Instant Pot Kale (with garlic and lemon). Pressure cooking tenderizes kale and makes it a quick side dish, with garlic and lemon to brighten up the creamy greens.
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A few years ago, kale was everywhere. Kale chips, kale smoothies, kale salad… But kale's time as the "it vegetable" seems to have passed. We've moved on - Brussels sprouts seem like they're having their moment in the sun - and kale is now just another green vegetable.
I was into Kale before it was cool, thanks to my CSA. (That's right, I'm a vegetable hipster. I need a carefully groomed mustache now.) Back before Kale was hip, I'd get big bunches in my CSA box and wonder what to do with it. My best answer? Braised kale.
Ingredient Notes
- Olive oil: I use a cooking-grade extra virgin olive oil in this recipe. Expensive and fancy olive oils lose most of their special flavor when they are cooked. Or, you can substitute regular vegetable oil.
- Garlic substitutes: Minced green onions (scallions) are a great substitute for the garlic. Or, if you want to be fancy, substitute and thin-sliced or minced shallot for the garlic. I was asked about garlic powder; you can substitute a teaspoon of garlic powder for the fresh garlic. (I save garlic powder for soups, stews, and chilis where it has time to blend into the other ingredients.)
- Bagged kale: I love my CSA, and I love farmers markets. But…as you can see in the pictures, I will buy bags of pre-cut, pre-washed kale at my local grocery store when I need a quick weeknight side dish.
Instant Pot Kale, step by step pictures
Sauté the garlic for a minute
Pack the kale into the pot
Pressure cook for 5 minutes with a Quick Release
Stir in the lemon juice and pepper, and serve
Instant Pot Kale Recipe
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Description
Instant Pot Kale with Garlic and Lemon - kale from your pressure cooker, quick and easy.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, slivered
- 1 pound kale, cleaned and stems trimmed
- ½ cup water
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt (or Diamond Crystal Kosher salt)
- Juice squeezed from ½ a lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- Lightly sauté the garlic, then add the kale: Pour the oil into the bottom of the pressure cooker pot, stir in the garlic, and set the pot over medium heat (stovetop PC) or sauté mode (electric PC). Heat the oil until you just smell the garlic - we want it to bubble around the edges, but not brown - about 2 minutes. Stir a big handful of the kale into the garlic and oil, then start packing in the rest of the kale. Don't worry about the max fill line on the cooker - it will wilt quickly - but you need to pack it in enough to close the lid. Sprinkle the kale with the salt, then pour the water over the top of everything.
- Pressure cook the kale for 5 minutes with a Quick Release: Lock the lid on the pressure cooker. Pressure cook at high pressure for 5 minutes in an Instant Pot, other electric pressure cooker, or stovetop pressure cooker. (Use Manual, Custom, or Pressure Cook-Custom mode with your Instant P0t). Quick release the pressure. Remove the lid carefully - the steam is hot enough to scald.
- Season and serve: Squeeze the lemon over the kale, then stir in the fresh ground pepper. Scoop the kale out of the pot with a slotted spoon or tongs, leaving as much liquid behind as possible. Serve.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
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Nutrition
- Serving Size: ½ cup of kale
- Calories: 60
- Sugar: 1.9 g
- Sodium: 133.2 mg
- Fat: 3.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 7.5 g
- Fiber: 2.8 g
- Protein: 3.3 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts
If you're looking for other vegetable sides, try my Pressure Cooker Roasted Sweet Potato Puree or Pressure Cooker Beets with Blue Cheese.
If you want a fancier greens side dish, try my Instant Pot Turnip Greens with Ham, Instant Pot Cannellini Beans and Greens, or Oven Baked Kale Chips.
For a recipes that have kale in them, check out Instant Pot Turkey Sausage and Kale Soup, Instant Pot Colcannon, or Instant Pot Pork Stew with Sweet Potato and Beans.
For other recipes, check out my Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker Recipe Index
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Rochelle M Fernley says
Hi Mike, when you use bagged kale for your IP recipe, do you remove any of the bigger pieces of stem? Thank you!
Mike Vrobel says
No, I don't - I toss them all in there, they come out fine.
Ana says
I use your recipe almost weekly. It's perfect! Thank you for sharing
Mike Vrobel says
You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoy it.
Diane says
So good, thank you. You're my go-to for all things Instant Pot. I used ginger-garlic paste and nigella, but I've also used smoked paprika in place of bacon for a vegan side or turmeric and cumin/mustard seed for an Indian flavor. I don't discard the pot liquor. Depending on the flavorings used I'll either pour it over the grain we're having for more flavor or drink it warm from a mug.
Thanks for all you do. All the best to you and your dear ones.
Theresa says
This was really easy to make and it only took 5 minutes to cook! I will be making this again!
Mike Vrobel says
Thanks!
Mrs. Stuart says
Easy and delicious way to prepare kale! Per another's advice I sautéed onions before adding the garlic. The greens were absolutely delicious!!
Mike Vrobel says
I'm glad you enjoyed them!
Cheryl Key says
I didn't follow 100%. Only cooked for 2 minutes. Like to add carrots in mine and fresh ground ginger (comes in a small pouch at whole foods) just a teaspoon of ginger so it didn't overpower. All the flavors blended very well so THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart! I like that your recipe was so easy to follow, gave me hope that I could do it too!
As an aside, I'm not a cook but had to change the way I eat. I've had my instant pot for a week and was very intimidated by it until I found I could saute and pressure cook in the same pot. Changed my life!
Thanks again!
Mike Vrobel says
You’re welcome!
Anna Marie says
A delicious recipe. Cooked to perfection! Thanks for sharing. I also use juices from cooking other vegetables instead of plain water. Absolutely a favorite 😊
Mike Vrobel says
You're welcome!
HD says
Someone gave me 2lbs of Kale. This was a great recipe! Super tasty and so easy! Chicken Pesto, Pasta, Kale. Thanks!
L C says
I ended up with far too much kale than I could get my fam to eat in a salad, so I made this last night and it was *amazing*. I didn't have lemon so I used juice from a whole lime, then misread the directions and put the lime juice in with the water so everything cooked together. It was very bright and garlicky, perfectly tender and a nice contrast to the rich sausage also on the menu. Thank you for putting this out there!
Mary says
I made this last night (used a full lemon instead of half) and it was AMAZING!! Thank you!