If you’re looking for the best collard greens recipe, look no further. This classic southern side dish features tender collard greens, cooked to perfection, southern style, with savory bacon, onions, a ham hock, and garlic. Trust me – once you try these greens, you’ll never need another recipe again.
When I first made this collard greens recipe for my husband, he told me that they were the best collard greens that he had ever had. Coming from a guy raised in Louisiana, that’s saying something. (I have also adapted this great recipe into an Instant Pot Collard Greens recipe, and it is just as delicious!)
People expect greens to be bitter, but this recipe has the perfect amount of sugar, acid, and spice to cut the bitterness so that the greens are cooked and seasoned perfectly. This is one of our favorite side dish recipes, and the bold flavors in this easy to follow recipe just might blow your mind. If you’re cooking greens for the first time, this easy recipe is going to help you take your Southern cooking to the next level – anyone can make greens!
Table of Contents
🥘 Ingredients in Southern Collard Greens
- Olive Oil – You can also use butter, vegetable oil, or avocado oil.
- Thick Cut Bacon
- Onion
- Fresh Garlic Cloves
- Fresh Collard Greens or Frozen Collard Greens – This recipe can also be used to make turnip greens, mustard greens, and broccoli greens. (For more information about collard greens, there’s more information in my post – What are Collard Greens: Everything You Need to Know.)
- Brown Sugar – Adding sugar will help cut the bitterness of the greens, and brown sugar adds a deep caramel flavor that you don’t get with granulated sugar.
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Red Pepper Flakes – The spice really balances well with the acidity, sweetness, saltiness, and smokiness added to these greens. (If you want to make spicy collard greens, you can increase the amount of red pepper flakes added.)
- Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
- Kosher Salt
- Black Pepper
- Chicken Broth, Chicken Stock, or Vegetable Broth
- To Season the Greens – AKA the flavor – Smoked Ham hocks, diced ham, smoked turkey legs, smoked turkey wings, or smoked turkey necks.
- For Serving – My husband loves to add a few dashes of pepper vinegar to his greens, and others like to add hot sauce or a sprinkle of Cajun seasoning!
🥣 How to Make Collard Greens
Collard greens are one of those southern staples that everyone should have an awesome recipe for. They are also one of those soul food recipes that look… well, green, and don’t sound that amazing, but the taste will knock your socks off.
Here’s how I make the best southern collard greens:
First, pick or purchase your greens, then wash them until there is no more dirt and sand. For more information about how to pick and wash the best greens, there’s more information in my post – What are Collard Greens: Everything You Need to Know.
Dice up an onion, some thick bacon, and some garlic cloves.
Then, heat a large pot or Dutch oven on the stove over medium heat. Once the pot is hot, add one tablespoon of olive oil. (You can also use butter or vegetable oil.) (Picture 1)
Once the olive oil is hot, add the diced bacon. (Pictures 2 – 3) Once the bacon is starting to get crispy on the edges but isn’t totally cooked (Picture 4), add the diced onions. (Picture 5)
Sauté the onion and bacon until the onion is translucent. (Picture 5) Then, add the garlic and sauté it all in the bacon grease until the garlic is fragrant – about 2 minutes. (Picture 6)
Add the collard greens and sauté until they are soft and wilted but not fully cooked. If you are using frozen greens, add the collard greens, then break them up, stirring them until they are no longer frozen. (Picture 7)
Add the stock and add all of the spices – salt, pepper, Creole seasoning, red pepper flakes, brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar. Mix well to combine. (Pictures 8 – 9)
Bring the broth to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the ham hock or smoked turkey now if you are using it.
Cook the collard greens, simmering over low heat, covered, for 45 minutes to one hour. Stir the greens occasionally as needed until the greens are tender.
After 45 minutes, the greens will be dark green and really soft. (Picture 10) There will still be some flavorful broth – that’s the pot liquor or pot likker, and it will be delicious.
Remove the ham hock or turkey bones before serving – the meat can be returned to the greens, but turkey bones can splinter and become brittle and sharp, so be cautious.
I hope you love this recipe!
What is Pot Likker? (Or Pot Liquor)
The deliciously rich broth (liquid gold) that develops after the greens have simmered is called Pot Likker. My husband and I always slurp up the bottom of our bowl when we are finished – you could drink it from a glass; it’s that good.
Some people use the leftover pot liquor as the base to flavor their Red Beans and Rice or White Beans or as a base for soup. We hardly ever have enough left over to do that, but YUM!
The pot likker develops when the chicken broth sucks up all the smoky pork flavors from the bacon and ham hock (or the smoked turkey) and the garlic, onion, sugar, pepper flakes, salt, and vinegar – oh, it is so good!
Recipe Variations
Vegan Collard Greens
To make vegan or vegetarian greens, omit the bacon and ham hock and use vegetable stock. You may need to add extra salt and a little bit of liquid smoke, but you can definitely make a delicious vegan pot of greens with this recipe!
Reduced Sugar or Paleo Greens
To make lower sugar, or Paleo or Keto greens, use your favorite sweetener in place of the brown sugar and keep everything else the same. I have made this recipe hundreds of times using coconut sugar instead of brown sugar to make Paleo Collard Greens – that’s actually how I generally make this recipe because we love coconut sugar!
