Viral Broccoli Cutting Hack Dubbed 'Genius' But Not Everyone Is Sold

TikTok gives way for a seemingly never-ending line of food-based hacks to make cooking easier, but despite this latest one gaining over 22 million views, not quite everyone is a fan.

For those who regularly cook with broccoli, the mess it creates in the raw cutting process is a real downside, but it's one that's been apparently solved.

TikToker Stephanie, known online as @steph2302, showed the way she cooks her broccoli, completely skipping the part that sees tiny bits of green left across the kitchen counter.

In her post, Stephanie dunks the whole head of broccoli upside down in her pot of boiling water, making sure to keep the stem poking out the top. "Turns out not everyone cooks their broccoli like this," she wrote on-screen.

Leaving only the florets in the water means just those get cooked and the stem is left raw. Once cooked, she removed the head of broccoli using the stem and chopped off the cooked florets easily and without any mess.

"It's a lot less messy than cutting it raw and less dishes as no draining," she clarified in a comment on her popular video. The clip has over 22 million views and 1.3 million likes since being uploaded on April 3.

"You just changed my life," claimed one TikTok user, while another dubbed the technique "genius."

"The reason I hate fresh broccoli or cauliflower is the cutting, it gets everywhere," admitted another fan of the cooking hack.

Despite it being welcomed with open arms by some, not everyone is on-board, with some vouching for the stem as the "best part" of the vegetable.

"You wasted so much," noted one TikTok user.

Nutritionist Lyndi Cohen isn't a fan of the hack either, citing two main reasons it might not be the best method for cooking broccoli. The stem of a broccoli actually contains far more fiber than the florets, meaning it's a good idea to eat it too, she explained to Kidspot.

"While the stalk is not more nutritious than the florets, it does have more fiber. Fiber is really important for your gut health and microbiome, which affects your immune system, mood and more."

But the issue also lies in the choice to boil broccoli in itself, rather than other methods of cooking which keep all the nutrition. When boiling, Cohen explained, the nutrients cook into the water instead.

"I'm not the biggest fan of this hack. If you've boiled broccoli that soft that you can cut it with a fork, you have certainly boiled out a bunch of nutrients—like vitamins E, K, calcium, and polyphenols, too," she told Kidspot.

"When you boil broccoli you lose up to 90 per cent of the nutrients, ending up with very nutrient-rich water, which most people throw away."

Newsweek has contacted Stephanie for comment.

Last month, a baking hack similarly went viral on TikTok for its ability to make time in the kitchen that little bit easier.

The viral hack saw bakers measure sticky ingredients mess-free, by simply dipping a spoon into the dry ingredients. The ditch left behind is the exact size needed, meaning all you have to do is pour the sticky ingredient directly into it.

Update 04/27/22 at 5:40 a.m. ET. This article was updated to add that Newsweek has contacted Stephanie for comment.