An easy and amazing side dish, sauteed radishes with bacon come together easily in one pan, and have a smoky, peppery flavor that’s irresistible. This is also a great, Keto-friendly way to get your fix in when you’re missing potatoes and can easily be turned vegan as well.
This is a great side dish for people doing Keto or low-carb diets, but even if you’re not counting carbs, this is an amazing dish. One of the most missed vegetables and sides when doing low-carb are potatoes. If you served this to someone and told them it was a potato hash made with red-skinned potatoes, they would believe you; it is that similar in taste.
Radishes are available year-round, making this a great dish to make anytime you wish. When eaten raw, they can have strong taste and an almost spicy, peppery flavor. Popular around the world, you’ll often see them sliced and served raw with Mexican dishes like pozole.
When radishes are cooked or roasted, the flavor and the pepperiness mellow out and they become softer. This is what makes radishes reminiscent of potatoes. They also soak up other flavors, which makes the addition of bacon so tasty.
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🥘 Ingredients for Sauteed Radishes with Bacon
With only a handful of ingredients, this dish comes together quickly in one pan. These are the ingredients that I prefer in this dish, but feel free to modify it for even less carbs, or to be vegetarian or vegan friendly.
Bacon – Use a few diced strips of bacon cooked low and slow. This allows most of the fat to render out, which you will use to cook the radishes in for extra flavor.
Radishes – Buy two bunches of radishes to get a full pound. Alternatively, if your store sells bagged radishes in one-pound bags, this is a great option as well. These tend to be bigger and are already trimmed and cleaned, saving you time on prep work.
Shallot – I love adding diced shallot here. They add a great, subtle flavor of onion, and they’re small enough that one medium shallot is plenty, compared to using only half an onion. Shallots also cook up quickly when added to the hot pan. Use what you prefer.
Garlic – While garlic powder is fine as well, I prefer to use 2-3 minced cloves instead. Just a few add a nice, subtle flavor to this side dish.
Butter – This is optional, but I like to add a bit of butter when I add the shallots and garlic as the rendered bacon fat might not be enough on its own. If you still have plenty of cooking fat, you can omit this if you wish.
Seasoning – Use some salt and pepper to flavor the dish as you cook. I also add some minced parsley for some color at the end, which is optional.
🔪 How to Make Radishes and Bacon
Before getting started, I recommend freezing the bacon for 15-20 minutes to make it easier to dice. Once the bacon is a bit firmer, dice 4-5 slices and add to a cold skillet. Cook on medium-low until well rendered and crispy, for about 10-12 minutes.
While the bacon is cooking, trim and wash the radishes if using radish bunches. Cut off the leaves and stems, then wash and quarter the larger ones and halve any small ones. Mince the garlic and dice the shallot, set all aside.
Once the bacon is crisp and the fat has rendered, remove the bacon bits and set aside, keeping the bacon grease in the pan. Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the radishes, cut side down. Season with salt and pepper and cook, without moving, until the radishes are nicely seared and almost fork-tender, for about 10-12 minutes.
Flip the radishes so they can sear on other sides for 3-4 minutes, then add the diced shallot and garlic and season everything with some more salt and pepper. If the pan looks a bit dry, add the butter as well. Cook for another 2 minutes, adding the bacon bits back also. Toss occasionally and once the shallots are tender and the garlic is fragrant, remove from the heat and serve. Garnish with chopped parsley if you like.
💭 Tips on Sauteed Radish Side Dishes
Buying radishes for sautéing or roasting. Radishes are typically sold in bunches with their leaves still attached. These are commonly available and can vary a lot in size and will need more prep work to clean and trim. If your store sells them in pre-prepped 1-pound packages, I suggest getting those as they will cut down on prep and they tend to be larger and more uniform in size.
Don’t overcook the radishes. Whether you are sauteing or oven roasting them, radishes should be cooked until just fork tender. The cooked texture will be like cooked potatoes with a crispy outside and a fluffy but not mushy interior.
Cook bacon low and slow. Dicing the bacon and cooking it at a lower temperature for a longer time gives you more evenly crisped bacon and allows most of the fat to fully render. This gives you more bacon grease to cook with opposed to cooking the bacon faster at a higher temperature.
Lower the carbs. If you are making this for a Keto or low carb option, you may wish to omit the shallots and garlic or at least be sure to take them into account for the extra points.
Vegetarian and vegan versions of sauteed radishes. If you wish to make this side vegetarian or vegan, you can easily do so with only a small tweak or two. Omit the bacon and replace the bacon grease with another oil such as olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, etc. Instead of adding butter later, you can also replace that with a bit more of the same oil you used in place of the bacon grease.
❄️ How to Store Roasted Radishes
Once the sauteed radishes with bacon have cooled completely, you can store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. While you can technically freeze leftovers for 2-3 months as well, I don’t recommend it. When they are thawed and reheated, they tend to get mushy after being frozen.
Leftovers can be reheated in the microwave, but I recommend using the oven or a skillet to crisp them back up for better flavor and texture. You can reheat in a 350°F oven for 10-12 minutes, tossing occasionally, or at medium to medium-high heat in a skillet for 5-8 minutes.
📋 Recipe
Sauteed Radishes with Bacon
Ingredients
- 4-5 slices bacon, diced
- 1 pound radishes, cleaned, trimmed, and quartered
- 1 medium shallot, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter, optional
Directions
- Before getting started, I recommend freezing the bacon for 15-20 minutes to make it easier to dice. Once the bacon is a bit firmer, dice 4-5 slices and add to a cold skillet. Cook on medium-low until well rendered and crispy, for about 10-12 minutes.
- While the bacon is cooking, trim and wash 1 pound of radishes if using radish bunches. Cut off the leaves and stems, then wash and quarter the larger ones and halve any small ones. Mince 2 cloves of garlic and dice 1 medium shallot, set all aside.
- Once the bacon is crisp and the fat has rendered, remove the bacon bits and set aside, keeping the bacon grease in the pan. Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the radishes, cut side down. Season with half the kosher salt and ground black pepper and cook, without moving, until the radishes are nicely seared and almost fork-tender, for about 10-12 minutes.
- Flip the radishes so they can sear on other sides for 3-4 minutes, then add the diced shallot and garlic and season everything with some more salt and pepper. If the pan looks a bit dry, add the butter as well. Cook for another 2 minutes, adding the bacon bits back also. Toss occasionally and once the shallots are tender and the garlic is fragrant, remove from the heat and serve. Garnish with chopped parsley if you like.
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