There are some people that don’t need to know how to cook radishes, they just snack on them raw like apples. For many of us, however, they can be hard to love, a little too tough, funky, and astringent to welcome into your kitchen without some help. If you’re one of these people, here are our top 4 ways to turn these roots into truly rad recipes:
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Pickle them! Radishes tough texture and bitter flavor make them perfect candidates for a quick pickle. If you’re flat out stumped by radishes or just eager to try pickling, this is a recipe for you! Get pickling!
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Braise them! Both Chinese and Japanese cuisines embrace braising radishes to tame their texture and earthy funk and you should do the same. Braised radishes end up sweet, savory, and hearty, and are a great addition to, or substitute for, potatoes in your next veggie stew. Braise the roof!
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Sauté them! Even Imperfect employees have radish reservations, but after we saw how chef Charlie of Tender Greens in SF turned tough radishes sweet and buttery after 10 minutes in a sauté pan, we were converts. Don’t forget to squeeze lemon juice over the radishes once they’re off the heat. It makes a huge difference. Slay with the sauté pan
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Roast them! To get a similar sweet flavor to sauteéd radishes, without babysitting a pan, just toss them in the oven. For fool-proof radishes at home, just cut them into uniform pieces (we like quarters) and toss into a 375°F oven and cook until golden and tender, about 20 minutes. Roast away!
- Slice them super thin and then throw them in a salad. Bada bing, bada boom.
One last tip: If you buy your radishes with the tops attached, hang on to them! Radish greens are peppery, delicious, and really good for you. Treat them like arugula and dress with lemon juice and salt and serve as a side salad. Serve them alongside your cooked radishes and savor this unique root vegetable for the delight that it is!
Sauteed radish greens are great. I saved mine from a couple boxes ago and chopped then sauteed them for use in some pasta salad. They have a great flavor – but the texture of the raw leaves makes them a bit hard to eat plain.
I’ve been experimenting with cooked radishes for a while. They make a great slightly spicy potato substitute in many dishes. Unfortunately, for some reason cooked radishes make me burp a lot! So I stick to eating them raw with just a dash of salt now. I’ve never tried boiling red radishes – although I’ve done that quite a bit to daikon radishes to add some substance to ramen or rice noodle soups!
Thanks for reading and for sharing your ideas for the best way to cook with radishes. You’ve got lots of great ideas! ????
I love the peppery crispness of raw radishes, but they are excellent roasted too. I especially like to include some halved radishes along with carrots and potatoes around a whole chicken, before popping into the oven to roast. The radishes soak up the chicken fat and become buttery and soft, the texture of roasted garlic almost. Yum!
Hey Violet!
Thanks for the recommendation! We’ll have to try roasting radishes like this. We hope you enjoy your next batch of radishes. We appreciate your support!
Love radishes! I add them raw when making my homemade hummus! Highly recommend you try!
Mm, yes radishes are the bomb!