Three-Greens Gratin Recipe (2024)

I sliced up the chard ribs and sauteed them with diced apples, lemon juice and basil. It provided a sweet, crisp counterpoint to the gooey gratin.

From Martha: No gasping at all; yes, you could use frozen greens. Thaw them first and make sure to squeeze out excess water.

Easy to make and great base recipe for variations. I used radish greens, spinach, and finely chopped bok choy, since I had it on hand. I also added parsley and rosemary, as suggested, to the seasonings and substituted a sharp white cheddar for the gruyere. Loved the heft from the eggs and rice and the crispy edges from the cheese, olive oil, and breadcrumbs... will definitely make again, experimenting with different combinations of greens.

I skipped the blanching and just sauteed chopped greens (kale, beet, chard and cabbage) with the onions and leeks. That cut the time on this dish down a lot.

This is a great technique/recipe to loosely follow and use what you have. Also, this is where the washed/chopped bags of greens available in many markets is so handy (thank you Trader Joe's). I carmelized an onion while the brown rice was cooking, and used parmesan. Great way to clear out my veggie bin!

It's a lot for a weeknight, but when I buy greens, I often immediately blanch them, cut into 1-2" pieces, and freeze in plastic bags. That way assembling a dish like this is fairly quick. This works well with quinoa, emmer or other grains, and I second the use of more cheese. You can also swap out cream/milk (or a quick bechamel if you're not pressed for time or have some in your fridge) for some of the eggs which gives a different texture and flavor.

why blanche the greens???? I sauteed mine with the cabbage, spinach last.

Loved this, but it was too much work for a weeknight! It took me an hour of blanching, chopping and sauteeing before I could get it into the oven, where it needs another 45 minutes. Also, I would use more cheese, or perhaps our veggie ratio was off -- we couldn't taste the eggs or cheese at all.

I love this recipe, and it's a great way to use up a variety of greens before they go bad. I've used chard, kale, spinach, beet greens, etc and rice and farro for the binder. I've served this for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A few dashes of Crystal's Hot Sauce adds the perfect zing!

Please don't gasp... in a bind could a busy working mom use frozen greens instead of blanched fresh greens for a weeknight dinner?

More eggs, more cheese, and more breadcrumbs. Plus the other suggestions mentioned below.

It was delicious and I will definitely make again but use frozen greens. Prep took me over three hours before I even put it in the oven.

Great recipe. Thank you, Martha!
Made this as a side to bring for Thanksgiving. As it was the first time making a gratin, I followed the recipe closely (although I couldn't resist using a bit more gruyère than was called for). It was delicious.

Quite tasty, but the prep took me over 2 hours, and then there's the baking/resting time on top of that. Won't make it again until I'm retired.

I could eat this everyday - and would except it's quite a lot of work. I use kale instead of spinach and blanch it one minute longer.

Cooked the cabbage in bacon fat. Did not regret.

This was pretty good but a lot of fuss. Very veggie heavy, in a really nice way. It turned out under seasoned, which surprised me after tasting it before cooking, even though I salted a few times and increased the thyme. Next time would try increasing the garlic, adding a tablespoon or so of mustard to the egg mix, and maybe adding crumbled feta (very different culinary profile that way, but I kept imagining it with feta while I ate).

I made this with beet greens, lacinato kale and red cabbage with no other substitutions other than using panko for the breadcrumbs. It is definitely greens forward, but a very nice dish warm or room temperature. Nice for summer, if you don't mind turning on the oven. We enjoyed it thoroughly

I made this by about half, and like others, used what I had. A large bunch of rainbow chard (I thinly sliced the stems and cooked with the onion and half a sliced fennel bulb), and red veined sorrel from the garden. Didn’t have leeks or cabbage. Like others, I sautéed instead of blanching. Tomorrow I’ll mix up the eggs and cheese and bake it. Stay tuned.

My new favorite way to use up the piles of brassica from our CSA box. Any combo of greens seems to work beautifully; most recently used 1lb baby spinach + 1/2 lb baby kale, + a large bunch of "sprouting broccoli" (leafy with slimmer, more tender stems), which I blanched for about a minute after the greens. Cabbage sautéed w/ mixed dried herbs, seasoned liberally. I keep steamer packets of brown+wild rice on hand (fuss-free!). No leeks available; big red onion worked great. Went fast with 2 cooks

This is basically a low egg crustless quiche. I used rainbow chard, radish greens and arugula. I omitted the cabbage and included the chard ribs. I sautéed the greens, but otherwise followed the instructions. Other than the chopping, it came together quickly and easily; boxed greens would make it quicker. It’s not a spectacular recipe, but it’s solid and I would love to add more veggies (artichokes, bell peppers and/or mushrooms) if I make it again. Perhaps the best part is that it’s adaptable.

The flavor on this was good, but I found it to be a bit dry. I will add more eggs and cheese as other people suggested next time around.

a lot of work but a great pay off.

Go back to following recipe exactly , except less salt. 2/18/22

I made this as written on a weeknight. It was just ok. Prep took an hour. Could use more cheese and breadcrumbs and less salt imo. If I made again would chop everything finely, but I probably won’t. Could make a good, festive, tho labor-intensive side dish. As a main I like Diana Henry’s baked rice better - I add greens to mine.

Try some lemon zest.

I’m honestly amazed how great this is. I followed another commenter and included the chard ribs, cooking them with the onions. I also skipped boiling the greens and added chard leaves and baby spinach after the cabbage was cooked. I cooked all the vegetables in a Dutch oven. Then I thought, why not bake it in the same Dutch oven? It became a one pot meal. I removed about 1/3 cup of watery liquid from the bottom before adding the egg mixture. I used 6 eggs, 2 oz cheddar, 2 oz feta, 2 oz Parm.

Introduced to me by Rebecca at DC farmers market, I highly recommend her addition of finely chopped green olives, preferably pitted yourself. You won't know they are there, but for someone concerned about cholesterol and triglycerides, 1/2 cup of the chopped olives can replace 1 1/2 cups of cheese. Also replaced 2 eggs w flaxseed meal (2 T in 6 T water, then beaten after 5 mins) and was pleased w moisture content. Tuscan kale, beet greens, bok choy and farro. Caramelized cabbage a must.

Made this tonight as posted- add a little more cheese. It was good but needed more depth. Next time I will add some goat cheese and some cream to the eggs.

This was so delicious! I did double the gruyere as suggested. It's like a healthier, greens-heavy quiche! Or like, kuku sabzi with less egg? Whatever, if you love greens and cheese and farro it's SO tasty!!! I am going to eat the leftovers for breakfast, and next week I am going to make two and freeze one!