13 minutes to come to pressure. Since our broccoli is cooking during the pressure building time, as soon as the Instant Pot switches over to the cook time, it will turn off because the time (0 minutes) has been completed.
  • Immediately flip the valve to "venting" to do a quick pressure release. Make sure you are not in the stream of steam, and use a long handled wooden spoon if needed.
  • Once the pin drops, indicating that the pressure has been released, go ahead and open your lid.
  • Lift the steamer basket out of the Instant pot and allow to drain in the sink or a large bowl for a few minutes.
  • Season to your taste, and serve immediately.

Notes

Without a steamer basket: Fit your Instant Pot with the trivet that came with your pot. If you have a silicone strainer, or a heat proof strainer of any sort, set it on top of the trivet and place your frozen broccoli in there. If not, carefully place your broccoli on top of the trivet and proceed sealing the pot and setting the time to "0 minutes". Once the time is up, perform a quick pressure release and serve immediately.
Your broccoli cooked without a steamer basket is likely to be on the mushy or soggy side, but it can work well in a pinch!
If you have an old fashioned metal expandable steamer, you can place that inside of your pot and that will work like a steaming basket does.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 40kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 3g | Sodium: 314mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 2g