• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Evergreen Kitchen

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • Resources
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • Resources
    • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×
    Home » Mains » Lemon Swiss Chard Pasta

    Published: Jan 31, 2021

    Lemon Swiss Chard Pasta

    A quick and easy vegetarian weeknight pasta made with lemon, garlic, and Swiss chard. This recipe takes less than 30 minutes to make. Capers and green olives give the sauce just the right balance of flavor and acidity. Can be made vegan or gluten-free with a couple simple swaps.
    Jump to Recipe
    Lemon swiss chard pasta served on a blue plate with lemon and black pepper peeking in

    We’ve been making a version of this pasta for years. It started with an absurdly big bunch of swiss chard from the farmer’s market (see here). At home, we cooked the greens down in a garlic-studded olive oil sauce. Then we tossed in plenty of pasta and a few pantry ingredients in for good measure. And just like that, the combination stuck.

    We often refer to this recipe as one of our “pantry pastas” because it leans heavily on jars and basic pantry items. Things like garlic, onion, red pepper flakes, capers, and pasta noodles. Thankfully, it also only requires about 20 minutes of cooking time. While the pasta boils, the onion and garlic soften and infuse into the olive oil. Then we take it one step farther and blitz a quick “umami bomb” of a paste - made from green olives, capers, and fresh lemon. It livens everything up with a bit of acidity and extra flavor. The finished pasta definitely screams “garlic!” and “lemon!”, rather than “olives!” and “capers!”...but don’t be fooled, the latter two really help make this dish (even though you can’t see them). Pasta water helps to emulsify the sauce. Then, everything gets showered with cheese, because we’ve yet to meet a pasta that isn’t better with cheese.

    Top down view of swiss chard leaves after being washed
    Close up of single swiss card leaf on a stone counter

    For this dish, you can use whichever type of swiss chard speaks to you: rainbow, red, green, etc. We use both the stalks and the leaves. The stalks are sturdy and take longer to cook than the leaves, so slice the stalks thin so they cook quickly. If you don’t have access to chard, another sturdy leafy green would work well instead. Lacinato kale would be our first choice of substitute, but you can get creative!

    When it comes to olives, we’re partial to buying whole olives and pitting them ourselves. You can quickly pit olives at home by flattening them with the back of your knife (instructions are included in the recipe below). While we recognize that buying pitted olives might seem more convenient, you are often trading off for taste and texture. Once olives are pitted, there’s a lot more surface area exposed to the brine that they’re packed in. This can result in a softer/mushier olive - and likely, a saltier one too. Moral of the story: We encourage you to buy whole olives if you can!

    Swiss chard pasta ingredients laid out on a table before cooking

    To make this pasta, you’ll need some key ingredients:

    • Dried Pasta: The recipe calls for linguine noodles, but other long noodles - like spaghetti, fettucini, or tagliatelle - can be used instead.
    • Swiss Chard: You can use green, rainbow or red swiss chard. If you can’t find chard, you can swap it for another sturdy leafy green (like lacinato kale).
    • Green Olives: Ideally whole olives, where you’ve removed the pits yourself. For this dish, you’ll need ⅓ cup of olives (measured after pitting). We usually use Cerignola olives, but if there’s another variety of green olives that you prefer, go with those! Just avoid any olives that have been pre-stuffed with cheese, pepper, etc.
    • Capers: We always have a small jar of capers at home. They add a quick boost of lemony, briny flavor to so many dishes.
    • Lemon: Fresh lemon is a must in this dish! Zest your lemon first, then juice it.

    A few other notes on this recipe….

    • How to make this recipe gluten free: Use gluten free pasta noodles. Personally, we prefer gluten free noodles that use a blend of alternative flours (such as corn and rice). Often, for best results you may want to consider cooking the noodles for less time than listed on the package. But if you already have a favorite brand, go with what you know and love.
    • How to make this recipe vegan: For the cheese, use a vegan parmesan cheese substitute or skip it altogether. For the butter, either use a vegan butter substitute (like Miyokos or Earth Balance sticks) or add an extra tablespoon of olive oil.
    • Leftovers: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. Reheat the next day. You might want to squeeze a bit of fresh lemon and add a sprinkle of salt to help brighten the flavor again the next day.

    We hope you enjoy this pasta as much as we do! It’s a pretty forgiving recipe, so feel free to add more seasoning, oil, cheese, etc. to suit your tastes. If you end up making this recipe, we’d love to hear from you!

