A step-by-step recipe for cooking the best authentic Southern collard greens.
JUMP TO RECIPESo, if you didn't know this already, we Southerners are pretty set in our ways when it comes to cooking certain dishes.
Oh, we’ll eat it your way and be polite about it but we’re secretly talking smack about it under our breath.
Did that heifer put Miracle Whip in the potato salad? Bless her heart.
I shred the cheese by hand when I make my macaroni and cheese but I reckon some people like it dry.
I think those boiled peanuts could've done with way less salt, but I'm not judging.
And cooking greens is no exception. We all do it differently. I've seen more than one Southern food “expert” on television cook them in ways that made me think, Well no wonder the rest of the world doesn't like greens if y'all cooking them like that.
One was so bad I had to lean up against the door frame for a minute and give thanks, once again, to my late grandma for showing me and Mama how to cook good Southern food.
I’m going to tell you how I cook them. This is how I was raised to cook them. And this is how I like them best!
NOTES ABOUT THIS RECIPE FOR COLLARD GREENS
- When I get collards, they’re usually given to me by someone who grew them in their own garden so I have to take extra care when cleaning them (it's not uncommon to find leaves, pine straw, dirt or maybe even a small critter in the bag). If yours came from a grocery store, you likely won't need to wash them twice like this recipe.
- It is my VERY strong opinion that you must cut the midrib (center vein that divides each leaf) from the collards. The midrib is fibrous and sometimes tough and bitter.
- This is a basic recipe. Lots of folks like to add other seasonings such as red peppers, garlic, red pepper flakes, sugar, vinegar, etc. Feel free to add anything that suits your fancy. I will sometimes add a splash of vinegar if I think the collards might be bitter (early in the season) but for the most part I like them plain and simple the best.
- Substitute vegetable oil for bacon grease if necessary then ask the Lord to forgive you for throwing out your bacon grease.
- It's best not to cook collards until after the first frost to ensure they’re not bitter but so long as you cut the midrib out, they're usually just fine.
- Collards are most often served with pepper vinegar on the side.
RECIPES TO SERVE WITH COLLARD GREENS
I've always enjoyed pork and rice with collard greens - here are a few of my favorite recipes!
- Crock Pot Pulled Pork – Perfectly seasoned, tender, juicy pulled pork cooked low and slow in a slow cooker.
- Better-Than-Bojangles Dirty Rice – A copycat recipe for Bojangles iconic Cajun dirty rice, made with sausage and a favorite throughout Southern states, especially the Carolinas!
- Baked Country-Style Ribs – Tender country-style ribs baked low and slow in the oven with barbeque sauce.
- Perfect Pork Loin with Effortless Au Jus – The absolute easiest, perfectly cooked roasted pork loin that’s tender and juicy every time.
- Country-Style Ribs & Rice – An old-school Southern recipe made with rice cooked in a rich stock made from slowly cooked country-style ribs.
- Butter-Braised Slow Cooker Pork Roast – Fork-tender pork loin drenched in sizzling butter seasoned with Cajun spices cooked to crispy perfection in the crock pot.
Recipe for Southern-Style Collard Greens
Southern Style Collard Greens
Yield: 8-10 Servings
Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 1 HourTotal time: 1 H & 30 M
A step-by-step recipe for cooking the best authentic Southern collard greens.
Ingredients
- 1 large or 2 small bunches fresh collard greens
- 5-6 strips bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 3 tablespoons additional bacon grease or vegetable oil
- 1 onion, diced
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Wash and Prep:
- Start by tearing each leaf off the stalk and placing the leaves in a clean sink full of cold water. Plunge the leaves several times into the water to clean them. Discard the stalk and any other debris. Drain the sink and rinse well.
- One-by-one, trim the center rib (midrib) from each leaf, cutting each leaf into two halves, discarding the rib. Add the leaves back to the sink and fill with cold water again to ensure they’re clean. Drain collards.
Chiffonade:
- Place 6-8 leaves in a stack and roll tightly (like you’re rolling a cigar). Slice roll into 1-inch ribbons. Continue the process with remaining collards then set aside until ready to cook.
Cook:
- Using the biggest skillet or widest pot you have (that has a lid), cook bacon and bacon grease over medium-high heat, uncovered, until bacon is crisp. Add onions and continue cooking until onions are translucent.
