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Boiled Whole Artichokes

By Andrea Geary

Published on January 6, 2020

Time

1¼ hours

Yield

Serves 4

Boiled Whole Artichokes

Ingredients

4 artichokes (8 to 10 ounces)2 ½ tablespoons table salt

Before You Begin

This recipe for boiled whole artichokes can be halved. The artichokes may not be fully submerged during cooking, but the parts that need to cook will remain below the water line. Serve with melted salted butter, mayonnaise, or vinaigrette. Have an empty bowl on hand for the spent leaves and chokes.

Instructions

  1. Bring 5 quarts water to boil in Dutch oven. Meanwhile, working with 1 artichoke at a time, use serrated knife to cut off stem so artichoke sits flat on counter. Cut off top inch of artichoke. Snap off any small leaves around base.
  2. Add artichokes and salt to boiling water and arrange artichokes stemmed side down. Adjust heat to maintain gentle boil. Cover and cook until outer leaf easily detaches from artichoke and paler flesh at bottom of leaf can be easily scraped off with your teeth, 40 to 55 minutes.
  3. Using tongs or slotted spoon, transfer artichokes to wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet. Turn artichokes stemmed side up and let cool for 10 minutes. Transfer artichokes, stemmed side down, to platter or individual plates and serve.
  4. to eat

  5. Pull off outer leaves one at a time. Pull leaf through your teeth to remove soft, meaty portion. Discard remainder of leaf. When only tender, purple-tipped leaves remain, grasp leaves and bite off tender lower sections. Pinch any remaining leaves together and pull away from base to reveal choke. Using small spoon, scrape out choke and discard. Cut heart into bite-size pieces and eat.

Boiled Whole Artichokes

Save

Time

1¼ hours

Yield

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 artichokes (8 to 10 ounces)
2 ½ tablespoons table salt

Test Kitchen Techniques

Ingredients

4 artichokes (8 to 10 ounces)
2 ½ tablespoons table salt

Test Kitchen Techniques

Ingredients

4 artichokes (8 to 10 ounces)
2 ½ tablespoons table salt

Test Kitchen Techniques

Why This Recipe Works

Boiling artichokes in salted water is not only the simplest, most hands-off way to cook this vegetable, but also the best way to make sure that they're well seasoned. We made the process even easier by eliminating traditional but unnecessary steps such as removing the pointy ends, treating the cut artichokes with lemon juice to prevent discoloration, and weighing down the artichokes as they cook.

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Before You Begin

This recipe for boiled whole artichokes can be halved. The artichokes may not be fully submerged during cooking, but the parts that need to cook will remain below the water line. Serve with melted salted butter, mayonnaise, or vinaigrette. Have an empty bowl on hand for the spent leaves and chokes.

Instructions

  1. Bring 5 quarts water to boil in Dutch oven. Meanwhile, working with 1 artichoke at a time, use serrated knife to cut off stem so artichoke sits flat on counter. Cut off top inch of artichoke. Snap off any small leaves around base.
  2. Add artichokes and salt to boiling water and arrange artichokes stemmed side down. Adjust heat to maintain gentle boil. Cover and cook until outer leaf easily detaches from artichoke and paler flesh at bottom of leaf can be easily scraped off with your teeth, 40 to 55 minutes.
  3. Using tongs or slotted spoon, transfer artichokes to wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet. Turn artichokes stemmed side up and let cool for 10 minutes. Transfer artichokes, stemmed side down, to platter or individual plates and serve.
  4. to eat

  5. Pull off outer leaves one at a time. Pull leaf through your teeth to remove soft, meaty portion. Discard remainder of leaf. When only tender, purple-tipped leaves remain, grasp leaves and bite off tender lower sections. Pinch any remaining leaves together and pull away from base to reveal choke. Using small spoon, scrape out choke and discard. Cut heart into bite-size pieces and eat.

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