After decades of keeping it to myself and my family, I'm sharing my Grandmother's Easy Southern Style Collard Greens recipe with the world. With only a few minutes of hands-on time, you're going to have the most tender and flavorful collard greens of your life!
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Collards have an especially important meaning around New Year’s. Many Southerners believe that eating collard greens on New Year's Day will bring good luck and good fortune, since their green leaves symbolize wealth. I keep trying 😌 Anyway, whether you’re celebrating a holiday or just enjoying a cozy meal with family, collard greens are a delicious way to add flavor and tradition to your table.
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Ingredients & Substitutions
My grandmother's Southern collard greens recipe was no-frills, just like she was. There are no fancy spices or add-ons. She believed in letting the smoked pork and the collard greens speak for themselves. And if you knew Olga Mae, you didn't argue with her. Here are her ingredients, with just a few changes (sorry Grandma), and a few suggestions for how you can make this work for you:
- Fresh Collard greens - Collard greens are dark green leafy vegetables with a tough stem in the center. Some stores only carried collard greens near the holiday season, but I can always find it at Whole Foods or any of the larger shops. A lot of people aren't aware of this, but if you don't see collards in stock, your grocery store can probably order it in for you. If you're really in the mood for some greens, but you can't find collards, turnip greens and mustard greens make a good substitute.
- Smoked pork - My Grandma, Olga Mae, always used ham hocks, which is literally a pig's ankle, but I can't always find it. I have some friends who will use smoked turkey neck or wings, or smoked turkey leg, but I like to use smoked pork neck, which still has that good smoke flavor and keeps it in the pork family. If you can't find any of that, feel free to use thick, cut bacon or salt pork.
- Butter and oil - Okay, Olga Mae used bacon fat and sometimes, okay always, I add a little too. If you're using bacon it comes free with purchase.
- Broth - Grandma used water, but I don't see why I shouldn't get these greens started off with a little bit of extra flavor. I use chicken stock or broth because it's mild and neutral, and I feel that a beef broth or even a vegetable broth could overpower the flavor of the greens, but use what you have.
- Onion - Grandma always used a sweet Vidalia onion, but use what onion you have or prefer.
- Salt and pepper - I see a lot of recipes that will season their collards with Cajun seasoning, or garlic powder and onion powder, red pepper flakes, or even add apple cider vinegar to the pot while it's cooking, but Grandma never did any of that and I don't either. I like the flavor that the collard greens and the smoked pork give to the broth to make the most delicious potlikker ever! Trust the process.
Scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
Instructions
I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. Grandmas and moms have been perpetuating the myth for generations that making collard greens is hard work. We want everyone to feel and appreciate all that hard work in every spoonful and forkful of collard greens. But it's actually really really simple.
Probably the most difficult part of this whole recipe is cleaning and preparing the collard greens for cooking, and even that is not a big deal. And once you've done, that everything else is super simple. Don't tell anyone, shhh 🤫
Cleaning and prepping the collards
Step 1: Flatten out your collard green leaves and use a small paring knife to remove the tough stem from the center.
Step 2: Make a stack of leaves and roll them up.
Step 3: Use a sharp knife to cut them into half to 1 inch thick ribbons. Rinse your collard greens and then place in a large bowl or sink filled with cold water. Allow them to sit in the water for about 15 minutes so that all of the dirt will fall to the bottom.
Step 4: Lift your leaves directly up and out of the water without stirring up the dirt. Repeat this process 1 to 2 more times. Set clean collards aside.
Cooking the collards
Step 1: Slice one large onion into quarter-moon pieces. I like to cut them into ½ inch thick rings and then cut each ring into quarters.
Step 2: Place a large heavy-bottomed pot or dutch oven over medium high heat and sauté your onions in butter and oil (or bacon fat 😉)
Step 3: When the onions have started to soften and brown on the edges, add in your smoked pork and your broth, along with one teaspoon of kosher salt and about ½ teaspoon of black pepper. Allow to simmer for one hour.
Step 4: Add greens, a little bit at a time. They will wilt rather quickly. Continue until all greens are in the pot. If necessary, add enough water to cover the collard greens. Bring back to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low heat and cover.
Step 5: Continue cooking until greens are cooked to your preferred tenderness, about 45 minutes to an hour. If you like them with a little more bite, take them off at 45 minutes. If you like them to be melt-in-your-mouth, tender, let them go for an hour, up to an hour and a half.
Step 6: Remove the smoked pork and shred the meat, discarding any fat, gristle, or bones. Return to the pot.
Serving Suggestions & Leftover Uses
We keep it simple in our family. We like to serve our collard greens with hot sauce and some skillet cornbread slathered in honey butter. It's the perfect side dish for my pork chops with apples. We also love serve it next to another bowl full of black-eyed peas, making it an awkward situation at the table because now you have two bowls, but it just means you have more things to dip your cornbread in and that's totally worth it.
