14 Delicious Radicchio Substitutes for Salad at Home

Fresh green vegetables are an important part of healthy home cuisine. Whether you’re making a salad or a more elaborate meal, green veggies provide not just freshness but also a wonderful taste.

Radicchio may be eaten raw with oil and salt, or it can be combined with other dishes. When roasted or grilled, it has a spicy aroma. Don’t worry if you need it for a salad or meal but it’s out of stock. Depending on your needs, there are several replacements you may employ in its place.

1. Endive
2. Romaine Lettuce
3. Curly Endive
4. Mustard Greens
5. Arugula
6. Red Cabbage
7. Watercress
8. Free
9. Chicory

If you’re curious about why the Italians prefer to add this vegetable to their spaghetti or stuff it, keep reading.

14 Best Substitute For Radicchio 

Radicchio has a somewhat bitter flavor and a primarily crimson hue with noticeable white veins that provide a unique touch to recipes.

It’s popular in a variety of cuisines, especially Italian. It has a somewhat bitter flavor and a primarily crimson appearance with noticeable white veins that provide a unique touch to recipes.

Whatever your purpose for seeking for a radicchio substitution, you have a variety of options based on the feature of your meal you wish to satisfy.

Let’s go through each option in further depth to help you determine which one is best for you.

Endive

Endive is a delicate vegetable with a bitter flavor and a one-of-a-kind look. It is often used in European cuisine. Because of its versatility, it should be at the top of the list of radicchio substitutes. The vegetable, sometimes known as Belgian endive, is particularly popular in Belgium.

It may be eaten raw, cooked, or grilled, and it can be used in any dish that calls for radicchio. With its pale hue and sharp flavor, it is ideal for salad preparations. You may also add it to chicken or fish if you wish.

Endive has a strong taste and a crunchy texture. When cooked, however, the tastes soften and the texture softens.

Curly Endive

This vegetable, with its green hue and curled leaves, is often used to salads to offer a pleasing bitter flavor. When cooked, however, the flavor and texture become more mellow.

Curly endive leaves are bright green with occasional yellow highlights. It may be used in lieu of radicchio in a variety of dishes.

Mustard Greens

The vegetable’s trademark bitter flavor, along with delicate peppery undertones of mustard greens, making it an excellent substitute for radicchio in dishes. In Asian cuisines, the vegetable is also a prominent ingredient and thickening agent.

It has a strong bitter flavor, although not as intense as radicchio. Aside from the distinct bitter flavor, mustard greens have a subtle peppery undertone.

Mustard greens can provide a mild layer of scent to foods that need sautéing, boiling, or steaming. It is best used as a thickening ingredient in Asian recipes as a replacement for radicchio.

Mustard greens may be eaten raw with vinegar and oil, or combined with other greens in soups. With a comparable bitter taste, you may use a 1:1 substitution ratio when using mustard greens for radicchio in recipes.

Arugula

Arugula should be at the top of the list when seeking for a healthful replacement for radicchio in numerous recipes. Arugula has a leafy look and a flavor that is fresh, acidic, bitter, and peppery.

Because of the additional taste it gives, arugula is popular as a pizza topping. When baked, however, the flavor changes and it may be used as a spice.

Arugula goes well with salads and many sorts of seafood. You may use it as a radicchio alternative in almost any dish that calls for radicchio.

Watercress

Watercress is a floral aquatic plant native to Europe and Asia. It is another leafy vegetable that may be used in place of radicchio in cooking.

It may be prepared and consumed in the same manner as radicchio. You may also eat it raw to savor the bitter flavor. You may use a 1:1 substitution ratio for the radicchio.

Red Cabbage

If you need to replace radicchio in your grilled or roasted dishes, red cabbage is a fantastic option. While red cabbage may not have the same harsh flavor as radicchio, it does lend the same brilliant red color to recipes.

Because the two vegetables have a similar look, they are often confused in grocery shops.

Radicchio has less waxy and thinner leaves, but red cabbage has crunchier, thicker, and uniformly purple leaves.

As previously stated, the taste of red cabbage is milder than that of radicchio. This will cause a little alteration in the flavor of your food.

However, the difference is little and should not be a major consideration unless you are a fussy eater.

