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    Best Southern Collard Greens Recipe w/ Video

    By April Boller Wright 52 Comments

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    These southern collard greens are simmered in rich and flavorful chicken broth with smoked turkey wings. They're perfect for Thanksgiving or any day of the week. Check out the reviews here! 

    Southern Collard Greens Recipe

    "Delicious! Best Greens Ever"! ~Lea Anne

    "Absolutely Delicious"! ~ Lesley Les

    Collard greens share a special place in my heart. As long as I have some mac and cheese and candied yams and fried chicken, I'm a happy woman!  Since the holidays are near, I figured I'd share this southern collard green recipe with you plus one of my readers requested it.  I learned how to make this dish when I was very young.  I was taught that low and slow is the best way to develop the flavors in. Simmering the greens will result in rich and robust flavor.

    I always get great feedback from anyone who tries my southern collard greens. Some people prefer to cook theirs with ham hocks but I only use smoked turkey wings. Smoked turkey wings are not only delicious, but they are also lower in fat than pork. Feel free to add ham hocks if you prefer them over smoked turkey wings.  The crushed red peppers and jalapeños gives the collard greens some kick but you can omit the crushed red peppers if you like. Don't omit the added healthy vegetables because the look pretty amazing in the finished dish. 

    Southern Collard Greens Recipe

    How to make southern collard greens:

    Southern collard greens may look difficult to make but rest assured this recipe will make you look like you've been making them your whole life. Collard greens are made with greens of course, smoked turkey, onions and garlic, vinegar, crushed red chili peppers, green peppers, jalapenos (optional) chicken base, salt pepper and a bit of sugar. The sugar helps to balance out the flavors but you can omit it if you don't need it. 

    Southern COLLARD GREENS recipe

    Step 1:

    HOW TO CLEAN COLLARD GREENS:

    Fill up the kitchen sink with cold water. Add 1 tablespoon of baking soda, add the collard greens to the water. Swoosh them around so that the sand and dirt can settle to the bottom of the sink. Swoosh the greens once again. Drain the water from the sink. Rinse each leaf under cold water thoroughly.

    COLLARD GREENS RECIPE

    Step 2:

    Get rid of any brown or yellow collard green leaves. Take one leaf. Fold it lengthwise (in half) using a knife, slice off each side of the stem. Alternatively, fold the leave in half and then carefully tear the leaves off each side of the leaf. Discard the stems or store them in the freezer to use later in soups or stir-frys.

    SOUTHERN COLLARD GREENS RECIPE

    SOUTHERN COLLARD GREENS RECIPEHOW TO CUT COLLARD GREENS:

    Stack the collard greens in the same direction on top of the cutting board.  Fold the leaves up. Then cut them up into two-inch squares a bunch at a time.

    Collard Greens

    SOUTHERN COLLARD GREENS

    SOUTHERN collard greens RECIPE

    Step 4:

    HOW TO COOK COLLARD GREENS 

    1.  Cook the smoked turkey wings first. To a large pot or dutch oven, add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the green peppers,  sweet red bell peppers, jalapeño, and onions. Saute until soft. Add the minced garlic and saute for one minute.

    SOUTHERN COLLARD GREENS RECIPE

    SOUTHERN COLLARD GREENS RECIPE

    2. Next, add the broth to the Dutch oven then add the crushed red pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and cajun seasoning. Mix well. Add the smoked turkey wings. Simmer for an hour. If you want to use the Better than Bouillon chicken base please DO NOT ADD THE ENTIRE JAR!  Make sure to read the instruction on the jar FIRST.

    SOUTHERN Collard Greens RECIPE

    3. Add the collard greens on top of the smoked turkey wings. Add the vinegar and sugar. Push the greens down and gently stir. The greens will seem like they won't fit but don't worry, they will wilt and reduce in size greatly as it hits the water. Once the greens are wilted and completely in the pot or dutch oven Cover and simmer for 1.5 -2 hours or until very tender and dark green and the meat has fallen off the smoked turkey wings.

    Collard Greens

    4.  Remove the bones from the pot. Add salt and pepper and sugar to taste. Stir to combine. Serve immediately with your choice of sides like baked sweet potato, candied yams, cornbread, cranberry sauce, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, stuffing or mac and cheese.

    FYI...you'll notice leftover liquid in the pot. It's called potlikker or pot liquor. Serve the potlikker individually in small bowls.  Some people like to sop their cornbread up with the potlikker. I'm one of those peoples.  Potlikker also makes tasty soup or gravy. 

