Over twenty years ago, we tasted some amazing Southern collard greens at a church potluck in Savannah. Can you guess what the secret ingredient was? Ham hocks. You'll love eating this traditional Southern side dish, too!
If you love Southern food as much as we do, check out our black eyed peas and our skillet cornbread. Try all of our 7 New Year's Day recipes, too!
About
Southerners like to eat collard greens on New's Day because they are in season at that time of year. For many Southerners, eating greens on the first day of the year symbolizes more folded money in your pocket in the new year.
The traditional New Year's Day meal in the South is collard greens, black eyed peas, hoppin' John, cornbread, and potlikker soup. Having pork and ham is thought to bring prosperity to your family.
There is a well known phrase, "Peas for pennies, greens for dollars, and cornbread for gold." The peas are represent coins or wealth, greens are symbolic of paper money, and cornbread stands for the gold.
Whether you believe these foods will make you more prosperous in the upcoming year or not, it's a very delicious meal and is traditional in many homes in the South.
Why This Recipe Works
- Uses fresh collards that have been cleaned, the ribs removed, and cut into smaller pieces.
- Start building the first layer of flavor, by sauteing the aromatics and letting the spices bloom.
- Fry the greens in batches until they are wilted. This process shrinks the collard greens down so the greens can fit into the Dutch oven.
- Low and slow method: Simmer the collards with meaty ham hocks over low heat for a long time.
- We have the right balance of heat, tang and smokiness.
Ingredients
The ingredients for making Southern collard greens are easy to find in most grocery stores in the US, especially from November to January. Let's talk about the key ingredients in this dish.
- Fat: Bacon grease or olive oil can be used to cook the aromatics and fry the greens.
- Acid: We used old good apple cider vinegar to bring some tang to this recipe.
- Meat: To add a smoky flavor, we used smoked ham hocks and smoked ham. Bacon is also commonly used. If you are avoiding pork, smoked turkey drumsticks will also work well.
- Greens: Fresh collards greens were used. Choose leaves that can easy pull away from the stem and aren't tough.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Collard Greens
Prep Work: Soak the fresh collard leaves for 10 to 30 minutes in a sink full of slightly warm water with ½-1 cup (120-250 ml) of white vinegar and 1 tablespoon of salt. Scrub each collard leaf individually with your hands to get the sand and grit off, then rinse well with cold running water and set aside.
- To remove the stem, fold the leaf in half lengthwise and cut the rib out with a sharp knife. Place the ribs into a freezer bag for future use in vegetable stock, soups, or stews. (image 1)
- Stack 3 to 8 leaves high and cut in ½ to 1 inch pieces. Roll the leaves before cutting if desired. (image 2)
- Over medium high heat, heat up the olive oil and add the chopped onion. Sauté for 6 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Sprinkle on the salt and pepper, then cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, stirring constantly, to bloom the spices. Dump the cooked onion mixture into a bowl and set aside. (image 3)
- Using the same pot, fry the greens in batches, stirring them constantly until they're wilted. (image 4)
- Return the wilted greens and cooked aromatics into the pot and pour in the chicken stock and the water. (image 5)
- Add the seasonings: red pepper flakes, the apple cider vinegar, and brown sugar. If you want, you can add 1 cup of chopped ham right now or wait until the end. (image 6)
- Place the three ham hocks into the pot, making sure they are surrounded by the greens, then cover the pot and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and let it simmer for 1 ½ hours. Check occasionally to give it a stir. (image 7)
- After 90 minutes, check the ham hocks. If the meat is tender enough for your taste, remove the ham hocks and let them cool. If you want to cook them longer, keep them in the pot. Once the ham hocks are cool enough, cut the meat off the bones and shred it into smaller pieces. (image 8)
- Add the shredded ham hocks and the smoked ham back to pot of greens, and let it simmer for ½ hour. Taste the greens, if they are tender enough, you can remove the pot from the heat. If you like them very tender, keep cooking them on low and checking them every ½ hour. (image 9)
Recipe FAQs
Add one teaspoon of salt or lemon juice. Stir and taste, if necessary, repeat the process until the bitter taste is gone.
Vinegar brings a welcome tang to this recipe and helps brighten this dish by balancing out the salty and savory earthiness of the collards.
Vinegar will also help tenderize the collards. If you add anywhere from 2 teaspoons to 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, depending on the amount of collard greens you are cooking and how tough they were.
Historically, during the days of slavery in the Southern states, collards were used by the slaves along with ham hocks to make one pot meals to feed their families.
When collards are raw, they are bitter like kale, but when they are cooked low and slow the heat mellows them and brings out their earthiness. Southern collard greens are usually cooked with vinegar and sugar which helps balance this popular Southern dish.
It's actually best to make the collards a minimum of 4 hours in advance, as they take a long time to cook. You can definitely cook them a day in advance, as they'll taste better the following day. Allow them to cool at room temperature before covering and refrigerating.
Yes, you can freeze cooked collards. Allow them to cool first, then place in an airtight freezer container or a zip-top freezer bag. Lay the freezer bags flat in the freezer until frozen, then freeze for up to 3 months.
