14 Ramp Recipes to Celebrate Ramp Season

Ramps are highly sought after alliums with a sweet and complex flavor and a very small season. Dig into this list to learn why they're so beloved.

By
Rabi Abonour
Rabi Abonour is a contributing writer at Serious Eats.
Rabi Abonour
Rabi Abonour is a planner specializing in transportation, but has also been a photojournalist, writer, and editor for several online and print publications.
Learn about Serious Eats' Editorial Process
Updated April 26, 2023
A bunch of ramps on top of a wicker basket.

Until I moved to the East Coast, I don't think I had ever even heard of ramps—and, during the first spring I spent in New York City, I remained skeptical. Surely admiring over an expensive regional allium with a short growing season bore all the hallmarks of a Brooklyn cliché. But once I actually tried them, I suddenly understood what all the fuss was about: Ramps have a sweet and complex flavor—one that's fresher and less harsh than that of scallions or leeks—that can be craveable.

To preserve those essential qualities, it's best to keep it simple when preparing ramps. Sautéing them in butter brings out even more depth of flavor; once you've done that, you don't need many other ingredients. Because ramps are so closely identified with this time of year, some of our recipes pair them with other springy vegetables, like asparagus in a bright green soup, or snap peas and English peas in a salad bursting with seasonal freshness. Others just use them to add a dash of oniony flavor to everyday items like drop biscuits or quesadillas. Study up on your local farmers market schedule, show up early to beat the crowd, and dig into the list of 11 recipes below, certain to keep you busy throughout the fleeting ramp season.

  • Grilled Ramps

    A pile of wilted, grilled ramps which are partially charred.

    Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

    To fully appreciate your ramps, especially if you're trying them for the first time, you can't do much better than coating them in extra-virgin olive oil, seasoning them with salt and pepper, and charring them quickly on a ripping-hot grill. The high heat is perfect for emphasizing the vegetable's complex sweetness.

  • Spring Salad of Asparagus, Ramps, Snap Peas, and Peas

    Spring Salad of Asparagus, Ramps, Snap Peas, and Peas With Poached Egg and Lemon Zest Vinaigrette

    Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

    As long as you're spending your early mornings stalking your favorite ramp supplier at the farmers market, be sure to pick up some of the other terrific spring produce available. This salad is like a fresh spring cornucopia tossed together in a bowl—ramps, snap peas, asparagus, and English peas. You can substitute almost any other green vegetables you've got on hand, though, including Brussels sprouts, young broccoli, and fava beans. A delicate poached egg, a bright lemon zest vinaigrette, and an asparagus purée top it off.

  • Extra-Rampy Ramp Risotto

    A bowl of extra-rampy ramp risotto, topped with a grilled ramp and a quenelle of ricotta cheese.

    Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

    If you've gone ramp-crazy (and maybe brought home a few more than you know what to do with), this pretty green risotto will deliver the most intense ramp flavor possible by incorporating the allium in three ways. First, we sauté ramps and garlic together instead of the more typical shallots and garlic—using the whites of the ramps only, since they hold up better to long cooking. We stir in a purée of blanched ramps just before the dish is finished for freshness of flavor, then top each bowl with a sautéed ramp.

  • Orange-Glazed Carrots With Ramp Barley and Spinach

    Orange-Glazed Carrots With Ramp Barley and Spinach

    Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

    Stir-frying cooked whole grains is a great way to infuse them with flavor from the other ingredients in the skillet. Here, we sauté ramps and spinach and toss them with cooked barley, then serve the mixture alongside carrots glazed in sugar and orange juice, which bring out the carrots' natural sugars. A sprinkle of toasted almonds adds a nice crunch.

    Continue to 5 of 14 below

  • Bacon and Ramp Dumplings

    Seven pan-fried bacon and ramp dumplings on a plate.

    Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

    Though the flavors of smoky bacon and sweet ramps work wonderfully together, getting them to balance in dumplings takes some finesse. Using only bacon would overwhelm the ramps, so we cut it with ground pork for these dumplings and add cabbage to serve as a counterpoint. Bring out the ramps' flavor by lightly charring them before mixing them into the filling.

