Black radishes, also known as turnips and romanesco broccoli, have a lot going on inside their purple skin.
They’re high in antioxidants, fiber, vitamins A, C, E, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, D, K, folate, manganese, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, silicon, copper, iron, zinc, selenium, sodium, calcium, chromium, molybdenum, boron, nickel, chlorine, sulfur, and copper.
How Do You Prepare Black Radishes?
The best way to cook them is by roasting or grilling them.
You can even roast them with bacon like we did below.
- Clean the black radishes thoroughly, removing any dirt from between the leaves of the greens.
- Wash the roots well using cold water then pat dry with paper towels.
- Cut off the tops of the radishes and peel away the outer layer of skin.
- Slice the radishes into thin rounds or chunks.
- Heat up your grill pan over medium heat.
- Add two slices of thick-cut smoked bacon (we used applewood smoked bacon) to the hot pan.
- Cook the bacon until it starts to get crispy and slightly browned around the edges. Remove it from the pan once it has started to release its fat.
- Place the sliced radishes into the hot pan with the bacon.
- Serve immediately!
What Are Some Popular Black Radish Recipes?
If you want to try out some black radish recipes, here are several great options for you to consider.
- Turnip Fries with Black Radish Dip (Vegetarian)
- Black Radish Hummus Recipe (Vegan)
- Kale Salad with Turnip Fries & Roasted Garlic-Dijon Vinaigrette (Vegan)
- Smoky Roasted Root Vegetables with Creamy Polenta and Herbed Goat Cheese (Meatless)
- Crispy Tofu Soba Noodles with Broccoli Slaw and Sriracha Lime Sauce (Vegan)
- Roasted Veggie Hash with Black Radish Pickle Relish (Vegan)
- Baked Potato Soup with Smoked Paprika Buttermilk Ranch Skillet Bread (Vegan)
- Broiled Portobello Mushrooms Stuffed With Bacon Wrapped Asparagus Spears (Vegan)
- Pineapple Fried Rice with Black Radish Peanut Butter Sauce (Vegan)
- Fried Eggs with Black Radish Crema (Vegan)
- Spinach Artichoke Dip with Black Radish Chips (Vegan)
- Sautéed Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta and Pecans (Vegan)
- Butternut Squash Curry (Vegan)
- Black Radish Miso Ramen (Gluten Free)
- Tandoori Spiced Chicken Wings with Black Radish Raita (Vegan)
- Mushroom Quinoa Bowls with Crispy Shiitake Mushroom Topping (Vegan)
- Salmon Burgers with Caramelized Onions, Avocado, and Lemon Dill Mayonnaise (Vegan)
- Chili Mac ‘n’ Cheese with Blackened Tomatoes (Non-Vegan)
- Chicken Tikka Masala with Black Radish Green Beans (Vegan)
- Shrimp Tacos with Mango Habanero Salsa (Vegan)
- Jerk Pork Tenderloins with Sweet Potatoes and Collard Greens (Vegan)
- Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Sage Brown Butter (Vegan)
- Herbed Eggplant Lasagna Rollups (Gluten Free)
- Lemon Pepper Salmon Fillets with Zucchini Ribbons (Vegan)
- Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Coconut Crumble (Vegan)
- Beef Short Rib Chili Verde with Black Bean Cornbread (Vegan)
- Slow Cooker Pulled Jackfruit BBQ Sandwiches with Pineapple Guacamole (Vegan)
- Turkey Taco Meatballs with Homemade Refried Beans (Vegan)
- Ginger Beef Stew with Black Radish Dumplings (Meatless)
- Ranch Style Black Beans (No Added Salt)
- Honey Mustard Black Beans (Vegan)
- Carrot Ginger Puree with Honey Cinnamon Granola (Vegan)
- Easy Vegan Black Bean Burger (Vegan)
- Green Smoothie with Black Seed Milk (Vegan)
- Egg White Scramble with Spinach & Onion (Vegan)
- Avocado Toast with Fresh Herb Spread (Vegan)
- Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies with Almond Flour (Vegan)
- Black Radish Hummus Recipe (Vegan)
- Kale Salad with Turnip Fries & Roasted Garlic-Dijon Vinaigrette (Vegan)
- Smoky Roasted Root Vegetables with Creamy Polenta and Herbed Goat Cheese (Meatless)
- Crispy Tofu Soba Noodles with Broccoli Slaw and Sriracha Lime Sauce (Vegan)
- Roasted Veggie Hash with Black Radish Pickle Relish (Vegan)
- Baked Potato Soup with Smoked Paprika Buttermilk Ranch Skillet Bread (Vegan)
- Butternut Squash Curry (Vegan)
- Black Radish Miso Ramen (Gluten Free)
- Tandoori Spiced Chicken Wings with Black Radish Raita (Vegan)
