I will admit I am one of those who will toss the harder ends, but I tend to leave my florets pretty much intact…what can I say — I love crunchy foods.
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I’m surprised slaw isn’t mentioned, which is another great way to use up broc stems.
4 WAYS! 
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I love broccoli stalks (or stems)
Sometimes I wonder why they don’t just sell the stalks, the way they do with just the florets (aka “broccoli crowns”)
I mean, heck, what the hell happens to all those stalks from those “broccoli crowns” at the produce section.
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Maybe they are used to make those bags of broccoli slaw.
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Yup. And a lot of them end up in frozen chopped broccoli.
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At my very first real job - doing prep work in a Chinese take-out joint - I learned that NOTHING goes to waste. Broc stalks got peeled and sliced, with only the dried up end getting thrown out. And in college, a GF’s roommate used to get the stalks for free from the local market in Isla Vista, where a lot of customers would break them off and leave them, just purchasing the crown. She’d ask the manager if they were going to throw them out (yes), and ask if she could have them. It probably helped that she looked like she’d stepped off the set of an 80’s hair band video shoot, and had a pretty dazzling smile, too.
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I love the stems too, especially in stir-fry. They make a great sub for (or addition to) bamboo shoots and/or water chestnuts.
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I like broccoli roasted…the stems cut rather small and roasted with garlic, EVOO, chile flakes, salt and pepper are delicious, to me. I just roasted some broccolini at 425 with sliced fresh lemon and the above ingredients, stems sliced small. I love it.
For years I ate slightly cooked steamed broccoli, and that doesn’t work for me anymore. What does work is the flavor coming out, somewhat cooked down.
I do like raw broccoli slaw, if it’s cut very small, along with other “winter” vegetables. I don’t buy the pre cut slaw or salad bags anymore, since they are often involved in recalls. Homemade is great for crunch, fiber, vitamins, and taste.
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I love broccoli raw, roasted, steamed… just not boiled to death, ideally.
I find slapping some hollandaise on can make almost any veg palatable 
i use the stalks for my version of broccoli slaw. i run the stalks through the shredding blade on the food processor, then mix with trader joe’s garlic spread.
also include shredded stalks in my green, clean-out-the-fridge soup.
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The stems are my favourite part. I find the florets scratchy when raw but delicious when cooked. I usually just eat all the stems as I am preparing broccoli.
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I use every part of broccoli. And not to be the resident Debbie Downer, I hope unused stalks are going into compost and not into the trash.
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i so wish that tv cooking shows would mention composting trimmings not suitable for makking stock.
My Grandfather fed all those leftovers to his pigs.
My Mom chopped leftover vegetable stems up and fed them to her chickens, as does my Niece now
I am letting the team down. I throw them away. I have looked at those compost pails but i have not gotten one yet.
We eat the whole thing except the dry end. I peel the trunks in 4-5 swipes then julienne and start those steaming or sautéing a few minutes early while I’m cutting up the rest.
My favorite part is actually the leaves - I’ll sort the bin looking for bunches with more of those. Wish someone would come up with a leaf-heavy variety.
My wife had a crazy great uncle who only ate the stems and leaves. He thought the florets were bad for you. (He was off in his own world in quite a few other ways, too…)
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See if you can find broccolini which has more leaves. I used to buy it in Japan when I wanted to make broccoli in oyster sauce because Chinese broccoli (gai lan) isn’t grown in Japan.
Rapini, or “broccoli rabe” might be another option if available, but it’s to me it’s noticeably more bitter (not an issue for me as I like that bitterness.)
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Thanks. My usual stores don’t carry those but I have a guess on one a bit farther out that might.
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I love the stems, and I’m sure it’s the influence of my mom. If you’ve had gailan (Chinese broccoli), it’s prized for the crunchy stems and people don’t care of the leaves as much. When my mom bought regular broccoli she wanted the ones with the most stems.
My older sister used to work at Wendy’s as a teenager, and those of you who may remember that Wendy had a big salad bar back in the 80s and 90s. One of her jobs was restocking the salad bar, so she would cut all the broccoli florets. Since they would just normally trash the stumps, my sister brought them all back for my mom. 
For a good year or two, we were eating Wendy’s broccoli stumps.
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I love gai lan more than broccoli.
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I used to think that too, but I have to admit that I’ve been making sheet pan roast broccoli for dinner a lot Toss it onto rice with other roasted veggies and it’s so quick and easy. I really love both for simple prep.
