How to Make Pan Cooked Beet Greens

Last Updated on December 2, 2022 by Ellen Christian

I love greens of all sorts but pan cooked beet greens are one of my favorite vegetable side dishes. During the holidays (or any busy time of year), I look for easy vegetable sides. I don’t want to have to spend 45 minutes getting the vegetables ready for dinner. So while butternut squash and sweet potatoes are beautiful, it takes a while to prepare them. 

Pan Cooked Beet Greens

One of the reasons that I love beet greens is that they are such a frugal vegetable. After all, you are probably buying the beets for dinner anyway, right?

So then you get two vegetables for the price of one. Eat the greens one night and the beets the next. You can have these beet greens on the table in about 5 minutes. They really are that easy to make.

Can you eat beet greens and stems?

I was surprised to learn that many people didn’t know you could eat the beet greens and stems. You certainly can! When you’re making the beets, just set the beet greens and stems aside.

You can chop them up and use them the same way that you’d use spinach, Swiss chard, or boy choy. You can steam them, saute, braise, or add them to soups.

Are beet greens good for you?

Did you know that beet greens are high in iron? I’m anemic so I try to get all of the iron I can from food sources. While I love a nice, juicy piece of steak, I appreciate being able to get iron from other sources.

One cup of beet greens provides 15% of the recommended daily allowance of iron. Of course, beet greens are also high in magnesium, calcium, and folate.

They are even a great source of lutein which is important for eye health.

If you eat the beets along with the beet greens, you’ll also be getting a bunch of Vitamin K, Vitamin A, and Vitamin C. It really doesn’t get much better than that for a healthy vegetable.

Beets can be stored in a root cellar or cold area of your home for 3 to 5 months which makes them a great choice for gardeners who want to eat from their garden as long as possible.

Pan cooked beet greens recipe

This pan-cooked beet greens recipe is a perfect holiday side dish. The gorgeous red and green color just makes your plate pop. So, you can definitely serve this during the holidays.

But, it also makes a simple side dish recipe for busy nights. We often to breakfast for dinner. And, fried eggs along with avocado toast and pan-cooked beet greens check off all of the requirements for a healthy meal.

More vegetable side dish recipes

If you’d like to introduce your family to a few more vegetables, here are some vegetable side dishes that we really enjoy. 

• Fried vegetable sticks in an air fryer
• Blue Lake beans recipe with potatoes and bacon
• Easy roasted asparagus with lemon
• Blue Lake green beans with orange and almonds
• Easy homemade coleslaw recipe

More ways to cook beets

There are so many different ways to cook beets that I thought I’d share a few of my favorites and a few that I’d like to try soon. So, you’re probably most familiar with the standard red beet.

But, be aware that there are golden beets as well that are a much lighter color. You can use either variety in these beet recipes. And, they both have beet greens that can be used in this pan cooked beet greens recipe.

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• Chocolate beet pancakes (gluten-free and paleo)
• How to make pickled beets with honey
• Balsamic roasted beets
• Roasted beets with citrus
• Roasted beet salad with feta cheese
• How to make scrambled eggs