Learned the hard way that frozen veggies don't need to be thawed first

I always thawed frozen broccoli before cooking it, took like 20 extra minutes. Then I tried tossing it straight into the pan frozen with some garlic and soy sauce from the dollar store. It cooked up fine in about 8 minutes and saved me a whole step. Anyone else been wasting time on unnecessary prep steps?

3 comments

3 Comments

gavin36516d agoTop Commenter

Do you think there's any difference in texture if you're roasting them in the oven versus pan frying? I tried throwing frozen broccoli straight into a hot oven once and it came out kinda soggy on the outside but still hard in the middle. Maybe it only works well for quick pan cooking like stir fry.

owens.anthony16d ago

Yeah that's one of those things nobody tells you. I used to thaw frozen peas forever before adding them to things, now I just dump them in straight from the bag. Game changer honestly.

ward.jamie15d ago

Hmm, I actually disagree a little. I've tried just dumping frozen peas into stuff and they always end up with that weird, squeaky texture and stay kinda cold in the middle. That's fine for like a stir fry at the end where they just need a quick warm-up, but if you're baking them into something like a casserole or a pot pie I think thawing them first makes a big difference. Otherwise you get little soggy pockets of water and the peas are still hard. Maybe I'm just weird about it but I'll keep thawing mine.