How to Cook Mustard Greens: 11 Mustard Greens Recipes

Mustard greens are the leaves of brown mustard plant (Brassica juncea). Brown mustard is a hybrid of Brassica nigra (black mustard) and Brassica rapa (field mustard; subspecies include bok choy, napa cabbage, and turnips) with its origins in the Himalayas. You can use this plant’s seeds to make French-style brown mustards and canola oil (brown mustard’s relative, rapeseed, is the other source for canola oil).

Producers use a couple of different subspecies, or cultivars, of brown mustard for the leafy greens. The subspecies Brassica juncea subsp. integrifolia includes:

• Curly mustard: Also going by American mustard and Southern mustard, curly mustard has very frilly leaves and and looks similar to curly kale. Curly mustard is an important green in soul food cooking and is the type of mustard most commonly available in the United States.
• Gai Choy: This kind of green, a.k.a. Chinese mustard, Indian mustard, and head mustard, has a large bulb, like bok choy. It more closely resembles bok choy than curly mustard. A smaller version sometimes goes by leaf mustard or bamboo version.
• Red mustard: The red mustard has rounded purple-tinged leaves and a more tender texture, which has rounded purple-tinged leaves and a more tender texture.
• Mizuna: Also known as the Japanese mustard, mizuna looks serrated and feathery, sharing some likeness with dandelion greens. If you’ve ever gotten “spicy mix” at the farmers’ market, it probably contained a combination of baby mizuna, red mustard, and arugula.
• Swollen-stem mustard: Producers use the subspecies Brassica juncea subsp. tsatsai to make zhai cai, an important Chinese pickle (a.k.a Szechuan vegetable).

Ethiopian mustard (a.k.a texsel greens) is another species entirely (Brassica carinata), a cross between cabbage and mustard, that’s also eaten for its leaves.

All different types of mustard greens are good sources of calcium, vitamin A, and dietary fiber.

Although the intensity of flavor will vary between cultivars—and depending on when the mustard was grown and harvested—all different subspecies of mustards have a peppery flavor, not unlike mustard seed or prepared mustard. If you enjoy the pepperiness of arugula, you’ll probably like the spicy, horseradish-like bite of mustard greens. Like other cruciferous vegetables, mustard greens can also be very bitter. Young mustard (look for smaller, more tender leaves) will have a milder flavor.

The best way to prepare mustard greens will depend on the variety: Cook curly mustard as you would kale, but treat gai choy more like bok choy. You can eat both the leaf and the stem of curly mustard green (much like kale), but note that it takes longer for the stems to cook. Discard any tough, woody parts. Mustard greens will lose their vibrant green color when stewed for a long time, so if the color is important to you, blanch or steam mustard greens before stir-frying, sautéing, or puréeing.

If your greens taste very bitter, try balancing the flavor with a little sugar (especially good for Southern braised mustard greens, or stir-fried gai choy). Or try adding a little more salt: Salt both balances out bitterness and lessens our perception of bitterness.

Mustard greens are incredibly versatile. They’re delicious raw but also well suited to slow cooking. Try mustard greens in:

1. 1. Salad: Raw mustard greens lightly dressed with lemon juice, olive oil, and salt make for a refreshing, peppery salad. Use curly mustard, red mustard, or mizuna.
2. 2. Stir-fry: Try stir-frying curly mustard or gai choy in sesame oil with garlic and dried red chilies for a simple, flavorful side dish.
3. 3. Soup: Mustard greens work well in a soup or stew. Try curly mustard with white beans or gai choy with miso.
4. 4. Gratin: Combine blanched curly mustard greens and kale with cheese and cream, top with breadcrumbs, and bake for a decadent warm-weather meal.
5. 5. Pesto: Use blanched curly mustard greens in place of the basil in a classic pesto.
6. 6. Gumbo: Mix curly mustard with collard greens and turnip greens for a green gumbo.
7. 7. Creamed: Try curly mustard cooked with cream and béchamel sauce.
8. 8. Braise: Include mustard greens in a mix of collard greens, turnip greens, and kale. Cook low and slow in chicken stock fortified with a ham hock. Season with apple cider vinegar and crushed red pepper flakes.
9. 9. Sarson Ka Saag: To make this North Indian dish, blanch or steam Indian mustard before you mash and sauté in ghee with garlic, onion, green chillies, and spices.
10. 10. Fermented: Fermented mustard greens are popular throughout Asia. They’re known as dua cai chua in Vietnam and gundruk in Nepal. In Korea, cooks use mustard greens for kimchi. Chinese zha cai comes from the stem of a variety of mustard with an extra large stem.
11. 11. Blanched: Serve blanched mustard greens the Japanese way, seasoned simply with soy sauce.

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