Here are a few ideas for delicious ways you can use leftover collard greens:
- Greens and Eggs - Strain some greens and sauté in a pan and serve with some perfectly fried eggs on top for a Southern-style shakshuka. You can also mix them into scrambled eggs or bake them into a country omelet.
- Collard greens and beans salad - Leftover collards can be chilled and served with cherry tomatoes, cannellini beans, and other veggies and tossed with a vinaigrette for a hearty, cold salad.
- Collard Green Quesadilla: Spread greens over a tortilla with shredded cheese, fold it in half, and toast until the cheese melts for a quick snack or lunch!
Make it a meal For a quick and easy collard greens and black eyed pea situation that makes a complete meal, try my Grits and Greens Bowl. Flavored with andouille sausage, it cooks up in just a few minutes and packs a punch of flavor to get your day started off on the right foot!
Key takeaways
Here, as my Grandma would say, is the down and dirty on making the best collard greens:
- Use fresh, whole collards: Resist the temptation to save time by using chopped and bagged collard greens. They are full of stems and the packaging process just sucks the flavor out of them.
- Remove the stems: The stems are fibrous and pretty much inedible. Get rid of them.
- Rinse thoroughly: Collard greens can be sandy, so wash them well. I recommend swishing them around and then soaking the leaves in cold water to remove all the grit. Remember to lift your greens up and out of the water so you don't stir up the dirt in the water.
- Use smoked meat for flavor: A key ingredient in Southern-style collard greens is the smoked meat, like pork necks, ham hocks, smoked turkey, or bacon. They add a deep flavor and richness to your greens and your pot likker.
- Simmer low and slow: Cooking collards over low heat for an hour or more allows them to become tender and absorb all the flavors from the broth.
- Sweeten with a little sugar: This is optional but can offset any bitterness if the greens taste a bit sharp.
- Let them rest: If you can stand it, let the collard greens sit for a few minutes after cooking to let them cool to non-fatal temperature, and to allow the flavors to meld even more.
FAQs
Yes! Your collards can still be flavorful without meat. Try adding ingredients like smoked paprika or liquid smoke to add smoky flavor, vegetable broth instead of water, or extra garlic and onions for added depth.
Some cooks feel that vinegar helps cut through the richness of the collards and adds a bright flavor to balances it out. I prefer to have vinegar or a vinegar based hot sauce at the table so that each person can add as much or as little as they like.
My Grandma and my Dad always said greens taste even better the next day after the flavors have had more time to settle in. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days if you want to test that theory.
More Southern-style recipes
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I appreciate you!
-Cynthia
📖 Recipe
Easy Southern-Style Collard Greens
Equipment
- Large stockpot
Ingredients
- 2 pounds collard greens about 2 bunches
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion cut in quarter moons
- 1 pound smoked pork neck
- 4 cups chicken broth
- Enough water to cover collard greens
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Vinegar or hot sauce for serving
Instructions
Prep the collards
- On a cutting board, cut out the large woody center vein from all of the leaves with the tip of a sharp knife.
- Stack a few leaves at a time on the cutting board, roll them up like a cigar, and cut into strips about ½ inch thick.
- Rinse your collard greens and then place in a large bowl or sink filled with cold water. Allow them to sit in the water for about 15 minutes so that all of the dirt will fall to the bottom.
- Lift your leaves directly up and out of the water without stirring up the dirt. Repeat this process 1 more time. Set clean collard aside.
Cook the collards
- Slice one large onion into large pieces. I like to cut them into ½ inch thick rings and then cut each ring into quarters.
- In a large heavy pot or cast-iron Dutch oven over medium high heat, sauté your onions in butter and oil (or bacon fat 😉).
- When the onions have started to soften and brown on the edges, add in your smoked pork and your broth, along with one teaspoon of kosher salt and about ½ teaspoon of black pepper. Allow to simmer for one hour.
- Add greens, a little bit at a time. They will wilt rather quickly. Continue until all greens are in the pot. If necessary, add enough water to cover the collard greens. Bring back to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low heat and cover.
- Continue cooking until greens are cooked to your preferred tenderness, about 45 minutes to an hour.
- If you like them with a little more bite, take them off at 45 minutes. If you like them to be melt-in-your-mouth, tender, let them go for an hour, up to an hour and a half.
- Remove the smoked pork and shred the meat, discarding any fat, gristle, or bones. Return to the pot.
- Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. If the greens are too bitter for your taste, add a teaspoon or two of honey or sugar. Serve with vinegar or hot sauce.
Save This Recipe! 💌
I'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later, plus you'll get great new recipes from me every week!
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