Instant Pot Swiss Chard Saag is a savory, quick and easy green side dish. Delicious with a curry or korma like Marrakesh Lamb Korma or Slow Cooker Chicken Curry, and a great color contrast! It only takes a few minutes to prep the vegetables and sauté them before letting the Instant Pot do the rest. If you thought making saag was a step you didn't have time for, give this a try!
Published on March 2, 2020; updated February 4, 2023.
Saag is traditionally made with a combination of spinach and mustard greens. To my taste, though, spinach always has had a bitter flavor because I'm sensitive to the oxalate crystals in the leaves. One time I had some chard I'd picked up at the Farmer's Market, so threw that in instead. Yum!
Why use Swiss chard in a recipe for Saag?
Swiss Chard has a sweeter, mellower flavor than spinach, so I now use it for my saag whenever I make it. You'll see I've used the rainbow chard here, which is pretty when I'm prepping and it looked freshest at the organic grocers - but actually the color mostly disappears in the cooking and seasoning processes into an olive green no matter what color chard you use.
Though the list of spices makes the ingredient look long, if you make curries from scratch you'll have everything in your cupboard. In a pinch, substitute a tablespoonful of your favorite garam masala (I'm sure good Indian cooks are cringing when I say that).
You'll start by sautéing the onions just until they start to soften and to flavor the oil.
Then toss in the minced garlic and ginger, and saute for a minute or so until they are fragrant - also so that they flavor the ghee but don't overcook.
Toss in the spices just to coat all the vegetables. Then add the chard leaves by handfuls. They won't all wilt at once, so let the first couple handfuls soften a little before you put more in. Once the leaves are all coated with the seasonings, you're ready for the next step.
Then put the cover on the Instant Pot and set it for 15 minutes. After a natural release, the vegetables will be soft enough to use your immersion blender. The layer was too shallow for me to blend them in my instant pot, though, so I transferred them to a four-cup glass storage container first and did the blending in there.
Please pin for later!
There's something about the combination of the greens, spices and that little bit of ghee that just makes this comfort food for me, and I even will dip vegetables in it as a snack.
I hope you will enjoy the saag as much as I do! Enjoy.
Beth
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Swiss Chard Saag
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- 1 onion diced
- 4 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger
- Spice mixture
- 1-2 teaspoons salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅛-1/4 teaspoon cayenne adjust to taste
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- 2 bunches about 1 ½ pounds Rainbow Chard, rinsed, thick leaf midribs removed and torn or chopped
- Ghee or butter, for serving
Instructions
- Press the “saute” button on the Instant Pot and add the ghee.
- Once it melts, add the onion to the pot and stir-fry for 3 minutes until just turning golden.
- Add the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute.
- Stir the spices into the pot and stir-fry for 1 minute until the vegetables are coated.
- Add the swiss chard by handfuls, stirring until each part wilts a little and leaves room for more until it's all added and coated with the seasoning mixture.
- Secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 15 minutes at high pressure. Release pressure naturally.
- Remove the lid and use an immersion blender to puree the contents of the pot (or pour the contents into a blender and then add the blended mixture back into the pot). You may need to transfer your cooked chard to a smaller container, such as a bowl, so that the immersion blender will actually be immersed in the vegetables. It cooks down a lot!
- Serve with ghee.
Angelica
Thanks for this recipe! I'm still mourning spinach, which causes joint pain for me. I used to eat greens every day, now I"m still scared to do that. I'll go searching for organic chard tomorrow, thanks for the suggestion.
Beth
Angelica, sounds like we are in a similar boat with spinach. I would love to know if chard works better for you, best of luck with your search for greens.
Jessica
Awesome recipe for using the Swiss chard in my garden and I love indian food! Thanks!
Beth
Jessica, I'm so envious that you might have enough chard in your garden for this recipe - mine is still too little to pick. It's a great recipe - enjoy!
Janet Heller
Well I just made this using almost all the chard in my garden and a little arugula with it. For some reason it is very bitter. Texture and spices are good but the bitterness is very strong. Maybe the leaves were more bitter due to very dry summer. Any thoughts on something to add to take away the bitterness?>
Beth
Hello, Janet, I'm so sorry to hear that your saag came out bitter. One reason I switched from using the typical spinach and mustard cabbage for this dish was because the chard was so much less likely to be bitter. Also the butter or ghee helps cut down on bitterness. But I'm also finding that my end-of-season greens are pretty bitter this year - I think also because of a very dry summer. The suggestions I've tried in the past to cut down on bitterness include adding equal amounts of lemon juice and salt (like 1/2 teaspoon of each to start), or using a meaty flavor like bacon, ham or anchovy. I hope that helps!
