This Swiss chard recipe has been passed down through the family for many years. You should try this recipe if you enjoy garlic.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 30 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
Ingredients
- 1 bunch Swiss chard
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- ⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Wash Swiss chard and cut into 1-inch strips. Separate the thick, tough stalk sections from the upper leafy strips.
- Add 1 tablespoon salt to 1 cup water in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Add stalks and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in leafy strips. Cook until stalks are fork-tender and leafy strips are wilted, about 6 minutes. Drain.
- Heat oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a large skillet over medium heat until aromatic, about 3 minutes. Add drained Swiss chard; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Season with salt to taste.
- Nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of salt used for cooking. The actual amount consumed will vary.
Reviews
First time cooking swiss chard, and I was pleased to see how this recipe turned out. Nice and flavorful.
Tried it with spinach. Fantastic!
Delicious, but cut back on the salt.
Obviously, the tablespoon of salt is a typo. I wouldn’t add any until I’m ready to start tasting. Here is the thing about salt. If you are adding any salt to any food that is not a marinade, do not add it until the end, and then only add as much as you need for the taste you want.
I’ve never made or even eaten Swiss chard before and this was perfectly delightful. Thanks for the suggestions to cook the stalks for a while first to tenderize. Will definitely make this again.
So super yummy and easy to make! GREAT use of a big bunch of Swiss Chard from the garden or farmers market! I added the pasta to the water when I added the leafy greens because they both take six minutes. Added a little more garlic and a little more red pepper flakes, added already cooked /crumbled bacon at the end, and sprinkled with shredded parm once plated. Hubby doesn’t like Swiss Chard but said he would eat this again! Picky kid wouldn’t eat it (not surprised!) and gave toddler the Swiss chard/pasta before it was mixed in with the garlic and red pepper flakes, but I consider this an easy, quick, weeknight win!
Very tasty! Cooking first in the salted water makes a huge difference.
Pretty tasty, maybe could have used some seasoning but I really liked it as an alternative to spinach.
Very easy! Very delicious! I didn’t have the red pepper flakes. I added basil leaves & it was very tasty. Thanks for sharing.
This is a great recipe – very authentic and very similar to what my mom used to make (she was brought up in Sicily). But, there is way too much salt! (I think others brought that up). I would only put in a half teaspoon. Also, another modification you can try is to add a cup or two of spaghetti sauce to the garlic just before you add the Swiss chard. That’s how mom made it and I love it that way. But it is good without the sauce also. Great job!
Delicious! I made the recipe exactly as written, only added a little more red pepper flakes and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese over the top before serving. I WILL make this again!
Classic Italian: simple flavours busting at the seems. This is a staple in Italy. I reduced the salt considerably. We served the leftovers over pasta. Delicious! Thank you for the recipe.
This is a simple, classic Italian dish that is always welcome at my table. I chose to steam the swiss chard to retain more of the nutritional value. I seasoned it very lightly with salt and pepper and finished it off with a splash of balsamic vinegar. I served this with grilled salmon steaks and mushroom risotto.
Loved this! Added some mushrooms, red onion and cherry tomatoes to the olive oil, then the swiss chard. So tasty and easy.
I modified this by not boiling the chard. Instead, I just sauteed it in the oil, pepper, and garlic. Start the stems first so they have more time to cook than the leaves. Once the leaves are tender, the stems still have some crunch to them, which is good. I actually added no salt at all, and found this quite tasty.
This recipe’s a keeper – if you ignore the insane amount of salt at the beginning. I used the equivalent of 2 bunches of chard from my garden, steamed those tough old stalks first (NO salt in the steaming water), added them to the sauteed garlic/olive oil, then steamed the leafy strips & added them to the mix. Seasoning was just a light sprinkling of garlic salt & a generous amount of Mrs Dash’s Tomato-Basil-Garlic mix (the dark red cap). Like another cook suggested, I added cannellini beans (drained) for protein and also some chopped ripe tomatoes. The result was wonderful! The two of us ate 2 large servings each! PS Use lots of garlic.
a bit too salty
I made this tonight for dinner and was it ever good! The only thing I changed was to lessen the salt in the cooking water and also to add more water as I had so much chard. The flavor was amazing. I’ve never had chard before and now I know what I’ve been missing. It’s delicious and I would recommend this recipe to anyone and everyone!
This was delicious! I’ve never prepared Swiss Chard this way (we usually bread and fry the stalks) I highly recommend this-be sure to use a lot of garlic-you can never have too much!
I liked the basic idea of the recipe and its simplicity, but I’m giving it three stars because if I hadn’t adjusted it, the result would have been way too salty. I did a double take and re-checked the recipe when I saw that it calls for a full tablespoon of salt added to the water for boiling. I only added about half a tablespoon. Even after adjusting the amount down, the cooked chard definitely didn’t need more salt added for taste. When I make this again, I will do the same thing and also use more water to boil; one cup was barely enough.
This is so good and easy. I’ve made it several times and it always turns out perfect. Thank you for posting such a great way to cook the whole chard- including the beautiful rainbow stems.