Beet Greens, minced garlic and freshly squeezed lemon juice are combined and cooked until tender. Once tender these greens are tossed with a touch of butter and seasoned to perfection for a delicious side dish.
I absolutely adore roasted beets. I love them hot, cold, in a pasta dish, in a salad or topped with goat cheese. They’re delicious no matter how you cook them!
For years I’ve made beets and just tossed away the greens because I actually didn’t really know what to do with them. I’ve had a lot of people ask “Can you eat beet greens?” and the answer is YES! Not just regular yes, but a big bold yes because they are really delicious and easy to make (not to mention pretty)!
Looking for more ways to enjoy beet greens?
Beet greens can generally be enjoyed in place of any greens in a recipe… here are a few of my favorites!
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- Beet Green Pesto from Nutmeg Nanny turns beet greens into a delicious pesto perfect for topping pasta or veggies!
- One Pot Pasta with Sausage and Beet Greens from Crunchy Creamy Sweet is a recipe that your whole family will devour!
- Baked Beet Greens from the White on Rice Couple turn those yummy beet greens into a crispy snack!
In this recipe, I start by washing the beet greens and separating the stems and the leaves. You can eat both the red stems and the green leaves (and both are cooked in this recipe).
Keep in mind, the stems take longer to cook. The cook time on the stalks can vary based on size. I’ve had stems that are really thick (like celery) and stems that are really thin (almost like a pencil) so the cooking time will vary but you want the stems tender crisp before adding the leaves. The chopped leaves only take a couple of minutes to cook.
You’re definitely going to want to use fresh lemon in this recipe. It adds delicious freshness and cuts the bitter notes of the greens making for a beautiful side dish!
Sauteed Beet Greens Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 bundle beet greens
- 1 cup water
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ lemon
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons butter
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash beet greens and separate stems from leaves.
- Cut stems into 1″ pieces. Chop leaves into pieces.
- Place stems in a large non-stick pan with 1 cup of water. Cover and simmer 4-7 minutes or until fork tender.
- Drain. Add garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Squeeze the lemon over the greens. Sautee 2-3 minutes or until greens are wilted.
- Remove from heat, stir in butter and additional salt & pepper to taste. Serve warm.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Side Dish
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Made these beet greens (minus the stems) last night. They were fabulous. I think this will be on a weekly rotation in our house. Thank you!!!
This recipe was fabulous. I added cooked orzo to make it a main course and I shaved fresh parmigiana on top, so good, thank you !
What constitutes “one bundle”? Is it from one beet? Thanks!
A bundle is approximately 5-6 beets.
Wow! So easy and delicious. The lemon really brightens up the greens. Will never make them any other way.
Easy and delicious. Thank you!
My husband and I tried this recipe and loved it!! Neither of us had ever had beet greens before. Yum!
So glad to hear that you both love beet greens Laura!
This was honestly the first time ever eating and cooking beet greens and it was so easy and delicious! This recipe is a hit for me and would use this again when making it for my family.
So happy to hear that Camilla!
I made this tonight from my garden beets. We pulled ONE beet, and it had all kinds of stems and leaves. Enough for my husband and I to have a nice serving each for dinner. Good recipe!
A good idea and stopped me throwing the leaves away! Thank you
So simple yet so delicious.
This was surprisingly tasty. It was my first experience eating beet greens and honestly; I wasn’t expecting much! The fresh lemon is a great idea b/c it justifies the bitter taste of the greens . I ended up sautéeing them in 1 T butter and 1 T Meyers lemon infused olive oil and I added some cooked lentils for some protein and made a meal of it. if you are reading this and think there is a possibility you would like these, then I would say go for it! If you husband is saying NO Way would I eat that, then he is probably right about that too
Glad you enjoyed them Debbie! Those sound like the perfect additions for a tasty meal.
Absolutely delicious!
I left out out garlic, but instead I picked a fresh lemon off my tree. That more than made up for leaving out the garlic!
Thank you so much for such a great recipe.
Oh my Michelle! That sounds wonderful, glad you enjoyed it!
The Beet stems and greens were great. Thanks for an easy way to use them both!
Just made this. It is perfect.
I am so glad you enjoyed the green beans Linda!
I really liked this beet greens recipe especially with the fresh lemon juice and I have tried quite a few
So glad you enjoyed it Ruth!
This was great but I tweaked it a bit. I omitted the butter and garlic and used ginger and cumin. It came out wonderful!
I am so glad you were able to make this recipe work for your taste preferences!
Very first very attempt using beet greens. Thanks for the details. Didnt have lemon juice so i used white vinegar. Worked out well. Nice flavor. Thanks so much.
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe and were able to make it work with what you had on hand!
Your picture for the Beet Greens recipe is wonderful except the picture actually shows Swiss Chard! I am sure it is delicious!
It’s definitely beet greens, I picked the beets from my garden and took the photos myself.
these are clearly Detroit red beet greens
I am always looking for more recipes for beet greens as I use beets in smoothies. These sauteed greens look so good, I can’t wait to make them!
Thank you Anna, we love these!!