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This sauteed kale is an easy and delicious way to eat this leafy green, scented with garlic and cooked in olive oil until tender! You’ll want to eat it every day.
“I want to eat this every day.” That was Alex, after the first bite of this sauteed kale. The flavor of this kale is so good, it will have you wanting to make it daily. Leafy greens can be a strong flavor when they’re served solo (instead stuffed into something like spinach artichoke dip).
However, it takes only 10 minutes to make kale leaves into this side dish you won’t want to stop eating! It’s lightly flavored with garlic and cooked until bright green and tender.
Featured reader comment
“This was SOOO good, quick, and easy! Can’t wait to make it again and again.” -Carolyn
Why we love Tuscan kale
If you’re going to make this sauteed kale, we recommend looking for Tuscan kale. It’s sold in most mainstream grocery stores, and it has a milder, sweeter flavor than curly kale. Of course, you can use curly kale too! Here’s a breakdown:
- Tuscan kale is also called Lacinato kale, dinosaur kale, black kale, or cavolo nero (black cabbage in Italian). It has flat, ruffly leaves that are green black. The flavor is milder and sweeter than curly kale; because of that, it can appeal to people who think they don’t like this veggie!
- Curly kale has very curly leaves and a more bitter flavor than Tuscan kale. It’s an easy to find variety of kale. It also works in this recipe, so don’t shy away from it! We just like the flavor of Tuscan kale best.
How to chop kale
Before you can cook kale, you need to know how to cut it! Our method shows you an easy way to remove the stem of the kale before chopping the leaves. Here’s how to do it—and we’ve also got a video below if you prefer watching to reading:
- Fold the leaves of the kale together and hold them with your non-cutting hand. Use a large chef’s knife to cut off the tough stem.
- Roll up a few kale leaves at once.
- Cut the kale into thick slices, using a circular motion with the knife. Rotate the slices and then chop them in the other direction to make small pieces. Repeat for all the kale leaves.
What to serve with sauteed kale
This sauteed kale is an easy side dish that pairs with main dishes of all kinds. Tuscan kale is particularly nice with Italian or Mediterranean-style recipes. You could even serve it as part of a bowl bowl with a whole grain like quinoa or farro. Here are some ideas:
- Pasta: Try with our creamy gnocchi sauce, vegan lasagna, baked rigatoni, or roasted eggplant pasta.
- Shrimp: It’s great alongside shrimp recipes like sauteed shrimp or shrimp scampi.
- Salmon. Try it with baked salmon or lemon dill salmon.
- Grain Bowl. Make an easy lunch or dinner bowl by serving with quinoa or farro, topped with tahini sauce or cilantro sauce.
Dietary notes
This sauteed kale recipe is vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, and gluten-free.
Quick Sauteed Kale
Sauteed kale is the best way to eat this healthy leafy green! Scented with garlic and cooked in olive oil until tender, you’ll want to eat it every day.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes
- Total Time: 8 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 pound or 2 bunches Tuscan kale*
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Fresh ground pepper
- Optional: Lemon wedges, shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Wash and dry the kale leaves, then destem and roughly chop the kale.
- Smash and peel the garlic cloves.
- Add the olive oil to a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add the smashed garlic and kale and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently until wilted and bright green.
- Remove from the heat and add the kosher salt and several grinds of fresh ground pepper. Discard the garlic cloves and serve immediately. (If desired, you can add lemon juice or Parmesan: but neither are necessary with the sweet flavor of Tuscan kale! You may want to consider them if using curly kale.)
Notes
*Tuscan kale has a milder flavor than curly kale and flatter, dark green leaves. We recommend it for this recipe: though curly kale works too! Tuscan kale is available in most standard grocery stores.
More easy side dish recipes
There are so many tasty and easy ways to cook vegetables! Here are some of our best vegetable side dishes:
- These sauteed mushrooms and roasted mushrooms bring out the best savory flavor with lemon and fresh herbs.
- Try garlic-infused sauteed spinach, or top sauteed rainbow chard with Parmesan and pine nuts.
- This roasted broccoli is charred until tender, then spritzed with lemon juice.
- This peas recipe takes just 5 minutes to taste incredible.
Love making this recipe. It’s quick easy and flavorful
Thanks for sharing
This was SOOO good, quick, and easy! Can’t wait to make it again and again. I did keep the garlic in for extra flavor and health benefits.
I’ve never liked kale, but this was really good! I sauteed half of a thinly sliced small onion and 4 garlic cloves, cooked them about 2 minutes before adding the kale. One of your commenters eats this for breakfast, so I think I’ll try that as a delicious way to increase my daily vegetable intake. Thanks for this recipe.
This is how I eat kale with my eggs for breakfast (sauté the kale and top with two eggs, over well, sometimes I add a sprinkle of goat cheese). So good!
Nice options. Can´t wait to try it.
Discard the cloves? Are you serious? Use six cloves and eat up those bad boys.
I love cooked Garlic ! And so healthy !
Also good w/ just a splash of sushi vinegar!
Delish! I added a little butter and a sprinkling of salt. So tasty!