Lemon Garlic Sauteed Kale

One of my favorite kale recipes! See how to make delicious sautéed kale with fresh lemon and garlic. Simple, quick, and delicious! Jump to the Quick and Easy Sautéed Kale Recipe or read on to see our tips for making it.

This is a simple, delicious, and healthy recipe for cooking kale. It’s also my go-to method. If you have never sautéed kale before, you need to start.

As the kale cooks in the pan, it wilts, turns tender, and becomes sweet. Kale may sound like a boring side, but this is one of our favorite sides to make. It’s fast and so simple. If you have spinach instead of kale, check out our lemony sautéed spinach recipe and keep in mind that you can use this recipe for cabbage and Brussels sprouts!

Kale is a nutrient powerhouse. It’s good for you with high levels of vitamin A, K, B6 and C. Not to mention, when cooked properly, it tastes fantastic.

There are a few types of kale, all of which can be used in this recipe:

• Curly kale is what we see most often in the grocery store. It has bright green leaves that look like ruffles.
• Dinosaur kale is my favorite variety of kale. The leaves are more flat, leaf shaped and are a darker green color.
• Redbor kale has ruffled leaves, but instead of being green, they range from red to purple.
• Russian kale has purple stems and flat dark green leaves.

Whichever variety of kale I’m cooking with, I like to remove the leaves from the stems. You can either cut the leaves from the stems or pull them away. I find stripping the leaves by hand is easiest. If you are cooking baby kale, removing the leaves from the stems is not necessary.

We love kale in many forms, but our favorite way to cook it is to sauté it in a little fat on the stove and then add some broth to wilt the kale down. In this easy recipe, we stay on the healthier side and cook the kale in olive oil, but you can swap the olive oil for other fats. Try butter, coconut oil or nut oils like walnut. You can even cook a few pieces of bacon before the kale and use the rendered bacon fat for extra flavor.

Making The Recipe

Making this kale recipe could not be simpler. Heat some fat in a skillet, add garlic, chopped kale, a bit of salt and pepper, broth, and then cook until bright green, wilted, and tender. The broth helps to steam the kale, which tones down some of the bitterness kale can have.

Simply sautéed kale cooked with olive oil, broth, salt and garlic is quite delicious, but when we have it in the kitchen, we love to add a little fresh lemon juice at the end.

It just brightens up the dish. If you don’t have a lemon, apple cider vinegar or even balsamic vinegar is an excellent substitute.

More Kale Recipes

• Braised Kale, Bacon and Egg on Toast
• Kale and White Bean Salad with Tahini Dressing
• How to Make Crispy Kale Chips
• Brown Butter Kale Pasta
• Kale and Almond Pesto Pasta