- Add as much of the collards as will fit in the skillet and toss to coat in the bacon drippings. Cover skillet with lid and let collards cook down (wilt) for 2-3 minutes. Add more collards and repeat this step until all collards are in the skillet.
- Reduce heat to low, salt to taste and continue cooking, covered, for about an hour or until collards are as tender as you like them; stir occasionally.
Notes
- When I get collards, they’re usually given to me by someone who grew them in their own garden so I have to take extra care when cleaning them (it's not uncommon to find leaves, pine straw, dirt or maybe even a small critter in the bag). If yours came from a grocery store, you likely won't need to wash them twice like this recipe.
- It is my VERY strong opinion that you must cut the midrib (center vein that divides each leaf) from the collards. The midrib is fibrous and sometimes tough and bitter.
- This is a basic recipe. Lots of folks like to add other seasonings such as red peppers, garlic, red pepper flakes, sugar, vinegar, etc. Feel free to add anything that suits your fancy. I will sometimes add a splash of vinegar if I think the collards might be bitter (early in the season) but for the most part I like them plain and simple the best.
- Substitute vegetable oil for bacon grease if necessary then ask the Lord to forgive you for throwing out your bacon grease.
- It's best not to cook collards until after the first frost to ensure they’re not bitter but so long as you cut the midrib out, they're usually just fine.
- Collards are most often served with pepper vinegar on the side.
Images and text © South Your Mouth LLC 2013
Love them but never cook them.
ReplyDeleteLOVE my collard greens!! My first attempt in making them was a disaster....LOL!
ReplyDeleteOver time I have gotten much better. :-)
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
I also use salt pork instead of bacon. No need to add as much salt but some salt is still needed. And you are right, collards just aren't collards until after the 1st frost. But one way to help your collards, if you get them before the 1st frost, is to put them in the coldest part of your refrigerator for a couple of days so they can get really cold. It's not as good but it is better than nothing.
ReplyDeleteWe always have Mustard Greens on turkey day.
ReplyDeleteI have been cooking for 50+ years and decided to try your collard recipe for our New Year's Day dinner. Will never go back to my old recipe after having these. Also cooked your blackeyed peas and ribs that day. They were also better than my old recipes. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks! So glad I found you.
ReplyDeleteGirl where are the smoked neck bones. In the Lowcountry we use smoked neck bones or for a slightly healthier version smoked turkey neck bones. Just boil the bones in water for a time, then add the cleaned and cut up collards ( I cheat and use the bagged ones) and cook for a spell. Maybe some salt and pepper to taste. You'll be surprised how good they are. Try it. Love your site, recipes, and commentary.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! We don't eat bacon (if you can believe that and bless our hearts), so this is perfect for us!! Thanks!
DeleteYes girl yes!!!!
DeleteIf cooking before the first frost, add a sprinkle of sugar to cut the bitterness.
ReplyDeleteI don't throw away the rib....I just cut down to the tuff part, I cook rib & all....will try ur way never heard of it gonna give it a try.
ReplyDeletewell i like the callard ,mustard,and kale greens mixed together w/turnips and smoked pork meat and salt and pepper
ReplyDeleteMe too, even all with kale and atvthe verybendbo throw in some spinach. U use green onions.
DeleteJust cooked a pot of greens last night for New Years Day, sometimes I'll use smoked neck bones, last night I used salt pork. We're doing the whole deal for New Years Day, roasted pork shoulder, collard greens (w/pepper vinegar of course), sweet potatoes, black-eye peas, deviled eggs, cornbread and sweet tea, and last but not least a caramel cake for dessert. Oh yeah... My mom grew up in North Carolina and they say the same thing about the frost and the collards, although now, she'll buy them before a frost and freeze them a few days before cooking them. She says it makes them "more tender". And let me tell you, if you cook your greens with the ribs in them? well that would be a time where you'd just eat them and under your breath say "bless her heart, she doesn't know how to cook greens..."
ReplyDeleteI agree if you cook your greens with the ribs then you sure aren't a true Southerner!!! This is why I'm so shocked when I order them at a famous Southern cook's restaurant and they are full of ribs!! I love greens!!!
DeleteUmmm I'm from Mississipi and thats not true. I pull off the steams but some people don't. Thats moreso a preference and a bit over dramatic to say that this makes someone "non southern" or they can't cook greens.