    Collard Greens

    Southern Collard Greens

    April Boller Wright
    Southern Collard Greens Recipe simmered with smoked turkey wings, green and red peppers, onions, garlic, white vinegar, red pepper flakes make this dish so tasty. No one will complain about not having enough meat in this dish.  Perfect for Thanksgiving or any day of the week.
    5 from 22 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 10 mins
    Cook Time 3 hrs
    Total Time 3 hrs 10 mins
    Course Dinner
    Cuisine Southern American
    Servings 5 people
    Calories 200 kcal

    Ingredients
      

    • 3 bunches collard greens about 2 lbs **See notes below
    • 2 cups onion diced
    • 4 garlic cloves minced
    • 1 green pepper diced
    • 1 sweet bell pepper diced
    • 1 tbsp jalapeno pepper diced
    • 2 lbs whole smoked turkey wings
    • 1 tsp cajun seasoning (optional)
    • 2-3 tsp crushed red pepper
    • 2 tsp onion powder
    • 2 tsp garlic powder
    • 3 cups chicken broth I used Better Than Bouillon
    • 2 tbsp distilled white vinegar
    • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
    • salt for taste
    • pepper for taste

    Instructions
     

    • To a large pot or dutch oven, add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the green peppers,  sweet red bell peppers, jalapeño, and onions. Saute until soft. Add the minced garlic and saute for one minute.
    • In a large stock pot or dutch oven over medium heat, add the smoked turkey wings, crushed red peppers, the sauteed vegetables and chicken broth. Cover and simmer for about an hour.
    • Next, add the collard greens, vinegar, sugar, garlic powder, onion powder and salt and pepper to taste. Mix to combine. If the greens seem like too much. Keep stirring until they have wilted down. They should be able to fit once they have wilted down. Cover and simmer for 2 hours or until the meat has fallen completely off the bone. Once done. Serve immediately. 

    Video

    Notes

     

     

    How much collard greens do I need?

    I use about 2 lbs of greens (about 8-9 leaves in a bunch).  Which is also equal to about 14 cups of greens.
     
    Use less jalapeños or ditch them if you don't want your greens spicy, for instance sometimes I'll use about ½ tbsp of jalapenos for a little kick of heat. 

    Nutrition

    Calories: 200kcal
    Keyword collard greens, Soul food, soul food collard greens, southern collard greens
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

    SOUTHERN Collard Greens

    If you like my southern collard greens please save it to your Pinterest Board and follow me on Pinterest I'm always sharing mouth-watering recipes. You can also bookmark this recipe by sharing it on your Facebook. If you know someone that would enjoy this recipe make sure you share this post with them! Don't keep the recipes all to yourself share them 🙂 

    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE THESE OTHER SOUTHERN RECIPES: 

    SOUTHERN CANDIED YAMS

    SOUTHERN SWEET CORNBREAD

    SOUTHERN SWEET POTATO PIE 

    CAJUN TURKEY BREAST

    PUMPKIN PIE

    BEST PEACH COBBLER

    SOUTHERN FRIED FISH

    SOUTHERN HUSH PUPPIES

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Marianne

      March 20, 2022 at 10:49 am

      These are the best greens I've made in my life!!! Thnx for sharing.5 stars

      Reply
      • April Boller Wright

        March 29, 2022 at 12:59 pm

        Thank you so much Marianne!

        Reply
    2. Randy

      January 22, 2022 at 4:46 pm

      My search for the perfect collard greens is over. These are the best!!!5 stars

      Reply
      • April Boller Wright

        January 22, 2022 at 6:04 pm

        I love that you enjoyed them! Thanks for for the review Randy!

        Reply
    3. Ashley

      July 04, 2021 at 12:40 am

      If I leave the meat out will it just kill the whole flavor of them?

      Reply
      • April

        July 09, 2021 at 8:15 pm

        Sorry for my delayed response. Not really but you'll probably have to season to taste.

        Reply
    4. Shelbey

      December 31, 2020 at 4:06 pm

      Can I make these today and serve them tomorrow?

      Reply
      • April

        December 31, 2020 at 4:57 pm

        You sure can!

        Reply
    5. Jackie

      November 28, 2020 at 4:05 am

      Hi
      Can you tell me how many pounds of collards to use in this recipe instead of bunches, because bunches comes in different sizes. Thank You.

      Reply
      • April

        November 28, 2020 at 10:14 am

        It's about 8-9 leaves in a bunch. I usually use about 14 cups (raw) which ends up being about 2 lbs.

        Reply
    6. Jada

      November 26, 2020 at 1:24 pm

      Was looking for a different way too make greens, and this recipe came just in time for thanksgiving!! Best greens I’ve ever had! A little spicy, but I didn’t mind at all!!5 stars

      Reply
      • April

        November 26, 2020 at 3:04 pm

        I'm so happy you enjoyed it! Thank you for taking the time out to comment!

