Sautéed Dandelion Greens with Eggs
Paired with a crusty loaf of bread, these sautéed dandelion greens with leeks, eggs and feta cheese highlights an often under-appreciated leafy green.
Summer has officially arrived in Chicago! Even though it is only my second summer in this city, I’ve come to love what this season represents: patio life, festivals galore, lake walks, and out-of-town visits from family and friends (who can blame them for staying away in the winter months).
For me, it also means slowing down, weekend visits to the farmer’s market, and spending a bit less time in the kitchen. We can get away with simpler meals and flavors in the summer months, and I love that. It is all about highlighting great ingredients and letting them do most of the work.
Today’s sautéed dandelion greens with eggs is very much in the realm of seasonal cooking. The ingredient list is short (only five ingredients, including butter) and the preparation is fast. It can serve as a quick weekend breakfast or an easy weeknight dinner!
As you’ve probably noticed, the star of this dish is the fresh dandelion greens. Yes! The same dandelion greens that you’ve been cursing and pulling up from your garden for years and years. Did you know that you could eat those? You can!
[Although, I strongly recommend seeking out the organic variety from the farmer’s market or grocery store, because, well, yeah. If you live in an area of the country where you can pick the non-dog park, non-pesticide variety, go for it!]
I used to only see dandelion greens at the farmer’s market (occasionally!), but now I can find them at most basic supermarkets in the produce section. This recipe is from the beautiful Savor: Rustic Recipes Inspired by Forest, Field, an Farm cookbook by Ilona Oppenheim, which landed on my doorstep a few months ago. It is a gorgeous, coffee-table cookbook that celebrates rustic, nature-driven recipes.
Dandelion greens are actually one of the healthiest green vegetables out there. I’ve always vaguely known this, but this book (which I love and highly recommend!) drove the point home:
Compared to spinach, one of our present-day “superfoods,” dandelion leaves have eight times more antioxidants, two times more calcium, three times more Vitamin A, and five times more vitamin K and vitamin E (Eating on the Wild Side by Jo Robinson, pg. 23)
Similar to radicchio or endive, dandelion greens are naturally bitter. Generally the more bitter the green, the more healthy and nutritious it is! My biggest advice is to seek younger, more tender dandelion greens, as they tend to be less bitter in flavor.
To help reduce the bitterness, the dandelion greens are also blanched briefly in salted boiling water before throwing this dish together. Sweet, sautéed leeks help balance the dish out (don’t skip those!), and the salty, briny feta and runny eggs bring the whole thing together!
Paired with a crusty loaf of bread, this dish highlights the under appreciated dandelion green into an ingredient that I can’t wait to experiment more with in the kitchen, especially over the remainder of the summer months!
Sautéed Dandelion Greens with Eggs
Ingredients
- 4 cups chopped dandelion greens (about 1 to 2 bunches) thick stems removed and discarded
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) unsalted butter clarified butter or ghee
- 1 large leek, white and light green parts only sliced lengthwise and finely chopped
- 4 large eggs
- ¼ cup crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- Blanch the Dandelion Greens: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the chopped dandelion greens and blanch for 1 to 2 minutes. Drain the greens thoroughly, using a wooden spoon to drain and press out as much liquid as possible.
- Melt the butter or ghee in a 10-inch sauté or cast iron pan set over medium heat. Sauté the leeks until tender, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the drained dandelion greens one handful at a time. Cook each handful until wilted, then add more.
- When the greens are wilted, use a spoon to create several shallow nests in the greens and crack the eggs into each one Top with feta cheese and cook uncovered until the whites of the eggs are set, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately with toasted slices of crusty bread, if desired.
Tips for Success:
- Blanching the dandelion greens removes some of their natural bitterness. Younger and more delicate dandelion greens will be more delicate in flavor than tougher, thicker greens.
34 Comments on “Sautéed Dandelion Greens with Eggs”
Made this tonight and loved it!
Bitter greens, sweet leek, feta- what’s not to love?
We used French feta and it was so yummy. Great blend of flavors. Thank you for sharing!
Delicious
This was surprisingly wonderful. First time with dandelion greens and the whole family loved it. Easy, too.
This is very delicious. I knew the flowers tasted good and the roots made a tea, but never heard of eating the greens.
Thank you for this recipe!!
So glad to hear that! Thanks for the feedback Mechelle!
Made this with my CSA dandelion greens also. I didn’t have leeks (like some other folks) so I substituted some garlic scapes and scallions for them. Didn’t have feta cheese either, so I used blue cheese. Fantastic! We are getting more dandelion greens this week – plan to make it the proper way using leeks and feta. I’m sure it will be great!
I’ve been making this recipe for about a year. This recipe never fails no matter how I tweak it.
I get lovely young dandelion greens at farmers market, so never blanch them. I almost never have leeks so use whatever onions are on hand and garlic or garlic powder. I don’t eat dairy so never have added feta. Today I cooked it in olive oil with leftover Easter ham and some fading cherry tomatoes. So much yum while feeling so well from eating so well.
