Simple Sautéed Greens with garlic, shallots and lemon – an easy healthy side dish that pairs well with most mains, is vegan, low-carb, keto, full of nutrients and delicious! You may also enjoy Catalan Sautéed Spinach!
Here’s another super handy recipe to put into your back pocket for when you are craving a healthy dose of nutritious greens to go alongside your favorite protein.
This nice thing is the leftover greens can be repurposed for breakfast- warm them up and top with a poached egg, or throw them in your scrambled eggs or add to your buddha bowls or fried rice. You get the idea. 🙂
The point is, they won’t go to waste. Here I’ve topped the Sauteed Greens with a few tablespoons of Dukkah– so delicious!
Ingredients in Sauteed Greens Recipe
- Greens: Use any greens you like- kale, chard, collards, or throw in some beet tops, spinach or mustard greens- you decide! You’ll need 2 bunches of greens- a pound total, which may seem like a lot- but keep in mind this will cook down into about 4-5 cups of cooked greens, or 4-5 servings.
- Shallot and Garlic – fresh is best!
- Olive oil– extra virgin all the way!
- Salt, pepper and chili flakes
- Fresh Lemon!
How to make Sauteed Greens
Step One
Start with 2 bunches of washed greens- here we’ve used one bunch kale and one bunch chard (about 1 pound total). Other greens can work too- collard greens, mustard greens, etc.
Step two
Cut out any of the bigger stems (anything bigger than a 1/4 th inch).
Finely chop the stems.
Saute them in a little oil and continue chopping the greens.
Step Three
Stack the leaves and slice them into fine ribbons.
You will end up will a fairly large bowl of greens, but keep in mind these will cook way down.
Step four
Saute the shallot, garlic and chili flakes.
Step five
Then begin sauteing the greens – you’ll need an extra-large 12-inch skillet here.
Season with salt and pepper and lemon zest.
Cook stirring until tender, about 8-10 minutes.
Step six
Add the stems back in and squeeze with lemon.
Serve it up with your favorite protein. Dust it with Dukkah if you like for extra crunch and flavor.
Ways to serve Sauteed Greens:
- Simple Moroccan Salmon
- Zaatar Baked Eggplant
- Baked Cod with Tomoates
- Baked Chicken Breast
- Baked Tofu ( 3 flavorful ways)
- Whole roasted Cauliflower with Tahini
- Roasted Parsnips with Romesco
- Baked Haddock with Tomato and Fennel
- Mustard Roasted Chicken with Drippin’s Cauliflower
Tonight we served the Simple Sauteed Greens with Roasted Sweet Potatoes lathered in Harissa. So tasty!
Hope you enjoy!!!
You'll also love
More Recipes you may enjoy
- Vegetarian Side Dishes!
- Catalan Sautéed Spinach
- Smoky Black-Eyed Peas and Collard Greens
- Italian Baked Beans and Greens
- Caldo Verde (Portuguese Green Soup)
Simple Sautéed Greens
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4–5 cups cooked 1x
- Category: side, vegan, vegetables
- Method: sautéed
- Cuisine: Pacific Northwest
Description
Sauteed Greens -a quick simple side dish using your favorite greens (kale, chard, collard greens) and full of nutrients and flavor! A healthy, low carb, vegan side dish that can be made in 25 mins. Serve with your favorite protein- fish, chicken, tofu, or even over toast, topped with a poached egg.
Ingredients
- 1 bunch kale
- 1 bunch chard (or you can use any combination of most greens such as collard greens, mustard greens, broccoli rabe to equal one pound)
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium shallot, coarsely chopped
- 3 medium garlic, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes ( or aleppo)
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Optional Garnish: Dukkah! Zaatar Spice, toasted pine nuts or almonds
Instructions
- Trim the stalks and ribs from the greens, if they are more then ¼ inch thick. Chop the stalks and ribs into ¼ inch slices.
- Put the chopped stalks in a large sauté pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sauté about 5 minutes on medium heat stirring every now and then while you prep the remaining ingredients. When tender remove from pan and set aside.
- Cut the destemmed greens into ¼ to ½ inch ribbons.
- Add remaining olive oil to the pan over medium high, add chopped shallots. Sauté 3 minutes, add garlic and red pepper flakes stirring for a minute or so. Then add the greens and turn the heat to medium low. Give it a stir every few minutes for about 8-10 minutes.
- When the greens are wilted and tender add the sautéed stems stirring a minute to rewarm, turn heat off and add lemon zest, salt and lemon juice. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust flavor if desired.
Notes
Leftovers can be reheated and served the next day- and delicious under a poached egg for breakfast!
