12 Mouthwatering Recipes Featuring Arugula

Cruising the leafy green section of your favorite grocery store reveals several types of the green stuff. Each bright green option has its own flavors and textures, bringing something different to your cooking. Butter lettuce is nice and smooth, romaine lettuce brings our Caesar salads to life, and iceberg lettuce is nearly essential to have on hand for your burger toppings and BLTs. Arugula, sometimes called rocket, is a little more unique, sporting a peppery taste. 

Though we love arugula and tend to purchase a whole container of it exclusively for our favorite arugula dishes, it does make an appearance in some other mixes you could try instead. We think arugula is at its best as a complement to a larger dish, topping, or as the base of a dish. No matter how you use it, we like it fresh and crispy. Where we might often use spinach as a wilted version in recipes, some of our favorites use uncooked arugula as an alternative. From spring salads to French bread pizza, see below for some enticing arugula recipes that are sure to get your tastebuds tingling.

For a quick lunch featuring fresh arugula, strawberries and a pop of feta, gather these elements together along with pumpkin seeds (also known as pepitas), English cucumbers, and some ingredients for a dressing. This recipe recommends a balsamic vinaigrette. You'll begin by toasting the pepitas until they are nicely roasted, and then move on to creating your dressing.

The rest of the ingredients will go into a large bowl. Give everything a gentle toss to coat thoroughly. Once you've combined all the pieces, sprinkle that feta cheese on top, and then give your bowl a generous drizzle of your dressing. This arugula salad is light and perfect as a side dish for a picnic, or to enjoy as a larger bowl during the height of strawberry season, when it tastes especially delicious.

Recipe: Strawberry Arugula Salad

Arugula is a delicious green that pairs well with a variety of foods, notably salads (as seen previously). This particular one uses farro, which you can use similarly to rice or quinoa.

Before you get too far, you'll want to cook your farro and toast the walnuts. Pay close attention to the walnuts, as over-toasting can impart an unpleasant flavor, so stay near the stove for about 10 minutes. You'll also need to cook your asparagus, so be mindful of its doneness in order to maintain the crunch or achieve the softness you prefer. The dressing is a blend of oil, vinegar, mustard, honey and some salt and pepper, with everything mixed together in a bowl. Although you can toss your asparagus directly into the salad, we prefer laying it across the top as a sort of feature part of the dish.

Recipe: Spring Harvest Farro Salad

In addition to being a delicious ingredient in various salads, arugula also excels in sandwiches. Pairing it with tuna is particularly delightful, as the peppery flavor of arugula complements the saltiness of the filling nicely.

To prepare this sandwich, start by making your tuna salad from scratch. We recommend using solid white albacore tuna, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, dried parsley, dill, and salt and pepper. After mixing these ingredients together, begin by placing a generous layer of arugula on your bread. Then, spread the homemade tuna salad on top, and finish with another slice of your chosen bread. We find that sourdough works well for this recipe.

Recipe: Simple Yet Refined Tuna Sandwich

Begin preparing your hearty eggplant and lentil salad by roasting the eggplant. First, cube the eggplant into small, bite-sized pieces and toss them with oil, salt, and pepper. Then, pop them into the oven. Let the eggplant roast for about 20 minutes ─ this gives you ample time to prepare the rest of the salad, including cooking the lentils if they are not yet done.

The dressing is straightforward to make, combining lemon, seasoning, Dijon mustard, and garlic. Once all the ingredients are ready, toss them together. Top the salad with some feta cheese for extra flavor and contrasting color.

Recipe: Roasted Eggplant And Lentil Salad

In this quiche that features spinach and arugula, you'll enjoy the green deliciousness inside and atop the pie. To begin, cook the leek, then wilt some spinach and cook the garlic before adding ingredients from your egg mixture, which also includes cheese and half-and-half.

Lay the spinach to coat the bottom of the crust, and then pour the egg mixture over it. Allow it to cook, and once done, top it with fresh arugula that has been stirred with olive oil and lemon juice. The arugula adds a nice, fresh bite that perfectly complements all the spring feels of the dish.

