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Red Amaranth
DAYS TO SPROUT
DAYS TO
SPROUT
7-10 days
MATURES IN
MATURES
IN
100-120 days
TASTE IT FOR
TASTE IT
FOR
21-28 days
Care & Harvest
✂️ Pruning: Check the roots monthly and trim any that are brown or extending past the yPod. Snip any yellow or brown leaves if they appear.
🔎 Plant Health: Thrips are a common pest, but you can use our prevention tricks to keep them at bay! Red Amaranth likes good air circulation, so make sure to give it breathing room by leaving the spots around it on your Gardyn capped off, and harvesting frequently.
⭕ Support: We recommend using Plant Belts to help support the plant as it grows taller.
🌾 Harvest: Enjoy the younger leaves raw while more mature leaves are best cooked similarly to spinach. Leave 1/3 of the plant if you want it to continue growing. Wait for the flowers to turn brown on the plant to harvest the grain.
Quick Facts
Though native to Central and South America, Red Amaranth is most often seen in Central Asian cuisine and is sometimes called “Chinese Spinach”. Its name comes from the Greek for “unfading flower”.
Red Amaranth leaves have been hailed as the more tender superfood successor to kale. They contain more protein, iron, and calcium than spinach. Red Amaranth is a powerhouse of antioxidants along with potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, zinc, and manganese, as well as vitamins K, A, B6, niacin (B3), riboflavin (B2), and folate (B9). The protein derived from both the leaves and the grain contain all of the essential amino acids and are especially rich in lysine compared to other greens or grains. The leaves have a rich, earthy, grassy taste while the grain from the flowers is more nutty.
Enjoy Red Amaranth leaves and stems raw or cooked, similarly to how you would eat spinach. The flowers add a lovely aesthetic to the Gardyn, and produce grain when allowed to dry on the plant.
Harvest to Plate Recipe
How To Cook Red Amaranth
INGREDIENTS
- 1 pound red amaranth, leaves removed from the stem
- 6 garlic cloves, minced or smashed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- Salt to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Remove the amaranth leaves from the stem. The amaranth leaves will be used for this dish.
- Mince or smash the garlic cloves.
- In a large skillet, add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and allow it to heat for about a minute.
- Now, add in the garlic and cook them until they become aromatic and start to turn golden brown.
- Add in the amaranth leaves, and stir to make sure the leaves cook evenly. The amaranth leaves will begin to wilt and shrink.
- Add in the crushed red pepper and salt to taste.
- Once the amaranth leaves have become wilted and tender, place them on a plate and serve warm with rice.