Steamed Artichokes

You’ll love steamed artichokes because steaming preserves and enhances their flavor and texture, transforming them into a butter-tender and succulent delicacy.

Serve steamed artichokes with a fresh, herby dipping sauce like chermoula, chimichurri, or Italian salsa verde.

Steamed artichokes are whole artichokes cleared of their tougher outer leaves and stems and then steamed until butter-tender.

They are delicious as an original starter or side dish, served with a tasty dip such as chimichurri, chermoula, Italian salsa verde, or a simple homemade mayo.

Unlike boiling artichokes, steaming artichokes in a steamer basket preserves most of their nutrients and enhances their flavor.

As for our pan-fried artichokes and roasted artichokes, we’ll show you how to clean the artichokes before steaming them.

This makes eating them easier and more enjoyable as you don’t have to be aware of the choke as you eat them, and you can cut them with a fork and knife.

You can use steamed artichoke scraps to make an artichoke hummus or a delicious artichoke soup.

To learn more about artichokes, look at our ultimate guide to cooking an artichoke, where we show you some recipes like carciofi alla Romana, artichoke pasta, and artichoke salad.

Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

Artichokes

Fresh artichokes are best for steaming. You can get whole artichokes that you can clean and trim yourself (we show you how) or pre-cleaned artichokes ready to be cooked.

When picking artichokes, here are some tips to make sure they are fresh:

1. They should be heavy.
2. They should be squeaky when you apply pressure on their head and leaves.
3. Their color should be uniform, with no dark spots.
4. The stalk and head should be toned and not floppy.

Bay leaves

It’s optional, but you can add a couple to the steaming water to infuse the artichokes with flavor.

A few leaves of mint work well, too.

Salt and Pepper

We recommend sea salt or kosher salt for the best flavor and freshly ground black pepper.

Seasoning

You can drizzle the artichokes with a squeeze of lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, and chopped parsley.

Or you can make a dipping sauce such as chermoula, chimichurri, Italian salsa verde, or vegan mayonnaise.

A little balsamic vinegar, melted butter, or non-dairy butter works too.

Equipment

You’ll need a medium or large pot with a lid and a steamer basket.

You can steam them without if you don’t have a steamer basket.

In this case, follow our recipe for Roman-style artichokes or “Carciofi alla Romana“; it’s equally easy and delicious.

US cups + grams measurements in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

1. Artichoke prep

Tip: Before touching a fresh artichoke, brush your hands with lemon or use gloves to prevent your hands from getting brown.

This happens because artichokes are full of antioxidants that turn dark as they get in touch with air. Also fill up a bowl with cold water a squeezed lemon and set it aside.

Cut off the thorn of the artichokes with a serrated knife.

You can use kitchen shears if you prefer, but we think using a bread knife is easier.

Remove the harder and woodier outer leaves of the artichoke with your hands. You should reach the tender inner leaves.

With a paring knife, trim the stem and peel it.

With your thumbs, gently open up the center of the artichoke, exposing the core of the choke. Then, with a small spoon, remove the fuzzy choke.

Note: some like to remove the choke after the artichoke is cooked. You can do that, but we find it easier to do this before cooking the artichokes.

Submerge the clean artichokes in a bowl with cold water and lemon so they don’t darken.

2. Steam artichokes

Add about 1 inch or 2.5 cm of water to a medium or large pot, add the bay leaves, place the steamer basket in the pot, and arrange the artichokes on the basket cut side down.

Cover with a lid or with aluminum foil if the stems are too long for the lid to close properly.

Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer until the artichokes are tender. It can take between 20 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the artichokes.

To check if they are done, slide a small knife through the base of the artichoke. If it slides easily, the artichokes are cooked.

Place artichokes on a plate, add a squeeze of lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil (melted butter or non-dairy butter is also ok), a pinch of sea salt, and a twist of pepper on top.

Sprinkle with some freshly chopped parsley or mint.

Alternatively, you can dip them in your favorite dipping sauce.

We recommend vegan mayo, chermoula, chimichurri, or Italian salsa verde.

How to eat steamed artichokes

You can eat three parts of steamed artichokes: the stem, the heart, and part of the petals.

Depending on how well you cleaned them, you might still have some tough outer leaves around the artichoke. If you do, then eat them one by one.

Peel off one leaf at a time, hold it with the tips of your thumb and index fingers, then put it in your mouth and scrape the flesh off with your teeth.

This is kind of fun to do, and the leaves are packed with antioxidants like no other veggie, but it will be a little messy.

Then, when you reach the softer petals, you can eat the artichoke with a knife and fork or with your hands.

It’s fully edible since we already cleaned the choke.

Another delicious way of eating steamed artichokes is to cut them open in half, arrange them on a plate, then season them with finely chopped flat-leaved parsley, a little garlic, olive oil, salt, and a squeeze of lemon. 

They are delicious with pita bread, focaccia, or farinata.

Make ahead: Steamed artichokes are a good recipe for meal prep as they keep well for a few days, and you can quickly reheat them in the microwave.

Refrigerator: Store them in an airtight container in the fridge for several days. The best way to reheat steamed artichokes is to warm them up in the microwave for 2 minutes.

Freezer: We don’t recommend freezing steamed artichokes. If you plan to do so, let them cool down completely, transfer them to a freezer-friendly container, and freeze them for up to 3 months.

• How to cook artichokes
• How to cook artichoke scraps
• Roasted artichokes
• Pan fried artichokes
• Carciofi all Romana
• Artichoke pasta
• Artichoke salad
• Artichoke pasta bake
• Artichoke pesto

Sides

Carciofi alla Romana (Roman style artichokes)

Salads

Artichoke Salad

Pasta

Artichoke Pasta

Recipes

How to use artichoke scraps