If you’ve been limiting your endive game to crudité platters and salads, get ready to be blown away by how stunningly versatile it can be.
Raw endive is all about that bitter bite and crunch. And being a confirmed supertaster (it ain’t as great as it sounds, trust me), I find it impossibly bitter. Braise it, though, and the bitterness mellows into something sweet, nutty, and almost buttery, with just enough edge left to cut through the cream.
Now, wrap all that marvelosity in salty cured ham, top it with creamy cheese and crunchy breadcrumbs, and bake until bubbling and golden, and you have one heck of an impressive side or entrée, whether for weeknights or entertaining.
And little-known fact: Belgian endive is actually loaded with vitamins and minerals. So, you know, this is health food. (Why can’t I say that with a straight face?)
Chow,
Email me the recipe, David
Your Belgian endive gratin questions, answered
Yessiree, Bob. You can whip it up a day in advance and slide it into the oven before dinner. Here’s how: Assemble the gratin up to and including the cheese, cover, and refrigerate. Let the dish sit on the counter for 30 minutes before baking, so it cooks more evenly. Bake as written.
You sure can. It’s perfect as a main, with a green salad on the side. And I think warm, pillowy rolls with lots of melting cultured butter would make it a cold-weather winner.
Belgian endive contains a lot of water. On top of that, it’s braised in chicken stock. (See where I’m going here?) Tester Nadine Bonda came up with a genius hack. Cool them in a colander so the stock drains away rather than pooling underneath.
What to serve with endive gratin
While some folks whip this up as a main course, The One and I assign it side-dish status. I find it goes particularly well with roasted or braised mains. So, think this lovely pork roast with fall fruit, stout-roasted chicken, or beef chuck braised in Barolo wine. It makes a wonderful side for your Thanksgiving menu or Christmas table.
Storage & reheating
Fridge: Cover and refrigerate within two hours. It can be stored for up to 4 days. Endive carries a lot of water, so the dish may get watery in the fridge. If that happens, spoon off some of the extra liquid before reheating.
Reheating: Loosely tent the dish with foil and reheat in a 350°F (175°C) oven or toaster oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the center registers 165°F (74°C). Pass on the microwave. It’ll just make it soggy and sad.
More incredibly cheesy vegetable recipes
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If you make this endive gratin, or any vegetable dish on LC, consider leaving a review, a star rating, and your best photo in the comments below. I love hearing from you.—David
Belgian Endive Gratin
Ingredients
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
- 2 tablespoons butter, plus more for the baking dish
- 3 or 4 slices day-old bread, or lightly toasted fresh bread
- 9 Belgian endive, about 1 1/2 lb (680 g)
- 1 quart chicken stock, store-bought or homemade
- fleur de sel and freshly ground black pepper
- 18 thin slices prosciutto or jambon cru (dry-cured ham), about 6 oz (170 g)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups finely grated Comté or Gruyère cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Rub the 2 cloves garlic over the bottom and sides of a large baking dish. Then butter the dish.
- Tear the 3 or 4 slices day-old bread into pieces, place them in a food processor, and pulse into coarse breadcrumbs, 15 to 30 seconds.
- Cut the 9 Belgian endive lengthwise in half, remove any tough or bruised outer leaves, and trim any ragged root ends, leaving the root intact. Place the endive, cut-side down, in a single layer in a large, deep sauté pan. Place over medium-high heat, pour in the 1 quart chicken stock, and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and braise, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain a bare simmer, just until tender, 3 to 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, transfer the endive to a plate and let cool. Reserve the stock used for braising the endive.
☞ TESTER TIP: Make sure to tip out any accumulated stock the endive releases while cooling. Or you can carefully place the cooked endive in a colander.
- Once the endive is cool enough to handle, use a paring knife to remove the tough root ends, being careful not to separate the layered leaves. Season lightly with fleur de sel and freshly ground black pepper. Wrap each endive half with 1 slice of prosciutto.
☞ TESTER TIP: If your ham is particularly salty, you can skip seasoning with salt.
- Pour half of the 1/2 cup heavy cream into the bottom of the baking dish. Place the endive halves on top.
- Drizzle 6 tablespoons (90 ml) of the stock over the endive halves. Reserve the remaining stock for another use, such as making soup.
- Cut the 2 tablespoons butter into small pieces and scatter over the top, and then drizzle the endive with the remaining heavy cream.
- Sprinkle the 2 cups finely grated Comté or Gruyère cheese over the gratin.
