What is the difference between escarole and spinach

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What Is Escarole? How to Cook. Where to Buy. How to Store. Escarole vs. Featured Video. End of story. Wait, what is escarole though? Like spinach? Like lettuce? Well, it looks kind of like all of those things. Escarole is leafier than kale, and is usually sold in bunches that look a lot like a head of lettuce, with short, wide, wavy-edged leaves.

The color and texture of the leaves varies—those on the outside are darker-green and a bit tougher, while the interior leaves are pale-yellow and more tender. If your grocery store carries it, you usually won't find it in the bins with its cousins radicchio and endive; instead, it's normally tucked up near the heads of lettuce and bunches of kale and collards. So, what makes it so good for soups? Why would we choose it over spinach or kale?

Kale is nice in soup, but it's so hearty that it can dominate everything else—you really have to slice it up into small pieces.

And spinach—especially baby spinach—tends to lose too much texture as it simmers, and can sometimes go a little slimy. Above all else, it's an excellent source of fiber—all of escarole's carbs 3. That said, the lettuce is multi-faceted; its lighter inner leaves work for salad as well. If not braised, you can also throw escarole into soups and pastas as a deep and fibrous addition to your carbs. Chicory of endives are your best bet, but if those aren't easily accessible—they're not always!

Truly any dark leafy green'll do. Kitchen Tips and Tools. Delish Shop. United States.