- Mushroom Quinoa Bowls with Crispy Shiitake Mushroom Topping (Vegan)
- Salmon Burgers with Caramelized Onions, Avocado, and Lemon Dill Mayonnaise (Vegan)
- Chili Mac ‘n’ Cheese with Blackened Tomatoes (Non-Vegan)
- Chicken Tikka Masala with Black Radish Green Beans (Vegan)
- Shrimp Tacos with Mango Habanero Salsa (Vegan)
- Jerk Pork Tenderloins with Sweet Potatoes and Collard Greens (Vegan)
- Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Sage Brown Butter (Vegan)
- Lemon Pepper Salmon Fillets with Zucchini Ribbons (Vegan)
- Beef Short Rib Chili Verde with Black Bean Cornbread (Vegan)
- Slow Cooker Pulled Jackfruit BBQ Sandwiches with Pineapple Guacamole (Vegan)
- Turkey Taco Meatballs with Homemade Refried Beans (Vegan)
- Ginger Beef Stew with Black Radish Dumplings (Meatless)
- Easy Vegan Black Bean Burger (Vegan)
- Green Smoothie with Black Seed Milk (Vegan)
- Egg White Scramble with Spinach & Onion (Vegan)
- Avocado Toast with Fresh Herb Spread (Vegan)
- Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies with Almond Flour (Vegan)
What Are The Health Benefits Of Black Radishes?
Black radishes are great for your diet because they contain nutrients like vitamin C, vitamin K, beta-carotene, and folic acid.
These nutrients help boost your immune system and prevent you from getting sick.
Black radishes also provide protein, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, and fat.
Eating these vegetables helps lower cholesterol levels and reduce risk factors associated with heart disease.
In addition, consuming them may improve blood pressure and reduce the risk of diabetes.
Radish seeds are used by many cultures around the world for medicinal purposes.
For example, Chinese medicine uses this vegetable to treat diarrhea and dysentery, while Indian Ayurveda practitioners use it to cure infections caused by bacteria or viruses.
Some people even eat the roots raw in order to increase energy and aid digestion.
These superfoods are packed full of nutrients that will keep you healthy throughout your life!
Are Black Radishes Easy To Grow?
Growing your own food from seeds or plants isn’t always easy.
But it doesn’t need to be difficult if you know what you’re doing.
Black radishes aren’t one of those vegetables that require special care and attention to succeed.
You just need to give them some sun, water, and fertilizer.
That said, they might not come up every year unless you sow them regularly.
The good news is that once you get them started, you don’t have to worry about much else besides keeping them alive until harvest time.
How Do You Store Black Radishes?
You can buy fresh or frozen black radishes at your local grocery store year-round.
If you want to make sure they will last through winter, keep them in the fridge until needed.
You should use them within three days of buying them.
If you don’t like eating raw black radishes because they are too spicy, then it might be worth investing in some black radish sprouting kits.
The kit comes with everything you need to plant, care for, and harvest seeds from your own batch of black radishes.
Seeds can be saved for planting next season if you aren’t planning to eat them right away.
What Is The Best Way To Cook Black Radishes?
One of my favorite ways to cook black radishes (and any other root vegetable) is with bacon fat.
I don’t mean just cooking them in the fatty juices left over from frying your bacon but rather using it as part of the seasoning itself.
The flavor combination is amazing.
If you want something more involved, try roasting or steaming vegetables with bacon grease, which will add another layer of smokiness to the dish.
I recommend doing this with black radishes because they are so easy to overcook.
Black radishes are usually quite bitter, which makes them perfect for adding heat.
However, if you use too much heat, they become unpleasantly hot instead of tasty.
To make sure you get the most out of these roots, here’s what I suggest:
- Trim off both ends of the radish then cut into 1/4-inch thick slices.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of bacon fat in a skillet until almost smoking. Add some sliced garlic and onion and sauté briefly before tossing in the radish slices.