To replace radicchio, use a 1:1 replacement ratio. This will provide a tight match to the bitter taste of radicchio.

Romaine Lettuce

Romaine lettuce is another green vegetable that may be used in place of radicchio in recipes. It is often used in salads because it has a distinct flavor that distinguishes it from other vegetables, such as radicchio.

When used in salads and sandwiches, Romaine lettuce has the same feel as radicchio. The flavor is similar to radicchio.

Chicory

Chicory is the next best replacement for radicchio. The leaves, like celery, may be eaten raw, however the roots must be cooked first.

Because of the scent and additional taste it adds to foods, the vegetable is used as a spice in cooking. Though the leaves are a touch rough, it may still be used in salads.

Dandelion Greens

Dandelion greens are widely available at most supermarkets. Some even grow them in their own backyard gardens.

Children are known to create wishes by blowing off the fluffy white tufts of dandelions. Adults, on the other hand, utilize dandelions for food, particularly before they blossom, when the leaves are delightfully tender.

While dandelion greens lack the crisp texture of radicchio, they have the same peppery, bitter, and nutty taste with traces of earthy tones.

The bitterness of dandelion greens, although unpleasant for some, contributes to their health benefits. Harvest them early to reduce the bitterness.

Chefs usually use dairy items like cheese or milk with dandelion greens to mitigate the bitterness, particularly when used as a replacement for radicchio. You may also bring out the earthy taste of dandelion greens by adding protein sources like bacon and hog sausage.

When substituting dandelion greens with radicchio, use a 1:1 replacement ratio. This implies that if a recipe calls for 1 cup of radicchio, you may substitute a cup of dandelion greens. This is due to the comparable taste characteristic of dandelion greens and radicchio.

Free

Free has curled, short leaves and a harsh flavor. When seeking for a radicchio alternative, this is an excellent choice. You may prepare the vegetable in a variety of ways depending on your needs.

It is often consumed raw, but it may also be added to salads or used as a sandwich topper. Its pale green leaves with golden tips are crisp and adaptable. It may be used in place of radicchio in a variety of dishes.

Radish

Because of its resemblance to radicchio, radish is included on this list of acceptable radicchio substitutes. You may substitute it for radicchio in any recipe that calls for it.

Radish is high in nutrients and may be consumed uncooked. Its leaves may also be used as a component in a variety of salad dishes, adding a crunchy, zesty, and somewhat spicy flavor.

Treviso

Treviso is another leafy vegetable with a similar texture to radicchio that might serve as an excellent alternative. Treviso harvest time is determined by how you want to utilize it. Harvesting early yields tightly closed leaves, whereas harvesting late yields unfolded and open leaves.

Treviso gives a crisp texture with a moderate taste and notes of sweetness when used as a component in meals. Depending on the meal, you may either cook or utilize the vegetable raw.

Escarole

Many chefs like tossing escarole into minestrones and winter soups, but not because the vegetable is only available in the winter. The truth is that escarole is generally accessible all year.

The coiled, powerful, and rough vegetable gives a comparable somewhat bitter taste and chewy texture to radicchio. If you look attentively at the thick leaves of escaroles, you will see a white tint along the ribs and a dark green color around the frilled borders.

Escarole is cheaper than radicchio. The greatest thing is that it is available all year, making it an excellent substitute for radicchio.

Despite being accessible throughout the year, many people choose to use it during the winter for minestrone and winter soup dishes, however it may also be used in pasta preparations. You may just sauté it, and it complements foods with a less bitter flavor.

When properly prepared, the vegetable keeps its crisp texture. All of the leafy parts grow chewier and thicker, akin to spinach in texture.

When used as a substitute for radicchio, use a 1:1 ratio. This will help you obtain the closest taste match to radicchios. There aren’t many better alternatives to radicchio than escarole.

Frisee

Frisee, often known as French endive, is another good substitute for radicchio in a variety of dishes.

This form of endive has short, curly leaves with a bitter taste and may be cooked in a variety of ways. Frisee may be eaten raw or as a salad element or as a sandwich topper.

Frisees have light green leaves with yellow edges that are crisp and remind you of radicchio. As a result, it may be used in lieu of radicchio in a variety of meals.