Broccoli (Brassica oleracea) is a popular vegetable known for its high nutrient content. It is low in calories and a good source of vitamins and minerals including vitamins A, C, K, potassium, iron, and manganese (*).
Broccoli resembles cauliflower and is related to other cruciferous vegetables such as brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, cabbage, and kale.
It can be enjoyed raw or cooked. It is also easy to prepare into a variety of dishes with different cooking methods, from steaming or boiling, stir-frying, roasting, etc.
Just like what most people do, you probably do grocery shopping every several days or even 1-2 weeks. Of course, you want to keep your veggies fresh as long as possible. Next to that, most of the time your recipe doesn’t call for a whole bunch of broccoli, leaving you with leftover to store.
Either way, you might start wondering: until when does broccoli last in the refrigerator? What is the proper storage of broccoli? What should you do when broccoli turns yellow? How do you tell if broccoli goes bad?
No worries, we got you covered! In this article, we take a closer look at broccoli’s shelf life, storage methods, and most importantly how to know if broccoli goes bad. Let’s read along!
How To Store Broccoli
Broccoli can be quite tricky to keep if you don’t know the tricks. It can go from fresh green broccoli into yellowish, unappealing one in just a few days.
If you don’t want to waste this nutritious vegetable before its time, the key is proper storage. It won’t only keep your broccoli fresh, but also safe to eat.
Vegetables are so diverse and each type has different ideal storage conditions to allow them to last longer. Broccoli is best stored at temperatures 32 – 36ºF/ 0 – 2 ºC.
Like most vegetables, broccoli is high in water content, therefore, higher relative humidity will keep it fresh longer (*). With these being said, the ideal place to keep broccoli is in the fridge, more precisely the crisper drawer.
Separate vegetables from fruits. Some fruits such as apples and pear release ethylene gas. While ethylene is useful to accelerate the ripening process in under-ripened fruits (like the old trick for ripening avocado by placing it with an apple in a sealed paper bag), this gas is a real enemy for many vegetables.
With vegetables, including broccoli, exposure to ethylene means compromising the quality and shelf life by speeding up wilting, yellowing, softening, discoloration, stem detachment, and causing bitterness (*).
Here are the tips to store broccoli! If you have a whole broccoli head (florets with stalk), simply keep it in the fridge. Wrap the broccoli in a damp paper towel or in a plastic bag. No need to wash it as excess moisture will support mold growth.
Cut broccoli (store-bought or cut at home) always needs refrigeration. Keep the cut florets in a sealed airtight container. Store-bought cut broccoli can be kept as it is. After opening, transfer the leftover into a sealed container.
If you have cooked broccoli, whether it is boiled, steamed, or cooked into a dish, let it cool down before storing it in the fridge. Keep it in a sealed airtight container.
Can You Freeze Broccoli?
Definitely, yes! That’s why we find frozen vegetables at the supermarket, right?
To freeze broccoli, there are a few steps to follow.
1. Cut broccoli into florets or bite-size pieces
Don’t waste the stalk. Simply trim the stalk, remove the hard outer skin, and cut into smaller pieces. Wash the broccoli in cold water to remove any dirt or bugs.
2. Boil water and blanch the broccoli
Quickly cool the blanched broccoli in ice water to stop the blanching process. Once cool, drain and remove excess water.
3. Put the broccoli in a freezer bag per portion size and freeze it
Don’t forget to label with name and date.
If you prefer to buy frozen cut broccoli, quickly put it back into the freezer when you’re home. Frozen broccoli is great for many recipes from stir-fry, soup, or casserole.
When it comes to defrosting frozen broccoli, there are a few methods depending on your situation and how you want to use it. If you have time, simply move it into the fridge and leave it overnight. If you’re short in time, use a microwave.
In some cases, defrosting is not necessary, for example, if you will steam or boil it, and use it for soup.
How Long Does Broccoli Last?
To start with, there’s no point if you store broccoli that’s already in bad condition. Only buy good quality ones that look fresh, vibrant deep green, firm, and don’t have yellowish or dark spots.
If you leave broccoli at room temperature, it won’t last longer than 2 days. It will start to wilt and turn yellow very soon.
When properly stored in the fridge, good quality broccoli should stay fresh for at least 3 to 5 days, but can be longer up to a week or two. This period can vary depending on many other things, such as the quality, how long since it’s picked, and storage condition.
Cut broccoli lasts shorter than a whole one. Use it within 1 to 3 days after cutting before it loses its freshness. Store-bought cut broccoli should be consumed before the “use by” date stamped on the label. It’s possible to consume it past the date, but it may have lost its quality.
Boiled, steamed, or cooked broccoli should be consumed within 3 – 5 days. When prepared into a dish, you can also look at the other ingredients that go bad fastest to tell if the dish is still good or not.
