Easy Southern Collard Greens Recipe (& how to clean)

5 from 4 votes

Perfectly flavored and delicious easy southern collard greens recipe plus how to clean them!

Prep Time1

Cook Time2

Total Time3

Course: greens

Cuisine: American

Keyword: how to cook and clean collard greens

Servings: servings

Calories: 280kcal

Cost: $8

Using a large heavy stock pot (I use my 6 quart porcelain coated cast iron dutch oven), melt 1 stick of butter (½ cup) in the bottom of the pot over medium heat.
Cut up 6 strips of thick bacon into 2 inch pieces. Add to the melted butter. Cook until done.
Add 1 onion, chopped small, and cook in the fats until translucent. Add the garlic and heat for 1 minute.
After sauteing the garlic for 1 minute, add the greens a few at the time, allowing them to wilt as you go.
Once the greens are all in the pot, Add 1- 32 oz box of chicken stock. Add smoked turkey neck.
After the the greens come to temp, have wilted down in the pan, Add 1 teaspoon chicken stock concentrate, ¼ cup cider vinegar, 2 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon pepper, ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes. Give everything a good stir.
Put the lid on and set the stove on low. Check and stir every 30 minutes or so. Add more stock if needed. After 2 hours the greens should be done, tender and flavorful

Clean Those Collards Really Good!

Clean collard greens very well using the process described above. Don’t skimp or you will end up with sandy gritty pieces in your collards and that is gross.
Cut into strips – this is an easy recipe and yields the proper mouthful of tender greens
You’ll need a big pot of cold water to cook these in, about 6 quarts is good.
After two hours of cooking, if they aren’t as tender as you like, then cook some more – just check every 15-20 minutes so that you don’t over cook them – unless you like them overcooked, in which case – do as you see fit.
Washing is the hardest part.

Best Southern Collard Greens Seasoning

In this recipe, I use butter, bacon grease, bacon, sweet onions and smoked turkey for delicious collard greens for an authentic southern collard greens recipe but you can use turkey legs, smoked turkey leg, chicken stock, black pepper, fresh onions, garlic powder and cajun seasoning.
The hot pepper flakes do not make your green very hot – it just adds flavor.
Add hot vinegar to the finished greens if you like yours hotter – that is what I do (it makes the best greens!).
You’ll need to be liberal with the salt and pepper and hot sauce when cooking collard greens, just saying!