22 watercress recipes

Why we love watercress

This green leaf is excellent in anything from sandwiches to soups. It’s related to mustard which is why its taste packs a peppery, slightly pungent punch – perfect for cutting through rich dishes. It's easy to add as a vibrant side salad but also stands up to being cooked to be blended into vibrant soups or hearty risottos.

Health benefits of watercress

Watercress is highly nutritious. It contains significant levels of iron and calcium, plus notable amounts of vitamins A, C and E. It is also loaded with antioxidant polyphenol plant compounds, which may be useful in combatting some of the chronic diseases associated with ageing.

Watercress soup recipes

Get-your-greens soup

Loaded with green veg and potato for creaminess, this immune-supportive soup needs just a splash of cream to become a hearty, warming lunch.

Watercress and pea soup

This watercress and pea soup has been pepped-up with some baked lemon and sesame croutons. It's veggie and low-calorie - perfect for a healthy midweek meal. More hearty soup ideas to try here.

Watercress soup with cashew cream

Cashew cream is a vegan alternative to dairy creams - here we've matched it to a super healthy green soup. You'll need a powerful blender to get the desired, smooth texture. Looking for low calorie vegan recipes? Try ours here.

Watercress salad recipes

Pickled grape salad with pear, taleggio and walnuts

Tangy pickled grapes meet creamy taleggio in this gluten free recipe, the perfect low calorie midweek meal.

Watercress and avocado salad with pink grapefruit

This fresh, zingy watercress and avocado salad with pink grapefruit and Campari vinaigrette makes a great summer starter. It's vegetarian, easy and ready in 30 minutes. Here are our top avocado recipes to try...

New potato deli salad

This classic new potato deli salad is super simple to make. Under 500 calories this recipe is a great healthy midweek meal. Here's a simple potato salad recipe to try.

Duck, mango and watercress salad

This fresh, flavourful duck, mango and watercress salad is ready in just 30 minutes and is under 500 calories - perfect for a midweek meal. Use duck in these easy recipes...

Cobb salad with green goddess dressing

Cobb salad is an American classic of chopped tomatoes, avocado, leaves and crisp bacon. Our version adds blue cheese, sourdough croutons and a green goddess dressing.

Gochujang steak salad

Try our Asian steak salad recipe for a quick midweek meal for two. This low calorie dinner is easy to make and packed with punchy flavour.

Watercress dishes

Watercress and asparagus emmer risotto

Emmer is an ancient wholegrain which works well in this creamy risotto with plenty of spring greens, pecorino and white wine.

Pan-fried salmon with watercress sauce

Serve your summery fried salmon with a vibrant (and nutritious) watercress sauce, made all the more interesting with dill, lemon, crème fraîche and capers.

Smoked salmon and watercress pasta

Punchy horseradish and watercress add a grown-up feel to this quick and easy pasta dish that works equally well with linguine or spaghetti.

Prawn and watercress stir fry

The addition of watercress provides fresh, peppery notes in this prawn stir-fry, perfect for a springtime dinner that’s ready in just 20 minutes.

Shrimp and watercress stir fry

Check out this super simple stir-fried recipe with prawns. This dish is inspired by the Cambodian love of peppercorns, a speedy stir-fry for prawn lovers. Dried green peppercorns are easier to find than fresh, but if you happen to see fresh ones do snap them up, as they taste brilliantly zingy. Look out for them in Asian grocery shops.

California scramble

This California scramble is a quick and easy vegetarian meal for one - try for breakfast, brunch or a quick midweek meal.

Salmon and watercress tartlets

Ready in under 20 minutes and packed with the taste of spring, these puff pastry treats make an easy dinner party starter your guests will love.

Potted shrimp on toast with pickled cucumber

Our recipe for potted shrimp on toast with pickled cucumber makes a really quick and easy meal for one midweek. We have plenty more toast toppers to try here...

Watercress, ricotta and nutmeg roulade

The best vegetarian roulade. Serve for brunch, for lunch or even for a light meal at the weekend. With ricotta, mascarpone and parmesan you could expect this to be higher than 300 kcals, but it's a low-cal treat. Watercress gives it a fresh and peppery flavour.

Watercress side salad recipes

Roast duck with layered potato cake and spring onion, radish and watercress salad

Get your friends over and serve up a feast of juicy roast duck, duck fat potatoes and a vibrant spring salad for ultimate entertaining. The peppery salad is perfect for cutting through the rich duck and potatoes.

Gammon and egg with watercress and pea salad

Gammon and egg is a classic combination. In this recipe, we've paired it with a fresh watercress and pea salad for a quick midweek meal that comes in under 500 calories.

Peppered pork schnitzel with watercress salad

Turn pork escalopes into an easy, tasty midweek meal with breadcrumb coating and a quick tomato and watercress salad. A dollop of mayo is all you need on the side. More pork recipes here...

Grilled mackerel fillets with lime mojo

Mackerel is always best super-fresh and the season runs from July until February so you've got plenty of time to enjoy it. During the summer, we love this recipe for grilled mackerel fillets with lime mojo - the acidity of the lime and orange works really well with this oily fish.