Can You Fry Broccoli? Are They Healthy? Find Out Here!

Is it possible to fry broccoli and for it to still be healthy? Or is the nutritional value lost?

You can fry broccoli and fried broccoli is often served as a small appertiser in resturant. However, depending on the frying method you use can significnalty conteract the health benefits that broccoli can provide.

Vegetables are not the most appealing to some people, often viewed as a necessity on a plate, especially for children, rather than a portion of comfort food. However, there is no doubt about the various health benefits of broccoli.

But is there are ways to make it a little more appetizing and enjoyable to eat without losing all of the health benefits that so many of us eat broccoli for.

The health benefits of broccoli

Broccoli is considered a power house vegetable meaning that it is packed with healthy goodness and can do wonders to your health and your body.

Being extremely low in calories at only 25 calories per 64 grams allows you to eat as much of it as you want without any nasty side effects. That is considering that the veggie has been prepared in a healthy way.

What is even better is the fact that broccoli contains no fat but can contain as much as 2.2 grams of fibre in just 64 grams, helping boost your metabolism.

This means that if you do choose to fry broccoli, there are already significantly low fat levels and so you will not be consuming a heap load of fat.

One of the key health benefits of broccoli is its high sulforaphane levels which play an essential part in helping your liver convert any toxins into nontoxic waste so that your body is not full of bad toxins which can make you very ill.

Should I use a deep fat fryer?

Just like with any other type of food, it is possible to use a deep fat fryer to fry your broccoli. In fact, some much prefer this method to consume their veggies.

The battered crispy coating offers a change from the tough texture that broccoli is often tasked with, making people less interested in eating it. Some may even say that the crispy coating improves the flavour of the food.

However, just because you can deep fry broccoli does not mean that you should regularly. In fact, most recipes introduce the dish with an explicit warning that it is intended as a small appetizers rather than a side dish with your main meal.

It is not because of how filling fried broccoli can be that foodies recommend it as an appetizer, but because of how little you have to eat to step over your daily intake of fat.

Deep fat frying requires large amounts of oil, often oil with a high fat count like vegetable oil, which instantly makes any food you fry unhealthy. Deep fat frying should certainly be used as more of a treat rather than a regualr cooking method.

Considering the extremely low fat count that broccoli already has, it seems rather counter productive to then submerge the food in a lot of fat. However, that does not mean that you can not enjoy fried broccoli.

Use an air fryer

Air fryers are often regarded as the healthier, often faster alternative to deep fat fryers. And for good reason.

When compared to a deep fat fryer, the health benefits of an air fryer are way higher as there is next to no oil involved during use meaning that you are not adding any extra fat to your food.

For broccoli this is a significant bonus as there is hardly any fat already in broccoli so you do not lose out on that rare benefit.

Do not be fooled into thinking that just because there is no oil used that air fryers do not produce golden brown, crispy food. In fact, some users much prefer the results of the air fryer compared to a deep fat fryer.

So if you wish to fry your broccoli then air fryers are the way to go for both health reasons and for the best fried results.

The best fried broccoli recipe

There is no use knowing the various frying methods that you can use on broccoli without a good recipe to test those methods out on. So here is the best fried broccoli recipe that you can use to see which frying technique you prefer.

You will need:

• 400 grams of broccoli (roughly 2 heads of broccoli)
• 1 large egg
• 100 grams of plain flour
• 120 milliliters of milk
• 1 tablespoon of paprika
• Sprinkle of salt and pepper

While that is all of the official ingredients that you need, you are free to add any other seasonings or spices to give your broccoli that extra depth of flavour.

First, you need to warm up your fryer to 250 degrees. This is the same temperature no matter what frying method you use.

Next, prep your broccoli by chopping off the florets and set them aside. You can either throw away the stem of the broccoli or you could save it for later use in a soup or broth.

Beat the egg and the milk together in a bowl adding your flour every so often so avoid clumps until your flour is gone.

Now add any herbs or spices that you wish to use mixing them into the batter. Season generously with salt and pepper.

Take your broccoli florets and dip them into your batter making sure to fully cover each floret.

Once you have battered enough florets, you can start to dry them. Do this by dropping them into your fryer being careful not to do too many at once. Fry until golden brown and they are ready to eat.