Anyone who boils kohlrabi in water pours half the vitamins down the drain afterwards. Vitamin C, folic acid and potassium leach into the water during cooking because they are water-soluble. That does not happen in the Varoma: the steam cooks the batons from the outside while the inside retains everything that makes kohlrabi so good for you.
We boiled kohlrabi in a pot for years, until we noticed that the bulb becomes mushy and pale and its characteristic sweet flavour ends up in the cooking water. Since we switched to the Varoma, kohlrabi has become our standard side dish with fish and light meat. 500 g kohlrabi, 500 g stock in the mixing bowl, 30 minutes at speed 1, done. No extra pot, no water to drain, no washed-out vegetables.
Steaming Kohlrabi in the Thermomix® Varoma
Ingredients 0 / 2 ✓
- 500 g kohlrabi
- 500 g vegetable stock
Instructions 0 / 3
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1
Wash, trim and cut the kohlrabi into batons.
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2
Add the vegetable stock to the mixing bowl.
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3
Spread the kohlrabi across the Varoma tray and Varoma dish. Place the Varoma in position and cook for 30 min / Varoma / speed 1.
Video
Nutrition per serving
Why steam is better for the bulb
Kohlrabi is made up of around 92 per cent water and contains approximately 62 mg of vitamin C per 100 g, more than an orange. As soon as the bulb sits in boiling water, a large portion of those nutrients diffuse out. That is physics, not marketing. With steam cooking, the heat reaches the vegetable only through water vapour, the cells stay intact and the flavour becomes more concentrated rather than diluted. You can taste exactly that: kohlrabi from the Varoma is sweeter and more pronounced in flavour than boiled kohlrabi.
The second point is texture. In water, the batons quickly soften and break when you turn them. In the Varoma they cook through evenly but keep their bite. We cut the bulb into batons roughly a finger’s width thick, which suits the 30-minute cooking time at speed 1. Cut them smaller and reduce the time accordingly, cut them thicker and extend it.
What we do with the stock underneath
The 500 g of vegetable stock in the mixing bowl is no accident. While the kohlrabi steams above, the stock simmers below and absorbs the droplets that fall back through the Varoma base. That is the base we use after the 30 minutes rather than pouring it away. Three ways we use it regularly:
Make a sauce. Stir a tablespoon of cornflour into 50 g of cold stock, add it to the mixing bowl and bring to the boil for 3 min / 100°C / speed 2. Season with salt, pepper and a splash of double cream. Goes straight onto the plate alongside the steamed bulb.
Turn it into soup. Add the kohlrabi to the mixing bowl with the stock, add a splash of double cream and blend for 30 sec / speed 7. That gives you a creamy kohlrabi soup without any extra effort.
Cook rice or couscous. When we need a side dish at the same time, we add 200 g of rice and a little extra stock to the mixing bowl before placing the Varoma on top. The rice cooks and the kohlrabi steams simultaneously, without a second pot to wash up.
Salt after cooking, not before
One thing many people get wrong is salting the stock heavily or sprinkling salt over the kohlrabi before steaming. Salt draws out moisture, and in the Varoma the batons would release more juice and at the same time turn mushier. We therefore use ready-made vegetable stock without any extra salt, and season the kohlrabi only after cooking, directly on the plate, with salt, freshly ground pepper and a little nutmeg. That way the texture stays firm and the flavour of the bulb comes through.
If you prefer not to use stock, you can simply fill the mixing bowl with plain water. The steam is then flavour-neutral and the kohlrabi tastes even more of itself. For a side dish alongside rich sauces or fried potatoes that is often the better choice.
Cut sizes and cooking times compared
The recipe calls for 30 minutes at Varoma / speed 1 for batons. That is the value that always works for us when we spread 500 g of kohlrabi evenly across the Varoma tray and dish. If you have more bulb or choose a different cut size, use the following as a guide:
- 1 cm cubes: 18 min / Varoma / speed 1
- Finger-width batons: 30 min / Varoma / speed 1
- Halved small bulbs: 35 min / Varoma / speed 1
- Whole bulb, peeled: 45 to 50 min / Varoma / speed 1
After the minimum time we test with a wooden skewer: if it slides in without resistance, the kohlrabi is cooked through. Check a couple of minutes early rather than late, because you cannot bring back the firmness once the vegetable has gone too soft in the Varoma.
Young bulbs, large bulbs, woody patches
For young kohlrabi with thin skin we run a peeler around the outside once and that is enough. With larger or older bulbs it is worth a second, deeper pass with a knife, because a tough fibrous layer forms just under the skin that stays chewy even after 30 minutes of steam. A simple test: if the peeling knife judders when you press it in, that spot is woody and needs to come off.
The tender leaves that many people throw away we chop finely and toss into a salad, or briefly stir-fry in a little oil in the pan. They taste like a cross between spinach and rocket and contain even more vitamin C than the bulb itself.
3 days in the fridge, 2 months frozen
Cooked kohlrabi keeps covered in the fridge for two to three days. We put the cooled batons into a glass container and the stock alongside in a screw-top jar. To reheat, put both back in the Varoma for 5 min / Varoma / speed 1 and the kohlrabi tastes almost freshly made. In the microwave it turns mealy quickly.
Freezing works but costs you texture. Once thawed, the batons are softer and only suitable for soups or purees. If you plan for this from the start, you can blend the cooked kohlrabi straight away with a little stock and freeze the puree in portions. That gives you a quick side dish for gnocchi or pasta later on.
What we serve alongside it
Steamed kohlrabi is the side dish that works with almost everything, because it is neutral enough in flavour yet has enough character to hold its own on the plate. Classic alongside light meat such as chicken or turkey breast, and very good with salmon or grilled trout fillets too. We often use the Varoma in parallel: salmon on the dish, kohlrabi in the upper tray, rice in the mixing bowl. In 30 minutes a complete dinner is on the table from one appliance.
More on steam cooking can be found in our Varoma guide. Our posts on basic recipes and side dishes also offer many options that pair well with steamed kohlrabi.
How other recipes compare
Goes well with: schnitzel, mashed potato and butter.
Other Thermomix® recipes often work with just 25 minutes at speed 1 and 500 g of water plus vegetable paste. We use 30 minutes with real stock underneath, because finger-width pieces can otherwise stay slightly firm in the centre and we want to reuse the stock as a sauce base. Many recipes season before cooking. We salt only on the plate with salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg so the batons do not turn mushy. For a carrot variation we add 200 g of carrot batons to the Varoma alongside the kohlrabi, which fits the timing exactly. That keeps it a low-calorie side dish with light meat and no added fat.