Frozen broccoli can last up to a year, but after a while, it will start to lose its quality. Store-bought frozen broccoli comes with a “best before” or “best use by” date. It is suggested to consume the vegetables before this date, although it is possible that the product stays good even after passing the date. Use your judgment to decide.
How To Tell If Broccoli Goes Bad
Unless frozen, consume broccoli as soon as possible as it will start to lose its quality and finally goes bad.
Fresh broccoli is firm and green. After a while, the florets will start to turn yellow from the edge. This happens even faster when broccoli is left at room temperature.
If broccoli turns yellow, discard the affected part and use the remaining. But if the whole head turns yellow, it is better to discard it.
Broccoli also loses its texture quite soon. If the florets are soft or limp, they are safe to consume but the texture may not make you happy. It is your call to keep it or toss it.
The same thing goes for dark or brown spots. Remove the bad parts. But if you see molds, large dark spots or rotten parts, or other unwanted visual changes, off-smell, throw away the vegetable for safety reasons.
When it comes to cooked broccoli, the signs of spoilage are quite apparent. If you see the presence of molds or off-smell, there’s no other better option than to discard it.
If nothing suspicious is found, you can taste a tiny amount to decide. If cooked broccoli has been in the fridge for too long, say longer than a week, discard it for safety reasons.
FAQs
What happens if you eat bad broccoli?
First, it won’t taste great. Second, consuming bad or spoiled broccoli may give you food poisoning. Broccoli and other vegetables are prone to bacterial contamination from the environment. If the bacteria are pathogenic, they will make you sick.
Symptoms of food poisoning widely vary, from upset stomach, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and more severe symptoms. Consult this CDC website to know if you need to go to the doctor immediately.
Adrián González de la Peña/Demand Media
Broccoli is a cruciferous vegetable – which is just a fancy word that means it's in the cabbage family – and like most produce, it's fairly perishable. To avoid unpleasant dining experiences, and possible pathogens as well, it's helpful if you can identify rotting broccoli. And if you're into avoiding waste, it's also good to know when things may seem a little off but the broccoli is still OK to use. Maximize broccoli's shelf life by selecting the freshest heads and storing them properly.
A fresh, properly stored, intact head of broccoli typically stays good for up to about a week. Of course, its freshness at the time of purchase can mean a shorter or slightly longer life span. And, as a side note, seeing white in the broccoli stem is normal, not a sign that anything's amiss.
The initial sign that it's starting to go bad is usually a noticeable odor that intensifies gradually. Other early indications that broccoli is heading downhill are when its green or bluish-green crown starts turning yellow and when the leaves attached to the stem begin to wither. You don't need to throw the broccoli away when symptoms are this mild; just skip eating it raw and use it promptly in a cooked form.
Once the yellow coloring becomes prominent or evolves into more of a brown color, discard the broccoli. Also, if the broccoli stalk or stems are getting soft or limp, or if you see mold, get rid of it.
Broccoli fares much better in the vegetable crisper drawer of your refrigerator than left out at room temperature. Don't pre-cut florets or wash the head before use, as this curtails the broccoli's shelf life.
While moisture is often the enemy of fresh produce, a little bit of it actually helps broccoli hold up a bit longer – provided there's some air circulation. Wrap the head in a damp paper towel or two and store it in an open plastic produce bag.
If you cut up the broccoli in advance or if you buy a bag of pre-cut florets, it usually lasts around two or three days in the refrigerator. You can hang onto cooked broccoli for a day or two in an airtight container in the fridge.
You can freeze fresh broccoli for extended storage. But, as is usually the case with raw produce, it's best to blanch it first to stop certain enzymatic processes. Otherwise, the broccoli is likely to be mushy when you thaw it out, and it'll probably taste and smell kind of funny.
Blanch broccoli by cutting it into individual florets, boiling them for 5 minutes, then immediately draining and submerging them in an ice bath to keep them from cooking any further. The broccoli develops a vibrant green color but remains crisp. Dry it off completely before freezing it.
You can store broccoli in the freezer forever, but its quality starts to go noticeably south after about six to eight months; definitely use it within one year. To prevent freezer burn, seal it in an airtight freezer bag or container with as much air pressed out as possible. If you have a vacuum sealer, use it for the best results.
By buying the freshest broccoli, you buy yourself as much time as possible before it goes bad. And picking the right heads also means peak crispness and flavor.
Look for heads with tightly compacted, dark green to bluish-green clusters of florets. Avoid heads with spread-out or separating clusters, yellowing, dried-out or wilted leaves, or any signs of flowering or mold. Also, pass up any heads that give off a detectable odor. The thick broccoli stalk and smaller stems should all be firm and free of cuts or other damage.
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