Sweet and Spicy Sautéed Kale Stems
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If you’ve ever wondered what to do with leftover kale stems, this recipe is for you! In under 15 minutes, kale stems are transformed into a delicious, sweet, and spicy side dish. Using a handful of pantry ingredients, the stems become not just edible but enjoyable.
If you’re like me and eat kale all the time, you’ve probably wondered if you can eat the stems too. You can! They’re completely edible and can be delicious if done right. From juicing to pickling, roasting, adding to soups, stir-fries, and pesto, there are endless ways to use kale stems and keep them out of the compost bin.
In this recipe for kale stems, I chop the stems into bite-sized pieces and saute them with a little minced onion. Once they’re tender, I season them with a bit of soy sauce, honey, and sriracha. The honey mellows kale’s natural bitterness while soy sauce and sriracha add a bit of personality.
It’s a quick, easy, and inexpensive way to turn something I otherwise toss into a side dish. I’ve tried this recipe using the stems of curly, lacinato, and red russian kale, so you can use whichever variety you have on hand.
15-Minute Sautéed Kale Stems
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 10-12 kale stems (picked clean of the leaves and chopped into 1-inch pieces)
- 2 tablespoons finely minced onion
- 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon soy sauce (can use reduced sodium)
- ½ teaspoon sriracha
- 1 pinch chili flakes
- 1 pinch sea salt
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a medium-sized frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the kale stems and onion and sauté for 5-7 minutes, or until the kale stems have softened but still have a little crunch.2 teaspoons olive oil, 10-12 kale stems, 2 tablespoons finely minced onion
- Remove from the heat and stir in the honey, soy sauce, sriracha, chili flakes, and season to taste with sea salt.½ teaspoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup, ½ teaspoon sriracha, 1 pinch chili flakes, 1 pinch sea salt
Notes
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
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Does this work for both Dino/Tuscan kale and Curly kale stems?
We’ve only tested this recipe using curly kale, but I suspect it will work with other types as well.
Hey! Just letting you know that when you click on the link to the sauteed green beans, it takes you to a different recipe.
Thank you so much for letting us know! It’s fixed now. 🙂
This recipe is a very nice way to use kale stems. I substituted a chopped Granny Smith apple for the sugar. That turned out very nicely in flavour and appearance I really liked it. My stems were quite large and thick Since they were stems of the Portuguese variety that I had let grow quite large. So after sautéing for 10 minutes, covered them adding 2 tablespoons of water for 5 minutes. It was perfect still a softer but still a little crunchy Because my garden is organic and sometimes have aggressive cabbage moths making leaves unusable, at least I can use the stems for vegetables
Did a search and read that the kale stems have the same important ingredients that stall
macular degeneration in our eyes as the leaves do. So I have just been trying to cook those
tough stems, and just found this recipe ! Thanks !!!
Pete
I didn’t have Sriracha on hand, so I used Tapatio. It turned out a bit more liquidy, of course, but it was still really good. My husband in particular LOVED it! I actually used broccoli leaf stems, rather than kale stems, and I had extra onions thrown in. Oh, and we poured the extra sauce on some brussel spouts. Basically, this sauce was good and could be used with any veggies haha. Thanks.
I wasn’t thrilled with thrilled with the soy sauce taste of it so I made another batch and changed it up a bit. I used grey poupon mustard and lemon with all your other ingredients. Yum. Thanks for using up the whole plant!
It is what it is. But if you enjoy veg this is an awesome way to add texture and flavor
Looks really good! But does it freeze well?
I’ve never tried it but I’m always leary about freezing veggies as they’re never quite as good when frozen.
Awesome recipe! I was getting tired of throwing away perfectly good stems. Who knew fried kale is delicious?
I felt the same way!
well i stir-fry my kale with it stems just chopped up (little oil in the frying pan)
with some onion & garlic
added some red pepper flakes , italian seasoning, white pepper and black pepper
give it a try 🙂
Italian seasoning sounds like a great addition!
This is a great recipe. I’ll be making it for the second time today.
I find kale gets bitter in my fridge so I take it off the stem in great big pieces and freeze it In a zip lock bag. Then after my piece of bacon is cooked I grab a hand full and fry over a low heat till crispy, like kake chips. Once that is out of the pan I then cook my 2 eggs. Yum!
What a great idea to freeze kale! I always take it off the stem right away too, but more out of convenience for me to quickly grab some during the week. I’m going to try putting it in the freezer if I don’t think I’ll be able to eat it before it goes yellow. Thank you so much for the tip!
Would this work with collard green stems, too?
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure. Definitely worth a try though. If it turns out with collard greens let me know, I’d love to hear!
Made this with collard green stems and it came out awesome! So delicious. Going to try the glaze on brussel sprouts. 🙂
I’m so happy to hear you like the recipe. Great idea to try it on Brussels!
This is *brilliant*! I’m forever throwing those away and now I can enjoy them!
Genius! I eat a lot of kale and toss the stems in the compost. I need to try this with my next bunch.
Wow, this is brilliant! I’ve just been throwing them in the bin and feeling wasteful. This’ll be a great way to use up my stems and save on buying other green sides!
Love this. I always just compost my stems, but it’s nice to be able to consume them especially since I get so much of it in my winter csa. Thanks!