Sauteed Okra Greens With Chili Pepper (optional)
Yes... you can eat okra greens! Since the okra leaves are a little on the pokey side, they work best cooked over raw, such as in this sauteed okra greens recipe. Many cultures boil okra greens like how southerners You can cook okra leaves in most of the same ways you'd use kale or mustard greens. Some of our favorite ways is to chop them into soups, egg bakes, stir fry and sauteed.
Servings 4
Ingredients
- 8 cups okra leaves chopped
- 2 Tablespoon of olive oil more or less to taste, or substitute with butter
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 cloves of garlic chopped (or 1 Tablespoon minced garlic)
- 1 spicy pepper of choice sliced thin, (or 1 Tbsp. chili flakes (optional) (more or less to taste)
Instructions
- CHOP, wash and spin okra greens
- MINCE or chop garlic
- DICE onions
- OIL: Add 1 Tbsp. oil or butter to saute pan and turn burner to medium heat
- COOK onions, garlic and pepper, stirring until translucent and a little seared
- ADD another Tbsp. of oil or butter if desired along with the okra greens.
- SAUTE on medium-high for around 5 minutes until greens are wilted and tender
- SEASON with salt to taste
- SERVE with your favorite foods to enjoy with cooked greens
Notes
The larger the okra leaves, the tougher and more chewy they'll be. We don't mind that because we've learned that chew foods that are harder to chew is actually healthier than soft foods.
For more on that, we highly recommend the illuminating, fascinating and important book: Breathe, by James Nestor.
If you only have the older and tougher okra leaves, and you don't like it that chewy, here are some ways to soften the okra leaves.
For More Tender Okra Leaves
- After sauteeing, add water and cover to simmer for ~20 minutes.
- Or, boil for 20 minutes until soft. Saute onions, garlic and peppers while okra greens are cooking, then add the greens to the onion pan and stir in well, then serve.