Serve
Serve collard greens with other traditional Southern foods like mac and cheese, cornbread, black eyed peas, spiral ham, pulled pork and grits. Try it with other Southern side dishes like black eyed peas, stewed okra and tomatoes, boiled beets, and green beans and potatoes.
Expert Tips
- In a hurry? Use pre-washed collard greens.
- Don't want to use ham hocks? Use ham bone, smoked turkey drumsticks, wings, or bacon.
- Need this vegan? Omit the meat, use vegetable broth, smoked salt, liquid smoke, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and hot sauce to taste.
- Can't find collard greens? This recipe work for mustard or turnip greens.
- If you need to keep this side dish warm to bring to a covered dish event, transfer them to a crock pot and keep on warm. Serve warm with fresh cornbread.
Other Southern Dishes You'll Love
Recipe
Southern Collard Greens
Ingredients
- 2 pound fresh collard greens, washed and chopped
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups yellow onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste at the end
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- 3 cups filtered water
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more if desired
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
- 3 ham hocks, roughly 1 ¼ cups of meat (2 pounds)
- 1 cup smoked ham, shredded (if ham hocks don't have enough meat)
Instructions
Prepping the Collards
- Fill a clean kitchen sink with slightly warm water, ½-1 cup (120-250 ml) of white vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of salt. Soak the collards for 10-30 minutes, then scrub each leaf with your hands to get the sand and grit off. Rinse well with cold running water and set aside.
- To remove the stem, fold the leaf in half lengthwise and cut the rib out with a sharp knife. Place the ribs into a freezer bag for future use.
- Stack 3 to 8 leaves high and cut in ½ to 1 inch thin, even pieces. Roll the leaves before cutting if desired.
Stovetop Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sauté the chopped onion until it's a nice golden brown, then add the minced garlic and sauté for one minute, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper, then set aside.
- Using the same pot, fry the cleaned, chopped collards in small batches over medium heat until they wilt. Put the wilted greens in a bowl and set aside.
- Add the wilted greens back to the pot. Add the chicken stock, water, cooked onions, red pepper flakes, brown sugar, and vinegar, and stir until well combined. Place the ham hocks in the pot, making sure they are surrounded by the greens.
- Cover and bring the pot to a boil, then turn it down and let it simmer for 1 ½ hours. Adjust salt to taste.
- After 1 ½ hours of cooking, remove the ham hocks and let them cool for 45 minutes as the collards continue to simmer. Shred the meat, discarding any fat and gristle.
- Add the ham hock meat to the pot. (Feel free to add an extra 1 cup of ham as well.) Simmer for 30 minutes, then adjust seasonings to taste.
- Remove the greens from the pot with a large slotted spoon, being careful to reserve the liquid (potlikker) to enjoy as well. Pour the potlikker on individual servings of greens and sop it up with cornbread.
- Serve the collards warm with cornbread, black eyed peas, or grits, or enjoy as a side dish along with other Southern favorites.
Crockpot Instructions
- Do step 1 of the stovetop instructions, then place the ham hocks, onions, garlic, water, and chicken stock in a 6-quart crock pot. Cover and cook on high for a total of 6 hours.
- After 4 hours, the ham hocks will be done. Use tongs to start pull the meat off the bones while it's still in the crockpot. Leave the meat and bones in the crockpot until the 6 hours are complete.
- After 4 hours of cooking, add the cleaned and cut collard greens, the spices (salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes), and brown sugar. Pour in the apple cider vinegar.
- Stir, cover, and cook for 2 more hours. Serve warm with extra ham, potlikker, and cornbread.
Video
Notes
- In a hurry? Use pre-washed collard greens.
- Don't want to use ham hocks? Use ham bone, smoked turkey drumsticks, or bacon.
- Need this vegan? Omit the meat, use vegetable broth, smoked salt, liquid smoke, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and hot sauce to taste.
- Want this as a main course? Increase the meat per serving, by stirring in more chopped ham.
- Want to increase the spiciness? Increase the red pepper flakes to ¼ teaspoon, or add ½ teaspoon of hot sauce.
- Can't find collards? This recipe work for mustard or turnip greens, too.
Nutrition
Serving sizes and nutritional information are only an estimate and may vary from your results.
Richard
I've heard the application of vinegar has more value than just flavor contibution -albeit I'm no expert, just someone who keeps their ears close to the ground (so to phrase it).
Emma Fajcz
Yes, vinegar helps tenderize the collards too.
Pam Meacham
Oops! Left a comment earlier but forgot to rate.
Pam Meacham
Great recipe! I just had an early dinner since I skipped lunch. - - and the greens were amazing. Very tender and oh so tasty!
Emma
Thank you! We're so happy that you enjoyed the collard greens!
Alex
The greens are soft, and have a kick to them. The ham hocks add a delicious flavor to these yummy greens.
Emma
Thank you, Alex! I'm so glad that you enjoyed these collard greens.
Beth
The spicy greens are divine with the succulent ham. These greens are loaded with juicy goodness from the pot liquor. They are soft and yummy!
Emma
You're a true Southern girl, Beth! Collard greens are a deservedly popular dish.