DeleteI'm thinking I need an invite to YOUR house this New Year's YUMMMM! My dad grew up in North Carolina and my mom in South Carolina. I feel like you're calling me home. I'll get there early so I can sample everything and by sample I mean devour. Just so you know.
Deletebeing a soritiary sister from the south, i know EXACTLY what "bless your heart" means, althouh I use it all the time with people i love. figure that on out haha
DeleteWill these still be okay if I omit the onion? My husband doesn't like onion and refuses to eat anything with onion in it.
ReplyDeleteWhat is he like 12 yo???
Delete��Def not female!
DeletePut whole onion in pot. Then remove it after it has cooked - toss it away. will give the flavor without the actual pieces of onion.
DeleteEXCELLENT!
DeleteI love greens....
ReplyDeleteI used 10 ozs of greens 5 strips of turkey bacon, half an onion, and a cup and a half of water, which I slowly added over the course of an hour. Salt, too. Yummy!
ReplyDeleteThis recipe looks excellent but I don't really know what "collard" greens are. They look like a type of cabbage. Am I right? If so, what type? Could I use what we refer to as "spring" greens? Or should they be the leaves of "sweetheart " cabbage? Hoping you won't mind replying. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteNope. Collards are a type of greens that are grown durring cold weather. They are dark green, large leaved in a bunch. Also similar to mustard and turnip greens. Just look for them in the produce section especially during fall/winter.
DeleteWhen my brother was a kid the only way our mom could get him to eat other greens was to tell him they were collards. They may not be as bitter as some others.
DeleteI've always boiled mine with smoked turkey, I can't wait to try this way!
ReplyDeleteMy husband doesn't like greens, especially the smell, so I cook them outside in a pressure cooker on the eye of my gas grill! Like you, I start with bacon (applewood smoked, thick cut), but I add a splash of apple cider vinegar, a can of chicken broth, a can of petite diced tomatoes, a few cloves of garlic, some red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. They take about 15 minutes after the pressure is rocking. YUMMY! And the pot liquor is drinkably good! Thank you for talking about taking out the center stem. I hate when collards or turnips are served with that stem! Happy Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds absolutely divine! Thank you for sharing and happy Thanksgiving to you too!
DeleteHey there South Your Mouth! So I have a pot of your Tuscan Chicken Stew going on a dreary Sunday and the smell is making my stomach roaaaarrrr!! Now I'm looking at your recipe for collard greens since collards are my FAVORITE green AND vegetable. I was raised by South AND North Carolinians and I gotta say...never heard of greens done in a skillet. I've always done them boiling in a pot of water with vinegar, ham hock or neck bone, boil 'em down til they're dark and of course salt and pepper. LOVE 'em that way lemme just say. However...your way sounds like I need to try 'em that way...especially with the deliciousness of bacon and bacon fat....which I grew up on. Do not judge me folks. I didn't say anything about the lard! Moving on...I LOVE your site! I LOVE the way you write! It's like we're sitting down chatting with each other (which we are in my mind). Your recipes call out to me...Jaaaackie....look what I have for youuuuuu. Ahem....OK. Off to check my stew South. Have a glorious Sunday. I'm about to. Time to make the cornbread. Later gater.
ReplyDeleteJackie, thank you! I try to write like I talk for the exact reason you said... So it'll seem like we're yacking in the kitchen. Try cooking greens like this... you'll never go back! Peace and bacon grease :)*
DeleteNo need for bacon crease :) just use some garlic olive oil little seasoned salt and pepper and also some chicken broth mmmmm good
ReplyDeleteNever cooked them in a skillet. I am going to use my big cast iron and make them your way. Also I add a stick of butter to mine. Ty
ReplyDeleteIt is true, greens are much sweeter after the cold. I have put mine in the freezer for a bit before cooking, almost has the same effect as a frost.
ReplyDeleteThese Collards look wonderful! Just like how my Granny always made them!
ReplyDeleteHey Mandy and all readers. Have you made greens in the instant pot? I know it's not slow food but I have limited energy and time for tomorrow. I'm going to give it a go and let you know but interested in your opinion or tips.
ReplyDeleteDelicious! I just made these, but I added 1/2 cup of apple cider to the pot rather than chicken stock because I didn't want to open a new container of stock just for this. It was an excellent substitute.
ReplyDelete