You can use the Swerve or Truvia Brown Sugar Blend as a sugar replacement, but I would not leave the sweetener out as it helps to add balance to the bitterness of the greens.
What to Serve with Collard Greens
We like to finish our southern collards with a little pepper vinegar and salt and pepper. The pepper vinegar gives it a little extra heat and mellows out any leftover bitterness in the greens. Greens are an amazing side dish for any kind of dinner.
Our favorite way to serve collard greens is with buttermilk fried chicken tenders and garlic mashed potatoes or with hoppin’ john, leftover glazed ham, and southern cornbread.
Here are some other side dishes that are delicious with collard greens:
- Redneck Caviar – Black-eyed peas and collard greens are a match made in heaven!
- Potato Salad
- Sweet Skillet Cornbread
Storage & Reheating
How to Store Collard Greens
Once cooled, leftover cooked collard greens should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will keep for about five days.
You can also freeze your greens. When I grow a ton of collard greens in the Fall, and we have more than we know what to do with in November, I like to make huge batches of greens and freeze them in blocks in Souper Cubes.
How to Reheat Them
I freeze them in their pot liquor, then thaw and reheat them on the stove. The pot liquor keeps the integrity of the greens, and they stay delicious for a long time.
🙋♀️ Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Collard greens are an excellent source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Folate, and Calcium, as well as a pretty good source of Vitamin K, Iron, Vitamin B-6, and Magnesium. Collard Greens (like most leafy greens) also contain thiamin, niacin, pantothenic acid, and choline. More on the nutritional benefits can be found here.
Collard greens have bitter oils that are produced from a naturally occurring sulfur-containing compound, called glucosinolate. (Though there are a lot of health benefits to glucosinolates.) The compound is released when greens are cut, chewed, or cooked. Some people can find greens to be up to 60% more bitter than other people, no matter how they are cooked. If you find greens to be REALLY bitter, you might just have taste buds that are sensitive to glucosinolate.
To reduce the bitterness in greens, you need to add sweetness, acid, and heat. I add apple cider vinegar, red pepper flakes, sugar, and Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning. When serving greens, we add a little bit of pepper vinegar.
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Have You Tried This Recipe?
Please rate it and leave a comment below. I would love to hear what you think!
Southern Collard Greens
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ pound bacon diced
- 1 large onion diced
- 3 – 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 pounds collard greens, frozen Fresh or frozen. Frozen collard greens generally come in 16 oz bags, so I use two.
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar use coconut sugar to make Paleo greens
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
- 1 ham hock or smoked turkey leg
For Serving
Instructions
- First, heat a large pot over medium heat while you dice up your onion, bacon, and garlic.
- When your pot is hot, add the olive oil.1 tablespoon olive oil
- When your olive oil is hot, add the diced bacon. Once the bacon is a little crispy on the edges but not totally cooked, add your diced onions.½ pound bacon, 1 large onion
- Saute your onion and bacon until the onion is translucent, then add your garlic and saute until the garlic is fragrant – about 2 minutes.3 – 4 garlic cloves
- Next, add your collard greens and stir until they are no longer frozen. If you are using fresh greens, saute until they are soft but not fully cooked.2 pounds collard greens, frozen
- Now, add your stock and mix well to combine.3 cups chicken broth
- Then add all of your spices (including the brown sugar) and your apple cider vinegar.1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar, ¼ teaspoon Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
- Add a ham hock or smoked turkey leg or wing now.1 ham hock or smoked turkey leg
- Bring everything to a boil, and once your broth is boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer over low heat. Simmer covered for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally as needed.
- After 45 minutes, uncover and serve. The greens will no longer be bright green, and they will be really soft and tender. There will still be broth (pot likker), and it will be delicious.
- If desired, dice up the ham hock or turkey meat and return it to the greens.
- Finish your greens with a little pepper vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.pepper vinegar
Video
Notes
🫙 How to Store Collard Greens
Once cooled, leftover cooked collard greens should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will keep for about five days, or they can be frozen for three months.Special Equipment Needeed
- measuring spoons
- a large pot
Nutrition
Nutrition information is approximate and is automatically calculated, so should only be used as a guide.
These are amazing. I added smoked paprika, because I was cooking for some baby mouths. And I slowly simmered them all day for extra flavor. This is a fantastic recipe. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad you liked it! Paprika sounds like a great addition!
Wow, these are killer! Such a good recipe!
Love Collard Greens and this is a really good recipe for them!
I’d never had collard greens until last year and I LOVE THEM. Can’t wait to try this recipe. Love the pepper vinegar for a little extra heat and tang.
I can see why I won’t need to look for another collard green recipe – this one has it all! And it is so easy to follow the instructions.
These greens are so healthy and easy and I love that you have spoken about counteracting the bitterness! Can’t wait to try them. Cheers
Best I’ve had by farrrrr, thank you so much for the recipe!!
I can’t wait to try them with that creole seasoning, that will spice them up!