At times, you may have a need for raw artichoke hearts, which can be steamed or used in recipes. Artichoke hearts taste best when they’re cooked, but sometimes you won’t have a need to cook the whole artichoke along with the heart. Here is how you separate the heart from a raw artichoke, which you can then steam or cook as you please.
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Separating the Heart from a Raw Artichoke
Learn the technique for getting to the heart of raw artichokes, how to clean and prepare them as well as steam them.
Adjust Total Servings   1 servings
Ingredients
- Artichokes
- Lemons
- Serrated knife, or sharp chef's knife
- Kitchen shears, or sharp, clean scissors
- Vegetable peeler
- Melon baller, or spoon
- Paring knife
- Large pot with lid and steaming basket (optional)
InstructionsÂ
- Have a bowl of cold water with lemon juice handy, as well as some fresh lemon halves, to keep your artichoke pieces from oxidizing and turning brown. Rinse your artichokes under cold water, pulling the leaves apart gently to let the water run between them and flush out any impurities. Pat the artichokes dry with a clean kitchen towel or paper towel. Remove any stray leaves from the stem of the artichoke.
- With kitchen shears, or sharp scissors, remove the thorny tips from the leaves. You can actually steam these leaves, the bottom parts of the leaves are edible - if steaming you'll definitely want to remove the thorny tips. If you do not plan to steam the leaves, you can skip this step - just be careful when peeling them later, as the thorns can be quite sharp.
- With a serrated knife cut about an inch off of the top of the artichoke.
- Remove the bitter, fibrous end of the stem with your knife, leaving about an inch left on the artichoke. Be sure to rub a lemon onto the exposed end of the stem.
- Peel the outer skin from the remaining stem. The stem can has a more bitter taste than the rest of the artichoke and removing the skin helps to take away some of the bitterness.
- Peel off 5-6 layers of external leaves from the artichoke, snapping off the leaves and setting them aside, till you reach an inner layer of leaves that are fresh looking and white at the base.
- With a serrated or sharp chef's knife, slice off the remaining crown of leaves around where the green part stops and the whitish bottom begins.
- When you slice off the remaining leaves, you will expose the inner fuzzy choke. Discard the leaves.
- With a melon baller, remove the choke – the furry, inedible center area. Rub exposed areas with lemon.
- With a paring knife, trim off any remaining bits of leaves around the edges of the heart.
- Now your artichoke heart is cleaned and ready to cook!
- If you plan to steam the artichoke hearts, fill the bottom of a pot with a few inches of water. Place a steaming basket in the pot and the artichokes hearts on top, then cover the pan with a lid. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Let the hearts steam until they are tender and a knife can be easily inserted. Cooking time will vary based on size and quantity. Start with 15 minutes and increase time as needed.
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Separating the Heart from a Raw Artichoke
Amount Per Serving
Calories 60
% Daily Value*
Sodium 120mg5%
Potassium 473mg14%
Carbohydrates 13g4%
Fiber 6g25%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin C 14.9mg18%
Calcium 56mg6%
Iron 1.6mg9%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Tried this recipe?Let Us Know How It Was In The Comments.
Nutritional information should be considered an estimate only; please consult a registered dietician, nutritionist, or your physician for specific health-related questions. Read more here. Please note that the recipe above is published using a recipe card plugin, with preexisting software which can auto-calculate metric measurements, as well as change the number of servings. Metric conversions and changes to the number of servings (resulting in different ingredient amounts) will only appear in the ingredient list, and are not changed within the step-by-step directions of the recipe.
anna says
Great instruction!
Is there a way to buy the “big heart” artichokes or any other type that has the largest heart? Thank you!
Tori Avey says
They are sold frozen in some areas, but they are never as good as doing it fresh, in my experience.
Lindy M Abbott says
Thank you for the details and giving pictures also. This is not something that is commonly know and it is very well written.
Nancy M says
I like your technique for getting to the heart of an artichoke…however, I was looking for a video of the technique called turnading(definitely not sure of the correct spelling)! Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian did this on an early episode of THE KITCHEN on Food Network…he aced it!! It was amazing to watch…but the term of that technique alludes me! I have spelled it many different ways but have not been able to find it?? The recipe he made with the hearts looked absolutely DELICIOUS!!! Shrimp, Artichokes and Tagliatelle with only the pan sauce: butter and the juices from the separate short roast of the shrimp that was ladled with melted butter, lemon juice and S & P, shrimp were on a sheet pan and roasted at 400F for 5-6 min! The juices from the sheet pan were added to the artichokes cooking in a brazier. The fresh tagliatelle was added to the artichoke pan along with a bit of pasta water. Shrimp added lastly and all ingredients given a final stir!! OMG, I want to make that!! IF you would like to see that episode where GZ ( Geoffrey Zakarian) makes this dish, I will find the exact one… I think it’s from Season 2 episode 2? But I will find out exactly if you want it??
NANCY M
Vali Stone says
Hi, if you find this recipe can you please email it to me at valistone@hotmail.com
Peter Daviees says
Slightly confused….
Why spend time and effort trimming off the countless thorny parts of the leaves only to discard the trimmed leafs later in the process ?
Tori Avey says
Great question, I should clarify – the leaves can be steamed themselves once separated from the heart, if you wish to cook them and use them it’s best to trim the thorny tops. If you’re not planning on eating the leaves, feel free to skip that part to streamline the process – but do be cautious as you peel them, they are quite sharp.
Joe Murphy says
do you steam the artichoke heart before you marinate it or do you marinated raw
Ashley at ToriAvey.com says
Hi Joe, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. We have not marinated the artichoke hearts, but I am fairly certain that you steam them first. Perhaps someone else here has made them and can advise?
Taylor Lynn says
Can anything be done with the cut off leaves?
Tori Avey says
Sure! Steam them as you would a whole artichoke until tender, then enjoy the meaty base of each leaf. We like ours with melted butter or mayonnaise for dipping.
Mrs.V. Mathew says
Thank you. We loved it.
Suzanne says
thank you! Just started to learn how to cook and eat artichokes and love them! Your illustrations and directions were great!