- Place the baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs from step 3 over the cheese and bake until the dish is bubbling and the breadcrumbs are nicely browned, about 5 minutes more. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
Did you know only 68% of the recipes we test make it onto the site? This recipe survived our rigorous blind testing process by multiple home cooks. It earned the Leite’s Culinaria stamp of approval—and the testers’ reviews below prove it.
When I first saw this recipe for Belgian endive gratin, it reminded me of a Dutch Witlof (Belgian endive) dish my husband grew up eating in his native Holland. He said it brought back good memories and it passed his taste test. His mom would serve it alongside boiled potatoes and roast meat. I served this with bratwurst and a green salad and it made for a nice Dutch-inspired meal for my family.
The pan I used for braising the endive was 12 inches in diameter, and all the endive fit nice and snug. I simmered the endive for about 4 minutes until tender. I don’t own gratin dishes, so I used 2 medium-size cast-iron baking dishes and split the ingredients accordingly.
I’d recommend leaving out the breadcrumbs from the recipe; it felt like an unnecessary step for something that didn’t add much to the final dish. Another option is to use store-bought breadcrumbs.
This Belgian endive gratin is delicious. It has a beautiful presentation, can be assembled ahead of time, and baked for 30 minutes before you sit down to dinner, making it perfect for a dinner party. I used my homemade chicken stock, which gave it a wonderful flavor. I served it with garlic butter steak bites and a salad, and it was the perfect accompaniment. This vegetable was elegant and greatly enjoyed.
I would make some slight changes to the recipe.
- Next time, I’d cool it in a colander instead of on a plate. I found that some of the endive held on to too much of the liquid, which then made them a little mushy.
- I used prosciutto and felt it was salty enough without adding more.
- And finally, the recipe says to wrap each half in a piece of prosciutto. I used a whole, but paper-thin slice for each endive half. I think this was too much. You could use half that amount and wrap it around the endive half only once and more of the endive taste would come through.
Other than those few tweaks, this vegetable is amazing.
We ate this Belgian endive gratin as our main course for dinner. It was delicious. We halved the recipe, and it was adequate for 2 as a main dish, but barely.
What a game changer! I only knew of endives as bitter bites that I would eat in salad. Braising them completely changed their flavor. Wrap them in prosciutto, top them with cheese and cream and crunchy breadcrumbs, and you’ll have a hit for your guests.
Side-dish deliciousness! The Belgian endive gratin was delicious. The endive cooked down nicely. The prosciutto added a lovely flavor, the Gruyère was a nice bitey cheese, and the breadcrumbs a crunchy topping. A wonderful combination.
I used an Italian prosciutto. It was unclear what thickness was desired so I opted for thin (not super-thin) slices and that worked well.
Having never cooked endive before, nor being a maker of gratin dishes, I was both curious and apprehensive. I followed the recipe as-is with a few minor changes:
1. I used the smashed garlic to coat the dishes, but not wanting to throw the smashed garlic out, I minced it and just added it to the dish.
2. I didn’t have enough au gratin dishes so I made it in individual gratin dishes and the remainder in a larger baking dish. Both turned out well, so feel free to use a bigger dish should that be all you have.
This Belgian endive gratin is a great recipe, perfect as a main course with a green salad, but also a great side dish, especially in winter. The soft endives have some bitterness, and that’s so good with the salty ham and the crunchy breadcrumbs!
Try leeks! And wrap it in uncured ham slices (deli style)!!! Awesomeness galore! 🙂
Thanks, Linda! That sounds magnificent!
Ohhhh, man. You’re taking me back to the three months we lived in Belgium on a sabbatical, and we could get witloof in the market in our town for 1.25€/kg. Here, it sells for $5/lb, which would make this dish a luxury. Is there any way to kludge this with something like escarole, which is more reasonably priced around my parts?
Melissa, I love the way you’re thinking! I buy red endive often for salads and platters, and I know how pricey it can be. It’s a splurge. You may want to consider trying the packs of 3 endives (2 pale green, 1 red) at Trader Joe’s for about $2.49 each. That aside, we only post variations to recipes that we’ve actually tried in our home kitchens with tremendous success, so I hesitate to assure you that it will work with escarole since it has such a unique and watery texture. If you trim the frilly leafy green parts of the escarole leaves and save those for soup or salad or a quick saute, and use only the mostly white portion of the escarole stalk toward the bottom, which are more similar to endive, I think it may work. But the taste and texture are distinct, so I just can’t be certain. I’d be more inclined to simply embrace the merits of escarole and perhaps saute that (all parts of it) in some bacon drippings. But that’s just me…