How to Cook Easy Skillet Rainbow Swiss Chard

We love Swiss Chard, and I often grow, as well as buy, Rainbow (Bright Lights) Swiss Chard. It’s a healthy green, cooks quickly, and can be quite tasty without being bitter. Besides, Rainbow Chard is so pretty! By all means use plain green and white Swiss Chard if that’s what you have. It’s still a nutritious and tasty side dish, just not as colorful.

The thing to remember is that the stems take longer to cook that the leaves, so the easiest thing is to remove them, and cook them separately first. Don’t remove them and throw them away!! It only take a few minutes to make them tender enough to eat. First saute a little garlic in oil, and then remove. If the garlic cooks too long or browns, the dish can taste bitter. I prefer to remove it just in case.

How gorgeous are those colors!

I slice the the stems and sauteed first; while they cook, and pile up the leaves and cut into 1″ strips.

Use a really large skillet for the cooking, as the leave pile up quite high. I use a 12.5″ Carote non-stick skillet. It requires only a small amount of oil, and nothing sticks.

Cook only until leaves are wilted but still bright green

A little olive oil and garlic for flavor, and some herbs (take your pick!), and maybe a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, mean you have a vegetable side dish in only a few minutes.

Rainbow Chard is a pretty and tasty side dish
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Sauteed Rainbow Swiss Chard

a quick saute with a little garlic and balsamic vinegar make a tasty side dish

Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword easy side dish, easy swiss chard side dish, greens side dish, how cook cook swiss chard, swiss chard saute
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 22 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 bunch Rainbow Swiss Chard or all green chard
  • 2 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 1 tsp dried oregano, basil, or thyme
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

Instructions

  1. Stem the chard, and slice into 1/2" pieces.

  2. Pile up the leaves and slice into 1" wide ribbons

  3. Over medium -low heat, in a large skillet, warm the olive oil and add the garlic. Sauteed until garlic get light brown and infuses the oil, then remove from the pan.

  4. Place the stem pieces in the pan and saute for 2-3 minutes until the start to soften.

  5. Add the leaves, herb of preference, salt and pepper. Saute another 3-4 minutes until leaves wilt but remain bright green. do not over cook. Off heat, stir in the vinegar.

What is your favorite green to cook? And how does Swiss Chard rate on your list of greens?

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