Thanksgiving Greens Recipes

By Food & Wine
Updated May 17, 2017
Credit: © Lucy Schaeffer
From classic creamed spinach to crispy baked kale with Gruyère cheese, here are superb greens recipes for Thanksgiving.
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Sautéed Collard Greens with Pepperoni

Credit: © Con Poulos
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Collards are often paired with bacon, but our new favorite twist is to flavor the greens with spicy pepperoni.

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Escarole and Golden Beet Salad with Toasted Hazelnuts

Credit: © Con Poulos
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This superfresh, crunchy salad stars very thinly sliced golden beets, which have a sweet, earthy flavor.

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Mustard Greens with Apple Cider-Dijon Dressing

Credit: © Christina Holmes
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F&W’s Kay Chun uses hearty mustard greens to make this crunchy, bright and tangy salad.

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Creamed Kale

Credit: © John Kernick
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This rich and delicious creamed kale from star chef Tyler Florence is an excellent swap for more traditional creamed spinach.

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Creamy Mustard Greens with Fried Shallots

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Crisp fried shallots are a terrific contrast to creamy greens, especially when they’re stirred in and sprinkled on top.

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Creamed Collard Greens

Credit: © Petrina Tinslay
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This is a Southern interpretation of French creamed spinach. The collards add a pleasant bitterness to this lush side dish, but it’s important to shred them finely before you simmer them in the cream or they’ll never get tender.

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Stewed Broccoli Rabe with Spicy Tomato Sauce

Credit: © Lucy Schaeffer
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This pan-fried broccoli rabe is a pleasant departure from the standard version made with garlic and chiles, though it does include those ingredients. Ryan Hardy mixes the garlic and chiles, along with fennel, into a satisfying tomato sauce that balances the bitter greens and adds lovely color, too.

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Creamed Collard Greens with Parmesan Crumbs

Credit: © Lucy Schaeffer
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Bake the greens in individual dishes for a more sophisticated presentation.

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Collard Greens with Fennel and Orange Butter

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Bitter Greens with Quince Vinaigrette and Blue Cheese

Credit: © Petrina Tinslay
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The array of bitter greens, lightly wilted by hot garlic oil, is delicious with the flavors of balsamic vinegar and sweet quince paste in the dressing. Chef Govind Armstrong recommends using a soft blue like Gorgonzola for making a creamy dish. The firm blue cheese here creates a more crumbly topping.

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Creamed Spinach and Parsnips

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This luscious side dish can be prepared up to three days ahead. The duo of sweet parsnip and creamy spinach is unbeatable.

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Spicy Greens and Pear Salad with Pomegranate Gremolata

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This salad is the perfect blend of flavors—bitter (watercress, arugula), tart (pomegranate seeds) and sweet (honey and pear).

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Swiss Chard with Ginger and Cumin

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“I often use just one or two spices, such as the ginger and cumin in this Swiss chard,” says Madhur Jaffrey. “It’s a very northern Indian approach.”

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Swiss Chard Casserole with Shiitake Mushrooms

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Delicious and easy to make and serve, this frittata-like casserole is just the kind of dish that F&W’s Justin Chapple likes to serve as a first course at dinner parties. He slices the baked casserole into bite-size squares and tops them with a dollop of crème fraïche to serve with cocktails.

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Calabrese Mustard Greens

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Just a little red wine vinegar transforms this otherwise familiar bowl of garlicky greens.

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Crispy Baked Kale with Gruyère Cheese

Credit: © Lucy Schaeffer
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Chef Sam Hayward usually tops these lush onion-sweetened greens with an excellent aged raw-milk cheese from Vermont called Tarentaise. He says Gruyère or any other Alpine-style cheese is a great substitute.

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