- Cook for about 2 minutes per side, stirring frequently. You should see the edges start to brown slightly. Once done, remove from pan and serve immediately.
What Do Black Radishes Taste Like?
Black radishes are not actually black but instead they have a dark purple color due to anthocyanin pigments which give them their unique flavor profile.
These pigments help protect the plant from UV rays and other environmental factors by absorbing those rays and then storing it within the cells of the plant.
The texture of the flesh is similar to that of regular white radishes with a slightly sweeter and more bitter flavor.
The leaves are large and leafy with a slight garlic-like smell (the leaves are edible).
Black radishes are harvested when they are very small and tender so they can be eaten raw or cooked quickly.
How Can You Use Black Radishes In A Recipe?
If you enjoy experimenting with your vegetables, then cooking black radishes is the way to go.
Black radishes are easy to grow in most areas of the country.
You can find them at farmers markets, grocery stores, or online retailers.
In addition, they are available year-round, so there’s no need to wait until winter to try this recipe out!
Here’s how to cook black radishes using recipes from Food52, Epicurious, and The Kitchn.
- Recipe #1 – How to Make Black Radish Chips (Food 52)
- Recipe #2 – Turnip Fries (Epicurious)
- Recipe #3 – Black Radish Hashbrowns (The Kitchn)
What Are Some Other Uses For Black Radishes?
The health benefits of these little guys go beyond just being delicious.
Black radishes may help fight cancer, reduce inflammation, improve digestion, boost the immune system, prevent heart disease, lower blood pressure, increase insulin sensitivity, slow down aging, and even protect against Alzheimer’s disease.
Here are some more ways to enjoy this tasty root vegetable:
- Make a salad with them or top off a sandwich with them.
- Add them to soups and stews.
- Use them in place of potatoes or carrots.
- Serve them steamed, roasted, boiled, grilled, sautéed, stir-fried, pickled, or juiced.
- Eat them raw or add them to recipes like dips, sauces, dressings, and spreads.
- Bake them into breads, muffins, cakes, cookies, crackers, and pastries.
- Sauté them with onions, garlic, leeks, shallots, mushrooms, or any combination thereof.
- Rinse them thoroughly before eating them raw.
- Enjoy them fresh, frozen, canned, or dried.
- Sprout them and make sprouts out of them.
- Dress up plain rice by adding them to it.
- Add them to smoothies.
- Try making soup using them instead of regular vegetables.
- Mash them with butter, yogurt, sour cream, mayonnaise, mustard, or vinegar.
- Make a spicy dip with them.
- Roast them whole or slice them thinly and serve them cold.
- Steam them until tender then chop them finely.
- Cut them into cubes and steam them briefly.
- Chop them into tiny pieces and marinate them overnight.
- Grind them into powder form and mix it into pasta dishes.
- Add them to salads, sandwiches, wraps, burgers, tacos, hot dogs, chili con carne, pizza, and wraps.
- Serve them sliced on top of a burger.
- Mix them with eggs and bake them into omelets.
- Toss them with noodles and veggies for Asian-style noodle bowls.
- Combine them with beans and rice for Mexican-inspired burritos.
What Is Your Favorite Black Radish Recipe?
I love the way they look when cooked but I haven’t found any really good recipes to make with them yet.
Do you know of one or two recipes that work well with this vegetable?
If so please share!
Or maybe if there isn’t anything specific that you like about it, what do you think makes it special?
Equipment
- The Oven
Ingredients
- 2 medium-large black radishes
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1-2 cloves of garlic very finely minced
- 1 tbsp. red miso paste
- ½ tbsp. soy sauce
- ½ tbsp. rice vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Set the oven’s temperature to 400°F (200°C). A silicone baking mat should be prepared and left away.
- After thoroughly cleaning the radishes, use a peeler to make stripes, leaving some of the black skin on (completely optional, but a cool visual effect!). Slice the radish into quarter-inch-thick pieces.
- In a sizable bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and stir to thoroughly blend. The radishes should be added (in batches if necessary) and thoroughly combined before being placed on the pre-prepared baking pan. Place the radishes in the oven after adding any extra sauce to them. The radishes should be tender and somewhat crispy after baking for 15 minutes, then turn them over and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.
Video
Nutrition
My blog is all about creating delicious meals with ingredients that are easy to find in your local grocery store. I’m passionate about making yummy meals that I can share with my friends and family.