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Chicons Braisés (Belgian Braised Endives)
Whole Belgian endives braised slowly in butter with a pinch of sugar, lemon juice and nutmeg until meltingly soft, then browned in the pan to a golden caramel, served alongside roast meat and poultry.
Belgian · easy · serves 4
prep 10 min · cook 45 min
~77 cal · 0g protein · 1g carbs · 8g fat · 0g fiber · 1g sugars · 5g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Chicons, witloof in Flemish, are the pale, tight, bullet-shaped shoots that the rest of the world calls Belgian endive, and they were born in Brussels. In the middle of the nineteenth century growers around Schaerbeek and Evere learned to force chicory roots in the dark over winter, a technique often credited to the head gardener of the Brussels Botanical Garden, and by the 1870s the vegetable had reached the markets of Paris. The farms later moved into Flemish Brabant, and in 2021 chicon growing was entered on the Brussels list of intangible cultural heritage.
Belgians eat them raw in salads, rolled in ham under a cheese sauce as chicons au gratin, and, simplest of all, whole as a side dish for poultry, pork or veal. The endives are laid in a buttered pan with a little lemon juice, which keeps them pale, a pinch of sugar or a sugar cube to soften their bitterness, salt, pepper and nutmeg, covered and cooked slowly in their own juices until tender. At the end the lid comes off and they are turned in the butter until golden and lightly caramelised.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
- 8 Belgian endives (chicons, witloof), firm and pale
- 40 g butter
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- to taste black pepper
- a pinch nutmeg, freshly grated
- 3 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Instructions
- 1Trim a thin slice off the base of each endive and pull off any damaged outer leaves. Do not wash them in water; wipe them clean. With the tip of a knife, cut a small cone out of the base to remove some of the bitter core.
- 2Melt the butter in a wide pan with a lid over medium heat. Lay in the endives side by side and turn them in the butter for 5 minutes, until lightly coloured.
- 3Add the lemon juice, water, sugar, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Cover, turn the heat down low and braise for about 30 minutes, turning them once, until a knife slides easily into the thickest part.✎ Chef’s noteThe lemon keeps them pale inside; the sugar takes the edge off the bitterness without making them sweet.
- 4Take off the lid, raise the heat to medium and cook for about 10 minutes more, turning them carefully, until the juices have evaporated and the endives are golden and caramelised all over.
- 5Sprinkle with parsley and serve with roast chicken, duck, pork or veal.
Belgian home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Flanders. Waterzooi belongs to Ghent, properly a la gantoise, a pale stew of chicken or fish loosened at the end with cream and egg yolk. The frites are double-fried, traditionally in beef fat and traditionally from Bintje potatoes, and Belgium's famous chocolate houses are mostly Brussels, which is a separate region altogether.
🗺️
Belgium. Beer culture in Belgium was inscribed by UNESCO in 2016, and the inscription counts almost 1,500 beers made by several different fermentation methods, notes the Trappist breweries that pass profits to charity, and records that beer goes into the cooking as well as the glass, including cheeses washed in it. Liege and Brussels waffles are two different products, not two names for one.
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Europe. A surprising amount of European cooking is under five hundred years old. Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, maize, beans and chocolate all crossed from the Americas after 1492, and none of them was trusted quickly: the potato took most of the eighteenth century to be accepted as food rather than animal fodder across much of the north.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Belgium
Carbonnade FlamandeBeef braised in dark Belgian beer with onions and a mustard-slathered slice of bread, sweet-sour, deep, and made for frites.
Belgian WafflesDeep-pocketed waffles, crisp outside and fluffy within, dusted with sugar or topped with fruit.
Moules-FritesA steaming pot of mussels cooked in white wine and shallots, served with a heap of crisp Belgian fries.
Browse all Belgium recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven.
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
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Cuisine
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Frequently asked questions
What is Chicons Braisés (Belgian Braised Endives)?
Whole Belgian endives braised slowly in butter with a pinch of sugar, lemon juice and nutmeg until meltingly soft, then browned in the pan to a golden caramel, served alongside roast meat and poultry.
Where does Chicons Braisés (Belgian Braised Endives) come from?
Chicons Braisés (Belgian Braised Endives) is a Belgian dish from Flanders, Belgium.
Can Chicons Braisés (Belgian Braised Endives) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Chicons Braisés (Belgian Braised Endives) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Chicons Braisés (Belgian Braised Endives) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Chicons Braisés (Belgian Braised Endives) take to make?
About 55 minutes total (10 minutes prep, 45 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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