Braised Kale with Bacon

By Kath Dedon

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You start by cooking bacon in a large skillet. That’s always a good start, but it’s an especially good start when you’re cooking kale! Bacon and kale really are wonderful together. I served this Braised Kale with Bacon with roast chicken, rice with peas, and a salad. The Braised Kale with Bacon was the star of the meal!

The recipe is adapted from a recipe by Grace Parisi on the Food & Wine website. The original recipe makes 4 – 6 servings. I cut it down to serve 2. I used Tuscan kale (aka Lacinato or dinosaur kale) but you could use any type of kale.

I can’t recommend Braised Kale with Bacon enough! You get all of that great nutrition with bacon. Try it, you’ll like it. 🙂

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(Adapted from Grace Parisi’s recipe on the Food & Wine website)

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(print the recipe)

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Serves 2 (If you double it to serve 4 you’ll need a bigger pan than my 12-inch cast iron skillet. I’d probably use a Dutch oven.)

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2 thick slices of bacon

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

½ large onion, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)

1 garlic clove, minced

¾ pound kale (about 1 bunch), stems and inner ribs discarded, leaves coarsely chopped, washed and dried

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

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1. In a large skillet, cook the bacon in the olive oil over medium low heat, turning occasionally. When the bacon is done the way you like it, remove it leaving the bacon grease in the pan.

 This is two slices of bacon cut in half.

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2. Coarsely chop the bacon and set aside.

3. Raise the heat to medium and add the onion and garlic to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 6 minutes, or until the onion and garlic are just starting to brown.

 Ready to add the kale!

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4. Add the kale to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper and stir.

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5. When the kale has wilted a bit, stir in the cider vinegar. Cover the pan, raise the heat to medium high, and cook for about 5 minutes or until the kale is tender.

6. Stir in the bacon and serve.

It cooks down a lot!

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