Leslie
This definitely sounds like it would be declicious with some vegetables! What a great recipe!
Beth
Leslie, yes, I think that would be perfect!
Fred N
You got my attention with the combination of spinach, mustard green, ginger and garlic? Oh yes I'm sold on this, I'll probably add more cayenne to make it spicier. Thanks for sharing!
Beth
Thanks, Fred, it's a great way to enjoy those greens - and I'm sure the extra cayenne would be great.
Taleen | Just As Tasty
This looks so flavorful and delicious! I'm planning on getting an Instant pot soon (not sure what has taken me so long) so I'll be pinning this to try when I do!
Beth
Taleen, it took me a while to invest in an Instant Pot too, but now I don't know what I'd do without it. Good luck deciding if you need that one more gadget.
Lesli Schwartz
I love rainbow chard and now I have a unique recipe to use with them! This definitely would be a great side dish with white rice or naan bread!
Beth
Thanks, Lesli, I so agree with you being a fan of chard. Gluten-free naan is my next frontier in cooking and I know it will be great with this.
Jere Cassidy
Thanks for this recipe, I am always on the lookout for a good InstaPot recipe. I don't use Swiss Chard often because I don't have many recipes for it, so this is a must make dish.
Beth
Thanks, Jere, this recipe has given me a new appreciation for fresh chard!
Amy Liu Dong
I have never been try making this recipe but to be honest, this one is delicious and healthy. I will definitely give this a try, thank you!
Beth
Hi Amy, it's easy to make this classic Indian side in the IP. Hope you enjoy it.
Marta
I've never thought to switch out the spinach in my saag, but this was a great alternative and a way to keep the recipe from become too rote. Thanks!
Beth
Marta, I prefer chard in other dishes as well as the saag, which is why I tried. I'd love to know what you think once you've tried it to compare with your usual spinach.
Emily
I'm always on the lookout for instant pot recipes because they make meal times so much easier! Loved this winning recipe and used Swiss chard from my garden!
Beth
Emily, me too, especially because with this recipe I never have to worry about burning the greens as I might in a pan. Isn't garden chard the best?
Kari Alana
I love that this recipe uses and instant pot. I am thinking of getting one. I am also going to try my hand at growing Swiss chard
Beth
Kari, sometimes I'm amazed at how good the Instant Pot is at things I thought I was happy using the stovetop for, like this saag and cooking rice. As far as growing chard, mine is always most tender in the earliest harvests of the year.
Chef Dennis
We always had Swiss Chard growing in our garden and I love finding new ways to prepare it. Your Saag was delicious and and easy follow recipe, thanks!
Beth
Swiss Chard is one of my favorite greens, too. So glad you enjoyed it!
Julie @ Running in a Skirt
I've been looking for a good use for swiss chard and this one looks so tasty! Love that you make it in the instant pot. Will make again.
Beth
Julie, I hope it turns out as well for you as for us. I love making it in the IP too.
Genevieve
You can do so many things with an Instant Pot. Love that you used Swiss Chard for this recipe.
Beth
Thanks, Genevieve, I appreciate my Instant Pot more and more all the time.
Ramona
This looks so flavourful and just perfect! i love how you made it in an instant pot, its so much better. Ive never made this before, but it looks super healthy and amazing. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Beth
Ramona, I love the IP too, especially because I can make this recipe to go along with a curry and not feel rushed.
Gail Montero
I didn't realize you could replace spinach with swiss chard in making saag! Love the use of the instant pot in this dish!
Beth
Hi Gail, I try chard in any spinach recipe (except salads) because I prefer the texture. I am so happy with it in this saag!
Kushigalu
Healthy and flavorful recipe. A perfect way to add greens in diet. So delicious. Thanks for sharing
Beth
We also love preparing greens this way, and love the flavor.
Sapana
We love Saag to the core. I often make it with mustard greens and spinach and when sometimes there isn’t any mustard greens I replace it with Swiss chars and the flavors are even more delicious 😋 Yours looks so yummy.
Beth
Thank you, Sapana, I know your saag must be fabulous - but I have a little trouble with the crystals in spinach, so chard is my solution!
Alexis
I received a bunch of Swiss chard from a friend so I tried this recipe, it was amazing! Thank you for sharing.
Beth
Thanks for letting me know, Alexis, I'm glad to hear it.
Lisa
You don’t need to add any water or other liquid to this to bring it up to pressure?
Beth
Great question! I haven't had any "burn" warnings when making this saag in the Instant Pot. I assume that you release enough liquid from the chard, onions and garlic during the saute step to provide enough cooking liquid. I wouldn't want to add any liquid, as the saag could turn out runny. I hope that helps!