  • Ramp and Chorizo Quesadillas

    Ramp and chorizo quesadillas cut in wedges on a plate with lime wedges.

    Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

    In the spirit of treating ramps simply, this recipe combines them with just a few ingredients: chorizo (either fresh or cured works); grated jack, cheddar, or Oaxacan cheese; and soft flour tortillas. Before mixing everything together, cook the ramps quickly in the rendered chorizo fat so they get a chance to soak up that flavor. When constructing your quesadillas, we recommend using a single tortilla and folding it in half—it's way easier to flip compared to the two-tortilla design.

  • Asparagus and Ramp Soup With Yogurt

    A bowl of asparagus and ramp soup with a spoon inserted. There is a pile of ramp leaves on the left hand side of the image.

    Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

    For this easy, creamy soup, we sauté ramps in butter until they're lightly browned and blend them with blanched asparagus, broth, and yogurt—the latter adds both richness and a little acidity. We garnish each bowl with reserved asparagus and ramps and a generous drizzle of olive oil, for a dish that's as pleasing to look at as it is to eat.

  • Mapo Tofu with Ramps

    An oval white porcelain dish holding mapo tofu made with ramps.

    Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

    Mapo dofu (or, more commonly in the States, "mapo tofu") is a Sichuan classic made with silken tofu, a little ground beef, and a variety of spices and sauces, Sichuan peppercorns key among them. In this recipe, we simply substitute in-season ramps for the standard garlic, giving the dish a deep onion flavor that pairs well with the mouth-numbing peppercorns.

    Continue to 9 of 14 below

  • Puffy Ramp Frittata

    A puffy ramp frittata with a wedge cut out so we can see the inside. There's a fork on the cutting board next to the frittata wedge.

    Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

    A super-simple frittata flavored with ramps sautéed in butter, this one is made extra fluffy by whipping up half of the egg whites into soft peaks. The whipped whites puff up during the cooking, making for a much lighter, airier frittata than you'd get from beaten eggs alone.

  • Ramp Compound Butter

    A pile of ramps.

    Serious Eats

    Ramps are only in season for about a month or two, but there are a few ways to preserve them so you can enjoy their flavor all year long. One great preservation technique is making ramp compound butter and storing it in the freezer. The ramps, locked inside the confines of the frozen butter like Han Solo in carbonite, are essentially stored indefinitely, capturing the "rampy" essence of early spring at any time of year.

  • Ramp Gravy

    A golden brown biscuit, cut in half and filled with creamy ramp gravy.

    Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

    Smother your biscuits with ramp gravy, a simple cream gravy that achieves a new dimension of flavor thanks to the pungent allium. Or, try it on chicken-fried steak or mashed potatoes.

  • Fried Eggs With Ramps, Morels, and Bacon

    Ramps, morels, and bacon on a plate.

    Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

    Ramps, more than any other allium I can think of, have a way of releasing their flavor into whatever fat (whether it's bacon fat, butter, or olive oil) you're cooking them in. Meanwhile, there is no mushroom—perhaps no food, period—that is better at absorbing those flavors than a morel, with its hollow core and deeply ridged surface. The bacon—well, it's bacon, which needs no explaining.

    Continue to 13 of 14 below

  • Quick Pickled Ramps with Coriander and Chili Flakes

    A glass jar of picked ramps.

    Serious Eats / Marisa McClellan

    Ramps, which are actually wild leeks, are good roasted, grilled, sautéed, whirled into vinaigrette or pureed into pesto. They also make an outstanding pickle.

  • Spring Ramp and Asparagus Frittata Recipe

    A slice of ramp and asparagus frittata on a red plate.

    Serious Eats / Daniel Gritzer

    When you have amazing seasonal produce, a frittata is one of the best, and easiest, ways to showcase it. In this version, fresh-picked asparagus and ramps add a juicy green bite that's as pure a celebration of spring as you can get.

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