How to Clean Artichokes? (+Video)
How to Clean Artichokes? Fresh artichokes are now in season! Artichokes are the ultimate vegetable, loaded with antioxidants and fiber! Our entire family loves artichokes, no matter how our mom prepares them. Whether they’re stuffed, steamed, roasted, or sautรฉed, we can’t get enough of them. For years, I had no idea how to clean artichokes until my mom showed me how. Now, we enjoy eating artichokes all the time!
Fresh artichokes come in different sizes…
Artichokes come in three sizes: large, medium, and small. Large ones are great for stuffing, like our recipe for Garlic Stuffed Artichokes (with a video). Some people prefer smaller ones and cook them by roasting, baking, or steaming, like our recipe for steamed artichoke hearts with olives, or our roasted artichokes.
But today, we’ll show you how easy it is to clean and prepare the artichokes. Large artichokes are cleaned the same way, and we highly recommend wearing latex gloves to protect your hands. The leaves on large artichokes can be harsh on your hands and even turn them green.
Our favorite artichokes are medium and baby ones. If you can find small or medium artichokes, they are delicious, very tender, and relatively easy to clean!
But first, here is what you will need to clean them.
Ingredients & Tools Needed for Cleaning Artichokes…
- fresh baby or medium-sized artichokes, one to two pounds
- a pairing knife
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- medium-size mixing bowl
- tap water
- salt
Directions: How to Clean and Prep Artichokes…
Our full printable recipe card is below, you can follow our step-by-step photos:
1. First, grab a large bowl fill it with cold water, and squeeze some lemon juice, about 1/2 lemon, into the water. You can toss some slices of lemon into the water as well.
2. Trim each artichoke by snapping off and discarding the tough outer green leaves until you are left with a small bullet-shaped artichoke with pale yellow leaves that are green at the tips.
3. Cut off the green tips crosswise.
4. Use a pairing knife, peel the stems, and cut off the tip of the stem.
5. Then cut the artichokes in half lengthwise, scoop out, and discard any purple choke inside the center of it.
6. Drop the chokes into a bowl with lemon water. Add some salt to the water. The lemon juice and salt will keep the chokes from turning brown while you are working to clean each one.
7. When all the chokes are completed. Rinse chokes under cold water 3 times, draining the water each time. Now the artichokes are ready for you to cook, bake, or roast!
Enjoy!
Great Tip for Storing and Freezing…
- When artichokes are in season you can buy them at a reasonable price. Bring them home, clean them as demonstrated, and spin excess water from the chokes or pat them dry with paper towels.
- Then place cleaned chokes into containers or zip-lock bags and freeze them for future cooking days or weeks ahead.
WATCH VIDEO! How To Clean and Prep Large Artichokes For Stuffing?
Some Recipes for Artichoke Hearts:
- Baked Peas and Artichoke Hearts
- Roasted Artichokes
- Stuffed Artichokes
- Easy Roasted Artichoke Hearts with Lemon-Garlic Aioli
- Artichoke Hearts Steamed with Olives, Capers and Garlic
A Few More “How-To” for Veggies…
- How to Clean Swiss Chard
- How to Clean Brussels Sprouts
- Blanching and Steaming Vegetables
- How to Grill Zucchini Perfectly
- How to Clean Broccoli Properly (+video)
How to Clean and Prep Artichokes?
How to Clean and Prep Artichokes? It only takes a few minutes to clean fresh artichokes, and here's a step-by-step tutorial on how to clean these babies and enjoy them in so many recipes!
Ingredients
- 1 or 2 pounds of Fresh Baby Artichokes
- fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)
- salt
Instructions
- Grab a large bowl and fill it with cold water and squeeze some lemon juice, about 1/2 lemon, into the water.
- Trim each artichoke by snapping off and discarding the tough outer green leaves until you are left with a small bullet-shaped artichoke with pale yellow leaves that are green at the tips.
- Cut off the green tips crosswise. Peel the stems, and cut off the tip of the stem.
- Cut the artichokes in half lengthwise and scoop out and discard any purple choke.
- Drop the chokes into a bowl with lemon water. Add some salt to the water. The lemon juice and salt will keep the chokes from turning brown while you are working to clean each one.
- When all the chokes are completed. Rinse chokes under cold water 3 times, draining the water each time. Now the artichokes are ready for you to cook!
Notes
See our Video or Photos in the post.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4 servingsServing Size:
1 servingAmount Per Serving: Calories: 86.2Carbohydrates: 14gFiber: 6.5gSugar: 2.5gProtein: 4g
If you enjoy our post on how to clean artichokes, let us know and leave a comment with a star rating!
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!
xo anna and liz
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Useful tip
Thank you Helen!
Thanks for the great tutorial! I can't wait to try those cute little artichokes!
Thank you Tricia! Thanks for stopping by!
What a great post! I always pass on buying the artichokes because I has no idea what to do with them. I look forward to getting some recipes for them soon, thanks, Lisa
great tutorial!
I totally need tips on artichokes…last time I made them, it was a total disaster! Great post!