Sautéed Radicchio with Balsamic and Parmesan Cheese

Today we bring you an easy Sautéed Radicchio recipe, with Balsamic vinegar, garlic and Parmesan cheese bringing savory flavors to balance the bitter qualities of the healthy vegetable. A tasty and vibrant side dish to serve along with a variety of meals!

Looking to add a colorful and healthy side dish to your dinner plate? Our Sautéed Radicchio with Balsamic and Parmesan Cheese is a great option to try!

Sure, we like our salads, but sautéing vegetables is another delicious way to get leafy vegetables on your plate. Whether it is quickly cooking some spinach in garlic olive oil, or making our sautéed arugula with red bell peppers, this is a go to approach in my kitchen!

I tend to gravitate toward radicchio in the winter time, adding color and flavor to cool, gray days. I’ve also read that the vegetable is a bit less bitter in the cooler weather.

What is radicchio?

Radicchio is known for its vibrant reddish purple color and bitter taste. The leaves of radicchio are tightly packed, forming a compact head similar to lettuce. This distinctive vegetable is a type of Italian chicory.

Nutritionally, radicchio is a low-calorie vegetable that provides essential vitamins and minerals. It is a good source of vitamins like K and B, as well as minerals such as potassium and manganese. The bitterness of radicchio is attributed to compounds known as polyphenols, which not only contribute to its flavor but also offer potential health benefits.

We most often use a Chioggia radicchio, with the round shape shown above. Treviso radicchio features a long, tapered heads and has a somewhat milder flavor, making it versatile for salads and grilling.

Recipe tips and overview

Below we give a visual overview of the steps for making this sautéed radicchio recipe. Head down to the recipe card for all of the details!

Start by chopping the radicchio and garlic.

Coarsely chop the raddicchio into long, bite sized pieces.

Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the garlic, and cook for about 30 seconds, until it becomes fragrant.

Add the radicchio to the skillet, aong with the remaining olive oil.

Stir the radicchio to combine with the garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add the cooking wine. Simmer covered for about 10 minutes.

Remove the cover, and finish the dish by stirring in the balsamic vinegar and Parmesan cheese, plus salt and pepper to taste.

The sautéed radicchio is ready to serve!

What to serve with sautéed radicchio

Radicchio is an Italian vegetable, so Italian food is a natural accompaniment. When I made the sautéed radicchio most recently, I served it is a side for this roasted chickpea pesto pasta, a delicious vegetarian and nut-free recipe from Food & Wine. It could also make a nice side dish for this pork tenderloin pasta recipe.

This radicchio recipe could also be a nice side for fairly plain dishes like roast chicken, as it brings a lot of color and flavor. It could also work nicely alongside Chicken Romano, a recipe we will be sharing soon.

Other ways to prepare radicchio

Radicchio is commonly used in salads, offering contrasting colors and flavor to go along with salad greens. You can add a bit of salt and toss it with some of your salad dressing ahead of the other ingredients to cut down on the bitterness a bit.

Radicchio can also be roasted. You can also try featuring it in other Italian dishes like risotto and pasta. This Food 52 article has additional serving ideas and information on the vegetable.

Wine pairing

I tend to be focused on the main dish when thinking about wine pairings. But the radicchio does have a bitter quality that is worth considering. Something that is fruit forward, and potentially some residual sugar, would be a good option.

We went with the 2022 Dineen Vineyards Sémillon ($27, 13.1% ABV). Sémillon is a white grape hailing from Bordeaux known for body and concentration of flavor. This Dineen Semillon has melon fruit on the palate and a bit more acidity than some others I’ve tried. That was helpful for pairing with the pesto pasta, and the fruit forward aspect worked nicely with the radicchio.

Dineen Vineyards is a family owned winery in Washington’s Yakima Valley. We covered more about the winery when we first featured one of their wines along with a lamb ragu pasta recipe.

If you are focused on pairing to the radicchio, Italian white wines such as Pinot Grigio, Soave or Vermentino could be good options. For a red wine, I might try a Barbera or Pinot Noir.

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Recipe card