# Cooking broccoli...leaves? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [August 25, 2022, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-broccoli-leaves/970362 "2022-08-25T23:23:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2022, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-broccoli-leaves/970362/1 "2022-08-25T23:23:05Z")
OK, so I’ve gotten hooked on a farm video blog #theveggieboys and I just watched them harvest broccoli. Slice the stem, strip away the leaves and you have grocery store broccoli. But those leaves look very tasty. Maybe prepared like collards or mixed greens, boiled down with a ham hock or smoked turkey neck, served with pepper vinegar. Anybody ever done this? What do they taste like? Or are the leaves only fit for animal feed? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2022, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-broccoli-leaves/970362/2 "2022-08-25T23:31:21Z")
The whole broccoli plant is edible, although the outer stems and thicker leaves are going to be too tough and stringy to be appetizing. You can eat those leaves raw or cooked. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2022, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-broccoli-leaves/970362/3 "2022-08-25T23:45:53Z")
Biologically, broccoli leaves essentially are collard greens – they’re separate cultivars of the same species (_brassica oleracea_). Other cultivars of _b. oleracea_ include cabbage, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, Savoy cabbage and kohlrabi. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2022, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-broccoli-leaves/970362/4 "2022-08-26T00:11:21Z")
Hmmm, I’ll have to try it! ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2022, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-broccoli-leaves/970362/5 "2022-08-26T03:06:09Z")
Yes, pretty much all the brassica leaves are edible, though some may have better flavor than others. Try them, you might well like them. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2022, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-broccoli-leaves/970362/6 "2022-08-26T16:17:17Z")
Back when I used to grow broccoli, I’d tear up the leaves and add them to salad. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2022, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-broccoli-leaves/970362/7 "2022-08-27T00:33:22Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > Other cultivars of _b. oleracea_ include cabbage, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, Savoy cabbage and kohlrabi. And romanesco and rampini. Rampini, in particular, is about midway between broccoli and collards. And all of them are tasty.