Kale – the reigning king of the crops – turns festive and a little bit decadent with the addition of Parmigiano Reggiano, crème fraîche and nutmeg. But trust me, it’s a super easy and extremely delicious side dish for any time of year. And a great way to convert kale-sceptics.
This is a sponsored post.
We in the Food To Glow household LOVE creamed kale. It’s so awesome that I have both a vegetarian and a vegan recipe for this must-make side. It’s sooooo good that I don’t need an occasion, or even anything more than a little protein on the side, to whip this up. Whether it is to go with Cauliflower Wellington, Carrot and Celeriac Rösti Cake, a grilled fillet of fish, or even a midweek supper omelette, creamed kale never fails.
To us, creamed kale falls into that exclusive category where the ingredients add up to more than the sum of their parts. Creamy, garlicky, minerally. Just fantastic. I must confess that I almost always need to make double as nearly half will disappear in the final “testing”. Do you need to do this for certain recipes, too?
Today’s simple recipe is still as easy as the original cheese-free version, but boy does it punch way above its weight. Not with spice – save for a few grates of fresh nutmeg. No, it gets culinary muscle from Italian superstar ingredient, Parmigiano Reggiano.
This is my third in the series of three recipes I’ve created for this iconic, all-natural brand leading up to Christmas. I wouldn’t necessarily say have all three on your festive table, but may I gently suggest that you pencil all of them into your menu plans for the festive days ahead?
Get a big wedge of the real thing at your favourite Italian deli or supermarket and feel confident that whatever it touches will have your guests/family begging for seconds. If you make it, let me know if this is true for you. We just might be extra weird!
What are my other festive Parmigiano Reggiano recipes?
Herb-Roasted Squash Stuffed Pasta with Parmigiano Reggiano
Roasted Parmigiano Reggiano Sweet Potatoes with Panko Crumbs

Making the creamed kale
The process for turning your tough-ish pile of greens into silky, slippery spoons of pleasure (am I going a bit overboard in my love for this dish? #sorrynotsorry) is straightforward and flexible.
- Use frozen chopped kale if you like. Fresh is great, but kale is at its best if locally grown rather than flown in “fresh”.
- If you get tender kale, with soft bendy “ribs”, don’t bother de-ribbing. Just slice it into thin ribbons and chop across it to get small pieces.
- Speaking of which, it is definitely worth chopping quite small. As a creamed kale pro (self-certified), the pleasure of the taste of this recipe is infinitely increased if you don’t have to chew each mouthful for five minutes.
- Use any kale that you like – the curly kind, elegant cavolo nero or even redbore.
- Use chopped frozen onion as long as it is finely chopped. Waitrose in the UK has the smallest dice. Ditto, garlic. I prefer using fresh, but there is probably no taste difference once the dish is made.
- Use olive oil or butter as is your preference. You aren’t using much so go with what you like.
- Don’t even think about using anything but real Parmigiano Reggiano. Unless you are vegetarian. PR isn’t vegetarian.
- Feel free to cook the kale ahead and finish the dish just before serving.
- To make a thicker sauce, sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of flour to the cooked onions and garlic and “cook it out” for one minute before adding the kale, crème fraîche and pepper.
- If you are wanting to make it lower fat, ditch the crème fraîche and use 125 ml of milk. And take the advice of the step above to thicken it up a bit.
- As well as being lactose-free, Parmigiano Reggiano is lower in sodium than other hard cheeses, so you may wish to add a bit of salt towards the end of cooking.
To keep up with the latest recipes and Parm chat, follow @ParmesanUK on Twitter @parmigianoreggiano on Instagram and Parmigiano Reggiano on Facebook!
*Please note that this is a sponsored post. I only write about products and services that I use and love.*
Remember to follow me on Pinterest and, if you make my Creamed Kale with Parmigiano Reggiano, click on the pin below the recipe card and leave a photo of your make with a comment telling me what you think, or any awesome changes that you made. Similarly, any Instagram posts tagged @food_to_glow using my recipes will go on my Story if I see them. I’m always so proud when you share my recipes with the world. Yay!!!
Whether on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or of course here on the blog, I love to see what you do with my recipes, and I welcome your comments, star ratings, tweaks and suggestions.
How deep is your love of creamed kale? Do you need to make extra to ensure it actually makes it to the table? What new side dishes will you be trying over the festive period? What are your family favourites that HAVE to be made every year?
Sorry for all of the questions, but I am very nosey!

Creamed Kale with Parmigiano Reggiano
Creamed Kale with Parmigiano Reggiano is a super-easy and utterly delicious side dish for any meal.
Ingredients
- 500 g kale
- 1 small onion peeled and finely chopped
- 2 tsp olive oil or butter
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg freshly grated
- 1 garlic clove grated
- 175 ml lower fat creme fraiche or full-fat
- 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
- 2 tbsp milk if needed
- 100 g Parmigiano Reggiano freshly grated
- 1 tsp lemon juice optional
Instructions
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De-rib and chop the kale into small pieces. Place in a pan of boiling water and boil for five minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Squeeze well with your hands, or use a tea towel.
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Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over a medium flame. Add the onion and saute for five minutes, stirring. Add in the garlic, nutmeg, cooked kale, crème fraîche and pepper. Toss well, then pop on a lid and cook on lowered heat for five minutes. Add the Parmigiano Reggiano and stir well. If you want more of a sauce, add the milk, heating all through thoroughly. Taste for seasoning and add a pinch of salt and/or lemon. Serve warm.
RIPE FOR PINNING!
Buzzing for this this Xmas!!! Mmm
The parmesan in this is genius. The awesome umami and creamy comfort is outstanding!
This will be perfect on our Christmas table! I can just see it going down a treat!
Might need to add this to my Christmas dinner plan!
I used to make creamed spinach all the time and i loved it. Never thought to use kale – i”ll totally have to give this a try!
I’m adding this to our Christmas Eve menu. I have made something similar with spinach but the kale sounds even better. Thanks for sharing!
What a beautiful dish! Adding this to the holiday baking list!
Ooh this sounds gorgeous! I’ve never tried doing creamed kale but I love your description of “creamy, garlicky, minerally” so I look forward to trying this. And what a great trio of recipes, they all look fabulous.
Oh my gosh. Oh this is definitely on my foodie wishlist.
kale is one of my favorites! this dish is on my to-make list!
I have been looking for some vegetable sides for my Christmas feast and this will be perfect, thanks Kellie!
Love this dish Kellie. I’ve been seeing it recently all over the net and at last I’ve come to get the details. It sounds like something I need to make.
This is my kind of side dish! I love kale and I love Parmigiano Reggiano and the two are definitely a match made in heaven and that creamy sauce… Delicious!
Love this dish.Nice recipe.
Can you please put American measurement equivalent in your recipes? Don’t know how much ,500 G is, etc
Some of my more recent recipes have the conversions. I’m sorry that on this occasion they aren’t there. But there are plenty of sites that convert, such as bigoven. Or if you have a weighing scale. 🙂