How to Eat Arugula & Mustard Microgreens: Living Seasoning

Think of arugula and mustard microgreens less as a salad and more as a seasoning shelf you grew — a pinch finishes a dish the way good mustard or fresh horseradish would. Arugula is peppery and nutty; mustard is the clean wasabi-bright flash. Used this way, they’re some of the most useful greens in the kitchen, and the right-way-to-eat-them is conveniently also the easiest.

Raw is non-negotiable here — and here’s the chemistry

The entire appeal of these two crops — the heat and the health — depends on isothiocyanates, which form only when the enzyme myrosinase meets the plant’s glucosinolates as you chew or chop. Heat destroys myrosinase. Cook these microgreens hard and you lose both the sharpness and the bioactive compounds at the same time. So the rule is absolute: always add them raw, at the very end, off the heat. Used as a finishing seasoning, that happens naturally.

A pinch goes a long way, which means a single tray seasons a surprising number of meals.

Six ways to use a tray

1. The pizza finisher. Scatter arugula microgreens over a hot pizza the moment it comes out of the oven. The residual heat releases their aroma without cooking them flat — a pizzeria move.

2. Literal sandwich mustard. A layer of mustard microgreens is the condiment. Sharp, fresh, and it won’t soak the bread the way a squeeze bottle does.

3. The cheese-board green. A small pile of arugula microgreens cuts through rich cheese and charcuterie — peppery contrast that resets your palate.

4. Stirred into eggs at the table. Fold a pinch of mustard microgreens into scrambled eggs or over a fried egg right before eating. Instant lift.

5. Grain-bowl and avocado-toast seasoning. A scatter over a grain bowl, poke bowl, or avocado toast adds heat and freshness no jar can match.

6. Blended into a peppery dressing or salsa verde. The blender does the cell-damage step, maximizing the isothiocyanate release — pour it over fish, potatoes, or roasted vegetables.

Keep them sharp

Cut what you need and leave the rest of the tray growing. Store extras unwashed in the fridge in a container lined with a dry paper towel, rinsing right before use. They’re delicate, so they’re at their best within a few days — but since you use them a pinch at a time, a tray on the counter lasts a good while.

Key takeaway: Always eat arugula and mustard microgreens raw and added off the heat — cooking destroys the myrosinase that creates both their bite and their beneficial isothiocyanates. Use them as living seasoning, a pinch at a time: pizza finisher, sandwich mustard, cheese-board green.