Collard Greens are a southern Soul Food staple and tradition, one in which I know too well. From growing up in Mississippi this dish is connected to memories of Sunday dinners – after church with family and special Holidays. Here I show you how to easily make collard greens with simple and some fresh ingredients. I usually make mine with salt pork or smoked turkey but this dish is also great for vegans and vegetarians. Simply skip out on the meat and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. If you’d like to see a step-by step guide on how to make this dish just scroll down and watch the video below. Also, please don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel!
Here’s what you’ll need:
Vegetable Prep
2-3 bundles of fresh Collard Greens
1-2 Turnip bottoms
6-8 Stems of Green Onions
¼ cup of Yellow Onions
Seasonings
1 Bay Leaf
1 teaspoon of Black Pepper
1 pack of Smoked Ham hock (optional – smoked turkey, or no meat is great as well)
1 teaspoon of Salt
1 teaspoon of Sugar (optional)
12 ounce container of Chicken Stock (optional – broth)
Instructions:
Prep vegetables: Remove stems from each collard green leaf. Roll tightly and slice about a bunch of 4-5 leaves at a time. Once this process is completed, wash and rinse greens thoroughly with warm water and kosher salt about 2-3 times to ensure no dirt or pebbles are left within the leaves.
Sautee meat: In a medium sized pot (depending on the amount of greens you have use a bigger pot) sauté your meat with yellow onions. Cook until onions are translucent in color. Then add in your freshly washed collard greens into pot. Next add in about 6 ounces of the chicken broth, remember leafy vegetables make their own juice once they are steamed so you can expect to see more liquid appear during your cooking time.
Let this simmer on medium heat for about 1 hour.
After 1 hour – come back and add your turnip bottoms, green onions, vinegar and bay leaf. Cover and continue to cook.
After 30 mins – come back and add all your seasonings and the rest of your chicken broth (if you see fit). Mix well and cover again for additional 30 minutes.
After 2 hours your collard greens are done! Serve and enjoy! If you happen to give this dish a try, please leave me a comment below and let me know!
For a more step by step lesson watch my video below!