Fried Radishes Recipe (And How To Cut A Radish) (2024)

Radishes. They’re an easy to grow food with a quick, 28-day maturity date. Problem is, they’re not quite as easy to figure out what to do with. This includes both how to cook and properly cut a radish. The somewhat odd, spherical shape can leave those new to cooking with radishes perplexed.

But now, you don’t need to worry about what you’re going to do with all those radishes you planted. In fact, go ahead and plant more if you can! Even if you don’t eat them all, radish flowers are very pretty and can be used to save seed to give as a gift.

I promise I won’t go off on too much of a gardening tangent! I’m about to share my absolute favorite way to slice and cook up these colorful root vegetables.

Garden Fresh Radishes

If you don’t yet have your own garden to grow radishes in, consider shopping for them at local farmer’s markets. This is a great way to support your local farmers and get some beautiful, high-quality radishes! I like to immediately wash my garden fresh radishes in cold water and dry them on paper towels. Then I will store them in the fridge in either a plastic bag or airtight container. This keeps them fresh and crisp for longer.

Garden fresh radishes are far superior to ones from the grocery store, in my opinion. Let’s be real: anything garden fresh = better. Plus, you get the bonus of the leafy green tops that are sometimes removed from grocery store radishes.

Radish Varieties for Cutting and Frying

I’m growing three varieties of radishes this year (links are from True Leaf Market, one of my favorite places to buy seeds!): Early Scarlet Globe (which is like traditional red radishes), Purple Plum, and Lady Slipper. Some other popular varieties are black radishes, watermelon radishes, along with daikon radish and french breakfast radish. No matter what variety you put your hands on, your method for how to cut a radish will be the same. And all radishes have the same signature white flesh.

Each variety may look a bit different on the outside, but they’ll all have that same crunchy texture. This means any of the above varieties will work for making fried radishes.

Just be sure to wait until right before frying to cut and prep your radishes.

Favorite Ways To Cut A Radish

How do you cut a radish?

Of course, there is more than one way to cut radishes. You can use the slicing side of a box grater, a spiralizer, or a good old fashioned sharp knife. I suggest a small filet or extra sharp paring knife. This is my favorite way to control the thickness of the slices.

You can dice or slice them. I prefer thin sliced in most cases, including both frying or eating raw in salads. But diced fried radishes could also be delicious!

What are radish roses?

Did you know that people use thinly sliced, raw radishes to create radish roses or flowers? They look so beautiful on vegetable platters, a green salad, or some other fare. Now that you know how to slice radishes thinly, you could check out this video to practice making your own radish roses.

No matter which way you cut your radish, you’ll start by chopping off the leafy tops. But don’t throw them out! I like to throw the radish greens in with my fried radishes. But, there are many other things you can do with them too. You can dehydrate them for greens powder, freeze them for later use in bone broth, or add them to other sautéed greens.

How To Cut A Radish for Frying

For this recipe, you will want to thinly slice your radishes to less than 1/4 inch thick. I do this by hand, but you could also use one of the tools I mentioned above.

Once you’ve cut off the greens, cut off both ends of the radish. This includes both the stem end and the root end. Then, cut the radish into thin slices. When you fry these thin radish circles, you’ll find they taste more like fried potatoes! Yum!

Once you have your radish slices ready to go, roughly chop up some of the greens to add in for extra color and nutrition.

Ingredients for Fried Radishes

Here is what you’ll need to make fried radishes. It’s a simple list!

• Butter – This lends to the best taste, but you could just as easily use coconut, avocado, or olive oil to fry the radishes in.
• Diced onion – You can substitute this for fresh garlic. Or you can leave the onion and garlic out all together, but I enjoy them for extra flavor!
• Radishes – This one is obvious.
• Salt and pepper – It’s a good idea to help your fried radishes have flavor.
• Fresh herbs (if desired) – Are you growing any fresh herbs in your garden? Some of my favorites to use here are oregano, rosemary, green onion, and/or thyme. I’ve even used carrot tops!

How To Make Fried Radishes

Heat butter or oil over medium heat in a heavy bottomed skillet (I always use cast iron). Add the diced onion and cook for a minute or two, or until it begins to look translucent.

Depending on the type of skillet you are using, you may want to add a little more butter or oil at this point to prevent the radishes from burning. I usually do, because cast iron soaks up fat more easily than stainless steel. Use your own judgement.

Now, add the radishes, radish greens, salt, pepper, and flavorful herbs. I like to leave everything in a single layer for a couple of minutes to encourage a bit of browning on the radishes. Continue to sauté everything together, stirring frequently, until the radishes are tender.

Using a lid is helpful in tenderizing the radishes more quickly, especially if you sliced them a little too thick. But it isn’t necessary. Just be sure to stir everything frequently and add more butter if you think you need to.

Because can you ever really have enough butter?

What To Serve With Fried Radishes

I most recently served these fried radishes aside a sirloin tip roast and mashed potatoes. But they are also a great addition to barbecue or any type of baked or roasted chicken.

I have also added in some sliced smoked sausage and made a full meal out of them.

You can serve fried radishes in place of any southern meal that includes fried potatoes. Pinto beans and cornbread, anyone?

And feel free to switch up your herbs and seasonings to go with whatever your main course is!

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