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The BEST Swiss Chard Substitutes To Use

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Swiss chard is one of those beautiful veggies that tend to get overlooked. They are a fresh and flavorful green that can be used in many delicious recipes – but sometimes they are hard to find, or the grocery store is out! If you’re looking for the perfect swiss chard substitutes, look no further.

In this blog post, we’ll explore some great options for replacing swiss chard in your favorite dishes – we will cover five great swaps. And with these tasty alternatives, you won’t lose any of the flavors or textures that make swiss chard such a great ingredient. So take a deep breath, gather your ingredients, and start cooking!

What Does Swiss Chard Taste Like?

Swiss Chard is a nutritious food that boasts a vibrant flavor profile. Often described as earthy, the veggie combines a slight bitterness but with some pleasant sweetness. Hard to describe in some ways.

This mild and earthy taste makes swiss chard versatile and a great stand-alone side dish. Moreover, if prepared properly (like sautéing it with olive oil and adding garlic), its flavors will be enhanced even more. Additionally, due to their crisp texture and colors, they bring a splash of life to any salad. Swiss Chard may not have an overly strong flavor on its own, but when added to other ingredients, it can really add depth to a dish.

swiss chard substitutes

Substituting Swiss Chard With Other Chards

If you can’t find swiss chard, you can easily swap it out with a different type of chard. Rainbow chard, red chard, green chard, or yellow chard all have similar flavor profiles and textures to swiss chard. The colors of these chards will also add a colorful touch to any dish. Now, if the colors are not what you want, try to find green chard.

Swiss Chard Substitutes With Other Greens

All the greens below can be used in a 1-to-1 ratio to swiss chard. This means if a recipe calls for 2 cups of chopped chards, you can use 2 cups of one of the greens below.

Turnip Greens

Turnip greens are a popular green and work wonderfully as a replacement for swiss chard. These cool-season plants are grown from turnip seeds, and the plants they produce provide both root and leafy growth. The leaves, harvested when they are still young and tender, have a slightly spicy taste and are very nutritious.

They are packed with vitamins A and C, calcium, iron, and fiber. Turnip greens can be served steamed or sautéed as a side dish or added to soups or stews for added flavor and texture.

Mature Spinach

No time to go with baby spinach if you want a good swap for swiss chard! Mature spinach is a leafy green vegetable that has been harvested late in the growing season after reaching its full size.

It has a slightly different texture than baby spinach and requires a longer cooking time when used. It is a rougher, more fibrous version of spinach.

Bok Choy

I have been growing baby bok choy for a couple of years now. And I find it to be a wonderful green that would work very well as a swiss chard replacement. Bok choy, also known as Chinese cabbage, is a type of vegetable that has been popularly used in Asian cooking for centuries. It has smooth edible leaves with crunchy white stalks that have a mild flavor when cooked.

Bok choy is packed with essential nutrients like vitamins A and K, plus a number of other minerals and antioxidants. It is considered to be an extremely versatile vegetable and can be enjoyed raw or cooked in salads or stir fries, soups or side dishes. It can also be grilled, steamed, stewed or sautéed. Pretty much anything you can do with swiss chard you can do with bok choy.

*Baby or large bok choy will work as a swap.

Mustard Greens

Mustard greens are another great choice, but it’s a bit more bitter than swiss chard. Mustard greens are large leafy veggies and a member of the brassica family – which is best known for cabbage, Brussel sprouts, and broccoli.

Popular ways to cook mustard greens vary greatly; however, they can be boiled, steamed or stir-fried with oil and garlic to make a delicious side dish.

Tuscan Kale or Dinosaur Kale

Tuscan kale, sometimes referred to as Dinosaur or Lacinato Kale, is a leafy vegetable that belongs to the Brassica oleracea family. It has a bluish-green color and has distinct curved leaves. Its taste is slightly sweet, nutty, with that bitter finish, making it perfect for salads and other dishes that require raw ingredients. Kale is easy to find at most grocery stores making this a quick and easy swap when you can’t get a hold of swiss chard.

swiss chard replacement infograph

My Final Thoughts On Substitutes For

Swiss chard is an incredibly versatile vegetable that can be used in a variety of dishes. However, if you cannot find it at your local grocery store, don’t fret! There are plenty of substitutes available that offer similar flavors and textures. From turnip greens to baby bok choy or Tuscan kale, these alternatives provide the same nutrition as swiss chard but with slightly different flavor profiles and textures.

So next time you’re looking for a Swiss Chard substitute, try one of these options instead – they won’t disappoint! With all the leafy green vegetables out there today, it’s easy to create delicious meals without ever having to worry about not being able to find what you need.

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