        Reply
    7. Stephanie

      November 26, 2020 at 10:27 am

      Hi! Super excited to try your recipe today! (Btw Happy Thanksgiving) but I’m curious to know if the 3 cups of broth even a after simmering the turkey leg is all I will need when adding in the greens? Or do I add more water? Not sure when you will get this:/ but hopefully soon lol Thanks a bunch for sharing your recipe!

      Reply
      • April

        November 26, 2020 at 12:49 pm

        Hi Stephanie! Yes. Since greens have a high water content and they wilt down a lot, 3 cups are all you need. However, I don't know if you have very large bunches of greens since they can vary in size, if so, you may need to add a cup or more broth. Push the greens down some then once the greens have wilted down, check the water level. Add more broth if necessary. Once the greens are just about done, if necessary, add more seasonings to taste. Happy Thanksgiving!:)

        Reply
    8. Tiffany Winston

      November 18, 2020 at 8:43 am

      I don’t have any cooking skills but want to try and tackle this. Could you direct me to a recipe of how to smoke the turkey wings?

      Reply
      • April

        November 18, 2020 at 9:40 am

        Hi Tiffany. I'm happy you want to try it out! Hope you enjoy it. You can usually find a pack of smoked turkey wings at the grocery store. I usually get mine from Walmart.

        Reply
    9. Gloria Anton

      May 30, 2020 at 7:06 pm

      It's unanimous - the family said this is the best Greens recipe out there! I'm making it again tonight with my left over smoked turkey wings. (First time I made it, I didn't have smoked turkey wings only regular roasted ones. So...I used some Alderwood smoke salt to give them the flavor - it's all I changed.) You can eat this year round and I intend to do just that 🙂 Thank you so much for this amazing recipe.5 stars

      Reply
      • April

        June 01, 2020 at 9:09 pm

        That's so great to hear! You're so welcome and thank you for the great feedback!

        Reply
    10. Jim R

      March 29, 2020 at 9:58 am

      Wanted to make greens as I always enjoy them and your recipe came up. These were amazing, thank you for sharing. Only change I made was I used some pork I had versus turkey legs. But am already planning on how I can smoke turkey legs and do these again. Thanks for sharing

      Reply
      • April

        March 30, 2020 at 10:19 am

        You will love it with the smoked turkey. Let me know how it comes out! Thank you so much!

        Reply
    11. sean

      November 29, 2019 at 7:12 pm

      These are probably the best greens I've ever had. I just made them for thanksgiving and they were gone before the night ended. I will use this as my go to from now on.5 stars

      Reply
      • April

        November 30, 2019 at 5:41 pm

        Thank you for choosing these collard greens to make on Thanksgiving Sean! I wish I would've made them for Thanksgiving because the greens I ate didn't have meat thanks to my vegan brother lol. They were good but I sure did miss the smoked meat! I'm glad everyone enjoyed them! Thanks for your great feedback! Have a great weekend!

        Reply
    12. Indy

      November 25, 2019 at 2:29 pm

      Hey there! Everything looks great, but how much of each ingredient do I need? Am I overlooking something? 🙂

      Reply
      • April

        November 25, 2019 at 4:42 pm

        Hi Indy. Thanks for the catch! Hmmm not sure why the recipe went missing but I added it back!

        Reply
        • Indy

          November 26, 2019 at 9:51 am

          Thank you for getting back to me so fast, April! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

          Reply
          • April

            November 28, 2019 at 12:45 pm

            You're welcome! Happy Thanksgiving to you too!

            Reply
    13. Nichelle

      October 23, 2019 at 6:31 pm

      I made these last night because I'd received some collard greens for cheap and was hoping to recreate the collards of my childhood. They are incredible! Mine came out pretty spicy because I got a little too happy with the crushed red pepper, but my boyfriend and I love the flavor profile and the way that the spiciness is balanced by the sweet so much that it doesn't even matter!5 stars

      Reply
      • April

        October 23, 2019 at 7:31 pm

        Nichelle you made my day! Sounds like y'all had some spicy collard greens. My husband like his that way. I love spicy food but he likes his food on fire. Thanks for your comment! Happy you guys enjoyed the collard greens 🙂

        Reply
    14. Dana

      June 21, 2019 at 11:36 am

      I made these about a month ago and now I’m craving them again. Great recipe. They taste just how soul food greens should taste! Thank you for the recipe! Love from Philly5 stars

      Reply
      • April

        June 22, 2019 at 9:01 pm

        Hi Dana! Thank you so much! I'm so glad you liked it! <3

        Reply
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    April Wright Whisk it Real Gud_I'm April and I hope you stay for a while. Being a mom (plus a bonus mom) with kids on the autism spectrum, I need to be super efficient with my time. That’s why I create simple recipes that are delicious and don’t require a lot of steps. On this site you'll find all kinds of easy recipes. Comfort foods, southern recipes, restaurant favorites, salads and ethnic recipes and more! Read more .

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