I’m deeply in love with this recipe! I had some organic dandelion greens sitting in my fridge. I definitely didn’t want these to go bad, but since I had never eaten dandelion greens, I didn’t know what to do with them. I Googled dandelion greens recipes and selected this one because it looked so delicious and fancy, yet it was simplest recipe that integrated most of my main ingredients (wow!). This recipe was super easy to make (I had all the ingredients on hand) AND it tasted amazing. So much rich flavor that all amazingly balanced. To top it off, it looks fancy! It was so yummy that I ate an entire half …and had to make myself stop.
Loved this! Had never had dandelion greens before, until I picked them up at the Farmers Market. Luckily I found this recipe and tried it. I’ve never seen them growing wild here, but will be looking to find them now!!!
Hi – I have made a terrible mistake and did not blanch/boil the greens before sauteeing them. Now they are terribly bitter… can they be salvaged? Please help!
Hi, I can’t really suggest anything, but you can help balance bitterness by adding salt, slightly sweet, or sour flavors. You could also cook them down much more, and that would help. Unfortunately I can’t really troubleshoot much more than that!
Blanched and cooked with some mushrooms that needed using up, a bit of tired red pepper, garlic, and a little white wine just to get a bit more liquid for poaching. Added tomatoes and cilantro sprouts on top of crusty sourdough and it was sublime.
This was wonderful! I really enjoyed this recipe- felt like something you would order at a restaurant.
Great idea, I changed it up a bit, but I boiled the leafs in lemon water for a few minutes, sauteed in butter till they start to wilt like spinach then eggs right over the top of the greens, splash water in pan and cover. Add a little salt and they were great. Will definitely be making different dishes with them.
Made this with my CSA box. Subbed green onion for leek. Out of feta. Subbed parm and cheddar. Didn’t tell the family it was dandelion greens. Everybody loved it and ate every bit. Great recipe! Thanks
Very happy to hear that!
Simply delicious, and quick too. I was looking for a recipe for dandelion greens, one of the last fresh things in my fridge right now during COVID-19 lockdown. I actually had one leek left in the crisper, and eggs and feta. Made mostly as written but skipped blanching the dandelions as mine were tender and mild, and I did add a generous splash of chicken broth to the pan as the leeks were cooking very quickly and I wanted to slow them down – some wine or even water would do as well. Recipe doesn’t mention but of course you want a bit of salt (be careful if your feta is very salty) and lots of pepper. I took some other reviewers’ recos and lowered the heat and covered to cook the eggs. Served in bowls with flatbread and it was good for two portions. It would also be very good over polenta or grits, and you might stretch it to four that way. I bet this would be good with a bit of tarragon added, if you can get it. Thanks Laura! First time on your site but I’ll be back!
Yummy! I didn’t have leeks so I substituted yellow onion. I also didn’t have feta, so I left that out and it STILL turned out great. I had some smoked pulled pork, so I added that to it – whoowee!!!
I was just about 6 and detested spinach. My beloved and wise Gran took me out to her front lawn and
we picked dandelion greens. This was before the era of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. They
were served up with lots of melted butter and from that day forward have always loved greens.
Thank you dear Gran. Getting ready to try the eggs and D greens recipe here. Often have with spinach
but seeing the nutrition benefits would like to use the dandelion more often.
Made this for breakfast, it was delicious! I poached my eggs. Thank you!
Delicious. My greens had quite a bit of white stalk so I cut it all out and used just the leaf. My eggs were not cooking as well, so next time will lower heat and cover with lid.
Sooo good!! Thank you, this will be a new staple!
I have been preaching the health benefits of dandelions for years and years. People made fun of me. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
Delicious and nutritious recipe. Thank you!????
This dish looks similar to something my dad made when I was a kid. It’s one of those dishes that really stands out in my mind. I can clearly remember the flavors even thought I haven’t eaten it for something like 30 years. I’ll have to do some toying around and see if I can recreate it!
my eggs wont cook on the stove top on top of the greens
maybe the wrong kind of pan?
Try to lower the heat, put a lid on the pan.
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Can’t wait to make this and share a childhood memory. Did anyone else ever fall for the ‘close your eyes while I check your teeth for cavities’ trick by another child holding a dandelion? The fo0lish child got a mouthful of dandelion pieces!
I too love that about summer – letting the great ingredients do the work. This dish looks incredible and just perfect for summer!
This meal is gorgeous! It feels like a ‘CSA’ meal at its finest. Will be making. Dandelion greens are a bit underrated if you ask me 😉
I love Chicago, especially in the summer (lived there for 10 years) and dandelions (and well, just about all types of weeds). So underappreciated. Your dish looks tasty!
I love healthy light meals like this for dinner (especially in the summer months)!
Yeah for summer in the city, sounds awesome!! As does this breakfast! Dandelion greens are my favorite and I love that I can just go pick them from my back yard! 🙂