    Swiss chard pasta being cooked in a white dutch oven
    Two plates of swiss chard pasta plated on a table with fork digging into one

    Lemon Swiss Chard Pasta

    A quick and easy vegetarian weeknight pasta made with lemon, garlic, and Swiss chard. This recipe takes less than 30 minutes to make. Capers and green olives give the sauce just the right balance of flavor and acidity. Can be made vegan or gluten-free with a couple simple swaps.
    Prep Time 10 minutes
    Cook Time 15 minutes
    Total Time 25 minutes
    Servings 4
    Lemon swiss chard pasta served on a blue plate with lemon and pepper peeking in
    Print

    Ingredients

    • 10 oz linguine (gluten-free if needed)
    • ⅓ cup pitted green olives (see note 1)
    • 2 tablespoons capers + 1 teaspoon brine (from jar)
    • 1 lemon, zested and juiced (about ¼ cup juice)
    • ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
    • 1 large yellow onion, diced (about 2 cups)
    • 5 cloves garlic, minced
    • ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
    • 1 bunch Swiss chard, chopped (see note 2)
    • 1 tablespoon butter (or more olive oil)
    • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
    • ½ cup grated Parmesan (more for garnish, see note 3)
    • ¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
    • Black pepper (to taste)
    US Customary - Metric

    Instructions

    • Cook pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook pasta until al dente, according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, then drain noodles.
    • Mix olives and capers: Meanwhile, to a food processor, add the olives, capers and brine, lemon juice and zest. Pulse until a rough paste forms, scraping down the sides as needed.
    • Cook sauce: Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook onion, until very soft and golden brown on the edges, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the Swiss chard and cook until it begins to wilt, about 2 minutes.
    • Combine: Add pasta, salt, the olive and caper mixture, butter, and ½ cup of the reserved pasta water. Toss to coat noodles. Sprinkle with grated cheese, toss to mix. Slowly drizzle in as much of the remaining ½ cup of the reserved pasta water needed so the noodles are evenly coated with sauce. Taste and season with pepper (and more salt if needed). Sprinkle with parsley. Garnish with more cheese, if using.

    Notes

    1. Green olives: Such as Cerignola. We recommend buying whole olives (with pits intact), and pitting them yourself at home. Whole, unpitted olives tend to have better flavor and texture. To pit olives at home: Use the flat end of your knife to gently squash whole olives on a cutting board. The olive will split, and you can pull out the pit with your fingers. Measure ⅓ cup of olives after pitting. That said, if you bought pitted olives, those will work too! Use your favorite green olive (we love Cerignola here).
    2. Swiss chard: Can be green, rainbow, or red Swiss chard. The stalks take longer to cook than the leaves, so slice the stalks smaller than the leaves so they cook quickly.
    3. Parmesan cheese: Imported Parmesan cheese typically contains animal-based rennet. If you wish to avoid this, look for cheese labelled as "vegetarian friendly" or lists "microbial enzymes" as an ingredient (instead of rennet). Asiago cheese is also a good alternative. For a vegan option, use a vegan shredded Parmesan substitute or skip entirely and add more salt (to taste).

    Nutrition

    Calories: 563kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 16g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 964mg | Potassium: 596mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 5192IU | Vitamin C: 46mg | Calcium: 228mg | Iron: 3mg
    Did you make this recipe?Let us know by leaving a rating below and tag us @evergreenkitchen on instagram!
    « Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie
    Roasted Beet Salad with Labneh »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Jac says

      April 29, 2022 at 8:46 pm

      5 stars
      Made this for dinner tonight with chard from the garden and it was delicious. Will make again as it had such a lovely flavour. A great recipe where you don’t have to be so precise with measurements which makes it perfect for a relaxed dinner.

      Reply
      • bri says

        April 29, 2022 at 8:54 pm

        Hey Jac! Wow, that's so special you used homegrown chard for this recipe! We feel honored:) Glad to hear you enjoyed this pasta. Thanks for taking the time to write in a review - we really appreciate it!

        Reply
    2. Erin says

      March 07, 2022 at 3:07 pm

      Made this for dinner last night, guys. The fam LOVED it. Thanks for the recipe!

      Reply
      • bri says

        March 07, 2022 at 6:30 pm

        Hi Erin! Yay, glad to hear you made this recipe - AND that your fam loved it too! Thanks for sharing!

        Reply
    3. Cynthia says

      February 21, 2022 at 2:45 am

      5 stars
      Yum this pasta was delicious! Will definitely make again.

      Reply
      • bri says

        February 25, 2022 at 8:43 pm

        We're thrilled to hear that Cynthia! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!

        Reply

    Leave a Comment & Rating! Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Welcome to Evergreen Kitchen! We're all about delicious vegetarian food you actually want to eat. Here you'll find craveable dinner recipes, meal prep ideas, healthy-ish desserts, and everyday cooking resources.

    More about us →

    Pre-Order Our Cookbook!

    Evergreen Kitchen Weeknight Vegetarian Dinners for Everyone Cookbook Cover
    Learn more about Evergreen Kitchen:
    Weeknight Vegetarian Dinners for Everyone

    Get Our Vegetarian
    Meal Plan

    Recipes Trending Now

    • Brothy Oven Baked White Beans
    • Spicy Sausage and Brussels Sprouts Pasta
    • Easy Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili
    • Curried Pumpkin and Lentil Soup (Vegan)

    All time favorites

    • Lemon and Dill Chickpea Sandwich
    • Harissa Spiced Cauliflower Steaks
    • Mushroom Stroganoff
    • Vegan Tom Yum Soup

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    Info

    About

    Privacy Policy

    Contact

    Contact us

    Recipes

    Jump to Recipes

    As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Evergreen Kitchen!