Swiss Chard Steamed with Tomatoes
Swiss Chard Steamed with Tomatoes is an easy side dish to serve at dinner and it is loaded with flavor. It tastes sweeter than spinach and is ready in minutes! This is a simple recipe that highlights the Swiss chard in a delicious broth.
Swiss Chard Steamed with Tomatoes is an easy side dish to serve at dinner and it is loaded with flavor. It tastes sweeter than spinach and is ready in minutes!
Today, Swiss Chard is mostly an “overlooked vegetable” by many shoppers simply because they don’t know what exactly it is or what to do with it.
What is Swiss Chard?
- Swiss chard is a wonderful leafy green vegetable with long white stems.
- It is closely related to spinach, and like spinach, it is a healthy green vegetable loaded with vitamins and antioxidants.
- Best of all, it tastes so much better and sweeter than escarole and spinach!
- Today, you can find it in most supermarkets in the produce section, like all leafy greens.
- Swiss chard comes in two colors. They come in either all-green leaves with white stems or in an array of rainbow colors with a red and green leaf combination.
- And, both chards taste the same.
Swiss chard is widely grown in southern Italy, and our mom has been cooking with Swiss chard forever!
This is our mom’s recipe, and it is A-MA-ZING!
Reasons to LOVE this recipe for Swiss Chard…
- Swiss chard steamed with tomatoes takes minutes to cook.
- It is relatively inexpensive.
- It’s a healthy green vegetable that’s loaded with nutrients.
- Makes a delicious side dish or you can serve it as a light starter, or soup.
- A simple recipe that gives a huge impression with flavor.
- No need to add any liquid or broth either, and you’ll see why.
- Best of all, one serving is only 116 calories!
How To Make Swiss Chard Steamed with Tomatoes?
For this recipe, you will need the following seven ingredients:
- 2 bunches of Swiss chard
- cloves of garlic
- extra virgin olive oil
- crushed red pepper
- dried oregano
- ripe tomatoes
- and salt
Directions to make our Swiss Chard Steamed with Tomatoes…
1. First, chop the chard and rinse in a large pot under cold running water, then drain in a colander. Also, here is our post on How to Clean Swiss Chard for easy instructions with photos.
2. When you are done with that, you can start cooking the garlic with some crushed red pepper in olive oil in a large saucepot and saute them for only 1 minute.
3. Next, toss in the wet chard along with chopped ripe tomatoes, oregano, and salt.
4. Cover with a lid and cook and steam everything for about 10 to 14 minutes, or until the stems are tender to the bite. That’s it!
*Quick NOTE: Keep in mind, most leafy vegetables like Swiss chard will shrink when steamed. So, it may look like it’s a lot when you’re rinsing the veggies, but it’s not.
That is the reason why I always buy 2 bunches. 😉
Swiss Chard Steamed with Tomatoes makes a wonderful and flavorful broth.
It’s SO good, you’ll be tempted to eat it with a spoon rather than a fork.
And, try dipping some crusty bread into the broth- yum!
Options to serve it with…
Serve our delicious recipe for Swiss chard as a side with any of these dishes:
- Parmesan Crusted Chicken Cutlets
- Perfect Veal Cutlet Milanese
- Baked Halibut & Sea Bass Oreganata
- Baked Stuffed Pork Chops with Prosciutto and Cheese
This recipe for Swiss Chard is positively delicious! It won’t disappoint.
You can serve this healthy dish as a starter, as a light soup, or as a side dish with any seafood, chicken, or roast.
We think you will be surprised at how flavorful this vegetable really is!
If you have never tried Swiss chard before, we highly recommend it.
A healthy green vegetable to add to soups, stews, and more! Enjoy all the benefits this vegetable offers!
We hope this recipe will inspire you to buy some Swiss chard soon… and get cooking!!
ENJOY!!
Finally, additional recipes for Swiss Chard, try these:
- Dad’s Favorite Vegetarian Italian Stew
- Tuscan Tortellini Soup
- Tuscan Swiss Chard and Beans Soup
- Blanching and Steaming Vegetables (How To)
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Swiss Chard Steamed with Tomatoes, Garlic and Olive Oil
Swiss Chard Steamed with Tomatoes, Garlic and Olive Oil is a delicious dish, tastes sweeter than spinach and is ready in 20 minutes! Makes a wonderful side dish, stew or enjoy as a soup!
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Total Time
25 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 bunches of Swiss Chard - washed and chopped
- 7 garlic cloves - sliced
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 ripe tomatoes- chopped
- 1/4 tsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. Himalayan salt, and extra to taste
Instructions
- Chop the entire bunch of Swiss chard ( about 1-inch thick) and rinse, submerging under cold running water in a large pot (an 8-quart size pot or larger). If the chard is full of soil, scatter some salt over the chard. Salt is a trick our mom used to help wash the soil off veggies. Drain in a colander. Repeat with the second bunch. Drain also in the colander.
- Then rinse the pot, then dry the pot with a paper towel.
- Place the pot on the stove. On medium heat, add olive oil, red pepper flakes, and garlic. Sauté the garlic for 1 minute, to fragrant the olive oil. Do not brown the garlic. TURN off the heat! (Have the lid to the pot nearby).
- Toss in the wet chard, chopped tomatoes, oregano, and salt. COVER with the lid.
- TURN ON the heat again to medium-low heat. Cook the Swiss chard covered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The chard will shrink down as it cooks.
- Then uncover, and lower the heat to simmer the chard for a few minutes more, and to allow some of the liquid to evaporate. Taste and adjust the salt, if needed.
- Turn off heat and COVER, let the chard stand and steam for 2 minutes more. Stems should be tender to the bite.
- Remove and transfer to a serving bowl or platter. Serve warm.
- Yields: 4 to 6 servings
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6 servingsServing Size:
1 servingAmount Per Serving: Calories: 116Total Fat: 11.4gCarbohydrates: 4.2gFiber: 1.2gProtein: 1.3g
This post was originally posted in 2011. The content and recipe are the same, only the photos have been updated.
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving size: 1 serving | |
| Servings: 6 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 116 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 11.4g | 15% |
| Saturated Fat 1.6g | 8% |
| Cholesterol 0mg | 0% |
| Sodium 80mg | 3% |
| Total Carbohydrate 4.2g | 2% |
| Dietary Fiber 1.2g | 4% |
| Total Sugars 1.5g | |
| Protein 1.3g | |
| Vitamin D 0mcg | 0% |
| Calcium 30mg | 2% |
| Iron 1mg | 5% |
| Potassium 251mg | 5% |
Thank you, thank you for sharing this delicious recipe. Made it tonight & followed it exactly ( something I rarely do) and it was amazing! My husband who’s a huge fan of Swiss Chard, absolutely loved it and even said,”this would make an outstanding soup !!
Hi Deb! Welcome to our blog, it’s so nice to meet you! 🙂 I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe, it’s our mom’s recipe and it happens to by my husband’s favorite as well. I keep it on a weekly rotation, it’s that good. Thanks again!
Warmly,
Anna
I was raised on swiss chard in my mother’s cooking and love it! Nice to see it shared in new recipes to try!
Thanks Anna and Liz!
Thank you Roz!! It happens to be our favorite vegetable! Have a great weekend! 🙂
Mmm I love swiss chard and am always looking for new ways to make it! Yum!
This looks amazing and I am one of those who passes up buying this vegetable for the same reason.But I REALLY have to try it now!
oh this looks so delicious. I love me some green especially with these flavors@! WOW
what a wonderful way to start off the new year – so healthy and delicious
mary x
Swiss chard is by far my favorite leafy green! I love this simple delicious preparation!