Recipe: Spring Quiche

If wheat berries are new to you, you might give this one a double take. A wheat berry is a whole grain that is a little chewier and has some nuttiness to it.

You'll need to cook up a three-cup serving of these wheat berries and peel a pomegranate for this recipe. The dressing combines the usual suspects like olive oil, red wine vinegar, and then gets an infusion of fresh flavor from mint and dill. The salad is rounded off with that arugula for some extra green and crunch, as well as feta and almonds for a balanced taste and texture.

Recipe: Wheat Berry And Pomegranate Salad

When it comes to delicious uses of leftovers, we just adore a turkey sandwich. Put cranberry sauce on that, and we are sold.

This particular sandwich combines chipotle in adobo sauce with cranberry sauce; then, you'll pile on the gouda, turkey, and arugula. You'll load up buttered bread with those ingredients and then let your panini maker work its magic. Alternatively, you could put this one on a pan on your stovetop; just be sure to cook it long enough that the bread toasts and cheese melts. Though we love it with arugula, you could swap that for a mix of spinach and arugula or even just spinach.

Recipe: Turkey Panini With Chipotle Cranberry Spread

Maybe there's just something about cranberries and arugula, but they seem to be quite the complementary pair. For a salad celebrating these flavors and others, wrap some beets in foil and pop those in the oven. They'll need some time, so give them at least 45 minutes before removing, peeling, and cutting.

The salad gets assembled with arugula on the bottom, then apple slices and sliced fresh cranberries. Those peeled and sliced beets go on top with dried cranberries and a vinaigrette flavored with honey, salt, and pepper. We like to crumble some goat cheese over the top for a delicious addition.

Recipe: Beet, Apple, And Cranberry Salad

We love a meat-laden pizza, but if you're a veggie lover who has never tried a pizza that looks like it's topped with a salad, you're missing out. Bring this experience home by using French bread as the crust and adding those ingredients on top of halved French bread instead of traditional pizza dough.

To make this pizza, start by preparing a white sauce and slathering it on your bread. Add your toppings, leaving off the arugula, and then bake it in the oven. After it's done, heap it with fresh arugula and slice it up. We love this as a delicious dinner option, or even as a fabulous shareable appetizer.

Recipe: French Bread White Pizza

Normally, we're fans of beef meatballs, but combining feta with chicken creates some exceptionally tasty meatball alternatives. A bit of prep work is required before assembling the dish, but it's well worth the effort.

Start by flavoring and roasting some chickpeas. Then, mix together the ingredients for the meatballs. Once combined, form them into balls and place them onto a pan for cooking. Serve these chicken and feta meatballs over arugula and roasted chickpeas, drizzled with a squeeze of lemon and olive oil and topped with tangy feta for that perfect finishing touch.

Recipe: Chicken And Feta Meatballs With Crispy Chickpeas

In this go-to beef tagliata recipe, arugula might play second fiddle to the steak, but we believe it adds a nice burst of freshness that serves to complement and accentuate the flavors of the beef.

First, cook your beef, seasoning it with salt and pepper. Then work on the salad, which includes arugula, tomatoes, and parmesan. We prefer using shaved parmesan, then topping the arugula mixture with oil, balsamic vinegar, and a bit of lemon for a well-rounded flavor profile.

Recipe: Beef Tagliata

Though it has a taste entirely unique from spinach, arugula can be wilted similarly to Popeye's favorite green. Make up a side of Seared Yellow Wax Beans and Arugula to see this in action.

Begin by procuring yellow wax beans. You'll find them in abundance in spring, but if you're craving this dish and they're not in season, green beans will pan out fine, too. Saute your beans with garlic and shallot until you achieve something like a golden-brown color. After sautéing, add in some flavor with lemon juice, red pepper flakes, salt, and fresh thyme. Allow that some time to come together and cook until your beans reach your preferred tenderness. For us, that's about five minutes. The arugula goes in at the end to wilt, and then you're all done and ready to serve this peppery, lemony side.

Recipe: Seared Yellow Wax Beans And Arugula