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 265
- Sugar: 3.1 g
- Sodium: 164.9 mg
- Fat: 12.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 35.5 g
- Fiber: 5.1 g
- Protein: 9.1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Delicious! I am getting ready to make the Moroccan Lamb Shanks. The beets I bought for that recipe had their beautiful greens intact, so I added them to the Swiss chard and collard greens I’d prepped for this recipe. Now I have a big batch of healthy deliciousness for the week ahead! I’ll serve these with the lamb and polenta, too.
Sounds perfect! Yay for healthy goodness ready and waiting.:)
So tasty. I bought too much spring salad mix—this was a perfect way to use it and not lose it! Thank you!
Great to hear Debra!
I loved this. I used kale, chard, collards, and a romaine lettuce bunch to smooth out the taste of the other bitter greens, and an onion. When it was done I served it up with slices of a roma tomato…delish!
Sounds great Ra!
This is a very tasty recipe. The toasted pine nuts are a must for me. Thank you for sharing this!!!
Great to hear Sam!
This is absolutely delicious! I used rainbow chard, and the beautiful red stems added a great pop of color. I also added 1/4 cup raisins for a bit of sweetness. My husband raved over this dish! We will definitely put this one on “repeat”!
Thank you for your incredible recipes!
Awesome Janet- glad you enjoyed this!
This recipe looks easy and tasty. But I am wondering where the carbs come from? It says 35.5 grams per serving? I don’t see anything in it that would amount to that many carbs. Diabetic and have to watch my carbs 🙂 Thanks for any info you can provide.
Hi Peg-there was an error- updated now!
Thanks!
This is our favorite greens recipe so far, our family loved it!! We used collards and rainbow chard from our farm box and a bit of grass fed butter with olive oil combo. This will be our new go to greens method!
Yum! So glad you are enjoying this Kristin!
Not only did I love it but my husband loved it, too. He usually finds greens bitter so I added a chopped apple to the garlic and shallot. Will surely make it again.
Awesome Eve, the apple sounds great!
This was so delicious! I am a big kale eater but never eat chard but now I’m definitely going to be buying more!
So glad you enjoyed this Kate!
First recipe i have ever found that really is delicious for Greens.
Great to hear Posy!
Delicious! I had Bok choy and used that along with kale and Swiss chard. Had to substitute chili powder for the red pepper flakes. A very nice dinner with some baked sweet potato on the side. I will definitely make this again.
I’ve made this three times now because I can’t get enough of it. Its an awesome side that seems to go with just about anything. Great texture and simple flavors that showcases the greens.
I stumbled across this recipe when I didn’t know what to due with a bunch of red chard and it turned out AMAZING! I’ve made it twice and it’s a favorite in my house now. Thank you:-)
Made this tonight for supper. I used Kale, Beet greens, and a bit of Savoy Cabbage- just what I had on hand. Had to use a little bit of finely choppes sweet onion, because my Shallot was entirely too sad to use. Everything else was added according to your recipe. It turned out delicious! Loved the garlic and lemon with the greens. Will be making this over and over. Thank you for taking the time and making the effort to share this lovely recipe with the rest of us!
I made this for Christmas dinner and found it to be an excellent side dish! My sister says that it was a pleasantly tangy opener that added much-needed greens to our holiday spread, and that it filled the house with delicious aromas. I will be making this again, it was easy and yummy!
*****
Sensational!
So quick and easy to make. I was hesitant about the lemon juice, I’ve previously only used ACV, but it added such a great contrast to the bitter greens! I had kale and collards on hand. This will be my new go-to recipe!
Perfect- glad you liked it!
I’ve lived in the south most of my life and was always served collard greens “southern style” meaning simmered in pot liquor with some form of a smoked meat for flavoring. My husband was a bit skeptical since his father always made it that way, but this did not disappoint. It was so light yet flavorful and the lemon gave it so much brightness. This is definitely a healthier way to cook greens.
Awesome, great to hear- thanks Diane! 🙌
Your recipes are so flavorful I
Thanks so much!
Hello Sylvia: How could I cook with young turnip greens (without ham or other meat)? Would they go well with just lemon/onions/red pepper flakes, or rather need more/other flavoring? thank you!
Best bet is to just give it a try! I think it sounds tasty!
This recipe was fantastic! I’ve made it again and again, and it always goes quickly. 🙂
I used only rainbow chard because I didn’t have kale—delicious still! The toasted pine nuts were a great addition. Thanks Sylvia!
thanks Nikki!xoxo
What a great and easy way to serve greens. I was getting tired of my usual “steam then sauté with olive oil”. And the Dukkah on top really finishes the greens. Delicious!
So happy you like this!
Delicious!!
thanks so much!
This looks so yummy! I was wondering, what else could you serve as a main dish to this? Thanks!
I added a few links to the bottom of the post. Lots of things!
Oh gosh, I didn’t know I missed that. Thank you!!
You didn’t! I just added them now. 🙂